Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

First flights from the 750 at about 10:15 were the expected sledders.

Soarable if you were lucky and good. I sledded.
VGL

Next we flew from Regionals, around Noon. I plummeted to the 750, then scratched the bluffs for a while (Talon 160) the other pilots were up at 3500 to 4000 MSL. I was sick of scratching and saw the LZ windsock pointing toward the NW, so I thought there might be a thermal downwind of the windsock. There was, and I found it at about 275' AGL. It drifted all over the place, but eventually turned on with sincerity at the bluffs below the Western spine coming from Regionals. I got to about 3400 before finallly starting my speed runs and other tests of the glider. It was sweet.
Good. PP light VGT but OK. No change in PP VGT from rib level to full stuff. VGL ,Vtrim=22 ,Vs=20 ,VG1/4 ,Vtrim=26 ,Vd=55 ,VG1/2 ,Vtrim=29 ,Vd=62 ,VG3/4 ,Vtrim=31 ,Vd=65 ,VGT ,Vtrim=30 ,Vd=68

A bit more soarable, though still "on if you were in it, off if you weren't".
Very nice glider! Great in turns and thermals VGL ,Vtrim=21 ,Vs=20 ,VG1/4 ,Vtrim=24 ,Vs=20 ,VG1/2 ,Vtrim=28 ,VG3/4 ,Vtrim=31),( VGT ,Vtrim=26 ,Vd=62

The last round, about 3:30, it was threatening to go catabatic, and I guess it did before all of the guys from Washington had launched. Overall a very nice day of flying. Glad it matched my predictions ;)

Wind NE about 5-10 at around 10:00 AM at Edwards. Almost soarable, but really an extended sled. Very clear with lots of contrails way up high. Next round was actually sorable, thanks to Mitch in a PG finding THE thermal along the spine that runs to the A frame. Several of us got up, and I even flew back over launch with about 300 AGL. Next round had the high cllouds filling in and less wind, so we took our sleds like men, and the next round was the same. Started blowing down in the LZ sometime before 2:30. I landed uphill all four flights.

When we pulled up on top for the third round a USFS vehicle arrived almost simulataneously and a very friendly, cool, jovial ranger (named Vic or Virgil - my brain ain't workin') started talking about how he met with Bill (Soderquist, I guess) and they talked about planting low poles to block vehicle access to the setup area, and if that happened then the USFS could 'cover' the slope - fill the ruts and start erosion control. He said the USFS upper levels were mad about the erosion, but he is convinced it isn't the hang gliders' fault, it's the partiers who drive up there at night.

He said he was working on a conditional use permit for the site, modeled after the CSS permit, and that he had been out to our launch, met with Rob McKenzie, and was quite impressed with the operation and thought that something similar could and ought to be done for Elsinore.

He even wants to put in a 'glider launch' sign like ours.
This is all very very cool. He's new to the area and I think said he has friends involved in sailplanes or aviation of some kind. Too bad they only got to see us do sledders today!

On another note, I met Dan Pritchett (Rad Dan) up top, finally, and we spoke briefly about the CSS LZ power system. I mentioned that we might be putting some load on it with a PC and weather station. He said he'd be glad to analyze the drain and help beef up the system, if needed. I told him we were meeting tonight to discuss such things.
Good. Nose rib fits.

Beautiful day! Shirtsleeve flying (with light gloves)
in crystal clear air. The smog line stayed 10-12 miles
away. High mare's tails merging into thin banks
of Vee-shaped clouds kept the thermals on the weak side
but boaty when you were in 'em.
Good, basic Eagle. Virtually no BS rumble Peter- Zip tie front of sail.

Got to 5200 MSL late
afternoon after scratching below Cloud Peak for a while.
Prior to that some must have gotten up at Marshall and
gone back to Crestline.
Excellent glider. Mylar VGL Vtrim=20 Vs=20 Vd=48 VG1/4 Vtrim=22 Vs=20 Vd=50 VG1/2 Vtrim=27 Vd=61 VG3/4 Vtrim=32 Vd=70 VGT Vtrim=27 Vd=72 Wear spot front of glider bag.

Late day sledder. When we landed at 4:15 it was already catabatic in the
LZ, but only just. Landed heading North, could have gotten
away with landing to the South, given an aggressive flare.
Nice, fun day.
My first flight on U2 proto. Late day sledder. Tried to induce PIO behavior, but it always came back really easily. Good flare authority and response. Need a longer/better flight to tell much. Stall break a bit sharp. VG1/4,Vtrim=20,Vs=19,VG1/2,Vtrim=21,Vs=19,Vd=52

The El Cariso RAWS said N 16, gust 29 for the 8:04 report
(it had been reporting stronger NW) so we decided to give
Elsinore a try. At about 10:30 it was blowing 15+ NNW at
Edwards. The lone PG had some trouble getting off the ground,
and staying near the edge of the hill for that matter, but
it was fine for HG if one was patient, and the PG eventually
flew also. It was ridge soarable to 300-400 over the ridge
East of launch.
Turn gone.

