Enrique's first from 1750

Flying Solo....

Headed down to EL solo to get some training in on my flares only to find slightly soarable conditions (W, NW 7-15) which necessitated at least 1 flight off the top prior to heading to the 50' or 40'. If I'm going to set up my glider anyway....

I quickly gathered a motley crew - Ella, H3 and my blue sticker pilot (I still need a buddy until I get my H3), Sergei, paraglider pilot, Armand, H3 who was willing to be our driver as this was his first day back of the season and wasn't sure it was a good 'first' day back for him. His loss was our gain and we quickly headed up the hill.

There were two other hangies on top, who were miraculously just setting up their control frames, which I thought odd given they had driven up the hill 30 minutes prior. Their names were Tom and Terry, which conjured up images of a cat and mouse cartoon. :)

It looked good so I quickly set up, minimalized things (no vario, radio) and had Armand and Ella join me walk out to the N, W launch. Slightly gusty so I waited for a gust to come through and begin to lull prior to launching. One item of note, I had just done a hang check followed by my other checks (shoes tied, leg straps, backup buckle on harness, chute pins, helmet secure, gloves, brain, hooked in) and a nice cycle came in so I picked up the glider, stated 'target', and 'wings balanced' during which Ella asked me 'Do you have a flight plan? Do you know where you're going?' I ignored these questions and launched as I was already in the zone...note to self and lesson learned - be sure to tell your buddy what your flight plan is prior to heading out to launch so they don't possibly distract you as you are about to launch.

Launched and turned left, found lift close the ridge, did a few 180 passes and was above launch. Headed out to the 1200' as a paraglider was doing nicely far above it so I thought I'd explore. Lost a bit on the way out, found scattered, tiny, punches hear and there but nothing I could really work (read- knew how to work! :). Went over to the 600', did a 360 and only maintained. Headed over the 300 found some lift, and did a couple of passes between the 300' and the 600'. At this point I felt it more important to think about my landing approach (which I had been doing since the 1200') then maximizing the bird farts as there were cows! in the lz scattered mostly in the north/north west zone, yet encroaching on the H3 spot. I focused on the H4 spot as it was clear of cows and as I came around onto final, I tried to transition my hands during the turn, in a bump and ended up grabbing my left side back wire which put me in a rather exciting steep turn - whoosh! I quickly recovered, came in fast with wings level, landed on my feet just past the H4 spot.

Flight Log: 1 flight off 1750'
Zero flights off 40' and 50' due to too many cows

Yes...No...Yes...No...YES!

Last Sunday a handful of us headed down to EL for what conceivably should have been an excellent soaring day. And it was...just not for us. :-( Winds were S, SE 9-18, averaging 10-12 for our first flight, which, given the conditions, we were lucky to get at all. We started to set up...then were told to put our bags back on....then we watched conditions for awhile (looked good) and were told to set up....then conditions changed...and we were told to pack up....THEN...we were told to set up. I hustled to set up as quickly as possible to get off the hill before a) my instructor decided it was too strong (15 and above), b) before the wind direction changed, and c) before I changed my mind after the tennis volley that had just occurred.

Suffice it to say that the sport of hang gliding involves a 'hurry up and wait' and a 'hurry up and hurry up' mentality which at times is just fine, but other times is incredibly frustrating. Bottom line is take the time you need to get your glider set up and pre-flighted, and more importantly take the time to get 'yourself' set up.

My launch was fairly straightforward. I should have run harder and pulled in more as my nose popped slightly after reviewing the video. Flight itself was uneventful, headed to the 600' and over to the dead tree to do a figure 8 approach and landed heading into the S12mph winds. Would have liked a better landing - my jeans ended up with some souvenir mud.

Oh...and I got my 1750' sign off. :)

Flight Log: 1 flight each off the 1750' (aircurls, cleanpants, cookie girl)

sundays the way they should be

Airwise Saturday was better, but as the forecast routinely fooled us all, the bay's usual aerial suspects were trying to ridge soar or ridge scrape Sled Heaven. While some of that was actually happening, the gaggle created some traffic and kept a consistent crowd of landing spectators, scrutinizers? You know how it is, trying to put out your best landing ....

