Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

There were about a dozen pilots out for the trenching detail this morning, and all of those who wanted to fly got to, plus a lot of pilots who showed up later. I just observed some of the work, since a healing finger wound rules out manual labor. Decided to fly after all. It was blowing in from 10 AM or before, but mostly still in the LZ; sunny and pleasant. The main crowd showed up around Noon, and I decided to go home and get my glider after all. Set up a turnaround when I got back to the LZ and we went to Crestline. It was chilly and breezy there. I launched the Falcon at 2:15 and climbed 100' immediately. Did some slow ridge soaring for about 10 minutes, getting a few hundred over. I sank a little at Billboard and headed for Cloud Peak rather than get in close and wait for the next cycle. It was very soarable down at Regionals, Cloud, and Marshall. The thermals were narrow and weak - 100 FPM was good - and drifted to the NW once they cleared the hills. There were gaggles at Cloud and Marshall for a while, mostly PGs. I took one thermal from Marsahll to 5k MSL, circling very slowly and really watching the drift, climbing 20-30 feet in the best circles. I saw 300-400 FPM a couple of times. Best lift was away from the slopes, though there was just enough breeze to scratch in close a little between thermals. I got 1:15 airtime and had flown out over the LZ rather high. Probably could have scratched for another 15 minutes easily. There were a bunch of satisfied pilots in the LZ folding wings. Good way to end 2006.

Barely blowing in at Marshall. Waited on launch for several minutes until a cycle came straight in; had some straight left and straight right. Good launch at 12:50. Vario beepd a few times, but only did a handful of circles below Cloud Peak. Good landing next to HG spot grass at 13:00.
Real nice. Tried to video with Josh camera.

Slight breeze at Marshall. Headed straight for Regionals. On the way I spotted Rebar Dan circling there already. Found some puffs near Last Chance at 3200 MSL and circled as flat and slow as I could. Scratched for all I was worth, mostly VG 1/4, turning flat and pushing out. Worked SE to where the draws come together, then along the SE face, climbing inch by inch. Got over the road below Regionals and the lift consolidated and I climed about 200 FPM to 4300 (above Dan!) before bailiing to do some weak wangs and land. The climb was about 1100 feet over 11 minutes; SeeYou reported an average climb rate of 89 FPM for that period. Left the lift to go land. Good landing on grass near HG dot at 14:44. The McBus had a full load for the One O'Clock.
Slows down really well. Vt=28 VGT

Very still at UM, but hawks circled a little bit. We were rushing to get off before it turned katabatic. Good launch at 16:10. Headed straight for Last Chance. Got in close to the slopes, <100 ft AGL, and enjoyed the smooth descent. Did a right-hand approach for variety. Landed in nil wind, maybe 1 MPH tail, on HG spot, stepping and dropping to one knee - glider didn't touch, nose didn't drop .A pure glassy sledder in close to the hill, racing to get off the hill before it blew down or something. Landed at 16:20 and it went katabatic around sunset at 16:41. Was perfectly comfortable in shirtsleeves and jeans - no gloves even.
Good.

Cool pre-frontal. 60% overcast at 10 AM filled in to 98% at 12:30. Very little breeze at Marshall. A few launched and finally a PG and na HG were slightly above launch height. Launched Sport 2 155 at 13:51. Worked some thermals for several circles, but never really gained above thermal entry altitude. Good zero-wind landing with a slightly late hard flare and a few steps. Some PGs and HGs managed to soar a bit, at least one of each getting to the 5k MSL cloudbase (or higher).
Some BS rumble at trim. No visible ripples though. Tightened inboard battens. Small gouge L dtube, top, inside.

The North wind dropped to zero at Crestline just before Noon, then built from the SW. While setting up there was a string of balloons at about 6k, halfway to Crestline, that just kind of hung there, barely moving. Owen was below the top with his Talon, then climbed out. I launched the Falcon 225 from Marshall at 14:20. Didn't find anything and was heading for the spine above the 750 when I found 200-300 up over the middle of the canyon at 3200. Got to 5500+ over Marshall in about 10 minutes. Headed back to Crestline. Arrived at 4900 finding still air. Was out front enough that trying for below Billboard was out, so I pointed toward the bailout wedding-chapel LZ and hoped I wouldn't end up there. The crossing was slow, but I rounded the corner at 3200 and found lift back to 5500. Again it took 10 minutes, but that thermal had 700+ up for a few hundred feet. I climbed another 1k from above Cloud Peak in a weak thermal that was barely pushing up and wandering every which-way. Back to Crestline and a thermal off Billboard to 6400, about 200FPM. Not much at Pine. There was a PG at ridge-top level at the back of Devil Canyon; I kept an eye on him as he finally got up a little and made a slow glide out to Billboard. I got up a little and went to the next spine west briefly, then back to Pine. At about 15:30 I finally hooked a legitimate boomer, climbing at 400-600 FPM to 7600; I lost it, found it, and hung on to 8000 MSL North of the back ridge. The hazy ocean air was fully into the area at that point. Over at Billboard I got to 7600 again, then headed to Marshall vicinity to land. Found some 500 down over Cloud and cored it. Over Marshall I decided to aim a little higher on the slope, since I've been landing a bit lower than I like - There are these two big bushes I tend to fix on while diving on approach. I started my big diving circle about 75 feet higher than usual because I was over the right spot to start. I was looking higher up the slope, and let the bar out early because I was really screaming (for a Falcon). I glided right up the slope to the top, about 8 feet off the surface, so I pulled in a little and flew down the PG launch and out front. Haven't missed an approach up there in a long time. Should have kept the bar in and stared at those two big bushes. One thermal got me up and East of the peak, but not enough. Got as low as 3600, and it took about 20 minutes to get up high enough to do a very tight approach into a landing at 16:17. There were a few other pilots out, but not that many. Some soared, some sledded.

