A happy pilot and supership after the 1000K flight. August 8, 1998; Tonopah Airport, Nevada
Once in a while, planning, skill and luck combine to do great things. We were quite lucky this past summer to log 30+ hours and 1,800+ miles of cross country soaring in one week in central Nevada. This is how it came to pass at our favorite soaring spot: Tonopah.
Our first article about Tonopah (elevation 5,426 feet) and the fabulous soaring there was after a first visit in the summer of 1995 (see: http://www.ranlog.com/pasco/tph.html). At that time we spent a week there, culminating in a 550 mile flight. This confirmed to me the potential of central Nevada. July of 1996 saw a second visit to Tonopah, but a work situation forced the timing into a mediocre weather period. In 1997 we were a no show.
By early 1998, I became obsessed with Tonopah-based task planning. Most of my free time was spent iterating tasks, checking long range weather forecasts and digesting climate data. I felt a 1000K zig-zag was possible, yet the biggest barrier was not meteorologic, but psychologic. I knew from past experience that it can be difficult for me to push hard out in central Nevada knowing that a landout could result in another long walk out. Thus, I had a deep seated motivation to do everything I could to reduce this risk.
One night while discussing this with my wife, Genese, we decided that flying alone was the biggest risk. I needed a "wingman" on these tasks, who had a similar level of skill and risk/reward philosophy. Plus, said pilot had to be comfortable with aggressive flying over a desolate area. The person must also be very flexible on when to fly, as the time to be in Tonopah would be totally driven by the short term weather forecast. Genese said off the cuff, "Wouldn’t it be great if Bruce and Cathy (our friends from Australia) came over to fly with us." Great idea! Bruce and I had flown several cross countries together out of Gawler, South Australia and were comfortable with each other’s style. He also flies out of Alice Springs in central Australia, where the population density makes central Nevada look like the suburbs. And, as our guests, they would be totally flexible on timing. Ha, a captive audience!
Bruce and Cathy thought the idea quite good. After a cool Australian summer and with their upcoming winter, they were enthusiastic to spend some time in a warmer place. On top of that, they could see their daughter in the Bay Area. Through the generosity of a Santa Barbara friend, Jim Norris, we arranged a swap of Jim’s Ventus B, in exchange for time in Bruce’s Mosquito when Jim heads "down under" later this year. As with our pair flying in Australia, Bruce quipped, "This idea sounds grand, but just remember, I’ll be the sniffer, and I’ll help find lift, but I do draw the line on landing out with you." Fair enough! I had my wingman. Risk reduced!
Risk reduction #2 was to have at least a basic GPS system. I had recently installed a Garmin GPS II Plus, while Bruce brought his Garmin 12XL. In central Nevada one can easily become lost as the valleys and ridges can all look the same and there are few distinct features. Not having to worry about where a turnpoint is or knowing exact distance to a landing strip (especially the one you can’t see) was a great relief, particularly for Bruce as this was his first time in this area.
Finally, risk reduction #3 was to carry cell phones on board. Although coverage is not 100% across Nevada, it was good enough to allow reasonably reliable and direct contact with our crews. This greatly lowered the anxiety level for everyone.
As the El Nino winter dragged on, we thought summer might never arrive. However, the long range forecasts were steadfast in declaring June/July/August to be average to slightly warmer than normal across southern Nevada (Figure 1).
Figure 1. June/July/August 1998 climate outlook posted mid-May 1998
This was difficult to believe as the rains continued through early June. Sure enough, by mid-July, good heating in central Nevada was generating 16,000 ft.+ cloudbases.
We settle on July 24 – August 14 as the window for Bruce and Cathy to visit with a stay in Tonopah from August 1 – 9. As that week came closer, I spent a few minutes every day checking a number of different weather data sources detailed in next month’s article "Central Nevada Task Planning".
Also, by early July I talked local pilot and friend, Marc Ramsey, into joining us at Tonopah. He had patiently listened over the years as I extolled the virtues of Tonopah, so now, starved as we all were for some booming soaring, he was excited at the prospects. Besides, he needed some strong conditions to really see what his new DG-303 could do!
The 8 hour drive out to Tonopah was uneventful, except for Bruce sampling the uniquely American "Hot Pocket" convenience store sandwich on the way. This was to keep his digestion upset for some time. The Yosemite views did make up for the food to a degree.