So the milestones! Ali got his 1st and 2nd flights off the 600 ft, after doing driving duty, thanks! And congrats on a swanky landing.

Clayble had more success putting down the ultrasport, and apparently he lands better while doing challenging traffic avoidance maneuvers. Unusual south-bound light crosswind approach to avoid an oblivious bag ... well done.

Aircurls banged out flights 5 and 6 for the weekend! 1 to go for a sign-off ...   0 to go for a first mountain flight. Looking good in the air and on camera.

Other things you don't normally see on a Sunday are three coyotes, and an aerial loop.


Flight Log: 
Ali (first 2 flights from the 600 ft - congrats!);
aircurls (flights 6 and 7 from the top!);
clayble - 2 flights, 1750;
cookie girl - 2 flights, 1750;

Tired.....and Happy

That's what 4 flights off the top will do to you in 1 day.

More to come shortly. Am just so so tired.


Ed Levin 02.12.2011 from Dan H on Vimeo.


Flight Log:
4 flights 1750'

1750' - Flight #1 - Woot!

Flight 20 something all told. But those were in a panty a long time ago. :)

Saturday, January 22 - a gaggle of us went down to EL and it was blowing over the back pretty strongly. We decided the 600' seemed reasonable, but upon setting up in incredibly switchy conditions, and attempting to turn my glider such that I could pre-flight it with the tail a quarter into the wind, the wind had switched yet again. My glider decided it wanted to fly a bit before I was geared up and hooked in. Brian raced over to help and neutralize it, whilst his pilotless glider decided to make a run for it. I raced over to rescue that one and straight out of a movie, Anthony appears on the horizon running to our aid. Brilliant. I broke down as quickly as I could. Brian followed shortly thereafter. Fast forward to Sunday.

Sunday, January 23 - wasn't sure I wanted a repeat of Saturday so was torn between going to a cafe to get my requisite mocha and work, or get my requisite mocha and head to EL. While in line at the cafe I looked outside and it was such a beautiful day...and it was the weekend...and why should I be working anyway?? I quickly decided to make the trek to EL and wasn't disappointed. Chris Valley sponsored me off the top, as he was there in preparation for the upcoming speed gliding event, and Daniel and Anthony joined as well.

We arrived at the top and I quickly set up as the winds were perfect. W at 3-4mph. Went over to launch and ironically had a hard time picking a target as everything was so vast and I was so high (ha!). Finally settled on something way off in the distance and off I went. Uneventful launch although I should have pulled in a bit more - watch your pitch! Satisfying to not have to immediately think about my landing approach while I cruised along the ridge with light bumps here and there, enjoyed watching the red tails and turkey vultures, and fought the irresistible urge to turn every time I felt the least bit of lift (must follow flight plan).

Landing approach was fine, winds minimal (W 1-3mph), pulled in, landed just past the hang 4 spot on my feet, by the ditch. Karl provided celebratory wine which we all enjoyed in the LZ. Big grin on face.

Flight Log:

1 flight off 1750'

Skunked. At Least I was.

Am a few posts behind and this was a draft from a few weeks ago. Am suffering from 60 hour work weeks and spending what little time I have left with the kiddos and Dan. Went out to Ed Levin in mid January with the family and headed up to the top. Uh....blowing over the back at 12-15mph. Looking at the bright side, visibility was good. This was the first time the boys had driven up to the top and they were none too pleased with the road and insisted on walking down to the LZ. As the conditions looked poor for me to go flying, Dan drove our gliders down while the boys chased after the truck, took shortcuts across the hills, rested on boulders, made a sundial, found a walking stick, and generally did all the developmentally appropriate things a 6 and an 8 year old boy should do. I followed along and took a few pics.

