January February March April May June July
10 As we arrived at launch, the wind was light so we set up rather quickly. We waited a short time and got David off for his glide to the Oak trees. I took off right behind him as the wind had dropped to nothing a couple of times. The convergence was upon us. I had no trouble getting up to 6000 feet, and watched as the others slowly took off.
Craig joined me and we headed down range. He tended to get up and then go to the next ridge quickly, but eventually he outran the convergence and landed at the bottom of Cottonwood Cyn. I kept plodding along, and made it to McPherson Peak, at the end of the range. Most of the time I was 6500 to 8000 feet above sea level, which is fairly comfortable, but there was sink between the thermals so it was not a cake walk. I decided to try and fly back to launch almost 20 miles away. I passed Jeff and John, who had been 2-3 miles behind me. As I approached Cottonwood Cyn from the other direction, I started sinking a bit more and hit a head wind. I dropped below the top of the mountain range and had no choice but to head out and join Craig.
Once before I had arrived at this same field and was able to get a great thermal. I was down to 4800' but hit some lite bubbly stuff and decided to work it as much as I could. It took a long time, maybe 20 minutes, but it finally turned on and took me to above 7800 feet! By this time Jeff and John had made it to McPherson and headed on glide to New Cuyama. Dave and Bill had missed the convergence and landed at the Oaks with David. I decided my best bet was to head out towards Hwy 166 and just go as far as I could. I made it past Chalk Mtn with the help of a couple of small thermals along the way. Then I began working another bit of lift after dropping to 4000'. This took a while also, but eventually got me back to 7700'! By this time the van was at the High School in New Cuyama waiting for the others to tear down. From my location I had that field made easily. I radioed that I was going to make it so they would wait for me!
I flew overhead with more than 2000 feet and thought "Why land there?" so I kept going. A couple of miles later I hit a head wind and some lite lift, which I worked and drifted across the valley to the South. This took me to Foothill Rd, where a circled in a small bubble until the van pulled up under me and stopped. I was only about 500 feet above the ground, and Dave got out and tossed dirt to show me the wind was from the East. I came in for a perfect landing after 4 hours! My straight line flight was only 25.7 miles but I must have flown close to 50 with the down the range, up the range, across the valley and back down the range, and then back across the valley again, path I took! It was very fun and rewarding.
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9 Hugh was excited about getting into the air so it was fun taking him tandem. At 6'1" he is an inch taller than I am, and weighs about 185ish. He is an athlete so did a great job running on launch. The air was mild and we had enough time to do 360's in both directions. We rolled in for a perfect landing on the beach.
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4 A major block is a scary thing! Launching is always easy, because you think it is good when you pcik a good cycle, but only moments later you are sinking out of the sky, wishing you were still on launch. That is what I was feeling as I plummeted towards the houses below. I was hoping to hit lift so I could make it across the highway to the beach, and luckily I did. This was a very fast flight though.
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3 This was a day I was waiting for. I had been planning on flying to Del Mar Elementary School ever since we moved into our house, which is about half a mile down the street. I flew around launch for a while, then went to the point. It took a bit of trying to get to the back bowl because there was a mild block set for about 400-500 feet above the beach. Once I got above that I was able to stay above 800 pretty easily. After awhile I began eyeing the hill just South of the back bowl and finally couldn't resist! It was easy getting there and was actually working quite well. I stayed there for 15-20 minutes or so, and then headed to the school to land. It was smooth until I got down to about 400 feet. Then I entered the block, which was a little gusty and lifty. I floated over a game of basketball for several minutes before making the commitment to dive into the school field to land. I should have set up farther back because the lifty air kept me going until the very end of the field. There was a man with a couple of dogs standing and watching me until he realized I wans't going to stop and he dove out of the way. I got about 2 running steps on the top of the 6 foot slope at the end of the field so I could clear the tall barbed wire fence by a foot! Then I flared and had a perfect landing. The only problem was I was inside a field surrounded by barbed wire! Luckily I found some nice people who lived adjacent to the fence and the helped me get my glider over. I'm not sure when I might land at the school again.
