Julia Karas Soaring

Here’s a bit of a delayed pirep, but a good one I hope!

Early October, Columbus Day weekend, I was invited by Cathy Williams to the Mid Atlantic Soaring Association. They did not host a regional contest this year, but they were hosting an Oktoberfest. 

The journey started off early Saturday morning (10/7), my dad and I drove up to PGC to get the 2b and we headed for M-ASA, around a 3 hour drive. We assembled the glider, but did not end up flying it on this day. The winds were strong and the task was set up to use the ridge, which I have never flown on my own. Both my dad and I, ended up getting an orientation flight in the ASK-21. I quickly realized that this airport had some character to it, with the gusty wind. My flight went quick, but my dad ended up staying up a little and thermalling. 

I really liked the aspect of the club, everyone was very friendly and took good care of the gliders, by cleaning them at the end of the day. We had dinner in the hangar, Bratwursts served by Danny Brotto. I also had the opportunity to participate in a paper airplane contest…let’s just say I didn’t win that contest. There were also some other contests for the family and student pilots, a spot landing contest, a mini task, and pumpkin carving contest. It was just such a nice environment. 

Day 2! (10/8) Here was my mistake…I released at 2000 ft. I forgot that this wasn’t a real contest, everyone took off at different times and different altitudes. The winds were still gusty, so for me, who is not used to these types of conditions, it was hard. I had trouble staying in the thermal and actually getting to the “upper band” of lift. We had a Modified Assigned Task (MAT) set with only one turn point being mandatory. I ended up only getting that turn point and coming back to land. Fighting low in gusty conditions really tired me out. My dad flew right after me, but because it was late in the day, he struggled to stay up long. We headed to back to the hotel to get some rest.

Day 3! (10/9) Now this is where the fun begins and I tell you a good story. We had a task set. I believe everyone was only worried about the last turn point because the odds were against us getting to it and coming back. The weather was much better than I had expected that day, the thermals were nice and strong. My flight started pretty well. I think I was one of the first to head out and get the first turn point. I was feeling pretty confident with my decision making and I was happy with the pace I was going. 

As we all know every flight is different and there is always a lesson to be learned. Something to remember, I was still getting accustomed to my new Oudie N, and M-ASA is located very close to P-40 (Camp David Airspace). I was flying along when I saw my Oudie N started showing me in red that I was in an airspace. Looking at this flight computer, while flying, the ring was the same color and about the same size as P-40, so immediate panic sunk in. It was actually a ring for skydivers, which I figured out using ForeFlight. This threw me off though, I lost my focus and the confidence I had at the beginning of this flight. After I figured things out, I managed to get to the next two turnpoints. However, going to the last turnpoint I made some decisions which resulted in a land out. 

My flight path with the deadly blue circle vs. Screen Shot off of ForeFlight with what it actually was.

I started to get low and passed up two weaker thermals. Why? I saw a quarry and convinced myself that it had to have something “better.” Looking back now, I was low, so I should’ve just taken whatever I got closest to me. Luckily, right next to the quarry I had a couple nice fields to pick out of. I was between two. I went to one to decide if it was better, but decided to just stay there to save time and plan my landing. Everything went smoothly. I actually landed next to a police department. I walked over there, trying to see if they could help me find the owner of the field, but there were only two ladies in the office who were not much help, so I went back to my glider. I contacted my dad who jumped right into the truck to come get me, so fast he left the chocks to the trailer on the ground haha. A few moments later, two friendly officers came out and were aware that gliders landing in fields is common. This was helpful, since we ended up driving through the department’s lawn to get the trailer onto the field. The owner of the field also eventually came out. He was a nice older man, who was honored I had chosen his field to land in. He took some pictures and even thanked me for landing in his field!

So lessons learned… look over the sectional better and don’t assume you will find better lift elsewhere if you are low. Overall, it was another fun and successful adventure! It is always nice meeting new people and M-ASA was definitely a fun place to fly out of. I hope to be back there soon.

I flew in so many places this year and there is always something new to learn and always something to improve on. I hope this inspires other people to get out there and try something new. In a podcast, Theo Von said, “Dangerous things carefully, that is such a place where kids learn.” Jordan Peterson continued by saying, “That’s the only place they learn. That’s where everyone learns everything.” I think this really sums up soaring. It’s dangerous, but we are careful and that is how we learn.