Went out to fly my 225. WW was test flying, Rob Kells had hurt his back and was driving. They asked if I wanted a ride and wanted to fly a glider. Sure. Falcon 3 slows down well and requires a bit more attention to bank angle than F2 and previous. Still great fun. Did a very short flight, as their gliders were all set up by Bill on top while they were flying, and they's asked if I wanted to do two flights. Good landing on grass with spot 20' to my right.
Good Rear Keel Safety Button stuck inside keel during breakdown

Launched from top SW prepared to run hard. Lifted on third step with low airspeed. Pulled in and glided down slope. Yawed a little and had a quick drop-bump, like hitting a road dip, as I cleared the edge of the hill. Worked at Cloud Peak to about 4050 MSL, did some mild wangs and lame spin attempts. Good, gentle landing.
Nice. Seemed like a right VGT turn on first glide, but some mild aero eliminated that.

Second day of morning NE flow. Erik was here from Burbank. Blowing every which way at the LZ after 1 PM, but mostly in. Eventually decided to go look at Marshall. Very clear heading up Waterman Canyon. Lots of traffic coming down 18 because Hwy. 330 is closed. Still clear driving out to Marshall, but we saw haze and circling hawks as we approached the peak. There were some strong cycles in, then weak ones from NW, N, and East. looking toward San Gorgonio we could see the sharp line between the haze and the clear; same looking toward Cloud Peak. Down at launch it was between SE and SW with occasional NW. At 2:35 decided that if it didn't blow down for 10 minutes the glider would come off the truck. At 2:45 went up to get the glider. While setting up the Falcon 225 a cloud formed under the sun, shading the whole front of the mountain; it didn't go anywhere. There was a touch of haze in Devil Cyn. by the time the glider was fully rigged. At 3:30 the cycles were diminshing, but still in. Launched about 3:37 and hit some small lift by the windsock, but didn't try to circle. Got to the spine below Cloud Peak about 3000 MSL and worked little puffs, gaining as much as 7 feet in a circle. Got below 2600 MSl and tried the bluffs for a couple of passes, but nothing was there. Light SW in the LZ. Set up a high approach and lost a lot of altitude turning to final and hitting zero wind, even though the flags were not limp. Ran like heck and slowly came to a stop holding the glider on my shoulders next to the spot. Eight minutes of sledding glory. Forgot to get the GPS from the truck. No one else flew. Hoffbrow drove my truck down. Erik has subsequently talked to McKenzie about arranging a lesson.
May 2007: Eirk is now a Hang 2. He took lessons from Windports (closer to home) after Autumn Santa Ana conditions prevented several lessons with High Adventure.

It was a hair early, since there had been marine layer clouds in the AM. There were some cores going by that had diameters about equal to my Falcon's turning radius; spent a few minutes several hundred below the top. That first good thermal off Marshall got kind of elusive as it poked through the inversion at about 5k. Blowing hard enough at Crestline to go more or less straight up without turning. Pine wasn't really happening yet (13:45) and I got impatient, crossing Bailey Canyon straight from low on Pine's SE spine to the hill by the Afterbay; lost a lot of altitude and was looking at bailout LZs for a minute. Crossed Devil Canyon's craw and arrived at the lowest SW part of Marshall about 2800. There was a little core in that bowl that gave me a few hundred precious feet (so I could make the LZ comfortably) and then REALLY turned on. From about the height of where the dirt road goes over the nose I was seeing over 600 up on my averager, with peaks well over 800. Soon I was at 5800 just north of Regionals. Did a quick glide back to Crestline, where it was still the same, then back out to Cloud and over to Marshall Peak for a sweet top landing.

Similar to Saturday, but stronger base wind. Gusting to around 20 at Crestline. I launched a Sport 2 155 at 14:51, did a few passes over launch, and then was at 6350 at 14:58. Headed to the Interchange, climbed to 6800, then the next spine, got to 6900. Went to the spine out in front of Strawberry Peak, but the wind was blowing the cores apart. I kept getting lone circles of 100-200 up, and eventually dipped down below 6000 while working back west of the Cliffhanger. Decided to run out the spine on the east side of Waterman Canyon and see if I could catch a nice core that I could climb with for a long time while it drifted toward Strawberry. At 15:25 was at 5200 over Arrowhead Peak vicinity and 9 minutes later was at 7700 over strawberry, thermalling with a Moyes topless. That thermal was 300-600 FPM for the most part; it weakened at about 7k and I really had to hunt to stay with the core, but then it picked up again - weak inversion? After I actually circled Strawberry I headed west along the ridge, looking for a new goal. I was really noticing how the whistling of the pip pins and streamlined corner fittings sounded like sirens, and actually was scanning the highway below for an accident and actual sirens. I was past the Cliffhanger when I spotted the smoke from the small fire near the Mountain Disposal yard, about 3/4 mile east of launch. I pointed toward the LZ, straight across Waterman Canyon (I was still at about 7k), and once I'd cleared the east spine of Marshall I dove for the LZ, where the white X was out and a number of pilots were fighting their way down to land. I considered landing on Marshall to wait out the fire, which wasn't growing and was in an accessible spot, but didn't want to be stuck on Marshall if things went badly. I noticed that there was no traffic going up Hwy. 18. So I got a 1:05 flight, got some altitude and made a goal. Many pilots had their flights cut quite short. [img_assist|nid=351|title=Crestline 9-3-06 - Google Earth view of fire location|desc=An area that burns every couple of years.|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=71]The fire was at the top of a steep ravine that has power lines running up it ( 34?13'56.84N 117?17'55.37W ). When I was living in Crestline, less than 1/2 mile from that spot, the ravine burned twice. The cause was the power lines getting overheated on a hot day (the rare need for A/C in Crestline) and igniting a pole or snapping and lighting the brush. That wa probably the cause of today's fire. In fact, the Google Earth image of the area features a brown slash in that same area from a fire sometime before the snap was taken. A spotter plane and some helicopters were active over the fire for a while, but the airspace was reopened around 17:00 and some groups of pilots got to get late-day flights in. Then there was a police helicopter circling low east of the LZ chasing target shooters. The Site Monitor did a great job coordinating with the chopper pilot on the aircraft radio.
Good overall. On the stiff side VGT, but OK. A couple of wear holes on bag near zipper, 4 feet aft of handles.

