My succinct summary of thermal camp is, "The best soaring I ever did."
Thermal Camp is an annual week of soaring organized by Rolf Peterson and held at Air Sailing, a dedicated glider-port about 25 miles north of Reno. Mornings are classroom instruction and afternoons are spent practicing and experiencing thermaling in an area that has fantastic lift.
Sunday--Welcome to Air Sailing. Arriving around 5 PM after a long drive from the Bay Area, my first reaction is "Holy Toledo, this place is really in the middle of nowhere." Happily, the place quickly grows on you. Linked up with Mark Violet and settled into our accommodations, the Mt. Shasta Trailer that we were renting for the week. Barbecued some chicken that night at the big barbecue area they have, had a couple beers, and met the other folks who were there for Thermal Camp.
Monday--Class begins at 8:30 in the Air Sailing clubhouse. Assisting Rolf throughout the week are NCSA instructors Dave Cunningham and Richard Pearl. First lesson is on Safety and last year’s collision of a Hawker Jet with a glider near Minden figures prominently in this lesson. The planes have Mode C transponders. Use them, squawking 0440. These are the jet routes to Reno. Rolf explains when to use 122.8, when to switch to Reno Approach, when to go to 123.3. This is getting complicated. Then Rolf switches to showing us our "playground" for the week; five and ten mile radius circles around Air Sailing. We discuss the L/D’s to use for the various aircraft. Rolf says, "Today, let’s stay within 5nm of the airport." Rolf wraps up the class with a hike around the airport describing the things to watch out for and pointing out the landmarks in our playground.
First flights--For some time leading up to Thermal Camp I’d been expecting to use 81C which I’d reserved late last autumn. However, as the date approached it slowly became apparent that the logistics of getting 81C to Air Sailing were becoming a bit daunting. Actually, getting it to Air Sailing wasn’t such a problem. The problem was, after ferrying it behind 16Y and watching the tow pilot and instructor fly back to Byron in 16Y, how do I get home? As I explored options, Dave Cunningham started whispering in my ear, "You can join Nevada Soaring Association for $250 and use their planes. And, oh by the way," continued Dave, "Real men do it in a 1-26 and NSA has a 1-26." And so, I contacted NSA and made arrangements to become a member and fly their 1-26 during the week. (And what a great stroke of luck that has proven to be. But that’s another story.)
Because of this, on Monday afternoon my first area-familiarization/check-ride flights were with Rob Stone (Stoney) from NSA in their big yellow 2-33. I should say here, that take-offs are preferred from 17. However, Monday there was a pretty stiff breeze favoring 03. However, you don't do take-offs from 03. Consequently, my first take-off was with an ~15 knot crosswind. Also, since Schweizers start off nose down on their skids, you line them up to the side of the paved runway in the dirt. That way, you don’t scratch the pavement. So my first take-off at Air Sailing proved to be quite the wild ride behind blue-tow. Yee-haa! I've heard about winches being exciting launches. Maybe this doesn’t out-do winches, but I’ll bet it’s a close second. After that, everything was easy. Stoney, had me release over "The Knoll" about 6500' and we promptly found one of many house-thermals in the area that took us to over 8000'. After about 40 minutes of some of the finest thermalling I'd ever done, Stoney decides it's time to do a few stalls, turns and land it. My first-ever landing on soft dirt. Very forgiving. Stoney wants to do a pattern and decides, "This time let's take off with the wing on the ground." With the strong crosswind. Yee-hah, another wild ride. Land in the dirt and get my NSA sign-off to fly their gliders.
After the check-out Stoney shows me the 1-26 09H, the black beauty that’s going to be my plane for a week. He sets me up with a cannula, shows me how to use it, etc. etc. About an hour after my checkride I'm ready for my first solo at Air Sailing.
