Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

Strong left. Twisted 3 holes

Very slight RT. Reduced L twist 1. Good PP. Vd VGT=68


Spray sprog zippers with teflon.

A little tail heavy. 62mm xbar.

Really nice December day with mare's tail all over the sky and very clear air. Plenty of thermals, small and about 150-250 FPM generally. Got to 5200 just behind Marshall and headed for Crestline. Got there at 4800 and had one bump before pointing back out to Cloud Peak. Got down in the 3-3.5k zone for a long time, but it was fun scratching. Was unzipped at 2700 over the bluffs and found a core that took me all the way up to over Cloud in about 30 circles. Went to Marshall and got 5200 again and made it back to the highway before doing a u-ey back to Marshall. Boated around and landed after 1:10 that seemed more like 2+ hours. Lots of fun, lots of happy pilots in the LZ.
Real Good. VdVGT=52

Good.


Trim nose batten 3/8 inch.

Came in kind of fast but airspeed completely went away as I neared the ground for round-out. Had to run like hell, absorb the vertical component, and flare, all at once.
Normal.

Velcro on keel cinch reversed.

E-Team's "Turkey Meet", held at AJ Airpark due to LZ situation. Quite bouyant and soarable on a clear, slightly cool day. I didn't feel like scratching in close but I kept finding boomers when I'd drift toward the LZ. Part of the contest was duration, but I didn't care. Had a decent bomb drop, 20-25 feet from target and overshat the landing circle by about 10 feet but had a really nice flare.

A woman spectator with her three sons came over and they asked a lot of questions. She and her husband live near by and went PG tandem with Tim Nelson a few years ago.

The crowd was pretty good for December, and fun to have the Elsinore pilots out in such force. They ran the contest and put on the bbq so the CSS folks got to just hang out and have fun.

Good

Good. VdVGT=52


Trim nose rib 1/4" (from tail).

Good

Somehow landed 1.5 feet from cone with the tip between my legs and the basetube. I actually flared a hair early because I was afraid of coming down ON the tall cone =80

Good

Needed hang loops (they were thrown into a different glider that already had loops and a note that said 'hang loops').

Steve Pearson got well above launch on a 145 Sport 2. The rest of us sank quickly.
Good.

Finally soarable! Four of us climbed in one thermal in a launch-order stack. I buzzed the dozer and grader who were coming down 2N40 near the 750.
Real good.

Good. Had to turn #2,3 battens out 4-6 additional turns tg get proper tension.

Good. Had to turn #2,3 battens out 4-6 additional turns tg get proper tension.

Good. RT sprog turn VGT. Lowered RT sprogs - outboard 1, inboard 1.5

Real good. VdVGT=50 (slow).

Good. Real good.

Great in late day glass off. VdVGT=72+

Good.

Great.

Moderately strong left turn. Twisted 2 + 2, which might be too much. VdVGT=72+, PP good.

Damp.

Good.

Good. Launch.

Flew fine.

Really nice. No flutter at speed.

Clouds at 5k and cool, almost nippy. Rare mid_September cold front coming from BC.
Wind E-SE in the open air. Crossing almost-down at the 750, basically straight in 15-20 MPH at Regionals. Clouds drifting to NE, mostly. Thermals near the bright spots on the ground, but didn't get much above launch level. SSE in the LZ, about 10.
Great.

Was soarable for me, but I dove at a corner of the road to surprise Bill, who was still driving the truck down from launch. Harness zipper cuaght a little when opening on the last two flights. Before this flight I repositioned the top 7 inches of each side of the zipper to give 1/2 in. extra width, in case tension was the problem. This time the zipper jammed at normal-closed position and after a good yank the zipper below the foot was open, so I did the emergency velcro blowout about 650 AGL no sweat. Third or fourth time I've ever had to do it, first on this harness which is 4+ years old. Inspection after landing showed the zipper foot was over the cloth-side edge of the zipper coil for the last foot or so of normal travel. Harness zipper replacement is easy.
Dives Great!

AJ Fly-in. Really nice, late day air. Butler 2 fire near Big Bear, lots of aircraft. Spotters flew past Crestline west to east right at HG level. Thermalled in close with PG and HG several times because the thermals were smooth and plump if a bit slow on the climb. Third or fourth thermal took a couple of us to 5400, where I bailed for Crestline. Nice ridge lift at Crestline to 500 over and more. Pine was working but thermals were distorted and punchy. Cruised in for a landing right after Hoffbrow. My feet went directly over the cone but I overshot by 20 feet - far enough out they didn't even measure.

Looked like a regular mid-summer day, and pretty much flew like one.

Launched the Falcon from Marshall into lift at 14:00. Got to 4600 or so. Sank several times to the low 3k range, and found a nice core to go back to the ceiling every time. Got 4800, then later 4900, then about 15:10 a couple of cores coalesced north of Marshall and I got to 5144. The next core from Marshall went to 5300, and at 5000 above where the dirt road meets the Highway I found lift to 5300.

