On Monday, I had a great day’s flying, towing at the Alberta Fall Wave Camp at Cowley Alberta. I had forgotten how much fun it is to tow in the wave.
Elapsed time was 4.1 hours and my altitude gain was 60,000’ - 15 x 4000’ tows and I’m pleased to say everyone connected with the wave. I was particularly pleased that I launched two potential Diamond Altitude* flights. For one of them, it was his first ever wave flight and he did it in style, reaching the top of the Livingstone Block at FL280.
The day started off with blue wave and relatively light winds by Cowley standards - less than 20 kts! By the end of the day, the wind on the ground was in excess of 30 kts and clouds had developed.
The rotor turbulence also increased and at one point, I hit a -2g gust which would have bounced me off the roof, except I had fortuitously tightened my straps a minute before. However, the turbulence was mild by one of our long-time tow pilot’s standards - “The rotor is not rough unless it rolls you inverted.”
Here are some photos I took, plus one from one of the Diamond altitude flights. I’ve also include a satellite image of the area. The Livingstone Range is a 20 mile long N-S limestone ridge with a high point of 8400’, approximately 4500’ above the elevation of Cowley airfield, which is shown as the red icon on the image.
* The FAI Diamond Altitude badge requires a gain of height of 5000 m (16,400’), which means at Cowley, a peak altitude of typically 24,000’ or greater.
Mid-afternoon, looking west:
Livingstone Range, with Centre Peak (8400') at the middle right:
End of the day, looking north:
Photo taken during one of the Diamond Altitude flights. Altimeter reading 20,430' (about 16,000' AGL):
Cowley airfield is marked by the red icon, 10 nm east (downwind) of the south end of the Livingstone Range:
For anyone who would like to learn more about wave flying in southern Alberta, I can recommend:
Stalking the Mountain Wave