August 16, 2008 - Soaring, Family Picnic
We had planned a family picnic day out at the Flying Cow gliderfield today, and the weather cooperated with almost perfect soaring conditions. Which is unusual for August in Maryland/Northern Virginia I might add. Hot, humid and hazy is the norm.
Here's a shot of mid-field which gives you a hint of how nice it is here.
I logged a couple of hours in my
Schleicher Ka-8. The big yellow glider pictured here is the world's
only flying LNE made by Pratt-Read. It was a U.S, Navy glider
trainer in World War II and holds two people sitting side-by-side.
Jan had done some maintenance on it and then Bruce test flew it. By
that time, the lift had dried up. But the Pratt-Read has a fairly
decent L/D and will stay up if there's some lift
around.
Bruce's son-in-law Ray and his
electric-powered, radio-controled Spitfire. He put on an airshow for
us.
Bruce catches a big one!
After flying, we all had fun eating burgers on the grill, fishing in the pond, walking around the farm and just enjoying the day.
