Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

Sledder to end the year.

A brief break in the Santa Anas. Blowing SW 2-8 at the LZ, mostly still on Marshall according to reports, and blowing in 10-20 at Crestline all morning. Supposed to turn north overnight. At Noon, pilots maintaining below and just above Marshall. Arrived at Crestline 13:30 to find 15-20 SSW and a pilot or two ridge soaring. Setting-up with a group, all went quiet during a big lull, then cycles started again. Walked to launch at 14:15 or so and waited five minutes for a good cycle - wind was SSW 3-6 with some cross from the right, plus zero-wind spells. Good launch around 14:20 and sank going left to the house thermal. Sank to 5k after turning back right and decided to go straight for Cloud Peak, since there wasn't much of a headwind. Descended into light marine murk and cleared Cloud easily. Slowly slalomed down the Cloud spine, doing a circle here and there in what turned out to be just bumps above the terrain. Thought about buzzing a PG standing on the 750, decided to conserve altitude. He launched and sank. Decided to buzz Owen on the 320 launch (he was trying out the new racks on the Ranger) but before I started my dive he picked up his wing and launched. No beeps going up and down the bluffs, so I went out for a standard left-hand approach and landed nicely about 12 feet from the HG cone (past, left) at 14:35.

There were at least 30 pilots out for the day, enjoying the ridiculously warm weather. John Wright was celebrating his 5 years of hang gliding by BBQing brats, so people hung around more than usual. Mike Bilyk had his big illuminated RC helicopter out for some night flying (pix by Dave Aldrich) and some of us stayed until after dark to see that. What a show, these brilliant rings of red, orange, yellow lights hovering and swooping and tumbling. Really quite a unique sight.

First onshore day after a long string of north winds. Warm and clear, on the mountaintop in a t-shirt.
Good launch at 13:04 into a decent cycle. Thermals were small but easy to track, for the most part; they got a little unpredictable as they neared the inversion layer. Got to 4,700 MSL early, later topped-out at 4,950. Small forays east and west were fun but I didn’t bump into any lift. Had a fun hour thermalling with other gliders, swapping places in the stacks. Was circling just above Cloud Peak and had a Red Tail hawk come over and join me, climbing through after a few circles. That same thermal got a little turbulent and I had some abrupt yaw changes while circling steadily. Not much wind in the LZ, but solid SW for landing.
Very Nice. Very slight left tendency VGT -> raised RT sprog one turn.

First all-day flyable day after a long stretch of Santa Anaas. Blowing in lightly at Regionals and lightly soarable. Could have stayed up, landed when I chose to.
Landed 25' long, path the HG spot, into straight S 5.
Great!

Soarable. Got to 4150+ in a tight core at Cloud that was going nearly straight up Landed long with three steps.
Nice. Vd VGT=53

Plenty soarable but I managed to miss all the thermals. Landed in HG circle but put basetube down, gently.
Good, no turn. Didn't have time to activate the VG. Would refly, but customer anxious.

Nice long scratch session at the bluffs. Good landing in the PG circle, but won no spots today. Blowing down at Crestline, so we didn't go back up. It had been blowing cross from the west in the Regionals set-up area, but mostly up on launch. Forecast to blow down and bring rain from the NE on Thursday (accurate).
Very nice n roll, good slow.

Cold and breezy, wind SW 18-22 MPH, increasing haze, rain due in 12+ hours.
Nice launch at 14:40 and climbed just above launch for a pass east and back over launch, then a lull had us below the top so we flew to the west end of the ridge. Andrew had trouble with the harness boot but finally got a foot in it and went prone. Andrew flew about halfway across the canyon toward Regionals and I took over when we hit big sink. We worked a little bit of lift with a couple of paragliders in front of Cloud Peak. Soon we were over the 750 and sinking steadily to the LZ - very little thermal lift to be found because of the high haze blocking the sun. Did a dive and climbing turn then headed over the LZ to land. Classic landing approach into light SW. I flared with my hands low on the downtubes and we stumbled forward as we touched down at 14:56, about 15 feet past the target. Later saw video of the landing, taken by Shaggy, and it wasn't as poor as I had thought. Mostly, we just didn't catch our weight.

Good.

Great. VdVGT=65. Done slow BS root flutter. Tightened root battens 2 turns each, next two 1 turn each.

Nice. VdVGT=55. No flutter.

Good.

Replace mid-keel sock - frayed (give to Eva)

Good. Tips 60 degrees.

Good. Tips 60 degrees.