Headed for Crestline but there warn't no ridge lift! Flew west below launch level. Soon was above the water tank turning for Regionals while a couple of gliders were thermalling above Billboard. Got back to 4700 at Cloud and headed to Marshall - 1:40 with lots of work was enough for today.

Fun flying, in that topping out took some concentration and work. Lots of pilots out enjoying the late-day air.

No GPS.

Good

Good

Thunderheads in the distant east only, and a few degrees cooler. Still pretty breezy, mostly WSW up high. Launched Marshall at 13:38, climbed to 5300 from Cloud, headed for Crestline, arriving at over 6000 MSL :) Stiff wind in Devil Canyon, so I lost over 1600 feet doing a slow crossing. Popped right back up to 7k or so, made a foray across the front to the west. Turned around and caught lift to >8K MSL again at Pine. Went back to Marshall and decided to go land at Marshall. Did a long approach from Cloud and sank a lot at the last minute so was staring at bushes on the back, up close. Peeled right and skimmed the bushtops on the NW face of Marshall, thinking I might have to flare into them. Got around the front, heart pounding. Climbed quickly and circled the top a few times, but there was so much lift I couldn't even get down for a look-see at an approach. Decided to fly longer or land in the LZ. Saw people arrive at the LZ at 15:00 so I dove in to land and ask for a ride, but they were going to Crestline. Mark or Gene would drive me up after they landed. Mark landed and packed up. We were leaving the LZ at 15:55 when we heard sirens, saw firetrucks, and had a helo go right over us. We hadn't seen Gene for a while. I called Di McKenzie, who answered "Gene's OK." McKenzies had gone to Marshall after all (too windy at Crestline) and Gene had gotten tumbled just east of the peak, with a spinning, broken glider (Spectrum) and a partially deployed 'chute. He'd landed flat on his back in a clear spot near the top of the ridge. Glider totalled, Gene had scrapes and bruises. Lucky.

Third in a string of very hot (110F) and humid days with abundant moisture coming from south and east. Previous two days had serious gust fronts plus thunderstroms with lightning. Also 10K+ soaring and several long distance XC flights. I launched Marshall at 14:41 and the drift was so fast I headed west before trying a serious climb. Hooked one at Regionals at 3700 MSL, good 300-500 FPM lift. At 5300 it stopped drifting so much and sped up. I had about 1300 FPM peak climb rate, a little like balancing on a beach ball, and left the lift when I got to 10,600 MSL; clouds were within 1000 feet. I descended a bit and enjoyed the spectacular view, but got worried about a large cell with a tall top over Moreno Valley, plus rain over desert, fire toward Big Bear, lots of aircraft - spotters and bombers low, and cloe helicopter at 8k MSL. Decided to top land before a gust front could come from Moreno Valley. Had to fight to get down to Marshall. First approach couldn't get low enough. Second approach I flew the glier with the basetube about 2 feet AGL until it was starting to settle; pushed out a little and rolled my body to lay on ground on harness. Too windy to actually flare, too bumpy to settle gently on feet. No blood, but a couple of scores in my right calf, mild charley hore in right thigh.

Good. A little bit of TS/BS flutter.

Good.

Nice. PP on the light side, but OK.

Previously flown twice by MM. Was twisted 2 and 2 for left turn, tip wands trimmed. Lowered RT sprog 1 turn before flight per MM. Raised sprog after flight.

Flew w/sprogs unhooked.

Good.

Good. Had to back all lever tip battens out at least 5 turns to get any tension.

Real nice.

Good. Lands well VGT.

Got to 4700, then out over Northpark Bl. was flying in zero-sink at 3500 for a while.

Channel 7 news van was in the LZ filming landings and talking to Rob McKenzie. I managed to do a textbook flare near the center of th HG spot. On the 6 O'clock news they had a story about the heat wave and the Inland Empire, saying "there's one group of folks who like these conditions..." and showed Rob McKenzie and Mike Meier landing and some snippets about weather from Rob.

Slight sprog turn VGT. Lowered RT sprog 1 1/2 turn.

Good

Returned demo. To little PP VGT.


Raise sprogs 1 turn ea.

Real nice.

Rowdy air, small cores with big sink around them. Occasional boomers that I could really hook into. Lots of roll and pitch corrections while thermalling. Hard to track the cores. If it wasn't 150 up it was 300-400+ down. I think most of the thermals were factory seconds.

Got to 5000 from Regionals and headed for the SW spine o' Pine, for something different. Those low draws by the road weren't working and I hunted all over the place for lift, but was able to maintain 4100 on average. Eventually got over the top in a couple of steps, then to Billboard, which was working, but not much better. Got to 5500. By the time I was at Crestline launch, I was at 5200 and pointed at Marshall. Still 300-400 down so I turned back to the ridge and was at 4900. Made that long glide across the valley to Regionals, streamlined and puckered, going around it at 3700, then on down to near the 750, fer chrissake.

Got up to 4500 or so from below Regionals, and flew over Marshall, but it was way too bumpy to top land. Headed for the LZ, cored sink, and landed at 16:34, overshooting the spot a little. Every one else was either overshooting or doing extra legs on their approaches to avoid going long.

