Weather to Fly? Chelan: Monday Report.

The cycles came up, splitting a line between the Green Monster and Between The Rocks. Not quite freight trains but quite solid. The cycles are stronger than I expected based on the light laps projections for 2:00 and the flaky cu’s that were just languishing in the distance. Matthew is off launch with a tip tuck and minor asymmetric between the rocks and my kit is ready to go….

We often document our best flights. New highs and max distance. I had a several bests last week, new best height and new best distance but this blog recounts my best no fly to date.

It is all about the weather. Matthew called at 6:00 the night before. He planned on being on the east side on Monday and wondered if I was game. – Always looking at the options I felt that Saddle looked like the best bet but Matt had had too many skunks there and was coming over Hwy 2 giving us a choice between Chelan and Baldy. – Initially Baldy looked good but by the ,morning the N NW flow became overwhelming. Ellensburg weather underground projected NW 11 at 2:00, NW 13 at 5:00. Yakima was SE @ 4 and SE 4 with a turn to NW 9 by 8:00.

This pattern told me that mid day Baldy might work but it would be an early launch and a windy afternoon if it worked at all.

Saddle continued to look good and Chelan also looked ok. The calls went back and forth with a decision to give Chelan a try. – Weather Underground at Wenatchee showed 0 at 11:00 and 2:00 but WNW 14 at 5:00. (Should have considered such a large transition as a bad omen.)

On the way to Chelan, Matthew, already at the soccer field, reported stagnant conditions. By 1:00 we were on top with tempting little cu’s fuzzed up in the distance. No dustys were noted on the flats and the sky was 98% blue. – The laps rate was just enough to release lift but the building WNW winds were becoming strong enough to blow the light lift apart. The cu in the distance were not building just fuzzy and weak. One after another strong cycles kept coming up the monster. After Matt’s launch I watched as he hit lift and didn’t take the bait. Why doesn’t he turn into it? Hmmm. What is wrong with this picture? – Launch – Don’t launch? – I could turn that lift into something, couldn’t I?

Matt has been flying years longer than I have and he is in the LZ – The cu are not getting better the wind is building on the river and the lake, both are getting darker. 3 hours driving up and 3 hrs driving back – gas at 4.29 a gallon, one more day away from work and I want to fly. So I do my final check and call Matt.

How was the flight? – “I’m on the ground” he says with a big laugh. – He asks what I was going to do. The wind looks like it is going to get worse, the projections call for stronger flow and Matt concurs, so I throw my wing back in the bag and drive down. It was my best no fly to date.