First solo--Later in the week, when Rolf mentioned something about records set during the week, I confidently announced that I must own the record for the shortest flight from a high-tow, based on my first solo in the 1-26. We did the wild-ride take-off from 17 and headed for the Dogskins. I held on as the towplane flew up to the Dogskins then paralleled them to the south, looking for lift. At the south end of the ridge, at around 3000’ AGL, I release and look for lift. Not here. Do a couple more circles. Nothing. Then I say to myself, "There was lift at the Knoll, earlier. I’ll look there." By the time I get to the Knoll we're down to about 1500' AGL and the earlier lift's nowhere to be found. On a positive note, the Knoll turns out to be perfectly located for an entry to the pattern for 03, so I do my third landing at Air Sailing in the dirt. Bring 09H back up to the line, got some pointers from Rolf and took off again for the fourth flight of the day. Same yee-haa. This time, concerned about the possibility of being the first person ever to spend a week at Air Sailing and never find a thermal, I widened my search area at the south of the Dogskins and found one. A thermal! Hot-dog. Climbed to about 8200' (~4000' AGL) and started shadowing one of NSA’s 2-33's that was being flown by a pro; Chukar (Bob Spielman). I stayed up about an hour and a half, coming down somewhat after Chukar, and feeling pretty good about that flight. At the end of the day the Air Sailing folks were apologizing for the relative lack of lift. I was thinking, "Don’t apologize. This would be about the best day you could ever imagine at Byron."
Monday evening festivities start with Happy Hour followed by Dave Cunningham’s annual Thermal Camp burger and hot-links barbecue. Then the four Byron thermalers, Mark Violet, Lee Grisham, Taylor Nichols and I take a hike to the far, far, far end of 17 (it’s a very long runway). And then we hike back. All in all, a fine end to a fine day.
Tuesday--Physiology of flight is a major theme for morning class. Need for oxygen and affects of hypoxia. Put on the cannula at take-off and set the oxygen flowing. All our oxygen was included in the thermal camp fee to encourage us to learn how to use it and use it all the time. Next on the physiology top-hits is dehydration, its effects and how to avoid it. Then Rolf covered the other side of the dehydration coin, the one I'd been thinking about as I pondered the five hour duration flight, urination. Evidently there have been all sorts of contrivances that folks have experimented with over the years. Peeing uphill into a bottle sounds hard and, evidently, is. Heavy duty ziplocks are another choice. As are male catheters that are plumbed either to a storage bag or out the gear well (hope it doesn’t freeze or corrode the moving parts). But the lightbulb went on for me when Rolf said, "Depends." As used by the astronauts. What a simple solution. OK, so it's not all that macho. (After all, real men pee uphill into a bottle. In a 1-26.) But, like, properly done, who’s gonna know?
Afternoon flights--Once again, an unusual easterly wind requiring a crosswind takeoff from 17. But it’s not quite as strong a wind or as wild a ride as Monday's. Here's from my logbook: Two flights in 09H. Both releases around 6800'. First flight was 1.2 hrs, second 0.9. Two 2000' thermal climbs on first flight that saved it. Maxed at 7300. 2nd flight got to 8500 and 8400 with one nearly 2000' thermal. Fine day! Once again, the Air Sailing folks were apologizing for conditions that, in Byron, would be to die for. Dinner that night is hamburger and hot dog left-overs from the Monday night barbecue.
Wednesday--Here’s a picture of Mark outside our Mt. Shasta digs, as we prepare breakfast for the big day in front of us. The predictions for Wednesday call for conditions far superior to the days before, with the outlook for Thursday and Friday even better. Dave Cunningham instructs us on how to fix up a bargraph to record our altitudes with an eye towards earning silver altitude (about 3400’ climb from lowest point but when you use a barograph, Dave explains, it's prudent to climb a whole lot more). Rolf widens the radius of our playground to 10 nm. I get my stuff together in the trusty 1-26, and get ready to launch. Here's what the logbook says: Release at 7300; eventually go to 13.5! Fabulous thermalling flight with several climbs above 13K. Left on a valley tour from 13K, got to Moon Rocks at 7K, found a thermal that went to 12K. Then did a final tour of the valley before landing. This landing was my third spot-landing for Bronze. The flight also satisifed the Silver altitude gain. A super flight!! At 3.5 hours it was my best flight ever. After our flights, Dave shows us how to properly mark the barograph trace to make the badge claim. That night Mark, Taylor and I go out for beer and pizza at the first shopping center outside of Air Sailing, about 17 miles down the road. The Spanish Springs Round Table is a definite recommendation.
