Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

Post Santa Ana (weak), prefrontal overcast
Good launch. Scratched over Caltrans, then Cloud Peak. Down slowly, nice approach, OK flare 2 feet AGL. 370 hours when HP AT bought.

Santa Ana, high overcast
Good launch, micro-core thermals, sled ride. Nice landing. [Last flight on GTR?]

Very nice, clear, warm, buoyant
Good launch, easy soaring. Celebration wingovers after Kurt's launch, one waaay over. Nice landing. Kurt Stevens soloed at 12:58.

Inter Santa Ana lull, very light cycles
Good launch, Kurt flying well. I was relaxed (somewhat). No control inputs except speed on final turn and help with flare. Skimmed at good height, nice landing at 15:03.

Prefrontal, 60% Alto cumulus
Nice launch, Kurt in front after launch, did landing. I yelled instructions the whole time, hands on wires. Good approach, flared a tad late to squatting position at 13:03.

Strong Santa Ana
Good launch, trouble with boot, had to fly upright away from terrain. Scratched in weak stuff, gaggle 200 feet above me. Sank to LZ. Beautiful landing, 0 witnesses.

Cirrostratus
Clear, pre-prefrontal. Good launch, wobbly close to the hill. Tiny cores, no gains. Good approach and nice landing 20 minutes too early at 12:36.

Santa Ana's, strong thermals
Good launch into thermal. Up to 7K quickly. Got to 8600 at Second Step. Easy soaring. Vario quit but no problem. Came over gully high, landed north of intended path, running. Beak at 13:50.

Light cycles
Inflation and ground handling practice. Three launches, good landings.

100% overcast
Too strong on the inflation, tricky launch. Soared Bluffs. Good landing at 13:37.

Some sprinkles
OK inflation, soared Bluffs. Landing good, 7 feet from spot at 14:06.

Prefrontal
Great launch. Great thermals and squirrely. Soared fairly easily, got to 7K at Pine. Low save at 2800 at AJ. Cruised and had fun. Came in fast for top landing, no air speed 20 feet from hill. Wicked whack at 13:40. Two downtubes.

Murky, switchy
Good launch. Some thermals at 400 FPM. Stiffer handling than expected, easy to soar though. VG on briefly -> OK. Near save over Badger Hill. Nice approach, flared off level. Whack at 13:51.

Pre/post Santa Ana
Barely blowing in, large cloud bank, minimal thermals. Good launch. Kurt flew well. Good landing at 14:23.

Tight thermals and weak
Great launch, thermals too small, big sink holes. Chose to land in Flood Control Basin. Nice landing at 15:27.

Good launch, little to no lift. Two 360s, sled ride to Alternate LZ. Nice downwind landing at 12:35.

Cumulus at 5400
Good launch from upper. Scratched core to 5000, went to Lower Marshall 5200, and patchy lift. Got to Billboard at 4800, then Lower Marshall got to 5300. One shot at top landing, too low, scratched face 20 minutes. Good landing by car at 17:40.

Murky marine layer
Good launch. Scratched around, found one good thermal to 4300, over top. Too turbulent for top landing. Sank slowly to LZ, wind SSW there. Nailed flag on final, OK landing at 17:05.

Turbulent
OK launch. Light cycle, poor run by Kurt. Very turbulent air, too close to let Kurt fly much. Couldn't break 4300 feet. Kurt flew to LZ, bumpy there. Quick S approach, good landing at 14:00.

Glassier
Good launch, scratchy. Kurt in control 20 minutes. Good turn initiation, weak rollouts. Rode one thermal well. Winds SSW in landing zone. Swooped over trees and gliders, nice landing at 16:30.

Weak wind
Had to run like crazy to get airborne. Good glide and nice flare to feet. Demo flight for student Kurt Stephens.

Glassy
Good launch. Thermal at Lower Marshall to 4300. Six wangs. Nice landing at AJ Airpark at 17:24.

Glass off
Good launch. Trimmed with bar out six to eight inches more than GTR. Tended to fly fast. Two 90° wangs. Good landing at 17:15.

Scattered Alto Strat
Good launch (on video), lift at house thermal, got over top, soared easily. Student overturning and failing to roll out of turns; flew straight well. Nice landing (me) at 15:38.

Glassy out front
Good launch, soaring a little too weak for student to work. Good flight out. Pretty good landing at 17:27. Jens Loengaa crashed at CRS, buzzing launch. Broken neck, no spinal cord damage.

Nice wind
Good launch, very long glide, good flare. Demo for Rob's student Ching Ching.