Fun, but frustrating.
Very slight left turn, worse VGT. Turned RT tip up 1 hole, left sprog down one turn.

Pretty fun conditions! There was morning cloud cover that kept the valley cooler to mid-morning, then it cleared. Mid-afternoon there was some development right over the Crestline ridge that slowly drifted over the valley before dissipating. Gusting to the low 20s at Crestline, SW to WSW. It was actually a little coolish while setting up.

Launched the Falcon 225 at 15:29 and ridge soared at 100 feet over for a while, with occasional bumps higher. Left Billboard at 5300 for Pine, aiming low on the spine. Actually pretty buoyant going into the headwind - mostly sinking 200 FPM or less. climbed 300-600 FPM at Pine to 6000, drifting fast toward the head of Devil Canyon under some turkey vultures. I told them to go on without me and turned West, then was soon in fron of Pine and heading for Regionals. Got a fast drifting core well North of the Afterbay and got high enough to dive for the spine below BB. Eventually got to 6250 (GPS claims 6500, but I don't think so) before making a long glide to Cloud Peak.

Marshall was cookin', so the first thermal I found took me to 5600 and I went back to Crestline forthwith. Billboard to Regionals, then worked the increasingly glassy lift between Cloud and Marshall for a while before heading in and landing at 17:17.

I finally broke down and bought a new Camelbak, one of the multi-pocket backpack things. This was my shakedown flight with it. It takes more room in the harness, weighs more, and has a shorter hose. Shortly after launch I pulled the valve assembly off the end of the tube. I clenched the tube in my teeth and climbed a safe distance, then pushed the valve assembly back into the tube and rerouted it so it was convenient to drink from it. My old one was a simple cloth pouch with a removable bladder - simple, light, no BS. But you can't get those anymore. On my bike ride this morning, the angled valve assembly got caught on my earphone wire several times, so the earphone popped out when I turned my head. They call this progress? And what about kids today - that 'music' and those 'styles'... ;)

Nice. BS at RT sprog zipper near LE a bit uneven, but OK.


Needs proper KP cover.

Very nice. Slows well..


Needs proper KP cover.

Great.

Good.

Gusting over 20 at Crestline at 14:00, clear and warm with banner clouds off the distant high peaks. Much better conditions than the day before. Launched and did a few passes at treetop height. Good cores at Billboard and Pine, 300-600 FPM. Coasted from Pine to Regionals and found a snaky core that slowly took me up and North of Cloud Peak. Hopped a little East and found another that got me high enough to go to Crestline. The wind had dropped back there, and soo I was well below Billboard, but a great core went to 5600, so I went to Pine, followed by Hoffman. Pine still popping, though a dash back to Monument Peak was fruitless and bumpy.

Back to Regionals and Marshall, where I saw Crash Corbin do a top-landing/whack on the SW slope, skimming from the NW. He had his legs out and the wingtip or basetube caught and he pivoted 90 degrees left with nose on the hill. No damage or injury. I spiralled down and landed (in the usual way, but a bit low) to give him grief. Randy was setting up on top, and Tony from TN was there to check out the site.

After about 20 minutes I launched again and flew to the LZ.

Launched from the top into strong SW and did a couple of passes before heading down to the LZ, doing some wingovers and pointless spin attempts along the way.

Crowded today for some reason. Launched my 225 Falcon 1 from Marshall at 15:25 and went up from the East bowl to 4600 in short order. Then I stopped going up. Then I descended. This went on for a while.

Plenty soarable but mostly 100-200 FPM up on the averager, drifting pretty NE from the origins on the spines, stopping at 4600-4700. My plan was to top-land Marshall around 16:30 and drive down for the glide contest at the LZ. I hadn't planned on being below Marshall much of the flight, but I resolved not to get torqued about possibly sinking out. Got a good look at the windsock by the 750 at one point, but managed to get back up and land at Marshall at 16:25.

When I got to the LZ it was nicely packed with people, vehicles and food/beverages. I did the first couple of flights in the HG glide angle contest and gallantly put the wheels on the ground both flights to chalk up zeros - this way the later contestants weren't discouraged. The things I do for you people...

Food was great, Thanks Double D's BBQ! Catching up with former locals was great. Seeing all the people smiling and eating, kids with plenty to do - all excellent.

It doesn't take many days like this each year to make that orbit around the Sun worth it. Thanks to one and all.

=====================
GPS batteries ran out at 16:07
=====================

First flight in glide contest from the top of the new training hill at AJ Airpark. Tried to stretch glide and put glider down on both wheels. DQ.

Second flight in AJ Airpark glide contest. Got a little yawed and touched one wheel to the ground. DQ.

Normal

Good. Vd VGT=55

Normal

Wind alternating N and S at Regionals. Lifty around the LZ.
Good.

Was going to do a check flight on a F195 McKenzie has sold but that hasn't been out of the bag in a long time; Rob had a very full day scheduled. At launch I found that the F195 had a broken downtube, and Rob had no spare with him. Since he was doing a PG tandem that round, he said I could fly his tandem HG down, so I did. Not really ridge soarable at Crestline, but I found workable lift coming up the SE faces below Cloud Peak and had a little fun before landing. Would have flown longer, but had somewhere to be.

