Distinctly Fall, But We Are Not Done Yet

While Labor Day is gone for another year and fall is on the horizon, Hang Glide Chicago is going strong.  Some of the best flying happens in the fall.  The colder nights and warm days combined with plowed fields make for some nice thermals.

Come out to see us.  Long range forecast is sunny and warm for this weekend!

This Weekend at Enjoy

Don't forget that this Sunday is National Aviation Day.  That means that Hang Glide Chicago will be at Indiana Dunes from 12 to 3 demonstrating hang gliding to the masses.  All are welcome. 

We'll be flying at the field all weekend as well!  Come out and see us. 

Come ENJOY a Meteor Shower

This week Saturday is a very special day.  Weather depending, we will have awesome views of the Perseids meteor shower, which is supposed to peak Saturday night.  Bring out your telescope and set up along the runway!  We'll have chairs, blankets, and blow up beds for those who just want to gaze.  We might even have popcorn. :)

Here is some more information on the meteor shower online:

https://www.space.com/32868-perseid-meteor-shower-guide.html

According to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke, the Perseids are perhaps the most popular meteor shower of the year; and in 2018, they'll be the best shower of the year. During the Perseids' peak this month, spectators should see about 60-70 meteors per hour, but in outburst years (such as in 2016) the rate can be between 150-200 meteors an hour. The meteor shower's peak will be visible both the nights of Aug. 11-12 and Aug. 12-13, Cooke said, but he's inclined this year to lean toward the night of Aug. 12-13 for the better show. (Both, however, should be spectacular.)

"This year the moon will be near new moon, it will be a crescent, which means it will set before the Perseid show gets underway after midnight," Cooke told Space.com. "The moon is very favorable for the Perseids this year, and that'll make the Perseids probably the best shower of 2018 for people who want to go out and view it." The Perseids are rich in fireballs, so the show should be even better.

Labor Day Weekend @ Enjoy

It's not too soon to mark your calendars for Labor Day Weekend at Enjoy! We'll have crazy shenanigans all weekend. 
Saturday - Bonfire and Cornhole (Bags) Tournament! 
Sunday - Get out your favorite disco gear, and come to party for our Disco Fever BBQ. (Food $10.00 per person or $8.00 if you dress up!). 
Monday - Get serious about flying with our spot landing contest. 

As always, we'll be flying our rears off, and we'll likely be jumping in the pond afterwards!  Discount camping is available for those staying the Friday through Monday.

Aviation Day at Indiana Dunes

Come out and join Hang Glide Chicago at the Indiana Dunes Welcome Center August 19, from 12 to 3.  We will have demonstration gliders out, be instructing guests on glider operations, answering all your hang gliding questions.  AND you get to jump in the simulator and experience what weight shift control is like.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Weekend flying

As some of you aviation fans may know, this is Oshkosh weekend!  Unfortunately, that means that our tow pilots will be at the airshow, and we will not have flight ops on Saturday.  We will be up and running on Sunday, and back to our normal schedule next week.  See you soon!

Another Weekend in Paradise

Hang Glide Chicago had a great weekend!  We started Saturday with some much needed rain.  Around noon the skies cleared, the sun came out, and we enjoyed a marvelous sunset.  Sunday was a hot one!  Hot and humid, but our fellow flyers had lots of fun at the field. 

weekend outlook 7/13/2018

Sunday better than Saturday

Not awesome, but I’ll take an hour here or there, when I can get it.

Sunday (both places)

Hot, mostly sunny 87° wind s @ 6 mph

WW and KK showing just under 400 fpm to 3k’ish (not very high)

These are NAM forecasts and I’m hoping that the day of RAP forecast is better.

Currently KK shows lift going slightly higher, but that will change in 2 days.

I am planning to fly somewhere on Sunday.

Saturday could be ok at KK if the rain stays away. (Check satellite in the AM)

weekend outlook July 7th & 8th

Update
Saturday afternoon will finish better at kk.