At Noon it was more NNW, but lighter, so
no problem launching, and the thermals that came through
were pretty coherent.
Strong rt turn. Twist 3dn rt, 2up lt.

Wind was lighter, maybe 10, and the thermals were coming through.
One pilot got to 5000 MSL, and it was easy to stay up.

Wind was lighter still, and the shadows were
long, so it was boating in the very light ridge lift.

The wind in the LZ was mostly parallel to the lakeshore,
with some more northerly cycles, so landings were pretty
easy.

Fun to fly Elsinore again - it is such a long drive
from the Crestline ridge and I commute 90 min. plus
one way during the week, so I never seem to get down there
anymore.

Lightly soarable from 11:00 am, if not before. PG pilots
were mostly holding of in the gusty conditions around 11:00.
The light and a sprinkling of fall colors in the canyons
were great in the morning.
Around 1:00 a large alto cirrus bank drifted through and
grew, claming things down for a bit, then it was clearer
again and there were a few vigorous thermals here an there;
still on the wondy side. It looked like a few were getting to
6500 or so - I saw 5700, but wasn't really trying for altitude.
By around 4:00 there was a widespread grey layer up high,
what with the approaching moisture, and the last round of
the day was more or less an extended sledder.
Lots of pilots were out - PG, HG, Rigids, even.

Some kind of Falcon (bird) landed in the LZ near the PG spot after most pilots had landed, and just kind of hung out until an HG came swooping in to land on the PG spot.
As it made a low short flight to over near the candycane
bells were heard - it wasn't wild. A pilot who used to
be a falconer said it might be a gyrfalcon (sp?) or a prairie falcon, and said it was worth a lot and the owner was probably bummed.
He tried to lure it to his gloved hand, but it swooped acroos to East of the LZ, a few feet from the ground the whole time. We later spotted a guy way east of the LZ with an orange cap, walking around where folks don't usually just walk around, so we figured he must be the falcon owner.
Quite a different critter from your RedTails and Turkey Vultures. Some thought they might have soared with it earlier.

Get out and enjoy the pre-frontal flow on Thursday!

There were a couple
of PGs soaring a few hundred to several hundred over. One
tandem top landed just before I walked to launch with the Talon. Immediate lift at the east house thermal to 5700'
or so. Did a couple of wingovers above launch and descended
to just launch level, and was in the murk and sinking.
Went to Billboard vicinity and worked tight little rockets
really close to the hill for a while, always losing it
around 5100' - can you say inversion?

Headed out to the head of Bailey Canyon, on the east end of Pine. Similar stuff there, but was able to work up the
main Pine spine, to near the inversion. Eventually a good
one popped through the inversion and I joined the gliders
above the peak. Got to 6500' or so and headed to Sugarpine.
Lousy there. Back to Pine low, in the murk. More of the same, then another popped through, then really took off.
Between 6500' and 7500' I was seeing 1000 FPM up, banked up pretty steeply; when I drifted wide it was definitely over-the-falls.
I stuck with it until 7900' and change, when the lift dropped to less than 20 FPM. There was little drift,
overall out of the ESE up high.
I was in shirtsleeves without gloves. It was cold.
I dove for Crestline, then dove for Marshall, then wandered
around above the LZ for a while, not wanting to force it down,
but needing to land to stay on schedule. There was lots
of lift, so it took having a couple of gliders come in
above me to make me decide to throw the drogue and dive
on in.

Nice to see Crestline crowded, and all the somewhat far-flung pilots, even if it's because there are few options
of where to fly. There was a truck with several people parked on the 750 for a while. I don't think they were
pilots, because they were parked right at the edge of launch, they way non-pilots typically do. Don't know how
they got up there, or what they were doing. Not official
looking types.
Good PP VGT. More flutter at tips than most. Tightened #2 and #3 strings both sides. Slight left turn. Twisted L tip 1. VGL Vtrim=21 Vs=21 VGT Vd=68 Rear tips of #2 and #3 battens not vertical. Twist or replace.

I purchased from Rod Clark, 5/21/2008. Great condition, guesstimated 100 hrs. or so. Originally bought by Mark Daisey, then Mike Harper, then Rod.
Good. Could not pull VGT in flight - about 2 inches short. Could pull tight on ground. VGL,Vtrim=22,Vs=21

