Who Doesn't Like a Drought?

What can I say? It's been dry. There's no snow. And flying has been great this winter.

Flew over 5 hours last weekend. Started on Saturday with a fun day at Mission Peak. Loaded up with Chris Valley and crossed the bay for a noon arrival at the site. It looked foggy and windy as we drove, but by the time we arrived at launch conditions had cleared and the wind was moderate.

Dropped my glider in the mud while setting it up, but the sweet conditions made me not care. Launched smoothly into some cold air. Lift was turbulent at time, but abundant. Aside from one small flush cycle it was easy to stay up, coring wide thermals which could be found both over the peaks and out away from the hills.

Ventured half way to Ed Levin, but mostly stayed around Mission, just enjoying the day and the glider.

After a little more than an hour I got cold and came in for a nice smooth top landing by the car, broke down my glider and had a beer. Chris and others flew for another hour or so and we ended the day with food and drinks at a local watering hole.

Sunday I was thinking Ed Levin was the call. But a fortunate conversation with Tom Low keyed me in to the improving conditions at Fort Funston. I changed my plans and headed to the coast, arriving at the site surprised to see only one glider set up.
Got my glider together quickly and launched into very North conditions. It was nice to fly conditions like this without stress. My new glider gives me a lot of confidence.

Getting Sideways Over Westlake
I played around at the fort for a while, flying fast, doing some energy climbs and mild wingovers, then I headed down to Westlake to play with the paragliders. Had a nice flight, and felt content after an hour+ so I landed back at the fort. I was going to break down, but then my friends Tom and Chris showed up and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to chase them around the sky.

CRV

We all met up at Westlake, flying close, getting video and photos, doing some mellow aerobatics and just boating around in the super smooth lift. I didn't want the flight to end, and flew till the sun was setting. As the day got later, the cliffs lit up with red light and long shadows. Amazing.

Westlake

Horsies!

Sunset

Chris put together some video of the day, chasing me around the sky



What a weekend!

Flights: 3
Airtime: 5:07

Lessons At Windy

Windy Hill can be a challenging site. Strong winds. Small LZ. I love it, but today it reminded me who the boss is.

Even this awesome pose wouldn't save me from Windy's wrath todayPhoto Courtesy Of The Westcoast Brit

The day looked great. Cloud streets as far as we could see, and snow on launch to give it even more of an unusual flare.

Ben and I were the only takers and we set up quick, planning our epic flight. Surely with such a great sky we would be flying over the back to Pescadaro. Surely it would all be great. Surely...

Snow At The Peak

Great Sky In Front Of Launch

Great Sky Behind Launch. Looking Towards The Coast

Ben was in the air first, climbing as he headed towards the tree line. I followed quickly. Launch was smooth and I hit lift right away. Things looked good.

Once over the tree line, the air was buoyant but not producing much in the way of climbs. I hit a few pockets that I thought might get me up towards cloud base, but none of them panned out. I kept looking at Ben and saw he was at the same height as me. So at least I knew it wasn't just me. The sky continued to look epic, but we couldn't find a way to get into it.

After 15 minutes or so I found myself heading to the LZ to land. A quick look at the streamers in the LZ and I knew it was going to be an interesting landing. The wind was strong from the North, switching between NE and NW. The combination of velocity, direction and variability was less than ideal. In our small LZ you only have two landing direction options. Either one was going to put me with a strong cross wind at best, and a quartering tail wind at worst. The active conditions above the LZ only compounded the situation.

I got my head together, planned out my approach and dove in. As soon as I entered my pattern, I hit lift. Not good. Planning for a short downwind leg and rapid turn to a crosswind final, I found myself too high. I made a quick turn to lengthen my approach and then I hit the sink. Quickly I found myself low and not in an ideal spot. Plan A & B gone, I moved on to a quickly devised plan C. In the end I came in crooked and mostly downwind. Whacked the glider good and ended up on my belly in the mud.

The conditions were tough, but they are not an excuse. There was a safe landing approach to be had, but I didn't execute it.

Lesson learned.