Murky marine layer
Good launch from upper. Tight cores all out front, hard to soar, 4 low saves to 4K. Fun. Whack crosswind at 16:15.

Great
Two demos, first time in Comet, sweet glider. Lesson with Kurt Stephens.

One demo, cycle ending, skimmed low, good flare. 1/2 lesson, Kurt Stephens.

Nice and straight
Two good demos for student Kurt Stephens. One straight at video camera (Jeff J). Good video of Kurt learning to flare.

Great thermals
Good launch, sank to Bluffs less than 3000 MSL. Nice save while learning to thermal tandem. Got to 5600 feet, many good climbs at 600 FPM. Wind SE in LZ until final (SW). Flared late to belly land. Time 14:30.

Upper level winds
Good launch, went to Pine, then W. Squeaked back and went again to Devore (7400 feet), then LM, UM, then Little Mountain. Good landing at 15:28.

Windy
Poor launch, harness loose, leg strap stuck on thigh. Got to 6K at Billboard, then at Pine, nothing. Good landing in bumpy air at 16:48.

Turbulent
Good launch, sank to save. Rough thermals; ceiling 4400 feet. Nice landing at 15:05.

Two demo flights for student. 1 XLNT flare and 1 OK flare up to feet.

Three demo flights for student Kurt Stephens. One didn't get off the ground, and then two poor landings.

Small cores
Sank to CJ quickly, poor landing at 14:20.

Small cores
Good launch, tough to get up. First to Crestline, little there. OK top landing, crab.

Good day
Second flight, got to 5500 quickly, then zero lift. Came into UM high (100 feet) and flew by. Sank to Cajon. Nice landing at 5:20 PM.

Good day
Good launch, got to 6500 in strong thermal. Full stuff to Crestline, then Upper Marshall. Good wingovers. Right inspection zipper open, so top landed.

Awesome
Good launch into ridge lift, went to LM after 20 minutes. Boomer to 6K, some 1K up thermals. Sank at University and Kendall. Headed back to CJ, no lift, so I landed OK at 14:20.

Great lift
Good launch, went to Crestline twice, once from 5300 at Cloud Peak. Did some wangs, then bitchin' spot landing at 5:00 PM.

Good launch, gnarly air, tight, OK landing.

Good flight, landed on target.

Overcontrolling first 10 minutes, then OK.

Strong
Good launch, got to 5K quickly, flew around, landed at 1550.

Glass
Nice little flight. Landing at 1640.

Very bumpy
Good launch, easy ride to cloud base at 5800 feet. Wanted to stay up but had things to do. Excellent landing at 1715.

Glass
Good launch at 1800, easy soaring, excellent landing at 1830.

Bumpy
Good launch, went to Cloud Peak, sank out, whack at 14:25.

Overcast
Good launch, no lift. Cleared Lower Marshall by less than 200 feet. Sank. Good landing on the spoil levee at 14:50.

Glass off
Good launch, relaxed glide to LZ. Popped nose slightly, pulled in and flared hard for a good landing at 6:00.

Very unstable/great
Long run, windy. Went to CRS. Very windy! Stuffed to get out. Save at 850 feet AGL then Kendall and University, Little Mountain, excellent landing at 15:30.

Bumpy and thick
Good launch from lower. Tough to get above 5K. Clouds shading hill. Gnarly cores low. Got to 4K. OK landing at 1510.

Vigorous
Great launch at 14:00 into nice lift - 6,500 at CRS at 14:10. Chased Cary M. in PG to Devore. Fought to get back. OK top landing at 15:45.

Glassy
Good launch and top land after 15 minutes.

Glassy
Good launch and landing at CJ after 30 minutes.

Vigorous
Launched at 1605 lifted straight up after three steps from the upper launch. Practiced straight cross-wind flying. Good landing at 1650.

glassy
Good launch at 1700 into glassy air boated around, save, pretty good landing at 1730.

Bumpy. post Santa Anas. good launch at 1320 easy soaring pine 7K aborted approach turbulence save excellent top landing at 1450.

glassy
First tandem (as PIC) good launch at 1515. Joe off ground first. ignored light lift, no 360s. hit big sink went for LZ came in high and didn't lose altitude very fast. extended glide to hit path. flared late, bellied in.

Midday flight, no details. Top landing.

2nd flight, no details.

Bumpy
Good launch sank to top of Palm Ave., caught a boomer at 800 AGL to 5400. couldn't get up @ Billboard great landing on video @ 14:40.

Good launch at 3:15. Good top landing at Upper Marshall at 4:30.

Good launch at 5:00. Excellent landing at Cajon at 5:20.

