Stuck in Mexico

Christina and I had the pleasure of being stuck in Tijuana for 2 days experiencing the wonders of massive bureaucracy.

The army drive heavily armed, unmarked cars. All the soldiers wear ski masks to hide their identities from the equally heavily armed and masked drug gangs. So how do you tell who the good guys are?
We got all our stuff sorted out and eventually made it back across the border. I like traveling, but I'm not crazy about TJ.
Don't drink the water...

Back to the Owens

Memorial Day weekend took me back to the Owen's Valley. Loaded up with Ben D and Ryan Gobble-gobble and blasted thru the Tioga pass arriving late on Friday night. Sunday was the day with solid lift, not too much OD, and breathtaking views.

I launched, climbed through 10k and realized I didn't turn my oxygen on. Tried to reach it, but could not. Got my head back in the game and decided I would just have to leave lift at 13k, giving myself buffer to 14. That worked for the most part, except for one thermal I couldn't safely get out of until it topped out at 15.5k

The Sierra's were breath taking

The air was very turbulent and fatiguing without oxygen. I worked my way north crossing Whitney Portal, then Onion Valley and reaching the lava fields near Aberdeen.

I launched just in time as it started to OD around launch back to the South.

I picked up my pace as I saw growing OD back to the South. Near Aberdeen I caught a particularly nasty thermal which drifted my out over the valley. Realizing the westerlies had kicked in, I decided not to head back towards the Sierra's, even though I was a bit too far South to make the crossing. At the center of the valley I found more lift between 10k and 13k and let it slowly carry me North up 395 until I had Black Mountain on glide.

I flew over Big Ears, and found Joe Jackson climbing at Black. I climbed for a little while but began to grow concerned about the OD to the South. I decided to get moving fast to the North. I hit massive sink at this point and found myself over a beautiful green field just past Bishop. It wasn't a crop, but just a spot in the desert with some ground water. I couldn't resist and put it down next to a shade tree where I broke my glider down in comfort.

Total Distance: 64 miles
Total Time: 3:30

That night we stayed North, camping up near Mono Lake. We found a wonderful ditch under a power line to spend the night

"Driver Appreciation Night" Copper Launch in the background.

Monday was OD'd big time in the valley so we hit a hot spring, and then checked out Copper Launch. The area around Mono lake is stunning.

Everyone Jump!

After Copper we headed back through Yosemite to home, taking one short stop to climb a snowy 11k peak.

What a great weekend. Good friends, good flying, good adventures. I love hang gliding.

Flying 4-11-09, Mission Peak

Turbulence seems to be the theme in Northern California the last couple weeks, and Mission Peak on Saturday was no exception. Nothing extreme, but some big bumps. To balance it out were some big climbs resulting in an exceptionally good day on the Mountain.

Looking back at Mission Peak from the South

Typical climb for the day was around 3,300' with a few to 3,700'. My best climbs were away from the hill. I always enjoy those kind of conditions as it opens up the flying site considerably when you don't need to follow the ridge.

The air was clear and the views of the bay spectacular

I flew until I had my fill

Total Time- 2:10

Mellow McClure

More video. This one's a wingtip mount I took at Lake McClure last month.



Link

Coastal Flying

Last Saturday was a classic day at Mt Tam. Hooked up my new camera and made myself a little video. Ground shots are courtesy of Aerochris

Rainy Day Fun

Bird vs Fish

Bird Strikes Fish In Water - Watch more Funny Videos


Fish vs Bird (and don't try to tell me a whale is not a fish...)

Penguin Pro Evades Killer Whales - Watch more Funny Videos

Jealousy

Aerochris has been tearing it up. See his blog for an awesome video "Vertigo at Ed Levin"
blog here

He's got some great shots lately

Photo Courteous of Aerochris

Mexican Plants

Flower


Forest


Ball-Of-Fun

La Salina

The weather didn't cooperate for flying, but I had some fun getting to check out the site at La Salina anyway. We stayed at Bajamar, just a few miles from the ridge.

The ridge from the parking area for the bailout LZ

Nice carpeted launch


Looking North from launch


Looking South


Looking East, behind the ridge. Nothing for miles.

It has been raining a lot in this area. The soil and infrastructure alike are not able to handle this much water. There is a lot of flooding, sink holes, and erosion.

Puddles like this one are much deeper than they appear

The road to launch is beautiful, and was a lot of fun to drive. It is not always clear which way to go, but we were able to find our way up without too much back-tracking.

Here's the token cactus-in-the-foreground shot...

Mexico

I just got back from a week in Mexico with the family. We stayed in a community called Bajamar about 15 miles north of Ensenada. The house we stayed in was about 2 miles away from the flying site La Salina. I brought my glider, but got skunked with the weather.

The house is on a bluff overlooking the ocean and a golf course. I don't really play golf, but it was fun to hack it up here... and cheap.

The whole place is sparsely populated and offers some nice scenery

The ridge at La Salina as seen from our front door. It looks spectacular. This day it was blowing 20mph parallel to the ridge..

One of the interesting things about this area is the lack of a decent lending infrastructure. Projects are financed mostly with cash. When the cash runs out, construction simply stops. There are a number of houses at Bajamar that appear under construction from a distance, but walking through them you can see they have clearly been left to rust and crumble.