Snow and Funston

With snow levels dropping below 2000' in the Bay Area, we headed to Tam hoping to fly above snowy peaks. We got to the mountain and found plenty of snow, and a closed road about 1/2 mile from launch. A few hearty pilots hiked out to launch and had great flights. Myself, CRV, JT, Urs, Enzo, Wayne, and George headed back down the coast to Funston.

And Funston was kickin!


After braving the crowds at the fort, I cruised down to Westlake. Got there low, and scratched up. Once above 800', the air was active, and there was a lot of thermal activity on top of the ridge lift. It was easy to climb up to 1200' and kiss the cloud streets.

Looking North Towards The Golden Gate
I played around for an hour. Playing tag with Wayne, dodging the paragliders, and taking in the day. I have had only a minimal amount of airtime so far in 2011 and it felt great to be in the air.

Coming back to the Fort, I saw the ridge was packed with gliders. I opted to avoid the main ridge and go straight in for a landing. Squeezing into the narrow west side of the LZ, avoiding the large rotored area present during North-West winds.

Over The Fort. Many Gliders Below

Hugging The Cliff To Avoid The Rotor

Posing For The Camera's. Goes With Being An ACP

A great day. I need more!

Flights: 1
Airtime: 1:12

Flying Out 2010

It's the last day of 2010, and Windy Hill was the call. Seeing the forecast for East winds diminishing rapidly as the day went on, I opted for an early foray to the hill. I could not convince anyone else to join me in the LZ at 8:30am, so after setting up streamers I hiked my gear up the long trail to launch solo.

I was rewarded by winds light, but straight in, and an abundance of fog cloud forming and dissipating around the hill making for some beautiful scenery.





I set up quickly both to be ready to launch before the easterlies quit, and to stay warm. After chatting with a few interested hikers, I was ready to go by 9:45 am. I launched into a light breeze and enjoyed a wonderfully smooth sled run at my favorite local site. The hills were green, the mist was rolling, and I can not think of any better way to spend the last hours of 2010.

Does It Get Any Better Than This?
The LZ was wet, but the sun was warm and the quiet meadow brought a smile to my face.

I made a short movie of the flight to capture the mood of the day:

Link

I opted to do a self retrieve today and hike back up to the top, taking the opportunity to see from the ground that which I so often view from the air. It's a 1 hour hike at a brisk pace, and I need to do it more often. It's almost as nice as the flight down.


We have had some high winds lately, and the Eucalyptus and other trees show it.
The sky continued to produce spectacular views throughout the day

It has been another great year. I flew 5 new sites, including 3 sites in Florida (http://pilotneedsride.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html) and Makapu'u on Oahu (http://pilotneedsride.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html)
I've had some setbacks with an injury and, of course, work always interferes. But I feel blessed to have spent another year in air and to have shared it with good friends and my wonderful family.

I'm looking forward to another great year, and many more to come.

2010 Flight Statistics:

Airtime: 54:10
Flights: 127
Flying Days: 67

Mission, It's The New Funston

Four and a half weeks. That's how long it has been since my last flight. It is not often I go so many days without flying and I was in need of some air.

Fortunately there was plenty of good stuff to be had. I joined up with Urs and Enzo and crossed the bay to Mission Peak, meeting Tom Lo and Charlie there. Conditions looked a little light, but promising. I launched, scratched, and climbed in solid, smooth lift up above launch and behind. Once above 2,500' it was easy to stay up, with abundant lift by the peak and over the foothills.
Launching Into A Green Valley

Climbing Above The Peak. Charlie In The Distance

Clear Air & Good Views

I soared with Charlie and Urs, enjoying the view. Near 3,000' the air became turbulent and rather than try to break through the inversion, I opted to just stay below it where it was smooth.

Saying Hi To The Hikers

Over Launch. Diablo In The Distance

Unzipping? Or Dropping A Finger-Bang? You Decide

It felt great to get the dust off the glider. After only 30 minutes I opted to top land to end this short, but thoroughly enjoyable flight.

Banking It In For An Easy Top Landing

Enzo Landing Shortly After Me

Flight Time: 0:30
Max Altitude: 3,000'