Once at Tonopah, we noticed some changes in the 2 years since our last visit. The Best Western is now definitely the nicest hotel and there’s a completely new subdivision on the north side of town. Cathy said Tonopah reminded her of Coober Pedy, a town south of Alice Springs, Australia. Out at the airport, the huge ramp had all the big weeds removed providing a very large landing alternate to the runway. Most importantly, we were concerned about Mark Petersen, the proprietor of Desert Flying Service. His wife, Linda, passed away recently after a long illness, so we were glad and relieved to see how he’d re-committed to make a go of the operation. Mark provides oxygen, tows, gas, maintenance services, weather observations, cheeseburgers and good company. He had hired Bob as an extra tow pilot, too. The greatest joy on the Tonopah tarmac is the deep morning silence broken only by the occasional ambulance flight or Antonov An-2 visit. No kidding, the US Air Force operates one enormous Russian An-2 biplane out of the Tonopah Test Range. It’s the only aircraft there that uses AvGas, so it comes to Tonopah every few days to refuel.
As in previous years, the Las Vegas Soaring Club had several members at Tonopah including Jim Dingess (DG-600), Jim Madson (Jantar 2), and Terry Carlson (ASW-20). As always, Bill Seed, who worked for several years to help Mark setup the oxygen and tow operation, was there with his DG-600, waiting for a day to fly straight out to Canada.
Sunday, August 2 forecast: Trigger: 76@10am; Max: 96@3pm; Max Alt: 16,803 ft; 902 fpm; Light winds. We launched at 2pm and flew locally in mostly blue conditions with a few small cu popping at 4pm near 17,000 feet. This is our third trip out to Tonopah and, as before, I feel intimidated by the vast desolation. The forecast for the week is for improved conditions every day with a possible peak Thursday through Saturday. We have a good week; now the challenge is to pick the right day.
Experience haa shown that central Nevada super conditions exist in a fairly narrow range of humidity, instability and temperature where relatively small changes make a big difference in the day’s conditions. Thus, you often can have either over-development or blue conditions. Therefore, the concern is if/when to abort a task to get back in time to save your energy for the next day. The worst case scenario is to push hard thinking you can make it, land out, then be too tired to fly the next day which, of course, would be a super day. From our first visit, Pete Williams clued me into watching for first cu over Mt. Jefferson (40 miles to the North) by 9 to 9:30am indicating an early start to a good day.
Monday, August 3 forecast: Trigger: 83@10:30am; Max: 97@4:30pm; Max Alt: 15,000 ft; 800 fpm; Very light winds. Preparing to launch, Bill Seed notices that Bruce’s tailwheel is scraped down nearly to the axle. Somehow a rock jammed the wheel and so made it a skid. Crisis! On inspection, we think a rollerblade wheel will do nicely, but where to get one? None are sold in town (it’s a small town). Fortunately, our cool thinking crew checks at the local thrift store and voila!, a used set of rollerblades for $8! The fit is perfect, and Jim’s Ventus now has 7 spare tailwheels. Once again, a good crew saves the day. It’s just as well we don’t fly, as this day is the weakest we’ll see.
Tuesday, August 4 forecast: Trigger: 86@11am; Max: 99@3:30pm; Max Alt: 15,373ft; 839fpm; Very light winds. I’m becoming anxious. The outlook shows Wednesday or Thursday to be very good, but I have to restrain myself from pushing on this day, a relatively weak day. We launch at 2pm and fly out towards Currant keeping near Highway 6. It’s hot, no cu and we’re between 3,000 and 9,000 feet AGL (9,000 – 14,000 feet MSL). When you fly out here, anything below 5,000 feet AGL is VERY low. We check out a few landing strips and pass by the landmark "Lunar Crater" lava flow. We head back to Tonopah and hit a late afternoon cu that take us to 16,000 feet. It’s a good indicator for tomorrow as the humidity is on the rise and the upper level high is weakening. Cathy is enjoying the dry heat; it reminds her of central Australia. Marc Ramsey arrives that evening.
Wednesday, August 5 forecast: Trigger: 83@11am; Max: 100@3pm; Max Alt: 18,000ft; 925fpm; Light winds. I declare a 1000K zig-zag task with the first leg northeast along the Monitors, Diamonds and Rubys. First cu, as expected, pops off Mt. Jefferson at 9:30am. Bruce is first off at 10:15am and is working 3-4 knot lift. I launch at 10:30am and we’re soon at 11,000 feet and heading north under the clouds. By noon we’re dolphining along between 15,000 to 17,000 feet with a tail wind making for great time up to Eureka, but then the clouds end just north of Eureka on the Diamonds. We hurtle along hoping for lift in the blue, but it’s not to be. Just north of Overland Pass, I call off the task as we have another 30 miles to go on the Rubys, but not a cloud in sight. This has happened to me before where the Monitors and Diamonds are great, but for some reason the Rubys are dead. Bill Seed has raved about the Rubys, but perhaps I simply have bad timing. Looking to avoid the "landout/burnout, then miss the great day" situation, we follow the clouds west towards Austin, out into areas I have not been before. The clouds are clearly aligned with the ridges, as expected.