Lots of pilots out for the late day flying. High pressure and hot. Drove up with Leo Bynum and Carol (they were going tandem), intending to top land. Launched my Falcon 225 at 16:41 from the top and spent the first 30 minutes, and most of the rest of the flight, below launch height struggling in weak lift off the 750 and Regionals. West face of Cloud spine wasn't working at all for some reason, nor was Marshall. Whenever I found a thermal, I soon had company, meaning I couldn't maximize my climb. Made several glides toward Marshall from above 4k near Regionals/Cloud Peak, but either sank right away or arrived below each time. On the last pass I found a sweet core to 4450, so I dove in and top landed at 17:39.

Not exactly fun, in that I wasn't kicking back and enjoying the air and the climbs, but satisfying to accomplish my goal. Zipped up the whole time, so my shirt was soaked with sweat.

Forecast to be 103 F in the valley. Clear at Marshall, little wind. Launched in a light SW cycle and went over the flat S of launch. Found a tight core that went almost straight up at 500-800 FPM. Took that to 5000 MSL and headed toward Regionals, enjoying the view. Wandered out over Badger Hill, where I thought I moght find something due to heavy equipment working both sides of the hill. There wa a small core that I climbed in for a handful of circles. Went over the LZ, finding lift everywhere and flags showing SE. Waited around for it to get S or SW and dove in sink right over the LZ to a decent landing at the far SW edge of the HG spot. Was apprehensive about landing in the turbulence, but it was OK.
Excellent handling. Vd VGT=68, light PP.

Replace Btm front wires. Black handle cracked.

Still not much wind at Marshall. Waiting for a cycle, I saw a gaggle of 5-7 vultures and hawks cliimb past the wind sock, so I powered off to join them. That core was another 500-800 FPM almost vertical boomer, and I took it to 5500 MSL. Turned for Crestline, in and out of lift on the way. No wind there, but thermals, so I got to 5800 just East of launch and again West of launch. Dove for Regionals, full-stuff VGT, a little wary of the bumpiness. At Regionals I slowed and climbed a little, then flew over the original airpark before turning toward the LZ and coring sink to land.
Good

Was dropping off a glider with the WW boys and I let them talk me into going up for a test flight, despite having other things to do.

Hot. Murky. Not much wind at Marshall, thermal cycles to 18 MPH, SE-SW. Launched at 12:57 and found multiple cores 300 FPM, slowing at 4500, then picking up again to 500 FPM starting around 4750. Was at 5000 MSL at Crestline at 13:05. No ridge lift there, but some thermals, so took six passes to get above Crestline launch. Dove for the LZ, which had lift around it in three quadrants and sink in the other. Landed into SW 5 at 13:15.
Sweet handling. A little tip flutter between #2 and #3 battens Vd VGT.

Launched Crestline in rebuilt U2 160 demo and went right to Billboard, then right to Pine. Got to 6200 N of the top, and headed a little west, as per usual. Thermals weren't especially strong - 500 FPM avg. max. Ended up working 100-300 up tight lift at the mouth of the canyon W of Pine. Stayed with it a bit instead of running for Pine like usual. Didn't get up, but didn't get low. Back to Pine and up, then headed back into the maw of the canyon. Pretty much still the same, but it was fun to hang out there. Back at Pine it was rough at 5200, so I headed for Regionals, lazily, then to Marshall, where it was ridge soarable with the occasional thermal. Went to Cloud when Marshall got crowded, found a core that drifted to 5K above Marshall. Hopped to the E-W spine just behind Marshall, hoping to get a boost and go to Crestline.
I stumbled into this rocket from hell that spit me out after half a circle. Fought back in and shoved the bar out to turn tight enough in it, and my vario was pegged and screaming, the basetube was jumping all over the place, and I was mostly weightless. I fought to stay in it on principle, though it was kind of scary. Very shortly I was at 5900, so I exited and dove for Crestline. A pass or two there, then Regionals, Marshall again, deciding there was no good reason to top land, then the LZ. After I landed at 16:08 with a bumpy approach, I was somewhat tired.
Demo was damaged, dismantled, parts sold (?), sail repaired, rebuilt.
Wing is in nice shape, if a bit dirty. Repairs clean. TE cloth quite soft and supple. No more than $250 discount needed.
Battens were loose at tips, tight at root. Adjusted all and took 1/8 in. off L #9 lever.
Flew Great! (VG pulls 10 in. past 'full' mark) RT Btube pip pin gnawed. One tip bag worn through, 1 nearly.

Waited through a couple of crossing-right-and-down cycles, then launched and found a little lift at the bluffs. Got above launch height. Went over the LZ to land and found lift everywhere. Fought to get down, keeping speed and bank angles low to avoid surprises.
Good landing. No GPS this flight.
Good.