Great day! Hot and rather clear after overnight north flow. Launched a Sport 2 155 from Marshall at 13:52. Gene and Dusty had already skied-out with their PGs. Got up a little in a kind of ragged drifter, then went to Cloud and got to 5500 in a few minutes; lost the core briefly around 4500 when it started drifting more to the North. Went to Crestline, where the thermals were away from the hill at launch - I got drilled/mushed doing a low fly-by and popped up in the themal out in front of launch. Got 5600 or so at Billboard and headed to Pine, where the fun started. From about 5000 I climbed in one thermal to 8200, ending up over the very top/back end of Devil Canyon. Headed for Sugarpine, working one core for a few turns halfway there. Decided I wanted to get the old fire lookout (now just a cell tower) turnpoint at the very end of the ridge at Cajon. Haven't done that in a couple of years. Found it quite bouyant at the last spine, and got 7000 before deciding to go for the tower, mindful of all the times I've rapidly lost a lot of altitude, like 1000 feet, doing that last jump. As I crept West, I actually climbed another couple of hundred, then hit the big sink. Made the tower and whipped around, arriving at my start point 700 feet lower than I started. It was still lifty, so no problem. Back to Sugarpine and out front to Pine, where I got another one to 8200 feet. These climbs featured stretches of 5-6 turns at > 700 FPM up. Flew across and over Crestline, mostly above 7000 MSL, then across to the 138 Interchange and at the next spine I decided to head out to Arrowhead Peak instead of going for Strawberry. I was getting a little stiff in the legs and the plan was for me to drive Peter's truck down, maybe after flying another glider. About 15 minutes later I landed at Marshall, for a 1:51 flight. As I was breaking down Peter showed up and told me I had to fly a glider down to the LZ, so I got an 18 minute flight, launching at 5:10. Could have stayed up a while, I think, but it had really really mellowed out.
Set the root battens stiffer per PS, but the glider was a little stiff, so I loosened them after landing. Slight left turn, worse VGT. Got a little tail to the wind as I was parking the glider and touched the nosecone to the dirt. Twist RT tip one hole for left turn and adjust RT sprog for VGT turn.Clean dirt from nosecone, ask MM whether to discount or replace nosecone or just ship it (couple of little dents).

Was booming earlier. Launched from the top into mild lift. Peter asked me to do a short flight, so that's what I did. Hoffbrow flew nearby and did a couple of wingovers after I did, then we both did some more. Nice landing at the LZ, but quite short due to sink on final. Different landing in the LZ since I've been mostly top landing Marshall.
Bullet holes, RT LE @ #4 batten. RT turn VGT only, immediately noticable. Adjust RT sprog for moderate VGT turn.

Arrived at Marshall 13:45, not a soul there. Wind SSW 5-15, warm. Launched F225 from top into a nice breeze, but ground-skimmed a long way. Was soon below Cloud Peak. Worked 100-200 FPM back to Marshall and a 600 FPM core went to 5200, east of the peak. Heading NW a little I found another core to 5700 in 3 minutes. Crestline was ridge-soarable, but I flew to BB, got to 6100 in 6 circles, and headed for Pine, which took 5 minutes flying about 24 MPH. Decided It'd be fun to see how quickly I could do another lap, so after working a thermal for a few turns I headed for the Afterbay, and then Last Chance. Arrived Last Chance at 3576 MSL at 14:56. Found a weak 50-200 FPM core that drifted lazily; the core eventually reached 500 FPM above Regionals, but was so narrow I could only hit it and push out for about 120 degrees of each circle. Was at 5250 at 15:03, but it felt like longer than 7 minutes of circling. Was able to point straight downwind at Crestline and arrived just above 5100. Got below BB, then over the water tank, then out above the north end of the spine from the Afterbay. A cople of weak ones that couldn't get their acts together let me maintain above 4k for a couple of minutes, but I bailed to Last Chance again. Got a better core than before (felt the hotter air), along a similar path, but it fizzled at 4700, then I was below Cloud for a little while until another 100-200 FPM core took me to Marshall. After afew passes back and forth I landed at 15:45.