Now free to follow the clouds, it’s great fun zooming along at 110mph between thermals. Bruce, who’s been flying the Ventus dry, and I are about equal with a climb advantage to him, but we’re close on the run. Marc is on a 500K task and his enthusiasm is evident over the radio, reminding me of how I felt flying here my first time. The unique experience of a good day in central Nevada is that you can "fun fly" and casually cover 500K without breaking a sweat. It’s amazing.
We turn where the clouds end 25 miles north of Austin, past Mt. Callaghan, and return along the Toiyabe range dolphining along under the cu. A fast final glide puts us back at Tonopah by 4:30pm having run over 370 miles. Bruce is impressed with the conditions, as is Marc, who logged 70mph on his task.
Thursday, August 6 forecast: Trigger: 83@11am; Max: 97@3pm; Max Alt: 18,000ft; 1375fpm; Moderate SW winds. I again declare a 1000K zig-zag of Bald Mt. Air; Lincoln Co. Air; Cherry Creek and return for 625 miles. Bruce again launches first at 10:30am, and I at 10:45am. Today we scratch and scratch and scratch for 45 minutes before getting high enough to head into the mountains. On course, the clouds work great and we turn Bald Mt. at 1:05pm, on schedule thanks to the tailwind. Bases are at 17,000 to 18,000 feet, but now on this SSW leg, it’s tough getting a good climb. The sky looks great, but I can only manage 6-7 knot average climbs, when I’m expecting 8-10 knots. Bruce extends his lead on me, and is climbing well. I’m a bit frustrated and push harder only to wind up very low (2,000 feet AGL) over Pioche, about 10 miles short of the turn. I’m now an hour behind schedule.
After a slow climb to 18,000 feet, it’s out to the turnpoint. I’m promptly treated to an impressive flyby of a KC-135 tanker followed by four A-10 Thunderbolts practicing refueling. I keep an eye on them as they appear to be centered on my turnpoint, Lincoln County Airport! Back to my saving cloud at Pioche, then north to Geyser for a key decision. There are two streets ahead, one on the ridge west of Ely, the other on the east ridge. The east ridge street looks stronger but requires a small detour. Thinking it not worth it, I take the west ridge. Mistake! Should have gone with the stronger street. I make ok time, but am getting lower coming up to Cherry Creek. Bruce passes me heading back out from the turn to the ridge I just left. My photo is taken from 3,000 feet AGL. Time: 6:15pm and we’re 174 miles away from home. For the first time a sinking feeling deep in my stomach surfaces as thoughts loom of a landout. I dump my water and make my third low save of the day from the pass west of town. I haven’t heard from Bruce in several hours and surmise from the scratchy messages earlier that his battery died. I’m now concerned for both Bruce and myself, so I try the cellphone. Miracle of miracles, he answers! He’s now 50 miles ahead of me at 17,000 feet and can make the Base Camp military strip. Relieved, I refocus on my problems. I head for a light rain column looking for lift and sure enough, there’s a smooth 4 knot climb to 18,000 feet. It’s now nearly 7pm.
The next rain column is well to the west, north of Duckwater. Sunset is in about an hour. If I can connect to the storm, I can make Base Camp too. Halfway there in smooth air my new Borgelt B40 vario suddenly indicates 10 knot sink. Damn. I speed up for a minute or two, then it dawns on me that this doesn’t feel like super sink. Slowing down, the PZL shows no sink, but the Borgelt is still pegged down. Suddenly it reverts to zero and it hits me: I had drained the internal 9V battery. Out of laziness, I had not wired the vario to the main battery. Arggggh…….
With the self-inflicted altitude loss, only one (slow) vario, and a setting sun, I admit defeat and head to the Currant strip at 110mph. Landing at sunset, it’s been 537 miles in 9 hours. A local rancher greets me and lets me know there are no services in Currant. A four hour wait until Genese arrives is quite peaceful and pleasant as a gentle downcanyon breeze blows right through Currant, keeping the bugs away. I can see headlights coming down Highway 6 from over 20 miles away, so it’s a guessing game as to which one is for me. My family arrives with Marc, who volunteered to accompany them and Cathy on the retrieve(s). Good thing too, as Marc’s Ventus B rigging experience comes in handy when Cathy picks up Bruce from Base Camp. As we derig, Marc notices a scorpion who’s come out for his evening dinner. My daughter Ondine has never seen one in the wild, so I wake her up and we poke at it for a moment. Driving back from Currant I swear I saw a cu forming over Troy Peak to the south around midnight. No joke! It’s 2am when we arrive at the hotel. On his 500K task earlier that day, Marc had averaged 78 mph.