Launched in a lull between crossing-right cycles. Got under Steve and Mike below Cloud and flailed trying to find their thermals, so headed out front to find my own. Got up starting SE of the 750, went to below Marshall at 3600, but it wasn't happening there. Dove VGT into the headwind did a 270 via wingover SW of the 750 and went in and landed, quite short of the HG spot.
Sweet. No turn.

Launched and got under Steve and Mike just East of the 750. Climbed a little, swooped over Gene, who was setting up Dusty's Mark IV at the 750. Went back and forth a little and landed.
Good.

Needs proper KP cover.

Getting windy at Regionals. Launched into good ridge lift and did a couple of passes then went West and got bounced pretty good just West of the road. Found a core and climbed 600 FPM or more. Above 4200 MSL it started drifting fast and got hard to track. Sank big-time once when I went wide of the core, but gained it back quickly. Had visions of hopping back to Crestline, but above 4800 it got real weak and elusive. Went for Marshall and found that the wind and turbulence was something to contend with - I was Vd VGT, but declined to go right over the top due to the bumps. Poopped up in another string core, then dove for the LZ. It was really bumpy and gusty near the ground. Found big lift at start of downwind, so had to go wide. Landing decent at 15:26.
Good. TT to 28, but ok.

Pretty similar to the previous few days, but bumpier at the inversion, and fewer thermals busting through. I worked a lot more to get high, but it was fun. Smaller crowd, not as windy.

Launched a T2 154 from Marshall at 13:25 and got up a little bit later to 5200 from Cloud. Tried drifting N but found nothing. Worked in tight to Cloud Peak for a long time then felt dumb when I went to Regionals and got up to 4980 in a core that was 1000 FPM for several turns. As I got up the drift changed from barely NE to solid NW.

Went for the water tank below Billboard and worked in close to the wall for a lot of steep turns before busting through the inversion and getting over the ridge. Lots of spectators at Crestline, so I buzzed launch several times and did some wingovers, then went to Pine.

Soon was SE of Pine and kinda' low. Drifted to the top in another NE-heading thermal, then had a bubble go to 6460, working my ass off to stay with it. Pulled VG intending to head W and went over-the-falls, losing 400 feet before I stablilized the glider. Hopped to the low plateau SE of Sugarpine, but nothing there, so was soon at 4300 in the main Pine bowl hoping for anything when I found a tight boomer. Got to just below the top and found all the thermals stopping there too. Bumpy and frustrating.

Got to 5800 as my GPS locked up due to low batteries. Lost 600 feet going to Billboard, dove from Crestline to Marshall, then went in and landed at 15:25 in almost no wind, ending up flaring on the breakdown area. Fun, but not as fun as yesterday.
Reflight of glider from 5/24/07. No turn. Thought about un-twisting tips 1 hole, but decided it was close enough to perfect. Pitch was good. Again 12mm battens made it a bear VGT. Include bolt and saddle (XBar center stop) in spare parts kit. Rmoved to set pitch faster.

Another summer-like day with moderate SW winds. Launched from Marshall at 14:39 and missed the thermal I launched into. Did a big descending "S" over to below Cloud Peak at 3300 and found a 100-300 FPM core that really turned on once I got above Cloud. Got to 5400 as it petered out and drifted downwind to Crestline. Played in front of launch a little bit, then got 5800 at Billboard, so over to Pine.

Got to 6300 in the first thermal I found there, 600 FPM sustained, and headed West along the back ridge. Pretty windy out there, and not a lot going up. Headed South halfway to Sugarpine and worked some drifting bubbles before hopping back to Pine, where it was very rowdy, with up and down and bank and bank, so I left.

Did a long VGT dive w/72+ MPH airspeed to Regionals, and a boomer there took me to 5200, so back to Crestline I went. Easy to get back up from 5050 in the ridge lift. Another fast dive took me to Marshall, where I joined Mark Hoffman in a thermal that got us from 3900 to 6000.

Mark followed me back to the Interchange, but was low. I got to 6200 again above the ridge while Mark hunted below. I went to the head of the Waterman Canyon spine, still high, while Mark inched that way at highway level. I headed South out the spine and Mark gamely headed out, though he wasn't getting up. I stayed above him as he worked weak lift off the first E-W spine. I headed out to Arrowhead Peak and hopped across toward the radio towers. Mark headed straight across the canyon from back there, with a nice flat glide into the wind. I drifted NW and we met as he crossed the spine East of Marshall - Great Job Mark!

It was still soarable but my triceps were tired and my back teeth were floating, so I headed out to land, touching down at 16:19 from a normal approach into 12 MPH SW flow.
Still something of a left turn, but much better than before. Now it seemed to kick in more VGT. Twites Left tip one hole and lowered left sprogs - outer 2 turns, inner 1 turn.
Vd VGT>72 MPH with good bar pressure. Eventually realized that some of the stiffness VGT was probably from the stiffer 12mm battens.