Smog
Good launch at 1:15. Top-landed Upper Marshall. Excellent.

Smog
Good launch at 2:30. Top-landed Upper Marshall. Excellent.

Smog
Good launch at 3:45. Landed Cajon at 5:00. Excellent. Reached 300 hours total airtime. 196 hours in 9 months!

Smooth
Wrong glider for student. Seven flights, 6 good ones, less than a minute airtime each.

Post Santa Ana
Good launch at 12:20. Wanted big east trip, sank at radio towers. Didn't get back up. Good landing at Cajon at 1:40.

Post Santa Ana, wind shear prevalent
Good launch at 2:20. Got to 7500, went to Pine and sank west of it. Trashy turbulence at 5000. Tried west again, got 2 miles then 215 freeway. Bumpy in Irvington LZ. Good landing at 3:40.

Glassy, windy in LZ
Good launch at 5:50. Sled to Old LZ. Teasers there, 0 sink. Got up early, good approach and nice landing at 6:10. Tandem check-out (passed). Co-pilot Rob McKenzie.

Santa Ana
Good launch at 2:20. Lift out front to 7000. Turbulent high. Sank to less than 1000 off LZ. Saved two steps. Best top landing ever at 4:20 at Upper Marshall.

Frontal, strong west
Good launch at 3:20. Strong lift, 500+ to 5500 over Waterman Canyon. Easy soaring, 12 good wangs, then whack in the wind landing at Cajon at 4:20.

Calm Santa Ana Good thermals
Good launch at 12:25. Soared easily, got to 6500 at Crestline. Saved from 800 south of Lower Marshall. Good top landing at 1:45.

Calm Santa Ana
Good launch at 2:00. Sank to Cajon LZ. Landed at 2:20.

Cloudy frontal, OC
Good launch at 1:40. Sank to 800 AGL, save to 5000, 205 base. Soared easily, Crestline twice, Little Mountain. Good landing at Cajon at 4:10.

Cloudy
Good launch at 3:00 PM. Lots of PGs. Left after 15 minutes to Cloud Peak. Got to 4200, went for Irvington LZ. Landed crosswind, minor whack at 3:30.

Funky air
Co-pilot Rob McKenzie. Flight type: Tandem. Good launch at 4:05. Slow sledder to Cajon LZ. Forgot to go upright until final. Came in slow, bellied in at Cajon at 4:15. Tandem check-out flight.

Glassy smooth
Good solo launch at 5:50. Glassy smooth all the way to LZ. A little late with flare but popped it good. Excellent landing at 6:00 at Cajon.

Screwy, Santa Anas
Good launch at 2:40. Strong bumps and big sink. Got flushed at Lower Marshall, had to land on Ben Canyon spoil levee. Nice landing at 2:55.

Smog
Great launch at 1:45. Good soaring, got to 6400. Low at Pine, save then 6000. Excellent landing (on video!) at 2:45.

Gusty
Hairy launch at 2:25. Good soaring, flew to Pine, etc. Top land on Upper Marshall at 4:05. Good and low but not "in back" enough.

Gusty
Good launch at 4:15. Sank to Cajon field, caught thermal less than 500 feet AGL, got to 5200 MSL. Flew over Upper Marshall, wangs. OK landing at Cajon at 5:00.

Post Santa Anas
Good launch at 3:40. Wanting to top land, got up twice, aborted (too high). Sank to 2500 MSL. 30-minute miracle scratch back up. Came in too high, skimmed top, popped up, and flew on by. Sank to Cajon LZ. OK landing at 5:10. Must come in lower at the top.

Good lift with cumulus
Good launch at 12:00. Easy soaring, went all over. Good top landing at Upper Marshall at 2:30.

Good lift with cumulus
Good launch at 12:00. Easy soaring, went all over. Good top landing at Upper Marshall at 2:30.

Good lift with cumulus
Good launch at 2:40. Sink and wind on the way to the LZ. Poor landing at 3:10 at Irvington.

Good lift with cumulus
Good launch at 2:40. Sink and wind on the way to the LZ. Poor landing at 3:10 at Irvington.

Strong, wild, gusty
Student Kurt Zobal. Three good demo flights, last excellent. Good hands-off runs as well. Student refresher, five years off. Nervous and out of shape, good reactions though.

Strong, wild, gusty
Student Kurt Zobal. Three good demo flights, last excellent. Good hands-off runs as well. Student refresher, five years off. Nervous and out of shape, good reactions though.

Strong lift and sink
Good launch at 1:00. Soared easily, got to 7600. Top landed Upper Marshall at 2:35 on wheels (hit bush with legs).