Friday, August 7 forecast: Trigger: 80@10am; Max: 95@3pm; Max Alt: 18,000ft; 1308fpm; Moderate SW winds. I don’t fly today as I’m exhausted from the retrieve and the previous day’s flying. Therefore, per the rules, this day was spectacular (Figure 2).
Figure 2. GOES-9 image for August 7 at 3:30pm Pacific Time
Bruce flies locally, while I take pictures (Figure 3.) and prepare for Saturday, our last flying day.
Figure 3. August 7 view N to E from the Tonopah
airport. Just another central Nevada day.
[click for larger image]
Saturday, August 8 forecast: Trigger: 76@10:15am; Max: 91@3pm; Max Alt: 18,000ft; 1200fpm; Moderate SW winds. I declare another 1000K zig-zag, Bald Mt. Air; Goldfield Air; Jacobsen Ranch (N of Eureka) and return. The pressure is on: Either I perform now or wait another 12 months.
The cu are late popping on the Monitors and I think lift may not start soon enough. Bruce launches at 10:45am and reports good lift in the blue. I follow and immediately climb up to departure altitude, heading out at 11:25am. The cu are lighter on the Monitors than previous days, but the Toiyabe and Toquima ranges to the west have good streets already. By noon we are dolphining along and turn Bald Mt. airport at 1:05pm (86 mph this leg). Now heading into a direct headwind of 20-25 knots it’s slow, but our cloud street on the Monitor range has firmed up. Passing Tonopah, the only clouds in front of us are lined up directly to the turn. We round Goldfield at 3:45pm for a second leg average of 66mph. I’m relieved to have the tailwind but anxious as we are 15 minutes behind schedule. We blast along up to Eureka and begin to hear the Crystal Air Force heading towards Austin. Today is Henry Combs’ 200th Diamond distance flight, so the radio is abuzz about where they’ll eat after everyone lands at Austin. A spectacular achievement. Marc left the day before and is now flying out of Minden with the PASCO league. Bruce updates him on our progress and Marc reports that it’s windy and blue around Minden due to a jetstream directly overhead.
Approaching Eureka we are greeted by a large storm covering the entire valley, blanketing the last turn. I skirt up the west side of the storm looking for an opening. The storm is brilliantly white being lit up from the sun behind us. Bruce writes: "So there we were, 200km from home, heading out, 6pm, sun getting low, dying cumulus on the way home and rainshowers ahead. Feeling terrible about being a party-pooper, I radioed Kempton (he was rarely in sight) to tell him that I could handle either the time of day or the rain, but not both."
Passing abeam 10 miles west of Jacobsen Ranch, I concede the task, but know I have the "moral victory" of making a 1000K IF we complete the last leg. Time: 6pm (third leg: 73mph) Now to get home.
The key to the "end of day" strategy here are towering cu or thunderstorms on the final leg. This can keep me going past sunset, but the trick is to get to them high enough to catch the lift because late in the day, of course, it’s tougher down lower. Bruce takes the direct route down the Monitors, but after my mistake two days earlier, I head off for the stronger looking but slightly off track street over the Toquima, the next range to the west. There’s a small rain shower on the north end of the Toquimas that I head for at a conservative 90mph. Sure enough, a couple thermals bring me to 17,000 feet. From here I cruise between 60 – 80mph straight ahead and stay between 15,000 and 18,000 feet for the next 50 miles down the range. Near the end of the street, I’m really getting cold as the sun is low and it’s near freezing outside. Bruce has a bit of a fright as he gets down to 12,000 feet at 7pm 50 miles out, but finds a gentle 3 knots to final glide. This is the last lift he hits before the airport, so he feels he got the maximum energy out of the day!
I stay conservative due to the headwind, and so wind up at 15,000 feet 35 miles out, then it’s a smooth 130mph to the airport. The view is spectacular, with long "Monument Valley" type shadows cast over an already darkened ground, with the atmosphere a reddish tint out to the eastern horizon. Bruce is 10 minutes ahead and zooms over the crowd at the Tonopah race track festivities. I still have 2,000 feet over the airport, but I’m ok with that. On landing, Genese gives this cold, but happy pilot a joyous welcome. I have done what I set out to do, a 1000km flight in our Standard Libelle.
The next day we pack up and leave. Turns out we had good timing; the day was entirely blue. A week later at our going-away dinner for our guests, Bruce presents me with an engraved plaque stating the 1004km task and his "official" observation of the flight. A pleasant surprise to cap off a wonderful visit. The plaque now proudly hangs on the soaring wall at home.
We will return to Tonopah again next year.
Next Month: Central Nevada Task Planning