Arrived at Crestline well after 1 PM and it was blowing steadily, about 15 MPH, with some gusts. By the time I was ready to launch just after 2 PM it was 18-22 with long waits between lulls. Launched a Falcon 3 195 at 14:13, climbing away after 2 strides, before I even got to the downhill; climbed up a few hundred by the time I made my first pass back over launch. Climbed to 5975 at 300-400 FPM in the first thermal I found at Billboard, then over to Pine. The first thermal I got drifted quickly, so I flew out front a ways, hoping to catch one and climb high before going North of the peak. The one I found had me back over the spine very quickly, but I was over 6200 at 14:40. Probed west a little, but wasn't in the mood to fight the wind. Did a long glide to Regionals, and it was breezy down there, but the thermals were abundant and climbing at 300 FPM was pretty brainless. Buzzed launch, climbed up, over to Cloud, back to 5100 then drifted over to downwind of Regionals and found a remnant that took me back to Crestline. Waved hello and dove back to Regionals and the LZ. Did a right-hand approach to a SSE final, landing at 15:21. Pretty fun conditions, and it was on the cool side up high. This was my first flight on a Falcon 3, and since I've been flying my original Falcon 225 a lot, I felt like I could really feel the differences. I'm not a WW employee anymore, though I do maintain their website, so you can take the following with a grain of salt. The F3 is much more responsive in intial roll, and requires less force to start a slight bank. This made bank adjustments effortless while thermalling. Along with this, the glider did tend to bank more 'on its own' in response to variations and texture in the air, but it was easy to level it back out before any real change in heading. A couple of times I was pushing out in thermals and finding it rolling out or wrapping in - then I looked at my ASI and saw that I was going 15 MPH, and maybe had lapsed into flying by bar pressure. As long as I kept it 17 MPH or above (i.e. not mushing) I had total control. The glide is definitely improved, what with the nose cone and reduced bridle count. This glider had the round downtubues and basetube - the optional Lightstream downtubes and basetube would make a huge difference. Overall the F3 felt 'sportier', more nimble, than the F2 and the original Falcon. ============================= I was carpooling with Peter, Dexa, and J.R., and unfortunately, Dexa had tweaked her left knee, coming down hard with a straight leg after popping up and banking a little on flare. She was unable to put weight on it. They went to Urgent Care Sunday AM and the word is that the ligaments are strained but OK, probably won't need surgery.
Peter brought a Falcon 3 195 out for me to fly.

Fairly clear, warm, 5-10 SW at Marshall. Launched from the top at 14:30 and got rolled into the hill a little as I turned left toward the windsock. Climbed a couple of hundred over in choppy lift, and I didn't like the drift. Went to Cloud and climbed rapidly to 4500, but fell out the back. Found it again and got to 5500 and headed to Crestline. Pushed out and climbed without turning at Camp Paivika, then got dumped hard. Got to 6K at Billboard and boated to Pine in sink and lift; arrived at 5500. Lots of lift at Pine, plus wind. Thermalled with Dexa to 5700, then got to 6300 from the Peak. Flew west to the powerlines then veered left after gaining a couple hundred, wary of the wind. Could really smell the sweet smoke from the fire near Rialto Airport. Set my floor at 5700, then 5600 after plummeting through 5700. Turned and floated to Pine. Got 6500 there, wandered back to Crestline, then BB and Cloud, arriving at 4k. Took a boomer to 5200, then went to UM and landed at 15:55. Fun, but kinda 'the usual'.

Launched Mark Hoffman's Talon 150 from Crestline at 13:55. Flopped around Paivika and BB and got to 6400 from BB at quarter after two. Went to Pine and headed west at 5700 from the peak, since Mark was headed that way. Got to the power-line spine, but didn't hook the boomer that Mark was in, way above me. Got back to the peak at 5100 and hooked a nice core, climibing 1600 feet in 4 minutes. That thermal went almost straight up north of Pine, and I followed the back ridge in very bouyant air to Sugarpine. It had blown down overnight, so maybe there was a bit of convergence. Not much happening at Sugarpine, but after a couple of minutes got back over 6200 and went to the next spine west. I was in a broad area of zero sink as I headed for the 215/15 interchange. I flew very slowly and enjoyed the '0.0' reading on my vario. Eventually I reached 6000 and turned ESE to parallel the front bluffs and back to Pine. Vario beeped once on the way. Got up a little at Pine, then back to BB and up to 6400 at 15:04. Tried the spine out to Marshall, hoping for a core that would drift to the 18/138 like yesterday, but found nothing until the radio tower SE of Marshall. This part was fun. A core screamed past me at 15:15, and I had to hunt downwind to find it. Five minutes later I was at 5400 more than halfway across Waterman Canyon, so I went to the back peak and hooked 400 up to 6500, then floated tot he back ridge. I got to the Cliffhanger vicinity, headed back to the point and out the spine a way before diving back across the canyon and buzzing Marshall. Worked the peak while some HGs took off, then went to Cloud and headed for the LZ when I saw Mark out there getting ready to land. I headed that way and unzipped my harness and put my feet on the basetube. It took a few pulls to get the zipper to go down; Went back prone and zipped up after a couple of minutes of that (and my legs were dry). It was 15:55, and I was tired from the longish flight yesterday and a good bike ride in the morning, so I went out past the LZ and cored some sink. Got down and the harness zipper wouldn't budge - pulled the red handle and un-velcroed the zipper no problem. Mark and another pilot landed and I was 600 AGL over the LZ when I hit a core. Worked it, not wanting to approach through it. It turned into solid 600 up, and I figured there could be karmic consequences if I just ignored it, so I drifted with it to 4150 S of Marshall. Flew over the peak, went VG tight and dove for the LZ. Did a couple of wingovers, remembered to go VG loose, and did an OK approach to a landing on the HG dot grass that I'd like to have done on Saturday. Mark did really well on the T2, and Haim was specked out at Crestline a lot. Not as strong as Saturday, but a little more consistent.