Your standard warm SW slightly smoggy almost-summer day. I took a few minutes to find a good thermal after launching off Marshall at 13:56 and made a wrong guess as to
where the real core was going. I leveled off while Dexa kept climbing. Pointed toward Crestline hoping to find lift further back, but no go, so back to Marshall I dove.
Got up as soon as I went to Cloud Peak. Thermals were mostly 300-600 FPM, but rowdy. Crestline, Billborad, Pine, not a lot going on, but soarable. Go to 5900 at Billboard.
Headed S from Pine for a while and just spaced out. Did a slow downwind run to the bluffs by the LZ, then decided to go in and land, finding strong sink to core down just off
the S edge of the LZ. Landed SW on the PG Dot at 14:56.
Moderate left turn, wrapping in thermals. Twisted RT tip 2 holes. On 5/26 when I set this glider up at Regionals I found the BS not sewn to the TS between the #5 and #7 battens.

Clear, warm day with a good 15 MPH base wind from the SW. Launched Regionals at 15:43 and flailed for a few minutes in small fast-drifting rockets near the hill.
Went over to Cloud Peak and hooked a solid one that was hard to stay within as it drifted. Climbed to 6400 in that one over about 6 minutes, seeing 600-800
FPM on the averager mostly. My GPS reports one brief vario reading of 2231 FPM, but that sounds a bit high. Dashed to Crestline and back out front where I
stumbled into a wide boomer that was 800-1000 FPM that I rode to 6200 MSL. Did a VGT run against the headwind out to just beyond Kendall Dr., since the
other guys had landed already. When I went back to trim, I had almost no groundspeed. Turned and did a moderately high-airspeed run straight downwind
with grounds speeds over 80 MPH. Had to hunt for sink to descend to the LZ, and it was quite breeze and bumpy there. I did a real tight approach from
upwind and had an up and down final to a nice landing at 16:19.
Strong Left. High-sided while thermalling left, neutral or low-sided while thermalling right. Had to move a bit right VD vGT also. Twisted 2 and 2 holes. Moved hang pt fwd one. Trimmed quite slow.
Attach nose cone with zip tie - has string because I broke the zip tie.

Good

Nominal

Sledder w/bumps
OK

Sledder w/bumps

Total Sledder

Launched and hunted around the bluffs. Got down to 2140 toward the eastern end and found a thermal that tracked NW along the line of the bluffs, getting to 2770. Dove for the LZ and landed heading south at 10:51
A bit stiff. Ink bled.

Wind went to nothing as I got to launch. Puffing various directions and I didn't like the idea of doing a no-winder and running a long way through foot-tall vegetation where I couldn't see the ground. Finally an in cycle. Vario might have beeped once. Landed heading straight S at 12:06.
Good.

Clouds on Crestline. Again, very little wind. Pure sled down spine from Cloud Peak. Landed heading SE at 13:17.
Good.

Clouds just off Crestline. More wind to launch in, but in rotor downwind of Cloud Spine. A little lift to work on the way down, but not much. Landed heading straight east along the north edge of the LZ in 5 MPH headwind.
Very nice. No rumble.

Finally some decent wind at Regionals, SSW at 10+. Worked in close just below the top of Cloud Peak and on the eastern face. Got to 4100 before diving hard to the LZ. Landed heading SW at 15:55.
Good. Lots of rumble.

Clouds still 100% coverage, 5000 MSL. Lightly soarable at the 750. Launched and worked the spines just west, in close. Got to 2764 at east side of the 750. Stuffed the bar and did a straight descent to the LZ, letting the bar out briefly to clear the line of eucalyptus trees, which I got very close to. Landed heading SW in a nice headwind at 17:02.
Good. High descent rate at full stuff. Aeroman.

Clean LE - dirt spots on left, spot of goo on right.

Still a decent breeze at the 750. Sledder. Did a sort-of right-hand approach and landed heading WSW at 17:51.
Good. Aeroman.

Worked the bluffs here and there. Got a tiny one at the green gap in the bluffs, but it eluded me; Mike M. had just launched and got up in it. I hunted some more and found one at the east end that got me above the 750, then east of there another took me all the way to 4k MSL over 8 minutes, drifting to the NW. Dove to the LZ and landed at 12:47.
Very nice.

Wind picked up a little. Launched into lift and turned while pulling in but lost it. Managed to avoid any other lift somehow and was in the LZ four minutes later. Flags were limp,then pointed SE during my ground skim. Flared hard, 2 steps.
Good. Trimmed a bit fast. Moved strap back 1/2 in. Aeroman Sail. Battens all a little snug at default setting, so loosened them.

Windy, SSW 15 gusting to 20, cooling off and feeling damp. Cloud line at hilltop level way west over Lytle Creek had streamers curving downward on the downwind edge. Small clouds above Crestline quite animated. I launched and found it quite bumpy, with the glidder choosing random bank angles at times. Got to 4400 and got cold. Did a few speed runs downwind VGT, full-stuff - great groundspeed! Went down near the 750 and started climbing as soon as I slowed to trim. Back to 4k, then a dive to the LZ. Landed into steady SW at 15:23.