Last time I was here, 2 years ago, these houses looks just like they do now. The beams are rusting, and the concrete is crumbling.

It was a relaxing week. Very good to see all the family together, and a nice break.

Blinking Jesus. He's got an aircraft warning light on his head...

hangin

I'm thinking about all the friends I've made in the 5 years I've been hang gliding. Every one of them a unique soul with a common passion. They've made my life brighter.

T2C Glide

Video courtesy of Aerochris.

Zoom

Ben's in Australia for 3 months, flying a series of comps, and living out the 3-summer flying dream (Ben's blog). Just when I was starting to feel sorry for myself I got a call that made my day. My Rotor Vulto-S had arrived and it is oh-so-sweet.

I think the harness is about 2 inches too long. First try on it had a few wrinkles and a droop in the boot. After adjusting the shoulder straps I was able to smooth it out. I think I will add an inch or so of foam to the boot as well.

More Of The Same

Sometimes a familiar place looks completely new. Funston was like that last weekend. The beach was wet, and steam was forming at the base of the cliffs and flowing up the gullies like a waterfall.

Octoberfest 2008: Get-U-Sum

Lake McClure is one of my favorite sites. Located in the Sierra foothills about 50 miles east of Modesto, it offers great flying, great scenery, and perhaps the most wonderful and eclectic group of pilots around.

This weekend was the annual Octoberfest fly-in. Chris picked me up on Friday night and we rolled into the campground around 11pm. First order of business each morning is the speed gliding competition. Only a handful of pilots compete, but it's a blast for pilots and onlookers alike. Chris and I managed to take second and first place respectively. Our combined times over 2 days were 0.1 seconds apart.

The daytime flying was good. Saturday a convergence moved through the area allowing a few to get to nearly 10k. I was set up late, and conditions on launch became increasingly gust and cross. After waiting all afternoon I reluctantly broke down my glider and drove down the hill. Sunday was much calmer. Decent lift, lighter winds, and nice smooth thermals. A few went cross country, but I just played around the local hills.

Dan and Glen did a great job putting it on. All-in-all, another great fly-in by the Mother Lode Sky Riders!

I'm Back

Sitting still has been driving me crazy. Last Sunday I decided my ribs were healed enough, my glider was reassembled enough, and I was ready enough to get back in the air.

It was a sled run day at Ed Levin. I was missing a pin when I opened up my glider bag. So Chris took a flight and then lent me his pin so I could finally get back in the air. I was nervous since I had completely disassembled my glider and this would be it's first flight since reassembly. But there was no need for concern. She flew straight and sweet. It took about 2 seconds of being in the air before I felt that wonderful sense of elation. It's been over 2 months since I flew; I almost forgot what it felt like.

No Post

Why do I post with nothing to say?

I'm not at the Nationals, Christina is in Norway, and some nagging rib pain is keeping me out of the air. I've been working long hours and living vicariously thru the stories of my friends flying in the Nationals this week.

Oh well, here are a couple old pictures
Funston

Alastair

barbs

At the end of July, over the course of 2 days, I managed to get a number of barbs, both man-made and natural, embedded in myself. I have spent the last few weeks observing how efficient these simple items are in doing what they do. And what they do is not come out of you.

The fishhook was too deep to remove through regression or progression of the hook and required a scalpel.

The big cactus needles came right out with a little force.

The small cactus needles broke off and 10 or so have been gradually extricating themselves from my hands. Only 2 more to go!

Among Barbed Wire and Prickly Pear

My baby was in need of a full tear down inspection, and some repair work. It was the first time pulling the sail off my glider and I was looking forward to it.

Chris offered up his garage and beer and we had ourselves a tear down party. It was pretty straight forward. A few little hitches with the rear leading edges, but nothing too tricky.

Out of the bag and ready to take apart

I was most concerned with removing the sail attachment to the rear leading edge. The nut on this bolt is adjustable and is used to set the tension of the leading edge. I payed close attention to how many threads were engaged before removing it so I could get it set back to where it was. I think a few tuning flights will be required to get it back to the sweet spot.Leading edge tension adjuster

The inner leading edge has an adjustable crescent fitting to orient the outer leading edge. It was easy enough to take off, but getting it back in was the most difficult task.Front/Rear Leading Edge Junction


Shiny... Rear Leading Edges Out, Sail Ready to Come Off

The Bare Bones. It sure doesn't look like much when you see the frame alone. It's amazing what such a small amount of aluminum and carbon fiber can do.

A thorough inspection showed the leading edges, cross bar and keel where all fine. There was control frame damage that will warrant a complete control frame replacement. I could have kept many of the fittings, and one of the downtubes, but given the type of stress damage I was seeing in a few spots, I decided to replace the whole control frame for my own peace of mind. Also, I will be getting a new wire set just to be safe.

Significant twisting damage at the apex elbow brackets

The saddest part is my broken control bar. It has a split along the front seam. I can't bear to post a picture of it...

We put the sail back on the next day and ordered the new parts. They should be hear soon. I'm looking forward to getting the glider back together and heading to the US Nationals in Lakeview, Oregon in August.