Launched a T2 154 from Crestline about 14:50. Got up at Billboard and went to Pine, losing only 300' along the way. got up to 6500 north of the peak and pointed west, where there were several gliders strung out, including the Atos. Worked a couple of lighter ones for a few turns along the way, and established over Sugarpine at 6200, sinking slowly. A Kagel guy was about 700 below me and pressed on west. I didn't see him turning, and I was getting no beeps, so I headed out front and back to Pine. Up again and over to BB. Worked the ridge a bit with a crowd and followed the spine out to Marshall - caught a weak one over the 2N40/18 turnout and drifted with it to the 18/138 interchange, and from there to the next point east. Was at 6000 without a cycle in evidence, so I headed out the spine along the east side of Waterman Canyon, then west to the radio tower. Lots of shade from an island of cirrus under the sun at this time. Saw a truck arriving at Marshall dragging three PGs in bags from the tailgate - they'd done that from at least halfway in; from 4800 I couldn't tell WHAT was going on there. OUCH! Back to Marshall, then cloud and around and round. Thought about landing at 16:30, but decided to try and work the re-emering sunshine. At 16:45 got a solid 200-300 up core at Regionals and drifted slowly with it to Crestline. BB then back to Cloud and a low fast fly-by of Marshall. Kept full VG and dove to the LZ, where I whipped a couple of wingovers, a bit on the low side. Forgot to let the VG off!! I had earlier done the 'Inner Pilot' thing and clearly envisioned my contest-winning spot. Ahem. It seemed really bumpy on my downwind, but I was low and on a good track. Pulled in a little on final because I wasn't dropping fast enough. Shot past the spot, dropped a tip, and ran 3-4 steps before going to my bare knees and sliding a good 6 feet, coming to a stop around 17:10. The basetube wheels worked great. Kathy Rhodes dashed over with water, ointment, and bandages - thanks a bunch, Kathy! My rib dinner was great (the roll could have been fresher) and hangin' with the crowd was fun. I was zoning out during the raflle, so I bailed. Forgot my GPS in the truck, so no track.
WW Demo. Very nice glider. Light in pitch and roll.

Strong cycles on Marshall while setting up - both HGs moved by the wind. Launched at 15:02 and climbed several hundred over almost immediately. Got a solid one to 5600, drifting to east side of spine behind Marshall - didn't want to take the Falcon over the canyon, given the wind. Floated back to Crestline, where it was easily ridge soarable - got to 6k in 4 circles. Hung out a Billboard for a few and headed for Pine at 6100. Right over the middle of the canyon gained 400 in a few circles and arrived over Pine at 5300. Hit a boomer right away, climbing to 7200 in 4 minutes, the first half of the climb was 800+ FPM on the averager. Only lost 700 feet going about 1.5 miles west, and climbed again to 6500 in a few circles. Headed for that low spine SE of Sugarpine and found I wasn't penetrating much at all - wind faster near the pass, I guess. At 5800 I reluctantly turned for the front of Pine and lost 1100 feet in 3.5 minutes getting to the far (low) west end of Pine. Once there I easily climbed back to the top. Hung out right there for 5 minutes to relax, then took a 600 up core to 6800. Flew slowly out to the bluffs in front of Pine (over the white tank) and turned ESE to fly along the bluffs, still around 5k. Found a fast-drifting core over the water pipes and took that all the way to the back ridge at 300 FPM. Interestingly, when I got above the highest road below Billboard (at 5600 MSL), the thermal drift clocked about 30 degrees and I ended up at 5900 in front of Crestline launch. Haven't taken a ride up the middle of the canyon in a while. Got up again at Billboard, flew out to the reservoir, then arrived at Cloud Peak at ground level. Caught a mostly 400 up core from 3200 to 5700 over Marshall in 8 minutes, then circled around a bit and landed there at 16:51.

Still very hot with high pressure. Strong westerly cycles on Marshall. Launched the Falcon 225 at 14:47. Worked ridge and thermal lift in front for a while, then to Cloud and sinkgin as confusing, tight thermal cores drifted by. At 3200 feet just W of the 750 I hooked one the drifted stright to Marshall and 4800 in about 6 minutes. Did long downwind legs on the 360s to keep up with the drift. Went back to Cloud Peak and worked the standing wave above the little bowl on the west side of the peak until a 700+ FPM core came through that I took to 6100. I was nearly parking at Crestline Ridge and left Billboard from 6100, heading for Pine; hit some serious down just before the ridge and cleared it at 4700. Climbed steadily up the spine and in thermals over the next 10 minutes, getting to 6700 just N of the E/W ridge behind Pine. Made a foray W to the powerlines, but found no lift and meandered back to the front of Pine. Got another one back to 6700, this time joined by 2 topless wings who hent farther back, since they had more glide. Another trip W had the same results as before. Went back to Crestline, where there were a couple of other gliders, plust there were gliders going from BB to Pine all the time. Was at 6 grand in front of launch when I heard a helicopter. Looking NE I saw it a few hundred yards away, at my altitude and headed my may, but rapidly banking to it's left so I saw it's underbelly well. It then levelled out and continued SW, still at 6k. Hoffman was below the helicopter's path, but I didn't see that any turbulence affected him. It was about 4:20 and I wanted 2 hours airtime, so I figured a run back out to Pine, then S to the Afterbay and a downwind leg to Last Chance would put me at Marshall at 16:45. This went like clockwork. It was still very soarble and lots of gliders were launched or getting ready. Lost a lot of altitude when I pointed back to the S behind Marshall, so I landed pretty low on the slope at 16:45, but the strong wind wasn't a problem. What a fun flight. Decent, workable thermals and then once in a while a boomer. My shirt and shorts were soaked with sweat, but I had water left in the Camelbak. Didn't feel all THAT hot while I was flying. I suppose the late day flying stayed good.