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28 It was a holiday weekend that a big group went to Owens, but I stayed home to unpack and move into our new house. The wind was blowing in from the NW on Sunday morning, so Sally drove me up for a quick flight. For some odd reason it was blowing from over the back and was warm on the hill top! I set up and launched into about a 5 MPH cycle. It was bouyant air but not rising, so I had a little sled ride and landed in light NW wind on the beach.
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13 It looked like a classic Spring day at Cayucos, with about 5 of us looking to have some fun. I flew to Twin Peaks a couple of times and then spent some time in the back bowl. The air was bouyant and I was getting back to the point with 1100 or 1200. Morgan went first towards the rock. A little later I saw him making passes on the cliffs near the Rock, so I headed down there. I made it with about 300 feet to spare and made several passes on the cliffs before landing. It was a wonderful, smooth glide to get there! Then Craig, Bill, and Dave joined us one by one. A very fun day!
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30 We arrived at the gap, on our way up to launch at Plowshare, and the wind was blowing in. When we got to the towers at the top, it was blowing up the back side! Bizarre. We cruised back down to the gap and I began setting up since the cycles were light but still coming in. Five Condors flew over several times. Once they were at eye level and right next to the hill in front of us. Still a thrill! I ended up standing on launch for probably more than 20 minutes, and then a lone cycle came in! I made the hard decision and ran off the mountain down a fairly narrow fire cut. I got off and turned left to try and get in the light thermal the 5 condors were working on the next spine over. I was well below them and unable to get anything, so I headed out to the Oak trees and had a fine landing. Craig stood on launch for over half an hour and I hopped on Bill's motorcycle and made it back up there before Craig finished tearing down.
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22 Maria, a lady Sally knows from her work, who is visiting from Columbia, was looking forward to a tandem flight. The day was post frontal, with development inland and a variety of clouds. The wind was fairly strong and Craig and Todd were in the air upon our arrival. Bill was setting up and Pavlo was waiting around for a little less wind. Launch was in and out of a fog cap that extended inland. By the time I set up the top 100 feet of launch was in white-out conditions. I drove down to the RC point (about 100 feet below the top) and found that was the bottom of the fog. Craig and Todd were still flying and the beach and ocean were all in the clear, it was just a matter of flying straight away from the hill to punch out the side of the cloud. Bill and Pavlo had decided not to fly, but I went up and prepared Maria. The wind was blowing in strongly but very smooth, so we ran off into the cloud. I flew straight for quite a few seconds, and then we emerged into a surreal place. The cloud deck above and way out in over the ocean gave very interesting lighting conditions. The colors of the ocean and the green of the hills were very beautiful. The air was as smooth as could be. It was very ethereal, and incredible first taste of hang gliding for someone. By the time we launched, the other two pilots were on the ground, and we joined them in about 5 minutes with a good landing on our feet after having to wave a kite flyer out of my path.
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15 The day provided an excellent training opportunity for Janet to take her first flights from the hill. The wind was West at 8-10 mph. After 2 flights, which I watched from the beach, the wind picked up a little so I went up with Craig, hoping to stay up for a while. The wind had shifted to the SW but by the time I launched it had lightened a little and I was only able scratch around for about 15 minutes. Craig launched a few minutes later and did the same thing.
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9 This was one of my shortest flights. Craig, Morgan, and I went to the knob to launch. Morgan set up and took off first, getting up with no trouble. I launched about 10-15 minutes later, and the wind had lightened a little and become thermal blocked. I launched into a big hole and sunk and had a hard time turning right. By the time I got back to the cliff I was very low and headed for the beach. I was able to make it N to the first turnout, were we can park and tear down. I little later Craig tried launching and sunk even quicker and barely cleared the rocks, bonking it in on the beach.