(got GPS track of flight, but waited too long to log it - don't recall the details)
Minor RT turn, especially VGT. Turned left tip up 1, RT sprog up 2 turns.

Clear and cool, no wind. Pure sledder. Landed 8 feet past PG cone to win.
Good.

More SE flow worked a thermal low. Right-hand approach to east final over gliders. Landed halfway between cones.

Good.

Still light SE. Worked several small cores, Mike and Steve got up a bit. Tight right approach to land 4 feet short og PG cone for a winner.
Good.

Very fun scratching in bowl west of launch. Good landing 8 feet past PG cone.
Good to great.

Steady SW had arrived. Ridge soared faces at launch level until a solid core took me up at 690 FPM. Bailed from it at 4k and five for the LZ, knees-on-basetube. Nailed PG cone landing into SW 10.

Good.

Good.

RT approach to SSW landing 25 feet past PG cone.
OK. Keel strap too tight; loosened 1 inch. Change spec.

RT approach to SSE landing 25 feet past PG cone.
Good.

Junky thermals on east side of Cloud, good one to west. Bumpy at 3800 and 4200. Went from LZ to Bluffs several times waiting for a cycle to land in. Dove in during a S cycle and landed long in zero wind. Fun flight.

Great! Very minor right turn. Twisted tips 1/2 each. TT VGT to 32.

Murky air, waited 5 minutes for a cycle. Got above Marshall in one slow steady thermal. Light SSW at LZ, went long.
Very nice. TT to 28. Vd VGT>72.

Sledder. Good landing.
Good.

Good.

Clear and warm, offshore flow dropped to zero at Marshall as forecast by NWS Hourly Weather Graph (for days). South and SE cycles, waited on launch for a solid SW set. Good launch into lift at 16:30, climbed a couple of hundred over launch. Buzzed Marshall from the east, then went to Cloud and boated up slowly to 5,500. Was joined by Matt Barker and his black/red T2C from about 5k on. I'd felt all alone in the quiet, and it was like Racer X showing up :) Crossed the mouth of Devil Canyon slowly, just enjoying the serenity. Had one time that I got rolled hard to the right (VGT) slowly and nothing I could do about it. Speed run from the Afterbay to Regionals, then up and out over campus. Thought it might go katabatic and had heard it was light and variable in the LZ. Got tired of circling over the LZ >1k AGL and dove a bit, finally. Saw steady SW most of that time, and had a nice no stepper a fair bit past the HG cone. Nice to have such a relaxing, calm flight. Hadn't known that was just what I needed. Got home to find the Cards making it 8-5 against the Rangers in Game 3; it ended at 16-7
Good. TT to 27 VGT. Very slight left tendency VdVGT. Raised RT sprogs 1 turn each. Right #4 tip lever way too loose - replace insert. Trim VG cord with hotknife.

Nice warm day, slightly murky air, good temperature difference from LZ to Crestline, wind SW 12-15. First tandem with my 12 year old niece. Lots of pilots at Crestline, plus Dad, Nancy, Steph, JT, Amanda's friends and other spectators.

Good launch at about 14:30 and Amanda settled right in tot he flying mode. We sank on the first pass so went to the Billboard area and found nothing. Gliders had been up above Billboard earlier. Amanda steered some from there to Regionals, but was content to just take it all in. We got a little thermal at Regionals, then another at cloud, but soon it was time to go land. Good approach but I flared late and a little weakly and I ended up stumbling to my knees after a couple of steps. Amanda is eager to fly again - I'll look for a day when we can get more than 15 minutes.
Put Amanda's hang loop fully ahead of mine. We were trimmed a bit fast. Clipped blue cocoon harness directly to copilot loop and she was well off the bar.

Still nice, warm, hazy. Wind had picked up to 15-18 in the late-afternoon. Only a few pilots ready to launch. First tandem with nephew John (JT) Burrows. Steph drove again, took pics and vid.

Nice launch about 16:25. We climbed a little and JT got right into the harness, declaring it 'awesome'. We were above the ridge and made a few easy passes over launch and Steph. Circled in weak lift at Billboard, then JT steered the glider across to Regionals, doing well and understanding the adjustments needed. No thermals on the Cloud Spine, so it was a sled ride to the LZ.

There was some traffic and I dove hard to land well before another HG who was at our altitude. Big, zooming (for a Flacon) approach. Good no-stepper landing into regular SW 5, a bit short of the HG cone for a 20 minute flight. We'll go again when it's better.