Got to Marshall and was setting up when Peter called from the LZ and said J.R. Boscoe, a new PG pilot with 6 solos, was ready for an HG tandem flight and he'd drive for us. We had talked about ding a tandem before. I launched the Falcon, pulled in and locked my elbows. I was in the LZ in three minutes. I wanted to get up for the tandem while it was still good.

JR is a new PG pilot with 6 solos who wanted to try HG because PG isn't quite what he was looking for. Winds SW at Crestline, 15-18 without much variation. Two-step launch and climbed 200 feet in ridge lift. Then I turned my GPS on; GPS track reads 1000 feet high in SeeYou. JR was liking it from the get-go. I let him fly back and forth in near launch for a bit then took it to Billboard. We hung out there for a while, turning in thermals but never getting above 5400. JR was hard on himself for not being able to turn smoothly, but he was totally average in first-timer ability. As we got to Regionals he decided we ought to land. His carbonated beverage before launch wasn't doing too well. He began to feel better and we hung out over the bluffs for a couple of minutes. I started my approach high due to PG traffic below us, and sure enough he landed short on a line between the two spots. I threw in a quick right 90 then left 90 and stuffed the bar turning downwind to final. No stepper at the west edge of the HG spot. First tandem in a couple of years. Fun!)

The weather page showed that the mild Santa Anas died off right at noon at Crestline, and it was clear and warm in the valley. I dashed up to Marshall and set up the Falcon 225. Rebar Dan's truck was there, and he was high overhead as I set up, but there was no one there. A group on quad-ATVs showed up, and an older guy with a photographer arrived in a fancy low sports car I couldn't even identify. Then a couple in a truck got there and set out chairs and a small table for a picnic. The sports car guy said he wants to fly and asked a few questions. Then the ATV guys started asking questions. It was enjoyable. That's one nice thing about holiday weekends. It was flowing in steadily and I launched the Falcon 225 at 14:02, trotting right off the top and climbing a hundred or so over right away. I did a few low passes by the photographer and then sank quickly. Below Cloud Peak I eventually found a very solid core that I rode all the way to 6200 feet for almost 3000 feet gained in one thermal. I was in short sleeves and it was chilly above 4500. My heavy gloves were in the back of my harness and my light gloves I used to carry in a front pocket are no more. It was a little rough at Crestline when I wasn't sinking fast. I did a few passes by launch but headed back out front when my fingers started turning yellow-green. Worked Cloud again, then Marshall. A load of HGs was heading in when I headed for Crestline and there was also no a load of PGs as well. I kept getting cold when I'd catch a thermal, so I went in and top landed at 15:10, feeling satisfied but a little foolish for misjudging the temperature.

Good clear, windy, warm day. Reportedly 25 at Crestline launch mid-afternoon. Launched the 225 from the upper SW launch at Marshall, elevatoring up 150 feet after about 6 steps. Got a few hundred over, drifting back fast. Got 4100+ at Cloud Peak and Regionals. Spiralled down to Regionals then took a surprisingly long time getting back up from about halfway between Cloud Peak and the 750. Wind was blowing the thermals apart or downwind, but the faces weren't all that soarable. Headed for a medium gaggle east of Marshall and then got up and went over to Cloud again. A nice narrow but well-defined core came through and I got to 5600 drifting halfway back to Crestline, with a couple of HGs below me helping to mark the core as it drifted quickly. Parked in front of Crestline and Paivika and slowly ascended to above 6000. Went to Pine with Hoffbrow for a while, then back to Regionals and Marshall. Was only getting 4250 most of the time at Marshall. Top landed into moderately strong but smooth flow, just after Randy, at 5:41.

Continued strong low inversion, upper moisture and clouds from the east, dry in between.Almost no wind on Marshall at 3 PM and 60% cloud cover. Launched the Falcon 225 at 3:28 into a light cycle, faked left, then headed for Cloud Peak. Blissful silence even though the vario's audio was on high. Worked in and out of 20 FPM up downwind of the windsock by the 750, then worked a tiny one by the bluffs in front, managing zero net loss for a few minutes. Landed at 15:49 to catch the 16:00 McBus and a ride to my truck. Could have stayed up until at least 15:51.

Inversion was barely above Crestline at 2:30, blowing in 2-10 MPH, mostly cross from right on launch. I took the Falcon left from launch, then basically headed straight for Cloud Peak. Got up to 4500 there, then over to Marshall, up again and over to Pine, nothing at Regionals, up at Cloud a little, then went to low bump just east of Cloud. No lift there, then I went over low in front of Marshall, against my better judgement. Ended up down by the 750, then scratched hard and close in at the bluffs/tree line, getting back up to 750 (still in close) after 20 minutes. Lost it all in the blink of an eye, and landed in 10 MPH south breeze. It was cool and green and grassy at Crestline - I felt like just hanging out, but launched anyway. Nice to fly in shorts and a tee again. Nice in the LZ, too.