We hiked all the way to the top of the 300 at which point Dan came and scooped us up to take us to the top of the 600'. I was hoping to get at least one flight off, but the conditions were varying so dramatically and so quickly (N, NE at 12, S at 7, E at 6, N, NW at 8) as was my mood, especially after a wind gust blew my glider over when it was just on its wheels and not even open. I thoughth it prudent to drive down with the boys, while Dan took an extended 6 minute sledder ending with a 'power to the people' one-handed flare in the spot.

Learned an important lesson for a very cheap price

The club aquired an Ultrasport 166, and I wanted to fly it. So, I took it to Ed Levin today, and flew with Daniel M. We started the day running on the flats, until I was almost taking off from the 5 foot hill. Then, we progressed to the 50 ft hill, where I managed to get a 5 second flight from starting half way up the hill (in dead wind!). I was quite proud of that. Next, I launched from the top of the 50 ft hill, and I nearly landed in the H4 spot- this glider has better glide than my pulse. Also, it was very easy to land; I was really starting to like this glider.

Next, we carried our gliders to the top of the 300 ft hill for one last flight to cap off the day. My glider weighs a little over 70 lbs, so this was no small feat (though Daniel carried it half way up the hill for me). I took a quick break and launched off the hill. I immediately started PIO'ing...BADLY! I started getting into bigger and bigger oscillations and in my mind I knew that I was supposed to let out and fly more slowly, but being this close to the ground I didn't want to stall either. I followed my flight plan as well as I could but the glider kept going all over the place as it oscillated. I've seen videos of other people in a PIO, but none of them were as severe as the situation that I found myself in. My glider was literally standing on one wingtip, completely vertical when I was a mere 20 ft over the ground. I thought for sure I was going to crash, so I was getting mentally ready to bring my arms in before I hit the ground.

Miraculously, the glider leveled out and went into ground effect. I was too frazzled to pull off a good landing, but I gave a small flare, ran out a little before the glider got ahead of me and had a small whack. I was more than a little freaked out by the experience, and I am very happy that I am alive and without a single injury to myself or the glider. A very, very cheap price for the learning experience. My lesson: fly more slowly and listen to the glider.

On to the top!

Short version: 4 flights. All on feet. Done with spots.

Long version: Am finally done with my spots! And am pretty happy about it. The family and I went down to Ed Levin this morning, a little later than usual as we needed to see if the forecast looked good for Tam. The sky gods were in my favor and upon arrival we headed straight for the 300'. Due to the recent rain, the road to the top was closed, and the road to the 600' looked hazardous, but that was all fine as the 300' most assuredly met my needs. Conditions were dead and when the wind did blow, ever so gently, it was mildly W, SW at 1-2. We set up the glider and I headed to launch in-between 3-5 paraglider pilots, all of whom were very friendly (I was the only hang glider in the park today).

Flight 1: Launched dead wind, ran a long way, short 45 to the left, 45 to the right, 90 to the left, came in on final headed S, SW towards the 40', landed just shy of the spot with a nice flare.

Flight 2: Dan carried the glider up to the 300' (a little payback for my driving penance over the years) and quickly asserted, as the sweat poured down his face, that was the last time he was going to do that. I quickly hooked in, did a hang check, got the camera turned on, and off I went. Another dead wind launch with the same approach as flight #1. Landed in the spot with a nice flare.

Flight 3: Mark carried the glider up to the 300' stating he needed some exercise. Far be it for me to deny him his need. ;-) I drove the truck up with the kiddies safely ensconced and playing games on various apple devices, and waited patiently for Mark to finish schlepping the glider up. When it arrived I hooked in and off I went. Dead wind launch again with the standard approach from the 300'.

Flight 4: Mark carried the glider up yet again. He said it was fun! Go Mark. Have some fun. Slightly cross on launch ~45 degrees, but so light (2 mph) it was fine. Same approach, but on final I lifted my legs up to decrease my drag and increase my glide so I would make it into the middle of the SPOT. Done.

http://www.vimeo.com/17716745

Flight Log:

4 off the 300'.

