Magical Weekend

Some days are beyond words. But I'll try...
Smooth, beautiful day at Ed Levin with wide lift and lots of friends. A night in Half Moon Bay with Christina. Watching the surfers at Maverick's. A reunion with friends and family. A night by the fireplace with games and wine. And flying four hang gliding sites in one go in Tom's Lancair.

Friday, Nov 6:
Fall is upon us and Friday had all the makings of a great post-frontal day at Ed Levin. I left work at 10am and met up with Ben, Tom, Urs and others. My dad came along to drive. The winds were light, the lift was smooth, and the whole range opened up.
Above Ed Levin with gliders in the air

I launched towards the approaching clouds and quickly climbed up. The lift was easy, and cloud base was ~3,700'.
The South Bay

I headed North getting a great glide and stopping for smooth slow climbs along the way. I played around in the middle of the ridge taking in the view, and savoring the rare, gentle day. Ben joined me, and I headed over to Mission Peak.
Looking down at Mission Peak

After an hour I felt the cloud suck building and my hands getting a little cold. I watched Tom loop and spin his way down as I circled in sink over the LZ. Brought it in fast and low over the road for a nice no stepper by the breakdown area.

It's flights like these that make me feel so lucky to have wings.

Saturday, Nov 7:

Christina and I spent Friday night in Half Moon Bay. In the morning the surf was enourmous so we headed out past the airport to watch the big wave surfers at Mavericks. Can you find the surfers in the pictures below?
They don't look so big until you see the tiny people on them...


Saturday evening we had a reunion with friends and family. All the kids I grew up with were invited. It was great to see everyone together and our mothers presented us with a very nostalgic gift. I don't have any pictures, but it will be in my home for years to come.

After dinner T and I headed home to enjoy a relaxing night by the fireplace.

Sunday, Nov 8:

Sunday morning the weather did not look promising for hang gliding. NorthEast throughout the Bay Area. But we have a small, H4 site that works in an East wind. Tom gave me a call and reminded me of this little jewel. But, it was late by the time we figured out where we should be, so it was uncertain if we could get setup and ready before the whole hill was in shadow. Oh well, time for plan B.

It turns out plan B was waaaaaay better than plan A. Tom offered to take me for a ride in his Lancair and I jumped at the chance!
Drool......

We launched and headed over to Windy Hill to check out the launch. The hillside was already in shadow, so we knew we were in the right place with the right aircraft.
Banking around launch in a 2g turn we headed over the back towards the coast. Settling in at 300' we flew up the coast at 200mph.
Heading North towards Half Moon Bay

The Lancair is amazing. It's small and light and powerful. It is like driving a sports car through the sky. Except sports cars don't go this fast....
Flying past the Half Moon Bay airport

We headed to funston where we flew below the cliff, past launch, and circled around in a high g climbing turn. I won't even try to explain it. Just watch the video below.

link

We continued up the coast, flying over the Golden Gate.
Low and Fast
The Bay was full of sailboats.

Too much fun,

link

SF and the Bay

Sausalito and Tiburon

Tom gave me a quick lesson on the in's and out's of the Lancair, then handed me the controls. We flew out of the bay and turned North again towards Mt Tam. The plane is very sensitive in pitch, with just a tiny bit of pressure needed to get the nose up or down. Roll takes a bit more force, but is still very light. If you input a roll, the plane will want to continue that roll rate. The same goes for pitch. So it is very stable, but requires constant flying. It won't return to level flight on its on.

Flying past Tam I could feel the rotor even out over the water. That site can have big teeth in a North wind.

I banked the plane and turned 180 degrees and headed back south along the coast at about 800'. In a matter of minutes we were past Half Moon Bay again and flying over Waddell Creek. That made 4 hang gliding sites in one day. Not bad....

We climbed a bit near Waddell and then Tom showed off the aerobatic capabilities of his rocket ship. I don't know if it was the plane, or Tom's flying skills. Probably a combination of both, but Tom and his Lancair inspire confidence. The rolls and wingovers were pure fun.

The Highlight...

All of those thing were fun.
But none of them compare to the highlight of my weekend.
The highlight of my life.
Christina said yes...
You and me babe