Family vacation on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Marc Fink generously offered to host me at his fine house, sparing me the rigors of camping with horny teenagers and a large extended family of friends. Tuesday, Marc took time out from preparing for the big art show he puts on in Bar Harbor and took me to Schoodic, a 1000 foot monolithic dome back on the mainland. (There's no free flight in Acadia National Park, even though scenic biplane flights drone overhead all day - nor, go figure, are horses and carriages allowed on the signature carriage roads constructed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. - they are allowed in an area outside the park. Makes it nicer for bicycling but seems odd...) Conditions were what one goes to Maine in August for: moderate temps, low humidity, great visibility. Except it was a bit humid Tuesday. Humping our gear up a steep, rough trail for 40 minutes had us soaked with sweat - I did a complete clothing change before flying. It was blowing 12-15 with some right (west) cross, sort of the top end of acceptable for me the first time out. But there were lulls and a declining trend, and after bringing the wing up a couple of times to practice and sort things out, I launched in about 10 from the bald rock ledge. Alas, right after I launched the wind dropped further and went more cross, so I had enough lift for many passes, but gradually sank to 300 below launch and then went out to land on a disused railroad right-of-way out front. The tracks have recently been taken up to make a rail-trail, so it was a fine long LZ (sorta like an interstate median - although I have no direct experience of that...
). Had we gotten up, there was another LZ around the back, the narrow beach of a lake. That's the other thing about Maine: lotsa trees! Marc had a similar flight, although he had only about 5 mph to launch in. But it was a gorgeous view from atop Schoodic, we got some exercise and the flight was safe and enjoyable, if short. As Marc said beforehand, it was a unique flying experience.
- Hugh