First Soaring Flight

A posse headed to Ed Levin today to train (Lise, Jeremy, Karen, Keenan, Josh, Andrea, and Max) with Barry and Kurtis instructing. Today was a particularly spectacular day as I had 3 firsts - launching the East launch, flying in really unstable air, and getting to soar for a short bit (only an extended sledder, but hey, I'll take it!). My camera battery was charged and I got a few fun pics: my sweet looking falcon, Fall, and the gang.

1st flight: East launch, 8-10mph E/SE. Took 2 steps and was in the air, but upon video review it looks like I was at trim on takeoff. I was told to pull it in a bit and take those 2 extra steps off the hill which is sage advice as you don't want to be anywhere near a stall on launch. The flight itself was exciting as the air was very active and I was bumped around a lot, but I kept saying "wee!" which I thought was a good thing. I headed out straight, then a short 45 right turn to get away from the hill and as I came around in front of the 600' was pleased to see that I was slightly above launch and headed for the dead tree hill just past the 300'. I wanted to make sure that on approach I was well clear of the Eucalyptus as there would most likely be some rotor due to South conditions and I wanted to be in the cleanest air possible. I did a couple figure eight turns to lose some altitude and came onto final in a left turn on both uprights. To me it didn't feel like enough speed, but in looking at the video the speed was fine. What was not fine was rounding out too low and not being upright to land on my feet. Brought the glider over to the breakdown area and quickly put it away as it began to sprinkle and rain.

2nd flight: What a difference a few hours can make. South launch, 5-7mph S/SW. 45 cross wind launch and up I went. Turned to the right above the 600' and headed over to the dead little tree to see what was happening there. Lifty! Ooh-yay! Did a few passes back and forth and came in from the South, 1 up 1 down to have more speed, leveled out, and landed on my feet just to the right of the spot. Big grin on my face. :)

Flight Log:
2 flights off the 600'.

600' continues...

Out at Ed Levin today with Barry, Ali, and Andrea to work on flaring and spots. Barry dropped me at the 600' and proceeded to head down and work with the A-team while I had a lovely time putting the glider together, walking it out to launch, and self-launching the West facing launch in dead wind. I have discovered that I am perfectly at peace with solitude (read: okay with being alone and self-launching), as people can sometimes be distracting. Well, actually, not the people, the 'incessant chattering' that sometimes accompanies people. :)

Launch itself was uneventful and fine - ran hard, kept looking at my target et voila, flying. 70 degree turn to the left, 90 degree turn to the right to head over the 300 while continually looking back at the windsock in the LZ. I have been kicking out of my harness on my downwind leg, going 1 hand up (right), one hand down on my base and final as I have much more authority and come in faster. I like. The roundout is lovely and smooth (way smoother than the Falcon 1). I got my hands up, mini-flared and landed on my feet.

I had lovely photographic opportunities but to my dismay discovered that the battery in my little point and shoot was dead. Heh...funny...had to laugh as I'm usually pretty good about THAT.

2nd flight was sweet. Took off from the South facing launch for the first time as all to date had been from the West launch. Light breeze, 1-3 mph. Landed in the spot, took a few steps. Interestingly enough, it was the only video out of my 4 flights I didn't get. Hmmm....but trust me, there were plenty of people who witnessed. Including Barry himself.

3rd & 4th flight - both cross wind launches. One from the North (3mph, 50 cross), one from the South (3 mph, 45 cross). Flying part great. Landing part close, but not quite. Definitely have the timing, just don't have the 'going ape-sh*^ on crack' as Mark likes to call it, or the 'pretend you're a gymnast' as Eric likes to call it, or the 'just punch the mother - fu*%@r!' as Chie liked to say. Or was that Ryan?

Great day. Alas, no pictures. :)

Flight Log:

4 off the 600'.