Later I spoke to Paul from Wisconsin, who'd gone toward Pine and then SW. He must have gotten into a mini-wave downwind to the hills leading to Cucamonga, because he went up to 8000 MSL just flying around and he was looking DOWN at the clouds on those hills. He had pictures to prove it.
Good. Thought it had a slight RT sprog turn at first, but it was OK later. Launch

Went to the 750 because it was quite windy up higher and obviously unstable - clouds were forming. Launched and maintained launch altitude for a minute or so before finding a little core that was climbing up the windward (WSW) faces. At 5 minutes into the flight I was up at 4k with several Falcons - John W, Dan, etc. lots of clouds forming up higher and merging into a larger bank, mindless 100-200 up over wide areas. Over Cloud Peak at 5300 I got yanked and banked sharply and cored this little rocket that made my vario exclaim in pitches I haven't heard many times. After 4 few turns it mellowed out and I was near cloud base. I didn't go into the white room, but I knocked on the door. I looked at my vario and was very surprised to see it read 6070 MSL. My GPS showed a max FPM of 1230, but I know the vario registered higher than that, maybe 1600 briefly.

Boated around after that, threw the wing around a bit, got lower to warm up. Went out to the new paved intersection and found lift that had me back at 3400 at the bluffs. Found sink S of the LZ and got to 500 AGL. Over the LZ it was all lift and I had to fight to get down, with a long, fast base to final at 14:40.

Kim Floyd rode up with and was non-plussed about launching his Falcon from the 750. He got up just fine and was still in the air when I left after 17:00.
Good overall. BS rumble Left wing.

Great day! Very warm, steady 10+ SW at Marshall. North wind until around 9:00, smog line out in Riverside and the top was very low. A few pilots had launched Crestline and were scratching down by the 750 when one finally got up to eye level. I launched the Falcon 225 at 14:23 and easily ridge soared the top of Marshall. It felt like I was right at the inversion. The second thermal was strong and I took it to 5700 NE of Marshall before heading back to Crestline, where the soaring was easy. Rode a couple to 6200 at Billboard till they petered out. Went to Pine (slowly) in a mix of sink and lift. Caught one in front of the top and went to 7000 over Monument Peak. Went west to Sugarpine, sinking most of the way. Got down to 5650 in front of it before a weak thermal came through that gained strength as it took me back to 6400. Got back to Pine at 5200, went S to the Afterbay, then Regionals and sank a bit on the Cloud Peak spine. Took one from there to 4400 just SW of Marshall, got to 5000 N of Marshall and decided to go ahead and land. Still breezy on top of Marshall, but very smooth. Landed at 15:45.
Forgot to change batteries in GPS, so I only have a track for the first 10 minutes.

Pretty windy on Marshall, 18+ SSW. Some thin alto-strat moving in from W. Cool enough for shirt, thermal shirt, jacket and heavy gloves (quite comfortable). Walk down to launch required care, and launching the U2 160 at 14:00 took all of two gentle steps. Climbed and joined the others facing SW and wandering from side to side while climbing. Large areas of 600+ FPM would just kind of roll through periodically. My glider had a turn so I landed it after 20 minutes, thinking I'd adjust it and go to the 750 for a refly. I had a rodeo ride coming in on final, pressing the bar hard into my thighs to keep the nose down, so I reconsidered. The rest of the HG pilots (no PGs in that wind) came in and landed at steady intervals over the next hour. Most had pretty bumpy approaches. Rebar Dan had a nice one with his 225 Falcon, turning to final in front of the training hill and landing mid-field where the air was smoother. I heard one glider got picked up briefly during setup up top, but no damage. Gene flew his Falcon 195 and said he spent a lot of time just trying to get down and land.
Serious RT turn. Twisted tips 2+2, hope that's enough. (MM later flew it twice, said to destroy sail)

Warm and clear for the first time in days. Gaggles of swifts were climbing up and past the front of Marshall, chasing bugs in thermals. Wind SW gusting to 15 at 14:30. Quite soarable, though it seemed to stop at 4500 MSL and the flow might have been from the North at that altitude. Went to Cloud and hunted around but was just finding puffs near the hill. Finally got a solid core SW of Regionals that I rode to 4700 before diving to the LZ with my knees on the bar to land with the others. Thermals popping off all around the LZ, where it was SW about 5 max.
Real good.

Still clear and warm at 16:00. Not as gusty. Climbed right off launch to a few hundred over. Went over to Cloud and found the thermals smaller and less vigorous. Flying a glider I was too heavy for, so when I banked up enough to stay in the little cores I didn't actually gain - had to fly flatter and go in and out of them until they got wider. Kinda fun though. Still switchy in the LZ, and the flags went limp when I was turning to downwind, but just trotted a few steps when I flared.

There were a few other pilots out flying; some soared, some were in the LZ not too long after launch.

Real nice.

Cloud base not real defined, but a few hundred above Marshall. Light SSW at 14:30. Surprisingly soarable, with climbs from 50-300 FPM, mostly less than 200 FPM. Essentially no wind in the LZ. Flew about 30 minutes. Glider had two nice pictures of models in bikinis on top of rear keel, put there by Peter for Wolfie. Wolfie had been visiting from Austria, going to comps in Florida. Young guy made lots of comments about beautiful girls, has a picture of a babe plastered onto the back of his instrument pod.
Wolfie's. A bit stiff, but easy to thermal at 19-20 in weak lift. VdVGT>72, VtVGT=21 after stabilizing at 30 then pushing the bar out and holding it for a second. Illustrated keel a nice feature!