1^st!  A SUNNY WEEKEND THAT’S NOT BLOWN OUT!

The details get more difficult. The numbers are below, so you can make your own conclusions.

Mostly I think both days are flyable, but probably not awesome, at both locations.

I think Saturday will be slightly better at WW

I think Sunday will be better at KK.

I don’t know if I have time on Sunday to fly and go to Bill’s memorial….

These numbers come from XCSkies. DrJack shows lower lift, but better BS ratios to higher altitudes. Which is correct? I don’t know.

Saturday July 7th

KK           Sunny 85°

lift 450 fpm to 3k'

Wind E @ 7 mph

BS ratio 4.4 (difficult)

Dew point spread 31

No CU's

WW       Sunny 84°

lift 500+ fpm to 4k'

Wind S @ 9 mph

BS ratio 5 (difficult)

Dew point spread 38

No CU's

Sunday July 8th

KK           Sunny 85°

lift 450 fpm to 3.5k'

Wind s @ 2 mph

BS ratio 10 (good)

Dew point spread 22

No CU's

WW       Sunny 83°

lift 425+ fpm to 3k'

Wind SW @ 9 mph

BS ratio 2.6 (not flyable)

Dew point spread 31

No CU's

Area weather Sat & Sun Jun 22-23

Looks like could be WW on Saturday, KK looking weak
And then Sunday GOOD for KK with WW looking weak

Sat Jun 23 - NAM
Whitewater
Lift         400 fpm to 4k’ Cloudbase
Wind aloft   N @ 7 mph
BS ratio     10
OD unlikely
Temp and the ground 76°


Sun Jun 24 - NAM
Enjoy field
Lift         450+ fpm to 4.2k’ Cloudbase
Wind aloft   NW @ 3 mph
BS ratio     25     <-!
OD unlikely
Temp and the ground 82°

If you were picking one day (and I am) currently Sunday at Enjoy is where you’ll see me.

As always, I’ll try to repost if things change.

Flying Saturday and Sunday

There will be flying this Saturday and Sunday, weather depending.  Indeed, unless posted - here - otherwise, we fly on Saturdays and Sundays. 

another brief forecast - go tomorrow

I am saying that Saturday has a better BS ratio than Sunday and that KK looks better than WW
It’s going to be a bit breezy, but we might get in some flying (could be good for XC)

KK Saturday
DrJack Jun 16 - NAM
Lift 450+ fpm to CUbase 5k’
B/S Ratio 7
BL Wind SW @ 13

Temp@2m 92.9 <- effin hot

CU @ Enjoy

Sunday looks like drift exceeds lift

No, it's Thursday

Thursday appears to be a flying day up north.
500+ fpm lift to about 4500'
Wind aloft s@8 mph for a BS ratio of 8
A decent flying day in between too much wet

Wednesday maybe - if not too windy

Wednesday maybe - if not too windy

Forecasts differ on winds (and KK vs WW)

But this could be the day this week

Better picture tomorrow

Last weekend at Enjoy

This past weekend at Enjoy was a breezy one for sure.  Saturday morning was overcast with an easterly wind, but it cleared up in the afternoon to a beautiful day. 

In addition to tandems running all morning, we had a pilot out from Michigan and a pilot out for Lookout.  We are always happy to see our brethren from afar out at Enjoy.  Please come back and visit us soon!

Sunday ended up being blown out, but all the better for some field maintenance.  It takes a lot of maintenance days throughout the year to keep Enjoy operational, so thanks to all who came out to help and to Enjoy! 

See you next weekend.

Weekend outlook Saturday Sunday Monday - looks like some great flying opportunities!

In general KK looks better than WW for the weekend so I’ll limit details to KK (sorry, I’m busy!)

IF WE GET THE FORECAST

This is the best looking memorial day weekend in some time!

3 good flying days. Sunday a bit windier aloft, so maybe not so good for single surface…

I have to say that there is enough good that you ought to go out to find out what the actual conditions are.