Ed Levin Training Madness

Alternate title: Musings on returning to Hang Gliding after a decade long break

Who is Ed Levin anyway?
Short answer – county supervisor

Long answer -- After a short bit of research, I discovered that Ed Levin Park is named after a former county supervisor who led a campaign to purchase what we now know as Ed Levin Park from the state of California in 1965. The poor guy died in 1966 and what was formerly known as ‘Airport Park’ was officially renamed Ed Levin Park in his honor, opening up in September of 1969.

But enough of the cultural landscape of the park, what about the flying???

Back in the Saddle
After taking 12 years off from hang gliding which began in 1995 and stopped in 1998 when a momentary lapse of reason suggested I paraglide for a few years, AND with the encouragement of Gergana and Anthony whilst on a trip to Dunlap in the Spring, I am officially back – a little older and a little wiser. ;-)

Many flights since 6/14
Wow. Super fun to be back flying again. Feels more natural than it ever did before and I am anxious to have flights longer than 3 minutes. I've got my training complete off the 300' and the 600' and am working on my spots in order to progress to the top which I am very much looking forward to. An 8 minute flight? Sweet!

Private Lesson on 11/30 - oh yah!
Barry and I went out for a lovely day at EL with conditions at 0-5, mostly W, NW which of course were exactly opposite of the forecast (supposed to be 7 S, SW). Cranked through 4 flights off the 600', 3 of which were on my feet, and 1 not. What I am personally working on is getting the flare timing and actually, well, flaring. This is the wonderful thing about our sport - there is always something to work on, no matter what your level. :-)

Flight Log - 11/30
4 flights - 600'

Makes 12 flights off the 600'. Still working on spots but ever so close!
http://www.vimeo.com/17352767

the pink panther and us

clayble went ultra sporty so i can ride the pink panther. he rocked today and i happily learned to pio!

Log:

50 ft: cookie girl (4 flights); clayble (1);
150 ft: one flight each
300 ft: one flight each
1750: two flights each

Up

When I was standing up on launch at the top of Ed Levin this morning, I was fully expecting an uneventful sledride, a warm-up flight more or less, for what was forecasted to be a pretty good day. Which is why I, stupidly enough, left both my gloves and my sunglasses in the car. My camera, still unused at this point (though equipped this time with both battery and memory card), was also left in the car. Turns out, as these things often do, that I launched in what was the best window of the day, and I ended up getting a pretty fantastic hour-long flight.

I launched into a 7-10 mph smooth south cycle, and flew into ridge-lift as soon as my feet had left the ground. After making a couple of passes in front of launch, I decided I was too low, and headed for the 1200, figuring that was going to be the most I would find for the whole flight. This is, of course, where I found thermals going off in every direction. I started circling above the 900 until I was high enough to make it to the 1200, and was pleasantly suprised (read: pretty fucking ecstatic) to find that I was actually making my way above launch. Resisting the urge to go explore in different directions (I was still not more than maybe 300' above launch), I repeated to myself the soaring mantra of: "love the lift you're in", and kept 360ing.

At most times during my flight, I was constantly turning to stay in lift. And whenever I would make it above launch, the thermals would be less defined, and harder to keep track of, and I would eventually sink back down to where I started. Having that much time up there gave me a lot of opportunity to try to figure out what I had to look for in order to find lift though, and as it was a partially cloudy day, I tried as much as I could to stay above hills that were in the sun. (Also handy because my fingers were turning blue at this point.) It was also fun to work on techniques when turning in lift, trying to make them as efficient as possible (discovered that I am much more comfortable turning left than turning right).

Normally, our go-to training site is not one of those places known for allowing for a lot of inefficient turns before you are forced to start doing a landing approach, but today Ed Levin was very forgiving. I managed to work my way back above launch 5 times in the course of the flight, one of those times from a couple hundred feet above the 600'. And of course, the last time I started sinking down towards the 6, I was sure that I could do what I had been doing since I launched: slowly work my way back up to launch. Unfortunately, there was not much to be found, and instead I spent the last minutes of my flight playing around over the LZ in bumpy conditions.

