The Sac | Soaringroadtrip

This was a flight from Sac I had started down the ridge toward the river and later Charles joined me I made it pass Pillow a bit. Charles made all the way to the river past Paxton. On the way back I landed in a field just east of the Pillow gap. Later Charles landed there too.

Allan B.

11/24/2020

Yesterday; 11-24 two flew the Sac. Joe G and I Will H got up over launch. Had short flights. Just one of those days. Cold and punchy. Was worth it though as always.
Will H

3/15/2021

Yes, Bacil and I flew the Sac on Monday. We both got over an hour of soaring. Bacil had just launched when I arrived. He flew down the ridge most of the way to the river and flew over the back and landed at a golf course. I did not get launched until after 4:00. At first it was not easy to stay at times but later on it glassed off and the ridge lift was very consistent. After I landed and went up to pick up my truck the launch conditions looked very nice.
Thanks to Joe and Karen for their help.

Allan B.

4/6/21

As fcst, nice day at da sac. Choppy until launches commenced about 1600. Blue skys with plentiful smoooth thermals and boating around out in the valley. Tops to 3400 above. J & K, roger, allen, and me sucked it up.......
bob

I knew it was good!
Just by walking around outside at 5pm just south of blue mtn by bake oven knob.
The air was smooth and steady from the NW
Glad you all had awesome flights
Will H

I had a good time on the U2 145 for the first time. Got 2500' over launch flew way out in the valley. Then it turned too west and got lighter and we all had to land. Stayed up for just under an hour and a half.
Allan B.

5/6/21
We had a good turnout at the Sac Thursday. New PG pilot Bill and Julie and I met over at Joe and Karen's place around 11am waiting for the winds to calm. We had the rare opportunity to play pinball on Joe's vintage pinball machines. To burn some more time Bill, Karen and Julie used a rope saw to trim tree limbs to the right of the mound.
Joe was first off the hill around 3:30? Aron was next to go on the mound, then backed off launch becase it was rowdy, then back on launch again...waiting, waiting for a good cycle...still rowdy and cross, backed off launch again, tired of waiting and had to pee the longer the waiting went on. Finally went for a sledder around 4:30.
Then Allan B. flew making a few passes, it looked like he was getting up just before being booted out of the air.
Next was Bill D. flying PG and had a graceful flight to his chosen landing spot on the farm road.
Next Karen was off and sledded out to an east facing landing on the top of the corn field.
Chuck B. Flew a nice flight and nice flare spot landing by the windsock. Thanks to Tom Allen for assisting and being Chuck's Observer.
Aron decided to try again hoping for a wonder wind. The launch wind was light and probably could have ran longer/harder, anyway it went off ok as a ground skimmer feeling like a fast swoop then had plenty of elevation over the trees. Aron's goal for the day was to get a challenging slot launch and tight landing field practice with the Northwing Liberty to get comfortable on the new wing on other sites that require a higher performance wing...learning that transition to a higher performance glider is good but requires patience while figuring out the flight character of the beast.
It was great seeing everyone and having some good conversations. Bob and Cook came out today as well. Bob was itching to fly, began setting up and was missing the base tube...shucks, was spared the rest of the sledder agony. It was great to hear the various HG stories and history of several flying sites as we talked with Bob, plus the sweet wafting aroma of a good cigar...thanks Bob for all the legwork of the past that let's us fly today.
Thanks Karen for the great explanation of landing approaches for the Sac and Elizabethville! ...plus the bird watching experience.
Let's fly soon,
Aron

5/12/21

https://ayvri.com/scene/qv5px7z2jr/ckomb5bwx00013a6iif4j8n9l

Jim Messina

5/13/21

Thursdays Sac was fcst to be mellower than Wed, and it was. Bout 6 pilots flew. It was the classic Sac mixed bag. Doggers for three and stay-up- able air for three. Times varied from 2+ hours at 6,000 over to an hour of scratching to stay up in aggravating air......DA SAC!!!!..........Bob