8 This was a nice day at Cayucos. I flew N to the dam, watched a couple of people playing golf. Flew back to launch, and then spent a bit of time in the back bowl. This flight lasted about an hour and a half. I landed when I saw Bill, Craig and Dave pull into Toro Creek pulloff as they just returned from Plowshare to fly Cayucos! Hard core!
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26 Craig called me at 8:30 AM to go to Santa Barbara and fly. His brother, Brett, was in town on a business trip and offered to drive for us. We arrived in Santa Barbara and saw several gliders in the air, at various altitudes. We got up to the Eliminator launch and saw the last 3 pilots take off while we were setting up. Most of the other pilots were on the ground, or flying around. I took off and hung out in a thermal on a ridge straight out in front of launch, mostly between 2500 and 3000 feet. After a while, Craig joined me and I decided to hop one ridge to the East. Mistake! There was no lift, and by the time I got back I was down to 2000 feet. The thermals were small and full of holes and not going up very high so I decided to head out to the landing field at Parma City Park, (which is where the name Eliminator comes from. This small LZ on a steep slope eliminates a lot of people from flying this launch!) I had a perfect landing in front of a big group of locals. A bit later Craig came in and also had a great landing. Then we went to the pier and had drink to finish enjoying a very nice day.
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25 We Dave, Craig and I got to launch about 1:30 but it was only blowing about 6-8. Two paraglider pilots arrived, and one said he wasn't interested in flying, so the other took a sled run to the beach. We had brought shovels, so went down a little ways to some small slides that were in the road, and shoveled them pretty flat. Then Craig said he wanted to leave and not fly so Dave and I decided to set up and fly down. By this time, the wind had picked up to about 8-10 and I was able to make a half dozen passes in front of launch. A lull came through and I decided to bail and try my luck at the knob. I arrived there even with the top, but there was nothing happening, so I landed on the beach. While tearing down, I found a rather large skull of a carnivore. I'm not positive that it is a dog skull, so I will have to research it a little.
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18 We set out on our first trip of the season to Plowshare with a load of 6 pilots and new to the area pilot in training, Janet, as driver. Bill, Dave, Mike, Craig, Dave2 (Janet's significant other, and new hang 2) and myself were looking forward to the slim possibility of a decent day. It is still early in the season for Plowshare so expectations of XC were low. We arrived to a beautiful, green valley, but on launch the wind was blasting! Probably about 30 mph, so we hung out, napped, hiked, etc for a couple of hours. About 2 PM it seemed to be marginally lighter and since the day drifting on by I decided to set up. Eventually the others did the same. Several Hawks, Vultures and Ravens had flown by in front of launch throughout the day, making it look like good ridge lift, so I was hoping to stay in the air for a little while. My launch was quick, it was like being shot from a sling shot! Dave was holding my nose wire, while Bill and Craig were on my wings. As I got close to the edge I started getting sucked off the hill, so I said clear, and leaped over Dave as he was diving out of the way.
Surprisingly, the air was quite smooth and the lift was abundant. I quickly climbed 500 feet over launch, and started exploring the lift band. Several minutes later Craig launched and I began drifting to the East. The lift was consistent, so I kept going and made the jump from the spines below Miranda, to the spine rising toward Timber Peak. Craig was not far behind, but tended to spend more time circling in the areas of stronger lift. Eventually I climbed to about 5600 feet, which is just a few hundred feet higher than the mountain tops here. I kept drifting to the East, which was into a very slight headwind. I made it to a spine about 4.8 miles from launch, but the next section looked less promising because the ridge-top was a little lower, and the spines were more of a jumble, and did not have any good bowls or faces to the wind. I got back above 5600' (which is very low for this place!) and headed East, hoping to find the same kind of lift that had sustained me. I slowly sunk below 5000' and began to get nervous, once I was below 4900' (well below the mountain top), about 5.6 miles from launch, I turned and hightailed it back to the last spine that had been producing.