Strong lift and sink
Good launch at 1:00. Soared easily, got to 7600. Top landed Upper Marshall at 2:35 on wheels (hit bush with legs).

Strong lift and sink
Good launch at 2:45. Nice landing at Irvington at 3:00.

Strong lift and sink
Good launch at 2:45. Nice landing at Irvington at 3:00.

Murky haze ceiling 4600 to 5000
Good launch at 3:00. Went to LM then UM, soared a bit. 2 sinks and saves. Very little drift, bumpy. Excellent spot landing at Cajon (2 to 3 feet) at 4:15.

Cloudy, frontal, ceiling 4500 to 5000 feet
Good launch at 12:50. Good lift, went to towers. Sank to LZ. Switchy in Cajon LZ. Poor landing at 1:30.

Cloudy frontal
Good launch at 5:00. Soared weak lift, had fun. Good wings. Good spot landing at 5:14 at Cajon.

Prefrontal
Great launch at 1:30. Got to 6500. Went to Crestline cutoff, headed out to UM (wanted to go east) and sank out. Good landing at 2:15 at Cajon.

Hazy Santa Anas
Good launch at 4:00. Worked lift by Cal State. Good spot landing at Cajon, 10 feet from target, at 4:15. 2 dozen people helped put rocks & dirt on Crestline Launch. Windtalker back up!!!

Clouds at 7,000, convergence Wind shredded thermals
Good launch at 3:40. Sank slowly. Wind shredded thermals and sent them east. Windy at landing zone but SW not W. Poor landing at Cajon at 4:05.

Hazy marine layer Tight punchy thermals drifting erratically
Bumpy launch at 2:05. Tight punchy thermals drifting erratically. Got low on spine, worried. Couple of pops got me to Cajon LZ. Wind 5 to 8, sweet landing at 2:25.

Murky, low clouds Turbulent, strong
Good launch at 2:20. Sank to UM. Turbulent, strong. Soared over reservoir 30 minutes, went back to hill. Nothing there. Belly land Cajon at 3:10.

Murky
Good launch at 12:10. Sank through thick haze to flats. Couple of bumps on the way. Soared weak one over the Cajon LZ for 10 minutes. Belly land at 12:35.

Smoggy Strong cores
Excellent launch at 11:50. Strong cores, snaky drift, got to 6200 eventually, almost to Crestline. OK landing at Cajon at 1:50.

Smoggy Gusty
Two demo flights from high on the right side. One OK, one excellent. Gusty. Student Chuck.

Smoggy Tiny thermals
Good launch at 12:40. Tiny thermals were all I found. Weak 1 over the old LZ area. Switchy at Irvington LZ. Good landing at 12:30.

Smooth
Three demo flights, all good. Airtime less than a minute. Students Terrou and Chuck.

Prefrontal, wispy high clouds
Good launch at 12:20. Got to 5200, sank to 3K, then 6200 to Crestline and back. OK top landing at 1:10.

Prefrontal, wispy high clouds Sink cycle
Good launch at 1:10. Sink cycle, scratched low. Good landing at 1:30 at Cajon.

Crosswind
Student Terrou. Three demo flights from the 20-foot area. Good 1 from 30 feet plus. Four flights, all less than a minute each.

Weakened Santa Ana, more stable, hazier
Good launch at 1:00. Tougher to stay up than the day before. Three saves, got to 4200. More close-in flying. Very good landing at 2:30 at ORT.

Mild Santa Ana, good lapse rate, clear clear clear Good thermals drifting way back
Good launch at 12:30. Got to 5400 with many good gains. Close ranks in thermals. Excellent landing at 3:20 at ORT.

Smooth
Four flights, all less than a minute, for the ICP in Santa Barbara. I don't really wanna talk about it.

Frontal
Lessons with Terro and Rick. Good demo flight at 4:00. Rob's giant very light training hill wing.

Frontal
Lessons with Terro and Rick. Good demo flight at 4:02.

Overcast, rain clouds
Excellent launch at 1:00. Flew mostly with light touch, some 0 sink areas especially down low. Wind switchy in Cajon LZ. Dove hard, near whack at 1:45.

Cumulus and thermals Odd frontal
Good launch at 12:30. Sacked the Upper Marshall barrier at 4900, eventually through to 6200 cloud base. Had fun. Made three tries to top land: 1) Traffic abort. 2) Too high, flew across top wheels touching twice. 3) Success. Good landing at Upper Marshall at 2:15.