5/16/21

Another Epic flight at the Sac in central PA. This was a day in the making of personal bests and firsts achieved. My first foot launching on my new Moyes RX5 pro and landing in a restricted LZ. Both were executed well. I flew across the valley to the upwind ridge a little over 5 miles. I also had my longest vertical gain of 3,500 ft at an average climb rate of 850 fpm. Also, my highest MSL of 8,000ft gain in North-East America. A 2 hr 4 min flight was enough for me with wind chill temps in the 20's which took a toll on my hands. Other Pilots Pete L., Jim M., Charlie A., and Bacil D. flew early.

https://ayvri.com/scene/mxkox29wk4/ckos54ujv00013b6igz7pzgcm

Ric Caylor

6/16/21

I launched into XC conditions at 1:36 16 June 2021 and got up on the ridge fairly easy. Then flew to the Klingerstown gap mostly on ridge lift. I didn't go any farther west because of the wind crossing from the NW and it being a good chance of having cycles of not enough ridge lift. Since the forecast was for the thermal lift possibly reaching over 7000' MSL I decided to try and break my personal altitude record in the eastern USA. At one point in the flight I did reach 7400' MSL which was a record for me in the eastern USA. I also stayed up for 4 hours and 6 minutes partly to see if I have the stamina to fly XC. Here is the track: https://ayvri.com/scene/0jgrreyeko/ckq1hqsze00011w69yjx9rbja

Allan B.

6/17/21

Several HG pilots flew the Sac 6-17
NNW 10-15 MPH blue sky high pressure good lapse rate. I had a 2hr 40 min flight.
A little hard to get up at first but then climbed to 1300 ft over launch. Have to work on my approach. Allan B. flew and soared very well. Bacil had a good sledder. Joe, Bob and Tom were set up to launch when I had to leave. The air was getting better before I left so Im sure they had nice air to fly in. Will H

8/14/21 and 8/15/21

I had a 5 hour weekend at the Sac. 3.5 hours on Saturday and 1.5 hours on Sunday. It was mostly ridge lift but some light thermals. Mostly cloudy on both days when I flew. I got 1200' over launch on Saturday and 800' on Sunday. Allan B.

9/2/21 and 9/3/21

I had two good days at the Sac Thursday and Friday. Soared over an hour both days. Here is the ayvri track for Friday: https://ayvri.com/scene/0jgrreyeko/ckt55ecee00011w69tt2ys6pd

Allan B.

9/29/21 and 9/30/21

Our flight report from the Sac Wednesday and Thursday went like this:
William, Tom Schaffer, Basil, Jeff Vaughn, Allan B., Pat, Joe, Bob Beck, Amanda and I all fully enjoyed this past Wednesday. Some made cloudbase, some flew twice, others did extended sleds...all was boo waah. The evening concluded with dinner and pinball at the Gorrie's for those who were able to abide.
Thursday consisted of just Joe and I and he assisted me off in light north conditions under an ever changing sky.
The more I fly the more I want to get out there even if it's for just a dogger.
Just Happy to Be, Karen

12/14/21

Our day started out as predicted. Joe confirmed 10mph "like a fan" around 10AM here at the Sac. We hoped the forecast would hold, met with Alan B. a little before 11AM. This time when we arrived on launch we were seeing lighter winds and slight NE conditions:(

It started to pick up a tiny bit and straighten out when Joe decided to give it a try at around 12:30. He had a perfect launch and poked out into the valley where he took a light thermal over the landing field, then he proceeded to swim in lift and search for more. When asked later about why he didn't try to soar the ridge, he said the ridge was in shadow this time of year with the sun behind launch and in these light wind conditions, the lift would hopefully be over the fields in the valley... it was. Joe soared, got up to 800 ft. over launch for about 30 minutes...meanwhile Alan and I hoped to launch, but with very light conditions, the wind crossing from the NE more and more I went to retrieve Joe and Alan backed off of launch. Alan and I waited and hoped but alas, we broke down our gliders on top after watching a continuing 45 degree cross as conditions deteriorated later that afternoon. We confirmed with Joe that as the wind started crossing more and becoming lighter that his fun ride boating anywhere just turned off as if by a switch and he had to land.

Joe is still smiling:)

We look foreword to flying with all of you soon,

Karen

4/30/22

I had a good flight at the Sac today. Got up to 5100' MSL and flew for just under 3 hours. The air was on the rough side for not better than the lift was. But not too rough. Big thermals but broken up. A lot of up and down a lot of sink between thermals.

Allan B.

