The Weather Notebook: Wave Flying 1

Wave Flying 1
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All safety checks have been completed and the towline is set. One last OK is given and then..

A white fiberglass glider is suddenly pulled from it's resting place and yanked up into the skies by the tow-plane. Hi I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook. Each fall groups of sailplanes converge at the Gorham NH airfield in order to fly the air wave that forms above Mount Washington. Kevin Brooker, a member of the Post Mills Soaring Club, explains more about this meteorological event.

KB: There's basically three types of lift the glider pilots use to remain in the air, one is thermal lift, one is ridge lift, and one is wave lift which is why we're here specifically. With wave flying there's a bunch of unique meteorological conditions that are required and Mt. Washington seems to set up with those quite often, so it's a wonderful place to fly. And with mountain wave the wind actually comes into the mountain and is deflected downward and it goes over what's known as unstable air underneath and acts like a big spring and pushes this air-mass back up.

And it's this mass of air that allows for hours of flying.

KB: Wave flying is really unique. It doesn't occur all the time. It mostly occurs in the fall. During the summer the wave is really strong, but it's also relatively unstable in that thermals and things will break it up and it will cause the wave to fall apart. So, in the summer when the thermals around here are really strong it gets in the way and kind of blocks the wave. Now with the days being shorter the thermals aren't as strong the waves can set up and we take advantage of it. And with the high winds that mount washington is notorious for that really helps us set up for really good wave.

Special Thanks today go to assistant producer Doug Sanborn. The Weather Notebook is generously supported by the national science foundation.