Soaring Stories
Now Accepting Fact & Fiction.
Use this form for becoming a Story-Teller:
(A form, template and default settings are under development at this time.)
OR:
If you have good gliding stories relating to Chilhowee - send them in. We'll do our part to share it with others. Please Email Content Contributions to: Sarah Kelly
Let Me Tell You About My Day
by Tim Larsen
MyStory
A Run Along the Chilhowee Ridge
by Chris Ruf
Once around the Field?
No, Down the Ridge and along a Cloud Street
by Jamie Baker
MyStory
Friendly Ridge Competition
by Chris Ruf, Mitch Deutsch and ....
MyStory
4th of July Weekend at Chilhowee
by Brad Kueven
MyStory
My First Passenger, MOM!
by Chris Ruf
MyStory
Check back here in the future to read more tales from Chilhowee.
Want to add your own story? Contact Sarah and have her set you up as a story teller "user" for this site.
GPS Recordings
If you have GPS Recordings from Chilhowee - send them in or contact Sarah to become a "user" or uploading to the story site directory.
1. January 3, 1999 - Chuck and I spent about 4 hours going up and down the ridge in the ASK-21 "CS". Of course on January 3 it was mighty cold, we took a pit stop in the middle to defrost our feet. Our first flight was about 2:07 and was almost as rewarding as the woodburning stove in the clubhouse. Our second flight was about 1:40 and it too was marked by consistant ridge lift. We made it up and down the ridge several times and had a great view of the frost covered treetops. The top rows of trees were white, almost as if someone dipped them and the radio towers in paint. The sun broke through the clouds occasionally and it made for many scienic views. 1-3-99-k21.zip (52kb Cambridge .cai file)
2. Sunday Febuary 28, 1999 - The day after the SSA convention the sky was full of gliders and a stong west wind. Thermals worked in addition to the ridge, and a Bald Eagle was spotted ridge soaring too. Todd Hedenstrom flew his L-33 solo "3" for 3:04 and recorded this file todd-022899-l33.zip (compressed .cai file).the following aircraft on the ridge: 1 - Ka-8, 2 - ASK-21, 1 - ASW-22, 1 - ASW-19, 1 - ASH-26e (as Mitch says "Schleichers go up"), 1 - Discus, 2 - L-33 Solo, 1 - G-102, 1 - Katana Extreme, 1 - 1-26 (doing its best to outrun the ASW-22's 26.4 meter wingspan!), 1 - PW-5, 1 - Birddog tow plane, = too many smiles to count.
It was my first ridge day ever, and quite a day. I spotted the bald eagle, too; found that watching an airplane (Katana) float by with fixed gear and a stopped prop is weird; and also learned that you never say "hey Discus, I'm about to pass" when you're flying a Blanik- it just goads them into a 120kt run away from ya. (hehe), Todd.
3. September 5, 1999 - Mitch gets to 10,000MSL during a GTA race. It seems that the hurricane over the Carolina coast dropped the atmospheric pressure and the instability helped create great lift. 995c5721.zip
4. October 3, 1999 - WAVE at Chilhowee This trace shows 2 flights, the first one shows steady wave lift , not the same as the Sierra Wave, but FUN to explore. There were even defined rotor clouds near the gap. 9a3c0w81.zip ... And John Bojack's wave flight: 9a3c0581.zip
5. Feb 21, 2000 - Fast run on the ridge. Mitch Deutsch AS-W20B (aka "6i") averaged 95.62 knots (bewteen 16:04:14 and 16:13:38) over the 14.5 NM+/- run on my fastest pass. Fastest speed was 120 knots: 02jc5721.cai