Good SW landing near HG cone.
Good. 2 hole right turn, twisted left tip. TT to 30 VGT, good PP. High cirrus light thermals.

Landed long in almost no wind, put basetube down.

Good. TT to 32 VGT, good PP. VdVGT=69.

Kicked PG cone.
Good.
Super glue RT#5 bar track. Replace bag, fix zipper.

The Santa Ana winds were dying off like the Thursday forecast had said, not solid down like the Friday forecast had. When I got to AJX around 1 PM the lone pilot there, a lounging PGer, told me it had been flyable at Marshall since mid-morning and he had flown, top landed Marshall, then flown down. As others showed up a PG inflated and launched from Marshall. I drove to the 750 with my Falcon 3 Tandem. When I got there, there were several PGs and an HG boating around between 3k and 4k and well out in front. It was flowing from the SE with occasional gusts and switches. I set up at a fairly sedate pace, having earlier decided (for no good logical reason) that 2 PM would be the time to launch.

I walked to launch at 2:02 and found a steady ESE 5-8, which I started waiting-out. Caleb swooped overhead with his Falcon, whooping. Then I watched him descend slowly to the LZ. I kept waiting while the ESE became SE, still cycling between 3 and 10 MPH. The LZ looked SE as well.

Finally it got some more S in it and I launched into a cycle and went SE, to the east bowl of the bluffs, sinking. There was a double beep of the vario at the bowl, but then I was dropping through 500 AGL relative to the LZ and I ran west along the edge of the bluffs, sinking the whole way. Dropping pretty close to the 350 launch I headed S and found sink of less than 100 FPM with hints of a thermal nearby. The flags were still showing SE to ESE at the LZ. I got a beep at about 200 AGL SE of the training hill but ignored it and faded over for a quick right-hand approach to a SE final. Landed a bit SE of the PG cone with 3 minutes of airtime.

It was a nice hike back up to my truck, then I went home and mowed the lawn, as planned. Probably wouldn't have had enough daylight left to mow if I'd gotten up. I hadn't figured the hiking-time into my plans. I'd also written off the weekend for flying on Friday anyway, since I was driving to P.S. on Saturday and wouldn't want to drive anywhere Sunday. Sure turned out to be a nice day.

I should have launched an hour earlier, or right away into the strong ESE, or an hour later, when the SW flow was established. Probably any other time than 2 PM would have been better :)

While I was standing on launch, hooked-in, waiting out that ESE, I watched a PG that had been up for a while go somewhat east of the LZ and then back toward the LZ, sinking fast with high-ish groundspeed. He clearly wasn't going to make it and he inexplicably didn't change direction or drop his legs. He flew straight into the southern-most bush/tree at the east foot of the LZ, on the west side of the big ravine. His wing settled on top of the foliage and he disappeared into it. I pulled out my phone and got a photo of the wing on the branches. When I landed at the LZ Caleb was walking over there, and I headed to the edge after unhooking and so forth. Gene answered that he was OK after I yelled down, and Caleb was assisting with the PG lines. When I got back down to the LZ with my truck Gene started to unravel his lines and pick out the leaves and twigs. He said he'd dropped and sped up with the tailwind and kept his legs up and straight out front, hoping like anything to clear the ravine.

Chris VV reported getting to 7k with big sink between 1k up thermals. Gene said it had been pretty switchy and uncomfortable up high. A fair number of pilots flew, and I heard later that pilots who'd flown Elsinore earlier had shown up for late-day flights from Marshall.

Clouds on Marshall, ESE 5. Right hand approach, too bumpy t oo bleed off speed, overshot PG cone by 30 feet.
Good.

Sledder, E-ENE at LZ. RT approach over stairs patio, and gliders. Landed long on PG circle.
Good.

Fun scratching one spot on the bluffs for a while, just maintaining 2,145 or so. Another RT approach, slightly long.
Good.

Still S and cloudy. Scratched with great consecration at the east bluffs. Better after changing direction. Climbed to 3,700 and done to the LZ. RT hand approach, PG circle long. Fun! Met Aron Ralston before going back up. He was going to take a tandem flight with Owen Morse.
Good.

Got to 4,000 in 600+ up before I dove to the LZ. Right hand approach to between the spots due to wind direction. It rained in Berdoo around 5 PM.

Good.