Thursday--The weather report is for super lift. Wind is now from a sensible direction. We will be landing, on the usual runway 21, not 03. The only issue is the K-index which is greater than 20. Rolf says that’s a sign that we may get overdevelopment late in the afternoon. "What’s overdevelopment?" "That’s when there are clouds everywhere and the sun stops hitting the ground."
Dave talks about badges and requirements. Then we get down to the morning's major piece of business; what to do about the Friday night banquet. We vote for Mexican delivered to Air Sailing.
I decide to have a go at the five hour endurance. Eat an early lunch, load up 09H with a barograph, water and cookies and my gps flight logger. Roll 09H up to the launch line by 11:45. Red Tow hauls me skyward. And up. And up. Looking for lift. None by the Dogskins. None over the valley. Finally, around 8400' Charlie recommends I get off. My gps log shows a straight line descent to ~5400' where I began the first of three saves over the Knoll area. However, the fourth time I went back to that "well" it was dry. And so my try at the five hour endurance was over in 1:20. Not a bad flight by Byron standards but after that bit of flying, another five plus more hours was a bit out of the question. However, the day was still young. We haul 09H up to the line and I relight around 1:30 for what proved to be my best flight of the week. From the logbook: Towed to Red Rocks about 1/2 hour later. Released in thermal that took me to 13K. Spent most of the next couple hours cruising in high lift. Caught a broad cloud street in the valley west of Dogskins that allowed me to cruise down to Stead and back at 15K. Many thermals, becoming overdeveloped later in the day. Another fantastic flight at Air Sailing. On that flight, the gps shows >16K of altitude. The highest I've ever been in any sort of private plane. Dinner that night was the last of the left-over hamburgers from the Monday night barbecue. Surprisingly tasty when you’re tired from a great day of flying and had and have had a couple of beers.
Friday--Rolf talks about yesterday’s weather. Evidently the stuff I cruised down to Stead and back in was "upper level instability." "Is there’s a simple picture for upper-level instability, like there is for thermals?" Rolf says, "No." But it's good lift. Today’s discussion topic is cross-country, to start us thinking about the next step beyond Thermal Camp. After the class I make arrangements with Lee Edling, the NSA instructor, to go up for a flight in the 2-33 to do a no-altimeter accuracy landing to finish up my Bronze badge requirements. To make a long story short, third try was charmed and I duly reported to Dave Cunningham that all requirements for the Bronze Badge have been met. Then I got 09H ready for a last flight and up to the line. According to the logbook: Tow to 7200'. Released SE of airport in some lift that disappeared. Short flight…
Well, that won’t do for the last flight at Air Sailing. So, once more back to the line. This time it says: Towed to 7300' near Dogskins gap. Released in some lift which disappeared. Finally found some lift over the knoll that took me to 12500. Cruised at high altitude for a while. Finally recalled by Rolf because a front was coming thru. Decended with dive brakes from 9500 to airport in short order. Landed on 17 just before sand-storm came thru. The last bit understates a bit of drama. The 1-26 is a noisy beast. Evidently Rolf had been trying and trying to call me back before I finally heard a "09H." I just made it back before an opaque sand-storm and had one of those lessons-learned experiences. When flying in the desert, look on the ground for signs of weather coming in as well as in the sky.
We wrap up flying a bit early on Friday and celebrate with beer and Mexican cuisine an absolutely wonderful week of soaring.
Clockwise from the left: Richard Pearl, Mark Violet, Taylor Nichols, Rolf Peterson, Dave Cunningham, Ed Cook, Lee Grisham, Bear, Mike and Clark (from Hollister).
--Larry Suter
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