Chief's Chopper #2

From: GeneJock
Activity_Date:        
Remote Name: 63.194.40.62

Comments

Launched at 2:30 PM after arriving a bit after noon. Lots of people were getting blown around at launch -- see other accounts about how windy it was. The day was beginning to die down and I think that ultimately everyone did launch. Pretty quickly went up to 6900 feet, down a bit, and then up to 7200 with maximum lift being 1378 feet per minute. With that kind of altitude I figured there were a number of places I could go but had always wanted to land on my front lawn so headed south west over the valley. There were areas of strong East component in the wind and I wondered if I would be able to cross the valley before being blown past the house but I broke through those areas and had an easy ride.

Five miles out I came over the house a bit above Black Mountain and decided to try for some lift there. However I found none and returned to the valley to land. Zigzagged between the trees, touched down on the lawn at 3:20 and folded my wing with the help of my son. Then went over to my office to download my vario.

That's when the police showed up.

It seems that someone had seen and then lost sight of me over Black Mountain and called the police thinking that I was down and needed help. The policeman thought it was great that I had landed at home and we had a nice chat while he called off the helicopter which was now circling overhead. Everything was very cordial and I asked the police to thank the neighbor for his concern over my safety.

Bruce