Cloudbase about 100' AGL at Marshall, S edge of cloudbank near 215 Fwy. Wind 0-1, S. CSUSB was celebrating the opening of their new Student Union, and had asked Rob McKenzie if some gliders could fly over the center of campus between 12:20 and 12:25. McKenzie gave free rides up the hill to participants, and I bit, as did PG pilot Gene. I launched in no wind at 12:17 and headed straight for campus, sinking the whole time. As I was passing over Badger Hill I was at 2700 MSL, 1k AGL relative to the LZ. I knew there was little chance of the Falcon making it to the LZ if I went any further, but I decided to press on. It was hard to tell if there was anything going on down there, and as I got over the library at 12:22 I was real anxious to turn back. As I cleared the South edge of the Pfau Library I heard the sounds of a band below, and spotted the portable canopies in a row on the ground. I turned tail and considered options. Before launch I had decided that the last-resort bailout was the open area just North of the Northern-most parking lot, but wanted to get a lot closer to the LZ than that. I was heading for the apron SW of the LZ, but as I cleared the road along the flood control dike it was clear I'd only ALMOST make that, so I whipped a 180 right and a 90 left and landed on the dirt road heading East, since the early day winds often flow from that direction. I was ready to run, and ran hard. Turns out it's a little uphill right there, and I was standing holding the glider after about 7 steps. Gene had to turn back earlier than I did, and landed near the fork in the road. It was kinda fun to have a task to be over a certain spot at a certain time. I doubt anyone on the ground even noticed :) As I was breaking the Falcon down along the road, Hoffman pulled up, so I got a lift back to the LZ. Thanks to Mark and Rob for the rides.

Light winds on Marshall, wide mare's tails filling in from the West ahead of approaching weather system. Cool but not cold. Delayed launch so Mike and Holly could arrive to see it. Soarable in 200-350 FPM up, very smooth. Got to 5k with the second thermal and the thermal came to a screeching halt. Went for Cloud Peak and ended up at Regionals at 3500. Climbed there to about 4200, then got back to 4500 at Cloud. Worked some light stuff in close at Marshall sandwiched between two PGs. When I got to 4350 I circled in for a top landing because I drove up the hill. Most pilots were sledding out not long after that.

I flew late. Len and I went up in my truck because the McBus 3PM was full. Dusty and Paul Bourne had had (and were still having) great flights. I launched at 4, got down to 3100, then back up to 5200 over Hwy 18 near Crestline. Then my vario died. Did I go straight to Marshall so I could top land near my truck? NOOOO! I shot the gap west of Marshall and never got back up, though I flew for another 1/2 hour. Hoffbrow finally solo'd a PG from Marshall. Len flew a Sport 2 HG - his second HG flight in 4 years, he said. It was probably a good choice for him to fly the Sport 2 this time instead of Owen's Talon. Accidentally deleted track log from GPS, so no IGC file.

Nice little sledder in chilly light sprinkles. Launched from lower launch pointed quite West, kind of mushed off in the odd flow. Worked some light sink in West flow near the 750 as Hoffbrow hiked below. He didn't light a thermal-generating fire as requested. Below the 750 the flow was clearly East, and I did a right-hand approach to the PG spot. Flew with Pswan and Josh, whose Fusion SP (his 2nd flight on it) clearly had the increased stall speed they get when the LE is wet. He didn't whack hard, and might have pulled it off but for fighting a rising wing due to also being off-angle to the slight headwind on approach.

Nice pre-pre-frontal February day with a high medium-thin cloud layer coming in from the west. Not enough sun to make a shadow anywhere. Launched Marshall at 14:20 and worked weak thermals in close with a bunch of PGs, mostly over Marshall. Got over 5200 early on, then just below the peak 3 times. Thermals were mostly 100-300 FPM, from the SW low turning to SE above 4500 and slowing down. Wanted to top-land, since my truck was on top. At 15:20 I got back above so I could land, but hung with the thermal and eventually got to 5600, dashed back to Crestline for a few passes and a wingover, then back to Marshall to land at 15:35.Sweet!

Cold with low cloudbase after 2 days of occasional rain. Snow on the mountains below 4k from Saturday night; snow on the road to Marshall until the last half-mile or so. Could see the ocean and Catalina island from Marshall. Wind SSW 0-10 MPH at launch. Cloud bank just sitting on Crestline, skies to the West opening up and sunshine on much of Marshall. I launched at 15:11 and soared the 225 Falcon over the windsock for 5 minutes, then scratched around Cloud Peak and Regionals (easy scratching) for another 15 before a thermal kicked and I drifted with it to the NW, getting to 3800 and then slowly getting back in front of Regionals. Climbed above Cloud Peak in some SW wind with thermals then flew by Marshall as a student of Rob's waited to launch his first solo (HG). A little one took me to 4300 then half-way to Cloud I found a nice one that went to cloudbase, getting to 5100 in a couple of minutes. Cloudbase was lifting, and after descending back to Cloud Peak I found another that got me to 5500, just above local cloudbase and I kept climbing as I traversed the edge of the cloud, climbing to above 5600 alongside the upwind face. The view of the snow on Crestline was spectacular. I moseyed out over Cal State in clear blue, ready to land because my fingertips were finally getting cold. After Rob's student launched and while I was climbing I noticed a helicopter madly circling the LZ vicinity. This was a complication a guy on his first solo didn't really need! Luckily, he was able to soar above the 750 for a bit. It turns out some youths were playing with 'Dry Ice Bombs' in the area, and someone had called the cops, reporting gunfire. Rob used the aircraft band radio at the LZ to coordinate clearing the air for the student's landing, and the whirlybird left once a ground unit or two arrived. By the time I landed there were four police cars in the parking lot. Wind was smooth as silk in the LZ for my landing at 16:17. Rob and his PG tandem, a solo PG and a novice HG (Jim) also got to enjoy the air, but they were down before the helicopter showed up. I hadn't expected much a flight and got a real treat.