Very little wind at 16:30, but clearer - thick haze with isolated cumies at about 5k MSL. Did a no-wind takeoff at 16:45 and shortly climbed to 4500 MSL. Did a VGT speed run to Cloud vicinity. That was fun, but was soon down to the 750 as lift was sparse down low. No wind landing at 17:00.Looked at the 13:45 NWS weather discussion after I got back home. The forecaster had said: ...CONVECTION SHOULD SHUT DOWN QUICKLY AFTER 1500 PDT AS THE LOW GETS FURTHER EAST CAUSING TRANSPORT WINDS ACROSS MOUNTAINS TO SHIFT TO NORTHWEST AND SUBSIDENCE ALOFT INCREASES FROM HIGH BUILDING IN FROM THE WEST. He wasn't too far off the mark.
Real nice. Thermalled easily at 21. VdVGT>72,VtVGT=21 Switch to Lightstream control bar and 12mm battens (was for Airwave)

Nice day. Light SSE after blowing N in the AM. Launched at 13:31 and spent the next 40 minutes mostly below launch working narrow, weak thermals that drifted all over the place, but mostly were popping off the SE faces and heading NNE. Got back ovar to Marshall at about 14:10 and hooked one that had to have touched 1k up once or twice. Slammed into the inversion at 5200-5300 a couple of times. Got to 5200 and drifted halfway back the spine from Marshall to the 18 and was about to turn back when my vario beeped. I circled and fought to stay in a tiny one that got me to 5500, so I pointed at Crestline at MinSink, straight downwind. The ridge lift was light ubt workable and there were thermals coming through. Got to 5800 at Billboard with two HGs and a rigid wing all bunched-up, then went for Pine. Sank a lot and worked the tip of the SE spine enough to dive for the main spaine, and a rowdy thermal drifted right up it to the top. I tried to shake me off, but I persisted and was rewarded with getting to 6500. Decided it was time to go back to Marshall and land, and the trip straight into the wind from Pine to Marshall took a long time and cost me over 2500 feet of altitude. Got up a little at regionals, up again east of Cloud, then went over to Marshall, where there was sink. I did a left turn into a big arcing approach and landed at 15:13. There were a lot of pilots out flying, and I'll bet most of them had satisfying flights, especailly those who launched after 14:00.

Sunny with a few cumies high up, drifting from the North. Was able to maintain at about launch height easily by working the ridge lift at the top of the draw West of the 750. Finally a themal came through and I got above launch and the windsock. Fun working in close. Another thermal came on the heels of the first and I took it to just above 4000 MSL before diving to the LZ with my knees on the basetube.
Real Good. CB bag has burn holes - replace.

Clouds starting to bank up, lower and coming from the West. Windier, 15 MPH and more SW. Cooler and moister. Flew in shirtsleeves, would have been better with a jacket. Thermalling with a crowd all near the same altitude. Went to SE side of Cloud Spine and worked a slow one alone to above Marshall. It was getting bumpier by the minute. Di was assisting a Falcon with wheels - I almost yelled that it was bumpy, but decided they knew what they were doing. After landing (a super sweet no stepper with no vertical velocity - like stepping off a curb - due to smooth SW 15 in LZ) the Falcon pilot, Andy and new hang 2 from New England, remarked that he hadn't really enjoyed it because it was pretty bumpy. His son had a long tandem with Rob.
Sweet. VdVGT=57. Nice thermalling slow.

Solid cloud bank established over ridge and 1/2 of San Berdoo. Windy, 18+ from the West. Cool enough for a jacket; gloves would have helped. Mostly ridge boating the faces. SW 12 in the LZ.
VdVGT=61 VtVGT=28. No turns. Ho-hum.

S wind, almost soarable.
Good.

Ridge soared, ran from 500 FPM down. Missed it below Cloud Peak. Most soared > 1 Hr.
Launch and airtime estimated - look up in GPS tracks, maybe.

We got out early to get some flights in before the front arrived with rain, followed by North winds. There was snow/ice on the road out to Marshall, and we parked the trailer at the first saddle because we couldn't pull it up the first steep part with 2WD. Wayne's 4WD SUV and Brent's pick-up made it up later. That shadowed, Northeast facing middle part of the road was the only section truly covered with snow. The first round was at 12 Noon and there were lots of little bumps and vario beeps, but nobody really climbed after launch. Wind was SE to SSW on top and in the LZ, 3-10 MPH. Chilly.
Good

At 13:15 wind was SSE to SSW, 5-12 on top. I launched a Falcon 3 195 from the top SE launch, skimming the ground and passing left of the windsock (NOT above it). Cleared the edge of the shallow slope and hit 300-400 FPM up that took me to 4800 quickly, back North of the top. It was bracing at that altitude, so I didn't linger. We still only flew about 15 minutes, hoping to get another round in before the weather arrived.
Great