8/12/22
I was pretty excited about finally soaring this challenging site after 10+ attempts over the past 3 years.
This day was not a light day, in fact it was epic. 2 pilots went xc and flew from Klingerstown PA to Parkesburg PA to the Victory Brewing Company, topping out at 8500msl...not me!
Here is a link to my flight track....The Sac Friday 8-12-22
https://ayvri.com/scene/g0jgxqxnko/cl6rxsk4v00012a6j9s60b8ny
Also a video with some different views. My Keel camera and Wing camera crapped out after like 1:45 with dead batteries, but for some reason the Kingpost camera stayed on for the whole flight so that is the strange landing view you will see.
Video:
https://youtu.be/tGi9kI_vPGU
Aron

Great video Aron and great flight, really fun to watch and see you do so well! Some personal bests and safe flights were had by all. I believe the final count was 13 pilots, two support pilots and two wire crew, big gang. Saturday was Doug and Natalie, Karen and Joe, Bob and Caroline...You all pulled the latter up when you all flew yesterday, three great sled rides today though along with pinball playing consolation prizes!
J&K

Task was SAC-> RT125 ->Victory, just over 65miles. I think it was 4 or 5 thermals to goal. Could have easily gone another 20-30 miles, arrived at goal at 3k over and lots of good working clouds nearby. Had we gone on course right after launching probably could have made massey. Goal field was extremely small but just across street from victory brew pub. Will post avry track logs when at computer and do little write up.

Charles A.

Here's a clip from yesterday's flight, I'm basically over the north side of Pinegrove, Pa. This climb eventually topped out near 8500 msl, with incredible views of the Sac, 501 Tower city and E-vill. Eventually landing around 7pm at Victory brewing in Parkesburg, Pa
https://vimeo.com/739208344

https://ayvri.com/scene/qv5px7z2jr/cl6tfg43l0001356uuobalqo3
Jim M.

https://youtu.be/3CFZsLs1WJY

Bari

Track log for Jim and I here: https://ayvri.com/scene/z15yrzn1jx/cl6uz0jm400022a6lqiqqkgnp. Write up of flight below.

First off, a big thanks to Bacil for calling and texting early in the week about Friday’s weather. Jim Messina and I connected and started planning for either a drag race-type flight to the river and back or a dog leg OTB to Victory Brewing (102km). For the OTB flight, we needed a local driver as it wasn’t practical to go back for cars. Turns out Jim Carrol lives 3min away in Wayne and agreed to drive after his flight so we loaded up in my Jeep and headed off to SAC around 9:45am. Huge thanks to Jim Carrol as well, couldn’t have done it without him.

I was first to launch and had an extended sleder after which no one launched until conditions improved. I had a race breakdown leaving the harness packed and tossing the battens and base tube into the car and partially stuffing the glider in its bag.

For my 2nd flight I was 4th off launch and easily climbed out. I connected with Bacil and Aron and thermaled with Aron at the same altitude for a bit until he left around 4,000ft and I continued to climb up to 5,000ft. Instead of going on course, I came back to launch to see how Jim was doing only to see him back in the setup area. I decided to linger around and wait as I didn’t want to fly the course alone. I hooked another thermal and was back to 5k ft over launch, however, I was starting to get impatient as it was already 4pm which is a late start for a long task and there was a beautiful cloud street running to goal from the 1st turn point (where RT125 crosses SAC ridge). After topping out I flew back to the ridge 2km to the east to get a slow start as I continued to wait for Jim. I hooked a great thermal on the ridge taking me to 8,300ft climbing 4k feet at an average climb of 450 fpm. Jim still hadn’t launched so I decided to go on course without him. I stuffed the bar and easily tagged the first turnpoint at 6,500ft and started the downwind journey to Victory brewpub. I lost about 500ft flying from the turnpoint to the next thermal and covered 4km. The next thermal took me from 6,00ft to 8,000 with peak climbs of 800fpm and 500-600fpm on the averager. This put me in a great position to cross the ridges and forested area downwind. I went on a 16km glide to a great looking cloud and arrived at 5,000ft and center punched the thermal into a 1,200fpm climb and maintained 800fpm on the averager taking it to 8,200ft, this was the best thermal of the day. A 10km glide straight down course line ensued to a good-looking cloud arriving at 6,500ft and climbing to just under 8,000ft. It was now 5pm and the day was getting noticeably softer i.e. climbs were 350-450fpm so decided to slow down. After topping out I was 61km from goal and had to make a big decision either go straight down course line over better terrain but into the blue, or go east towards clouds in the distance. I opted to go off to the east on a 21km glide to the clouds which put me to the north of a large, forested section and up against Reading airspace. After the long glide I was down to 3,200ft and hooked a weak 200fpm thermal under one of the remaining clouds. While the thermal was weak it was in a great lift line, so I drifted 14km constantly watching my glide ratio to goal as I circled (about 20:1 at 7,00f0t). At about 32km from goal I went on final glide from 7,000ft but did stop for one last climb on the way as the cloud was too good to pass up and there was no rush. I was also concerned about the LZs near the brewery so wanted to arrive with plenty of altitude. The last climb took me back over 8,000ft and I had a nice 26km glide to goal arriving at 3,000ft. I spend a solid 5min planning my landing and trying to figure out how to land in walking distance of the brewery and opted for very technical base leg between a barn and tree line turning a very low final into the LZ. About half way through my 1st beer I heard Jim on the radio and he was 24km out and one thermal away from goal. He managed to dig out and arrive at goal with 700ft and I radiod him some info on the landing fields.