Went over to Crestline launch about 1:30 - strong cycles there might have made for semi-difficult ground hanling and Mark was flying the Falcon 1 225 so glide out might have been slow if it kept getting stronger, so we went to Marshall.
It was cycling there, and alternating from sunny/warmish to shadowed/cool. The PGs started launching while we were setting up, and reporting a little bumpy, but fat lift.
I launched the Talon at 2:25 into nice lift and climbed out without effort. A bit bumpy at the edges, but the the lift was indeed fat and smooth. Saw wispies at eye-level when I was at 6500 or so, with very fuzzy cloudbase maybe 100-200' higher. The cloudsuck was near 1000 FPM under the center of the clouds, and I didn't feel like getting closer and finding out what happened. Did a speed run to Pine vicinity,
between two lines of clouds, and lost 2000' in the sinky air along the way. OK at Pine - boated out to S of the Afterbay from the top of Pine, sinking all the way from 5500' to 5400' :)
Did another speed run (72+ MPH airspeed) to Cloud Peak, buzzed Marshall and did a wingover near Rob with his tandem.
Went out to land since the glider tested out fine and there might be time for Mark to fly it before sundown.
As I was circling over the LZ the wind was W to WNW and I was in 500 FPM down. Two circles from starting final the wind died completely, then picked up from the SW at about 5 MPH, so I got to do a 'normal' approach and landing.
Russ the PG pilot said he had landed headed WNW shortly before, and it remained quite switchy, but there were no problems, except for the PG pilots practicing in the LZ.
Everyone seemd happy and satisfied .
KY handed out great chocolate chip cookies after she landed.
I know she really cooks in the air, but it seems she also bakes!

Sorry.

Fun, not too cold, but amazing after last weekend's heat wave.

Check Redbook

It was gusting a little over 20 at Crestline at 3:00 PM. I waited for a nice lull to launch the US 166 and hit a strong gust just about at the bottom of the slope, where the drop to vertical is. I pulled in hard and climbed to about 300 feet over before I zipped my harness up.
There was a large cloud bank overhead at 12k+, southern edge just over the ridge. The smoke from the fires north of LA was flowing across the Cajon Pass and was in a brown layer just below the big cloud bank.
I got to 6500 in a few turns and headed east toward Strawberry Peak. Got there in about 10 minutes, only stopping to circle a couple of times and hit 7400 when almost there. Circled the towers and decided against heading farther east, given the wind and generally eerie conditions. By the time I got back to above the Cliffhanger I needed to gain altitude to make the 18/138 interchange comfortably. I found lift right there, but it was very very violent - over the falls at a steep bank angle, then up, then down, then my nose was getting pushed way up and I did a pull-up to pull in. By then I needed some lift merely to make the spine on the east side of Waterman Canyon. Gained a couple of hundred feet and cleared the spine, then headed south toward the Arrowhead Springs vicinity. The air was smooth and bouyant except for that one hairy spot. Got back to 6000 behind Arrowhead Peak and hopped across the canyon to the radio towers and Marshall. One severe wire-slap near Marshall. The upper clouds' shadow line was now at Kendall Drive, so I headed out that way to look for any big lift. While heading that way, slowly at about 5500 feet, I noticed that the smoke wall across Cajon Pass had reached the northwest edge of Devore. By the time I was at the 215 freeway the smoke line had crossed to the near side of Devore. I decided to land in case there was a gust front, or a smoke front or something. I got over the LZ vicinity and joined several other pilots trying to core sink at steep angles to get down. It took some hunting to find any down air.

I landed at 4:05, and a few more landed after that, all talking about the smoke. There was one pretty strong cycle from more westerly than usual, but nothing much happened, and it actually cleared up a bit, so the few pilots still flying got to enjoy the rest of the easy lift. It rained briefly at Crestline around 4:10.
Check Redbook for glider details

Save from 350 AGL to 4k MSL. Fire broke out Hwy. 18 Radio tower vicinity. Landed.
Sweet handling! Save from 350 AGL to 4k MSL. Fire broke out Hwy. 18 Radio tower vicinity. Landed 3/8 in. tear TS behind LE 20 in. from left tip. Patch. Looks like a pin tear. Kells call dealer.

Weak & scratchy.
Weak & scratchy. Vtrim=29

Flush cycle!

Small brush fire near CSUSB and later big fire in Cajon Pass. No firefighting aircraft seen until after I landed at 4:30. Lots of strong, bumpy lift. Wanted to land at 3:30, fought down by coring sink, then was over LZ at 2300 MSL and hit a dust devil that I wanted no part of trying to land in, so rode it back up to about 3300 and decided to fly for another hour. Got to 6800 North of Marshall and went to 138 Interchange. Had been to Sugarpine in early part of flight. Great day. Ran out another landing after flaring late due to excessive attention on yaw corrections.
Very nice handling!

Flush!
Flush! _Opa School_ on top surface.

Low cloudbase, soarable. Got to cloudbase.

Went to BB from Rgnls, left @ 5100
Great! Went to BB from Rgnls, left @ 5100

Launched Marshall about 1 hour after switch from N to S winds. No one else there. Launched 2:45, by 2:50 I was at 7000 MSL and climbing. Got to 9500 a couple of times. Very cold. Changed from lightweight gloves to heavy gloves without difficulty - I had put them in left side pocket instead of back or in truck! Became too windy to top land UM and there was a helicopter looking for a downed HG [reported by Tim Curtis - spurious, it seems] - the helo was in the LZ for a while. High wind all the way to LZ, very west. Landing:8

Low stall speed and better performance have led me to flare just a beat early both landings.
Good.

My first flight on an Airwave Sport.
Good.

My first flight on Falcon2 - as PIC.
Flew great! See Peter for new bottom front wires (too loose - SP aware, specs changed) and bridle retainer bungee. See Ken for longer nose rib.