Great day for February. Was supposed to blow N, but was still at Crestline from 7:30 to 10:30 after blowing in from midnight on. Marine murk early, high thin wispies slowly increasing from the W. A pilot was up and down at Crestline, same with a few PG at marshall. Launched my Falcon 225 from Marshall at 13:10 and climbed to 5K, then again at Cloud Peak. Back N of Marshall managed to stay with one as it pushed way up into the inversion, to 5550, and headed for Crestline. Was in 300 down much of the way and arrived at 4800 feet at 13:42 by the East spine of the SE facing bowl E of launch. A hot tiny core got me to 4950, but was drifting NE too fast for comfort. Went for the main face above the hairpin and then tucked my elbows in and pointed at Regionals. Crossing the canyon low wasn't too bad, and I rounded Regionals at about 3400 (Regionals launch height). Immediately found lift and was back at 5K at 13:50, then got to 5600 just N of Cloud Peak. I thought 'What the heck?' and dove for Crestline again; at 2/3 of the way back I was at 5000, so I did a U-turn and headed for Marshall. Got below the top on the main spine and had to scratch for a few minutes before a truly workable core came along. As I climbed through 4700 MSL the thermal abruptly stopped drifting to the NE and Actually went ESE for the last few circles before 5K. I decided to go in and top land by my truck before it started blowing down. Low but uneventful top landing at 14:30. After I was all packed up and loaded I hung around on top for a bit, and sometime after 3:15 we heard on the radio that it was blowing down at Crestline. It was mostly <3 MPH SW at Marshall, and the cirrus was more or less filled in, so the thermals were shutting down anyway. It was great flying in just a light jacket and without gloves. My GPS track shows lots of thermals where half my circle was in lift, half in sink, but with a net gain, mostly. Staying with the cores as they slowed near the inversion and even staying with 0-30 down while I relocated the tiny remnants of the cores was paying off today. The big Falcon made it easier, of course. I didn't go to the LZ after flying, but I'll bet there were a fair number of satisfied pilots milling around.

Inversion barely above Marshall Peak, North flow above that. Not too hazy, 15% cover of thin altostrat. Wind S 0-5 mostly. Kim Floyd was thermalling above the windsock when we arrived, still right there by the time we were launching. I launched a T2 154 at 2:15 and headed for Cloud Peak after a couple of unpromising passes. Worked one for a few minutes W of Regionals, then had a long scratch session above the bluffs below the 750. Just squeaked to the half-hour mark and had a trotting no-winder at 2:45.An enjoyable workout of a flight; would have been less satisfying if I hadn't gotten an hour yesterday.
No Vd runs - scratching the whole time. No turns VGT.

Thermalled VG3/4 and VGT a fair amount - not bad.
VdVGT=52, Vs=18. Nice Glider.

Vd VGT=57. Stripped coating from bridles. RT sprog zipper fix (Steve). Clean tape residue from basetube.

Launched at Noon and found lift by windsock (pole) on first pass. Climbed directly to 6000 MSL (cloudbase) averaging >500 FPM. Got to Crestline, where cloudbase wasabout 5500 MSL, a couple of minutes later, arriving at 5200. Dove back out to Cloud Peak and worked the glider this way and that for a bit. My first flight on a production 175 - definitely a big boy's glider. Vd VGT was 52, with moderate pitch bar pressure - easily sustainable for long glides. GPS batteries ran out less than 1 minute into flight.
First flight on production version. PP VdVGT appx. 12/hand, 14 VGL. VdVGT=52. VdVGL=49. Had to use some muscle in a couple of strong thermals.

Nil wind for take-off. Thick alto-strat layer going by shut down lift. SE <5 in LZ.Right-hand approach to PG spot, overshot grass by 20+ feet.
Hang height 54.5 in. (Peter choice) but OK. Good glider.

Weakly soarable with minimal cloud coverage.
Stripped coating from bridles.

100% thin altostrat layer with fuzzy bottom. SW 8 at launch. Workable thermals here and there, but very slow climb rates. Smooth and relaxing.
Stripped coating from bridles.

Yep, I ran ALL the way down that launch! It was obviously blowing down - at least it was at 100 fet AGL and higher. Kind of bouncy in the trubulence, so I went to Cloud Peak, where I got to 6100 drifting to the South. Got kind of drilled fighting the headwind back to Crestline, where it was then even bumpier. Flew out over Marshall and saw all the people and gliders sitting on launch - it was blowing down there by then too. Got up to 4500 out front and was shortly below the top of Marshall when I flew toward it. Scratched a low one from East of the LZ to up by the 750 before heading in for a landing in the SW flow at the LZ. One hour airtime, Sport 2 155. Dan DeWeese sent me his track log - he launched around Noon, an hour before I did, and went East down the ridge, past the High School I'm pretty sure. On my images page is a graphic showing his flight in red and my flight in blue - interesting to see the difference in the thermal drift just an hour apart. Nice temperature and a clear, beautiful day. Sorry more pilots didn't get to fly. Glad nobody has a red dot from trying to launch in questionable conditions.
Nice glider.