On the ground (3 pleasant (hot) summer days with moderate winds)

SAT     MAY 26  Partly Cloudy  90°65°  20%     WSW 8 mph

SUN     MAY 27  Partly Cloudy  95°66°  20%     WSW 7 mph

MON     MAY 28     Sunny       92°64° 10%      NNE 5 mph

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday May 26 – pretty good and light winds

The models vary. The NAM forecast (which we use the most) says Saturday may be just ok

400 fpm lift to 3500’  kinda ok

However the GFS forecast shows

600 fpm lift to 6k’    which is pretty damn good

All showing BS ratios in the 9’s (should be easy soaring)

Agreement on light winds aloft approx.  SW @ 7 mph

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday May 27 – very good with possibly stronger winds aloft

500+ fpm lift to 5’ or 6k’ (diff forecasts) (skysight says 7-8k’around 2pm

Wind aloft SW @ 12 (here GFS forecast is optimistically less windy

I’m going with a soarable BS ratio of 9

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday  MAY 28 – strongest lift of the weekend!

650+ fpm to 6k’ (averaging forecasts

Wind aloft ENE @ 7 mph

BS ratio OFF the CHART

Memorial Day Weekend Grand Opening

Hang Glide Chicago wants to welcome everyone out for a great new season of flying.  This coming weekend in honor of Memorial Day, we will be having events all weekend long.

Saturday, we will have our ball drop contest, followed by fireworks in the evening.
Sunday, start your morning out right with a pancake breakfast.  Enjoy the afternoon with a spot landing contest, and stay over for a bonfire Sunday night!

We'll be out Saturday, Sunday, and Monday this coming weekend, and we are offering discount camping for the weekend!  Campers who come Friday and stay through Monday will pay only $20.00 per person for the weekend.

It's early, but maybe flyable this weekend!!

KK forecast shows great promise for Sunday and possibly surrounding days…

SAT APR 28 Sunny            62°  0%  NNW 14 mph   55%

SUN APR 29 Sunny          66°  0%   SSE  7 mph       47%

MON APR 30 Sunny        71° 10%   S 14 mph         51%

The 1st big HG race - 2018 Quest Air Nationals

This week was the week of one of the big HG races of the year.
We know some of the guys flying there and always hope they do well.

Our own  Krzysztof Grzyb finished 9th overall! Yea Kris!
I was watching a bit, and it seemed like he didn't do well the 1st day, but did well the rest of the comp.

The final results:

# Name Glider Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 144 3004
2 Christian Ciech Icaro Laminar 14.1 2968
3 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 2625
4 Sandy Dittmar Wills Wing T2C 144 2624
5 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2619
6 Alvaro Sandoli WW T2C 144 2528
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2497
8 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 2457
9 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2373
10 Malcolm Brown Wills Wing T2C 144 2298

Maintenance Day - Saturday April 21, 2018

HGC invites you down to Enjoy Field for a pre-flying season Maintenance Day Saturday April 21, 2018.  Come out, knock the dust of your equipment, and make sure everything is ready to go for the season opener.  If you need parts or equipment ordered, now is the time to do it!  Contact us today.
If not too rainy, we'll pull planes out so you can work on your gliders in the big hangar!

1st soaring forecast of the season

It’s the Cubs home opener today. It is currently snowing at Wrigley field!

So, the entire area is shown as SOARABLE!

If you could get to a place to launch and were willing to fly in Arctic gear, (20° aloft)

You could fly your butt off at 5000’ in light winds.

It’s going to warm up soon, but I think It’s gonna be a little bit yet b4 flying. We’ll keep our eye on it however we have some wind and rain to get through b4 reasonable flying.

There’s always a chance for a decent day between cycles…

 G

This website going live soon. We'll keep you posted.

1st small weather of the year!!!! The long range forecast says we may have a flyable day NEXT WEEKEND! 4/13/2018. finally maybe hopefully

Season coming soon! Can't wait!!!!!