Virtual wave flying today!

[Remember, my "flights" are virtual, for practice planning purposes. The Phoenix is still on it's way to Miami from Europe.]

Satellite photo - The wind is blowing west to east

Jan 3 - Friday morning:

It's 30 degrees at Moriarty, NM, but at least the wind isn't blowing on the ground. The strong west winds aloft are producing a fantastic wave cloud that stretches the entire state from Colorado to Texas. 

This is a wonderful soaring opportunity, so I'll be flying today instead of traveling. Jan isn't keen to fly for several hours with the engine off (no heat!), in the winter, and on oxygen, so she'll amuse herself on the ground.

What's wave? Take look at this explanation (scroll to the last paragraph and picture). Because the lift is aligned with the mountains, it's like a highway: the rising air is in the same place as long as the wind blows, so the glider can fly straight and fast without turning. On a day like today, flights of hundreds of miles are possible. Here's my route (magenta line) for today's "faux flight" (click to enlarge):

Albuquerque is at the center, Moriarty is 40 miles to east at the western tip of the route, blue/yellow are clouds, wind barbs show about 30 knot winds

I expect to get as high as 18,000 feet (12,000 feet above the ground), the general limit for pilots not flying under direct air traffic control, like airliners. From 10,000 feet and higher, I'll use supplemental oxygen from the cylinder mounted behind the seats, with the flow automatically adjusted for altitude and breathing rate.

"Flight" report later today - time to take off!

Friday evening: The wave clouds gradually dissipated, probably because drier air blew in. The rising air (the "lift" in gliderspeak) continued almost unaffected, as the winds did not change very much. Saturday looks like it will be windy in the afternoon, so we'll try to "leave" as soon as the morning warms up a bit.