As I arrived, Craig came in above me from the West. He was in lift and circled for a minute and then kept heading East. He stayed farther in front than I had but did the same thing (sinking), only he kept going! I was in a safe lifting area so I just watched as he tried to make it to the large field at Cottonwood Canyon Rd. several miles away. He was going to need some help, in the form of lift, to get there, but it never came. He ended up landing near a farmhouse that luckily had some friendly people that had a truck and drove him and his glider several miles out to Cottonwood Canyon Rd (and through 2 locked gates!)
By this time (4ish) Dave had taken off, so I headed back towards launch and hung out in that area, staying between 4500 and 5100' for most of the rest of the afternoon. It was so beautiful watching the shadows of the mountain crawl across the valley floor, leaving some of the lower peaks glowing, and then blinking out. There were several raptors that were playing in the air with us. They were easy to spot below us when they were glowing in the sunshine above the mountain, and the ground below was shadowed. At one point a Golden Eagle came up from several hundred feet below me to just above me, a hundred feet away. I pointed it out to Dave, who followed it towards the East. Eventually he said he was within 20 feet of it, watching it turn its head to look at him! At another time, I saw a glowing missile shoot by a couple of hundred feet below me, and going maybe 80-100 MPH! It was a Red Tailed Hawk (I believe) with its wings tucked. Fifty to 100 miles to the North, the snowcaps of the High Sierra seemed to float above the horizon. It must have been after 5PM when I noticed the one-day-short of a Full Moon rising in the East. After Dave launched the other 3 pilots tore down because the wind was not dropping off. Just before they were going to load up the truck, it dropped enough for Bill to decide to set back up! He got off but had a sore leg that was bothering him so he headed out after only a couple of minutes.
As the sun dropped lower and put the whole valley into shadow Dave and I headed to the West end of the range then easily floated back to the Oak trees at more than 3000'. There was still buoyant air, but I dove out of the sky and landed after 3 hours! My landing in no wind was not perfect (but almost) so I was happy! What a GREAT flight! Dave thought so too.
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26 The day started out Grey and overcast with cloudbase about 2500. This is just at the highest peaks of Cuesta Ridge, but about 500 feet above launch, so Bill, Dave and I decided to try it out. The wind was coming in very lightly when we arrived at the top, about 11:30 AM. A couple of paraglider pilots arrived and took off tandem about noon. They had a sled ride. The clouds were slowly dissipating, and then reforming, and every once in a while stronger cycles would come in. Finally, about 2, I decided to go ahead and launch. I stood there for a few minutes watching the wind, and then it dropped off to about 2-3 mph. I unhooked and decided to wait some more. It was actually a very pretty day, the valley and mountains are very green from all the rain we have had in Feb, and the temp was about 70. Once again the breeze picked up and I hooked in again. Once again the wind noticed and dropped off. Eventually it came back and I had a good launch. I slowly gained about 250 feet in mellow, smooth lift. The clouds then began to dissipate, and the lift died off with them. I slowly lost altitude and headed out to the LZ. I had a good landing in about 5 mph.
Several minutes later Bill took off and had a very similar flight. He started below launch, found some lift that took him above launch, then it died off and he headed out. Several minutes after Bill landed, Dave took off and we expected the same thing. For him the lift held and he was able to stay up for about an hour. Overall it was a very relaxing afternoon.
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6 The weather forecast was for South wind, 5-10. Steve, Bill, Pavlo and I headed up the Grade, with Sally and Nikki as our driver. It was sunny and warm, but the wind was very light. Perry showed up, and also several paraglider pilots showed up and flew. I was the first HG pilot to launch and only found one thermal that I was able to work. I gained a little over 200 feet, but I was making very tight 360's fairly close to the mountainside. Just before I made it back to launch level, the thermal spread out and became unworkable for me. I made a few more turns in a couple of other bubbles, but had to head out to the LZ. I had a good landing in 1 mph wind. The others basically flew straight out. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm (70's) day. I got a little sun burn on my face.