Made little video as well: https://youtu.be/e_-aaXduzhU

Charles A.

8/13/22
Nice day to be on the mtn. Joe,Karen,Doug, Nat, Me & Cook. Enjoyed it. STFI early afternoon then did what Da Sac does best. Went way x and dead to 5.
Joe, me and Doug, in that order, got off about 1630 and all had very quick trips to the LZ.
Interesting launch for me. Just as i was taking my last step it felt like something stopped my right foot, I flew off OK but the base tube wasn't where it was supposed to be and I missed it. I screamed like a school girl, quickly got everything under control but my harness boot was all twisted up and I couldn't kick in. I flew out of the slot nice and level and once clear had to reach down and un - snarl the boot. Rest of the flight was routine with a no step landing.
Everyone saw the launch and had a slightly different opinion. All said the nose angle/run was good but thought I tripped, or stepped in a hole, or pulled a leg muscle or something grabbed my foot????
I inspected my harness this AM and all looks OK. Only thing I can think of is there are a number bungie cords running up and down in the bootand I'm thinking I MIGHT have gotten one of them crossed up and my foot got entangled somehow during my run. That would account for the bunched up boot.
I will do a much more detailed hang check in the future...............Bob

8/20/22

https://youtu.be/SMG1gld-9_0

Allan B.

8/27/22

Here are a couple of today's flights.

I want to thank Karen and Joe for the warm kind welcome to the club.

https://youtu.be/0gSYIfLW6Bc
https://youtu.be/d670MWD6Pcw

-Juan

9/15/22

Sled rides until the magic winds turned on around 1700. Joe ,Karen ,Rocco,Tom Shafer,Dave Black and Doug were in attendance. Nice day on the mountain.

9/29/22

I got to the Sac about 2:00 and it was blowing in nice. Launched 3:11 after waiting a while on the mount. My glider's nose was a bit too high when I launched and I dipped low in the slot but had plenty of speed to get out. Turned right and went up over 1000' in a short time. So I headed to the Klingerstown gap and was high enough to cross it. After that the lift was not nearly as good so I turned around about half way to the Pillow gap.

I got below launch at the klingerstown gap on the way back and had to hang around and find some lift to cross it. After a while I got 700' over launch again and crossed the gap without any trouble. When I got back to launch the lift started getting better and I went up the ridge to Route 125 and then back to launch and soon after I landed. I had a 2 hour and 21 minute flight, highest point was 3570' MSL. I had a nice landing in light north winds. Here is the ayvri track for some reason it does not show my landing. https://ayvri.com/scene/0jgrreyeko/cl8ql4kax00011w6aplxalmcs

Allan B.

10/27/22

It was strong winds all day here at the Sac, Basil and Alan both flew , reported rough air. They braved the bully wins I believe Allan said he made it to Pillow Gap and back. Rodger Irby ,Joe and I, Basil and Allan enjoyed the fall colors, Some from above some from below.