The rest was pretty standard. I had a decent landing, and despite needing help after to hook out (my fingers were non-functional at this point), I quickly decided that I had not yet had enough. And so, with the help of Stan, I made it back up to the top for a much less exiting second flight. Which was fine, I guess I didn't deserve much more excitement for one day.

Log: helmet girl: 2 flights (1 hour + 10 minutes), cookie girl: 3 flights (and a sign-off!), thomas: 2 flights (one of them 38 minutes).

Lost and Found

A happening day for a Wednesday at Ed Levin. Headed out with Barry, cleanpants and Derrick to get D. back in the air and see what air time the days offers us.

While D. was off the 50 ft practicing basics, cleanpants and I headed to the 600 ft, looking at mild conditions, for a 3 mph west launch. Piece of cake, turns out even without your washout tube. It slid off my glider 30 ft after launch, and noone noticed. Flight was good, slightly iffy air, but I had a wonderful approach and unfortunately wheeled in another landing. Flare is my new Everest. Got to get my gymnastics body in, and really stretch and arch that spine up! Only noticed the washout tube was missing after one flight off the 50 ft. Practicing launch and landing in tall grass with snakes is a new high. Did another, and then started scouring the fields. Everyone pitched in to search. Thank you! Searched the entire 50 ft landing area, to no avail. Oh well, no more flying?

Plan B was to look for washout spare parts in Mission Soaring. D. and I hit the road back to Milpitas, where he bought some ridiculously small straps, that seemed to be exactly what he wanted ... No washout tubes for me though. 11 am. We wanted to be on the top around 1 pm, when the wind was forecasted go nice and west. It did. We were planning to call the weather service and tell them "Guys, Wednesday May 12, 2010 was the one day you got it right!". 2 hours to find the tube! I started by hiking to the 600, while clapping for the snakes at every step, and first searched the setup area. I was probably only lucky to walk another 30 ft after launch and find it. Woo-hoo!

At 12.30 we all headed up and were setup by 1 pm. An observer was launching Thomas at that exact time, and he stuck around to launch me and D. I was off first, and "off" is an understatement. I didn't have a launch run. With the wind cycling up at 7-8 mph and sometimes 10, and my nose not low enough, I stepped into an elevator, and went straight up. The observer did not like that, understandably, and did not sign my flight. 3 to go still. But was that lift fun or what. I played with it all the way to the 600, turned at the 900, then turned 2-3 times above the 600, did two passes on the 300-600 ridge, felt those arms working, and decided to land. Spot on the hang 3 spot, aka hit the LZ girl's nose; but wheeled in again! All that while watching Derrick and cleanpants do the landings of their life, zero-step, light hop, ballerina style!

Things to work on: 1/ having consistently good launches; 2/ flaring more upright and less prone; perhaps a second earlier.

Log:
40 ft - Derrick (2 launches);
50 ft - Derrick (3 launches); cookie girl (3 launches);
600 ft - cleanpants (1 launch); cookie girl (1 launch);
1750 ft - cleanpants (1 launch); Derrick (1 launch); cookie girl (1 launch)

4+3+3+3

Four plus three plus three plus three is not a secret safe combination, but code for our pipeline of flights at Ed Levin this Monday. With light conditions, while most people were scratching for lift, I got to check off some top launch skills, that everyone has in the bag already. Since no-one described their stalls yet, I'll take the chance to do it.

Some call it fun, but stall is scary. I was instructed to stall the glider fully on my second flight off the top, and obviously, I was kind of nervous about that. I negotiated mini-stalls to start with. I got to the LZ, and just slowed down the glider; until it nosed in, three times. That felt ok, and the air was so smooth that it seemed like a "safe" thing to do. That made me brave to really try it on my second flight. I checked the altitude by looking back at the 1200, and it was just a touch above me. Call it 100 ft, so I was counting on 1000-1100 ft below. Ok, here we go. Pushing the bar out was harder, as it pushed back at me, but not that strong of a push; I stretched my arms out as far as I can (for my arms that's not very far). I may have done it a bit too quickly; not sure, but the glider stopped flying, wavered and dove. It is when I was heading straight down, head down, feeling no tug in my harness, that I knew, ok this was stall. Please come up please. It did. I did pull in and checking my altitude attempted another quick one of those. My ears popped at least once. When I was finally out of that, I turned around and was still above the 600 ft hill. So these two stalls plus good old gravity cost me about 500 ft.  The 300-600 ridge was more fun this time, as I made two passes and actually enjoyed the bumps along the way.