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5 Morgan and I arrived at the top of Cayucos with a steady 15+ SW wind blowing. It looked PRIME!! Several paraglider pilots showed up in the meantime, with Pavlo launching, going up, and flying straight out to the beach. It was a little to strong so the rest sat and watched as we took an elevator ride 500-700 feet straight up. The air was glassy smooth, with widespread lift. After a while a very light rain started to fall, but it was not enough to cause us to land. Eventually we headed to the South and to the knob at the North end of Morro Bay. I left launch just above 1400'. We were between 500 and 600 at the knob, then Morgan made the jump to the hill East of the knob. It was working nicely and we were able to fly to Hwy. 41 with ease, staying about 900-1000. I flew directly over Carol and Hugh's house and was calling. Jackie (the dog) heard me and was out on the porch looking for me. It was really a blast flying behind the town like that. The rain seemed to get a little wetter, so we headed back. It was an easy glide downwind to launch, I landed on the beach at Toro Creek. What a great day!
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29 Bill and I were hoping to fly in a SW wind but it was calm at Toro Creek LZ. There were some paraglider pilots on launch so we decided to go up and I would take a sled ride. I did. The wind was from the West about 3 when I launched.
26 This day was very similar to the 9th, but since the wind was stronger, I knew it would be soarable. I launched and immediately climbed 20 feet above the dune, and then headed to the south end by the large parking lot for 'Rock' visitors. There was a boy, about 12, fascinated and running after me. I made several passes along the length of the dune, but the wind was somewhat gusty which made for an up and down flight. I decided to land because of this and the boy and a younger brother ran down to the end to watch. I then talked to him a bit, he was from NY. It was a nice afternoon.
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9 I took the tandem glider to the small dunes just on the North side of Morro Rock and set up in maybe 12+ mph wind about 4 PM. By the time I hoofed it up to the top of the 10 foot dune the wind had dropped to maybe 10 or less. I leaped into the air and quickly floated to the bottom of the dune. I decided to try one more time, and this time a little cycle held me up long enough to initiate a turn to the South. I floated above the dune and kicked into my harness. This was a new site for me and it was a blast! I turned back and made it to where the dune curves back to the East. I did a 180 and headed back to the South end again. The wind was very smooth because it was so light, and more than once I thought I would have to bail off the ridge and land on the beach. Several people were scattered on the expansive beach and most were watching the spectacle. Once again I headed to the North end and back to the South, at times I felt as if I could reach down and touch the tall dune grass. I was able to return back to the North end but that last pass kept me low the whole way and I didn't quite have enough altitude to complete a 180, so I simply drifted away from the dune and land nearer the parking lot. It may have only been 5 minutes but it was worth the effort. I will definitely return to this spot!
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2
As Bill and I drove to launch at Cayucos, Morgan, Craig and Gordie were just launching into soarable conditions. I quickly setup and was in the air by 2:45 PM. The 3 others had all gone to the back bowl and were doing well. I climbed above 900' easily and decided to head N to twin peaks and the dam. I reached twin peaks with 700' and continued back towards the dam but steadily lost altitude. I arrived at the back ridge below the top and was experiencing rolling, turbulent air, so I returned to the twin peaks at 550'. I decided to gain some altitude before making the return trip to launch. By this time Morgan and Craig had returned to launch and were heading in my direction. Morgan arrived high and made it back to the dam with no problems. Craig followed.I returned to launch. Eventually Bill, John and Mike launched but the wind was shifting more from the north. The air become a bit less smooth and after a particularly uncomfortable dump, I headed to the back bowl, were Gordie had been getting rather high. I quickly climbed above 1000' and was able to stay between there and 1200' until I chose to land after 4:30. Several other gliders joined us but there was plenty of room. It was a rather fun time and a great start to the new year.
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