J&K

The Sac worked out today for Bacil and me. The air was a bit rough at times but not too bad. Ridge life was consistent but the thermals were a bit broken and your track downwind was fast. I got about 1600' over launch and flew down to the Pillow gap and back. Here is my track not sure it will work though: https://seeyou.cloud/flight/gE5y9axNLKqoBGAM

Allan B.

11/08/22

Good flights at the Sac today. Good solid lift w slight east cross. Made it down to the first gap but didn’t cross. Not enough altitude to feel confident to cross it. Alan B. Dave B. Joe G. Doug R. Jeff V. Bacil D. and I all soared. Karen G. nearly flew and was a big help to us all. Will H.

12/12/22

That’s right we flew the Sac today! Alan B. Doug Rogers and me. Solid ridge lift. Cold. Thanks Karen and Joe for valet parking. Will H

Doug, Will and me soared the Sac Monday until our fingers got cold. I got a 1000' over launch and flew to the Pillow gap and back. For an hour and a half of air time. It was 100 percent cloud cover and below freezing. The ridge lift was very consistent and smooth most of the time. Launch conditions were very nice straight in consistently. Almost like we floated out of the slot. Allan B.

1/15/23

My short flight (35 min.); although not as the rowdy Roddy Piper flight I had at Little Gap one time was pretty dynamic. “Bully wind” Lots of lift and some sink. The post frontal was strong (“three isobars across the state“ meant a lot of pressure change going on.)

Launching was tricky, you had to be on your game. My style is to hold the control frame (grape vine grip) tight against my upper arms, with sticky football gloves; then feeling the glider dancing around from the slack, I wait for ‘neutral’ she stops dancing around and I call “CLEAR”

This time I had only to take two steps 1 walking and 1 half running to be off. Holding the same attitude and only putting one hand down to the base tube till above the tree line; launched successfully. Flying around was not too hard easy lift. The usual lift lines were a little harder to stay on top of but they took me up to 1300 ft over launch. Boated around a little then landed. Good approach and nice flair. Hand warmers and neck gaiter worked well. Landed early so as not to have to break down in the dark. (Late start)

Now Bacil launched first an flew down to the river but couldn’t make it back. Alan B. launched second had a little glitch on first attempt and got off fine. He had a good flight as usual and awesome landing. Aron and Rocco decided not to fly. Rocco must have been getting ready to go over to launch and while being assisted got picked by his glider :-).Joe and Karen have their chutes being re-packed.DougR. and Natalie came also. Danny was helping too. Thanks to everyone for all their help. Will H

3/9/23

Conditions were strong. Sunny with cloud streets. Lots of up and down air. The wind was NNW at 2pm and by 5pm it was NNE. Will H. was off first at around 2:30pm and had a sink cycle snare him right after launch. Aron went to launch next around 2:45, didn't like it and backed off to wait for better air. Bacil was soon next to launch and flew to the Klingerstown gap and back. Aron launched at around 4pm, wind was still strong but not as rowdy. Got up and flew an hour. Will got second flight in. Gains were 1000-1500 over. Thanks to Joe, Karen, Danny, and Julie for assisting! It was a nice day to be out. Let's fly again soon...Aron

3/11/23

This is my track of me flying to the river and back at the Sac. It was mostly cloudy so I did not get more then 1000' over launch. When I arrived at 2:30 it was blowing over 20 MPH at times so Romano and I waited until around 4:00 to fly. Romano launched first and headed west on the ridge. I launched about 10 minutes later and easily got up in ridge lift. I headed east on the ridge to get my first waypoint, then headed west to catch up with Romano. I caught up with him at the Klingerstown gap and I crossed it. He followed me to the Pillow gap, I was a little low there so I waited for some lift to cross. Because of that Romano crossed first and he got to the river first and turned around. On the way back I was catching up with him. He got low crossing the Pillow gap and landed. I was a little higher and crossed without any problems and continued on. At the Klingerstown gap I was not high enough to cross so I flew back and forth a few times on the ridge until I gained enough attitude to cross. I made it across at about ridge height, from there it was just a ridge cruse to the main landing field. I landed close to sunset. Somehow the track shows me landing over the back, but that is not correct. That may have been because I did not turn off the Flytec right after landing.

https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6hk7kbCJOUazzOJJD6YkpV?u=i

Allan B.