Good job little falcon.

Wind: 5-8 mph, W, WNW? Very few bumps (clayble got one!), not too lifty.

Log:
cleanpants - 4 flights from 1750 ft
clayble - 3 flights, 1750 ft
papirtiger - 3 flights, 1750 ft
cookie girl - 3 flights, 1750 ft, stalls and 360 degree turns

cookies on top

After watching cookie girl's flawless first flight off the top, I followed her for a smooth sledride down, a warm-up flight for a much more interesting one. As I waited for the winds to cycle up launch, there seemed to be more and more activity in the air, and so I was pretty excited to try to get some lift out there. Though I felt like the bumps I got after launch were all turbulence, I was told by those on launch that it had seemed as though I was actively avoiding thermals, turning away from them instead of into them. This was, of course, not intentional, but more a reaction to the turbulence I experienced after launch, (I got bumped around quite a lot), and the fact that I felt like I was pretty close to the hill. Which apparently I wasn't, so that will go on my list of things to improve on for my next flight. I then headed over to the ridge, flying over the 900 and the 600, but not really getting much of anything before I was low enough to do laps between the 600' and the 300' hills, and this is when it got interesting. Doing small passes in between the hills I was maintaining pretty well for a long time, even though it was a little turbulent at times. Though I may not have been going up, the feeling of being able to (mostly) maintain my altitude, and also playing around with thermals was seriously addictive. I was also lucky enough to have a very helpful paraglider film my flight as he was flying above me (will post the video as he uploads it), who also confirmed that I had indeed had my longest flight to far. At 15 minutes, it was my first extended experience playing with thermals at Ed Levin, and the reason why I am compulsively checking the forecast trying to chase down the prefrontal days of the coming week. (Monday? Tuesday??)

The day was finished off with an amazing bbq setup in the LZ by Karl, (who also sponsored cookie girl off the top), and also some evidence that hanggliders will do anything to get that sensation of flying (as pictured below.)

(no racks were harmed in the taking of this picture.)

Winds: Mostly dead in the morning (perfect conditions for first flights), 5-10 south winds on launch for my second flight. (More like 5 though, pilots on top told me I would have had much better conditions had I launched just a little bit later.)

Log: cookie girl (1 flight, 1750), papirtiger (2 flights, 1750).

William's video of my launch and flight:

Now I become Death, the Destroyer of Weeds

The day started innocuously enough- I got to see cookie girl get her 10th flight from the 600' hill. A nice, smooth flight into nearly dead air and she was cleared to go to the top.

While she broke down her glider, I was busy breaking down something else. I brought a scythe with me on this flying trip (doesn't everyone?) and, with Stan, started an all-out-assault on the mustard plants in the LZ. Once the mustard plants had been conquered, we set our sights on a new foe- the grass growing in the Hang 4 spot. Make no mistake- this was a massive undertaking! Using a blade that was duller than a baseball bat, cutting the grass was no small feat (why, oh why did I talk Barry out of sharpening it??). I have no picture to show, because cookie girl neglected to take a photo of me while I was at the apex of my masculinity.

By the way, I also had a 25+ minute soaring flight at Ed Levin. :-P

My first flight of the day was a nice, extended sled run. It was blowing a little hard on launch (~10 mph), but I think it was a little stronger when cookie girl tried launching after me. My second flight was amazing, by my standards. The winds were already strong when I got to the top, so I set up as quickly as I could and was first of that batch to launch (though Karl was already in the air ~15 minutes). I launched into smooth 14.999 mph winds, and found immediate lift once I cleared the hill. After launching, I looked right and saw Karl do a smart 180 away from me to give me space. I decided I didn't want to fly in traffic (it was about to get ALOT busier near launch), so I flew to the 900' hill. I found small bubbles of lift, but once I neared the 900' hill a thermal elevated me by 300'- at least! Then, I would do 360's, explore a little, and then go back to the thermal if I ever wanted to go up. I eventually got too low, so I soared between the 300' and 600' hills until I landed. Not my best landing because my wings weren't level when I wanted to flare. Second time that's happened- I'll have to work on that.