Weaker thermals
OK launch at 2:45. Sank to 2800, worked a weak 1 to top (4000), then got flushed all the way to Cajon LZ. Good landing at 3:15.

Cloud base 100 feet AGL, murky and weird Weak lift
Excellent launch at 1:00. Some weak lift, incoherent. Had glider trimmed faster - better. Good landing at Cajon at 1:15.

Clear Buoyant
Good launch at 12:30. First tandem ever, with Rob McKenzie. Thermals too small to stay in. Flew out to flat ground. Buoyant over water project. Good approach and landing at 12:45. Handling very different, more pitch pressure. A little hard letting passenger fly near hill. Declare turns first - no surprises. Fast approach important.

Clear, late in day Glassy, weak thermals
Good launch at 3:30. Sank off ridge. Glassy, found 100 foot per minute lift to 600 AGL over water project. Worked hard 2000-foot gain in 15 minutes. Eventually got 5200 in front of Pine. Seemed like thermals without cores, 250 foot a minute max. Had fun in smooth air. Fair landing at Cajon at 4:35.

Frontal Thermals, weakening
Good launch into lull. Soared 5 to 700 feet over for 20 minutes. Went to UM. Thermals to 5700 weakening. Pretty good top land at UM at 1:20.

Frontal and overcast
OK launch at 2:20. Flew mostly straight out. Soared a thermal over the fault line for a few minutes, then over the high school. Excellent landing at 2:35.

Clear
First Raven flights. Over-controlled. Flew fast. Good approach, okay landing at Cajon. 5 minutes airtime.

Clear
Same site & conditions. Good launch around 2:50. Thermalled a little. Good approach, soft belly landing. Cajon. 10 minutes airtime.

Morning mist
Balloon drop, began ascent at 8:30. Uncomfortable but fun. 8:42 release altitude. Release stuck, it took three pulls. Serious vertical dive, 150 feet or more, wanted to tuck, then whip up, held it smoothly. Flew by another balloon before landing at 8:55 with VG on. Joe Guzinski happened to video it. Joe Ardito dropped next, good. Bill Roberts postponed until the next day. [I remember flying toward the Perris LZ at high speed when I recalled needing to just slow down and enjoy the view.]

Cloudy
Did a brief flight of 5 minutes, probably around 1 o'clock. Bought the Raven 229 from Lee Keller for $600.

Thick, misty haze Cut-off low to N
Good launch at 1:50 PM. Long sled ride to Cajon LZ. Wanted to land on top. Oh well. Very good landing at 2:05.

Santa Ana winds
Very nice launch at 10:45 AM. Climbed 100 feet over. Got 300 feet a few times. Sank even with launch. Went to LZ. Clean approach and good landing at 11:00. First HG flight there in years.

Santa Ana winds
Good launch at 12:45 PM. Soared at 3100 with 30 other gliders. Got on top briefly. Flared early and held it well. Landed on feet. 25 minutes airtime.

Santa Ana winds
Excellent launch. Got to 3800 eventually. Went to the E area. Came back. Very gusty and bumpy. Did some wangs. Excellent approach and landing. Two hours airtime.

Frontal Very Strong Wind
Okay launch at 12:15 PM. Ice and rain. Wanted to land at Cajon, went downwind to Irvington instead. Excellent landing at Irvington at 12:30 PM.

Cloudy Good thermals
Good launch at 12:15. Got to cloud base, 4700, soared around, top landed, Upper Marshall. OK at 12:45.

Partly Cloudy Good Thermals
Good launch at 2:35 PM. Sank 1000 ft, then worked up to 5400 ft. Good thermals, went to Crestline and back. Excellent landing at Cajon at 3:55 PM.

Overcast Tight lift
Good launch at 12:40. No lift, went to Marshall. Tight lift there, zero sink overall, went to LZ. Nice landing at 1:00. Xfront stalled that was supposed to arrive yesterday.

Prefrontal Ridge lift
Good launch at 1:40. Ridge lift in main bowl, nowhere else. Sink at billboard, cruise to LZ. Good no-wind landing at 2:05. Noticed right turn in glider on landing, saw right number 8 rib (washout) had slipped out of socket, probably when I broke down partially to fix left mylar missed on preflight.

Santa Anas
Good soaring. First tandem PG flights. Rob McKenzie flew mostly and did all three landings. Too windy for solo flying, OK for us. Co-pilot: Rob McKenzie.

Santa Anas
Good launch at 12:35. Found lift way out east spine. Gained 500 feet to 200 feet above launch. That was it. Good landing at 12:50. Did a tandem paraglider flight with Rob McKenzie at the notch on the way back to San Bernardino.