Weather: South all day, 10-15 mph, prefrontal, soarable

Log: cleanpants - 2 flights off the top, second 25 minutes!; cookie girl - 600' flight 10

Almost Died Today ;)

From tripping in holes in the ground to sliding half-way down a hill in my car, the most dangerous part of hang-gliding can be found while still on the ground. For instance, I stared into the glassy eyes of death this morning, when I put my hand on a rock that was a few inches away from an angry (huge!) rattlesnake. cookie girl has a photo of it. I found it, or rather, it found me as I was climbing the 600' hill to meet up with Daniel and cookie girl. I grabbed hold of a rock to help climb up the hill when I heard an awful hiss. I immediately jumped back because I didn't know what kind of snake it was. People tried to convince me it was a harmless variety of snake until we heard the rattle.

In terms of flying, I had a pretty good day. It started out with an early flight from the top. Daniel had me going from one end of the hill to the other looking for the perfect launch. In the end, dead wind is dead wind and I launched from the most convenient spot. It was a smooth flight with a perfect landing. I also had a flight from the 600' hill, but that one saw lots of sink and a little bit of turbulence.

Cookie girl also had two flights today, from the 600' hill; but was cheated out of a third by Marianne (Wanda's cousin, the marine layer that regularly shoots the 600'). She can describe her flights better than I can, but she had at least one perfect landing and she flew well enough to convince an observer to sponsor her off the top.

Wind: 8-10-15 mph, W cycles to NW cycles steady through the day. A bit bumpy. Gusting above 20 after 3 pm.
Log: cleanpants (1 flight off the top, 1 flight off the 600'); cookie girl (600' flights 8 and 9).

And here's our best rattle-shot (click on the picture for the real size):

cookie girl is back

To the training hill that is. After a month of no 600 flights, "my parachute opened" (well no no no, not that way) today. Forecast was light, S at 7 mph turning to W at 10 mph, sunny. Cleanpants took off first, and set the first flight, for a cloudy, west, slightly cross (WNW) launch, at maybe 7 mph. First 600' flight in new harness worked out fine! My flight was fairly uneventful too, I stayed on top of the road, and came back all the way to the steps for the final approach. 

Then it got interesting. The clouds lifted and sock started dancing from east to west, albeit not too strongly. Cleanpants had a nice flight, but wind changed on him on final, and he landed (beautifully) 90 degrees cross. 

By the time I was at the west launch, the wind died and started looking slightly south. That made us change our mind and try the mid-launch, which was showing signs of wind rolling up. LZ and 300' socks lined up south, great. Another 30 seconds to hang check again. Wind sock behind us still good, wind in face still good. The LZ and 300' socks though started to veer west. This is when I launched. Technically my launch spot showed all good signs for a good launch, but as soon as I launched that west wind arrived and blew me east ... In my mind bumping while still going slow and close to the hill equals rotating, flipping and who knows what - so I kept up with the glider and launched east. Recovered. But picked the wrong launch spot. Lesson down. From there on I closed back on the ridge to the 300' and started going up, bumped around like a feather. For most of the flight I tried creative tricks to lose altitude. Playing with the bar, yanking the bar, eventually I kicked out to add some drag. It felt as if I kept doing turns on the hill, I'd get out of the park .... Kicking out worked. Sock was still west, so that eventful flight had a peaceful end....

Log:
Cleanpants - first 2 flights from 600' in new harness
cookie girl - 600' flights 6 and 7

That's right! That east sock is changing any minute now ...