Nice warm day, on the breezy side. Had the blue cocoon harness for Shelby; much more comfortable than July 9. Shelby and I launched about 14:05 and climbed for a couple of ridge passes, then over at Billboard there was very solid lift that got us to 6,200+ a couple of times. Had fun flying near Mike Bilyk and Dan Tuckwiller, and others. Mike got some nice video. I had Shelby thermalling (with a little power-assist) and after a few tries it 'clicked' and she was steering really well. We flew to Regionals on a very straight path and didn't really find much to work out there. Some thermals. When we went upright and I pushed Shelby's harness a little to help get behind me, it spun her backwards, so I had a tail gunner for a minute. Had her hanging nice and low so she could steer easily, but she was low behind me as well, so I flared on the high side. Good SW landing and a 55 minute flight.
Blue cocoon harness fit really well. Clipped in with extension so Shelby was one fist from the bar, good for control. copilot hang loop was half ahead of mine mine, instead of concentric. May have slipped aft a little?

Nice day, rode up with Peter and Dexa. Launched at 14:05 and sank to Cloud spine, then got a solid one to up over 5k pretty quickly. The next one let me go to Crestline, then BB and Pine. Not much out there as I went out S of the Afterbay for the heck of it. Back up at Regionals and then lazily out over Northpark and Little Mtn. Dr., thinking about landing. Persistent lift above Badger Hill got me interested again and I went toward the radio towers in a long slow climb. Buzzed Marshall and said 'Hi" in a normal voice, then made a few climbs up from the bluffs before going in and landing. The wind had gotten more westerly, so the later climb tracks are aligned.

Kicked PG cone over, landed on circle.
Good.

Sweet handling! PX05 top surface. Looks great. Landed short in light headwind sink cycle
Sweet handling! PX05 top surface. Looks great. Landed short in light headwind sink cycle.

Zigged when I should have zagged. Scratched the bluffs. Good S landing.
Good.

Very slight right turn; twisted left tip 1.

Quick left-hand to far edge of HG circle.
Good.

Landed into NNW 0-5. Tight approach to 8 feet west of PG cone. Won spot.
Good.

I stopped flying for the day after this. My lower legs were very swollen from poison oak eleven days prior and while I had no pain (or itchiness) they were so heavy I couldn't accelerate like usual. Didn't want to take a chance of having to deal with anything unexpected while launching a high performance wing. There was a very unusual microburst and gust front later that had Steve Pearson diving for the LZ just ahead of it, Kevin Williams slamming in at the gravel pit, and Mike Meier landing at the soccer field near the Western Regional LL Ballpark. And Mitch McAleer flew his PG all the way to Upland.

Good.

Three test pilots, no driver, so I drove a few rounds between flights.
Scratched from Big O 350 to 3,500 MSL

I wasn't enthused about flying today, but Dusty called and wanted to buy my Falcon 225, so I said I'd meet him at 16:15.  I got to the LZ about 14:30 and snagged a ride up to Crestline about 15:00.  It was much much much clearer and the wind was steady in the high teens.  I launched the UltraSport at 16:00 with two steps and a hard pull-in on the basetube.  Easy ridge lift to a few hundred over.  Got 6k at Billboard, 6k again at Pine (briefly).  Went to Regionals and the thermals were strong but drifting to the NE fast. At 16:45 I got to 5,300 NE of Marshall, but didn't like the fast drift headed over Waterman Canyon.  At 17:00 I got one off cloud to the inversion at 5,100, hunted and hung with it and got to 5,700, so I dashed back to Crestline for a few minutes before going out to the LZ. I was coring sink lazily over the LZ and a hang glider came in under me when I was about 450 AGL. I had been looking for traffic, but up higher. It was Steve with the tall van. He did a nice direct approach and landing, nearer the PG spot, and I came in behind and landed in the HG circle at 17:20

AJ Fly-In. Low pressure off the coast, rain from Corona west in the morning. NWS said 40% chance of showers/thunderstorms. I got Kenny Westfall to drive me to the 750.

I guess the forecast 'impressive instability' was in a layer well above Crestline. There were impressive clouds over the desert, but nothing from Crestline south. The wind was light, <15 most of the time, and the inversion was low. The air was a little murky and the thermals were weak, scattered, elusive, brief. Most found lots of sink between thermals and many reported repeatedly falling out the back-sides of thermals; the good thermals were going more straight-up than usual and pilots were factoring-in the normal drift.

I got 40 minutes from the 750 with my Falcon 3 Tandem (solo) and I was working the entire time. Got to 3,900 and change a couple of times. A couple of times I found a promising core and once four or five nearby pilots had flown over to try and get it I bailed - we were all close vertically and horizontally and with the core jumping around it was too nerve-wracking. John Wright put video on Facebook of me scratching well-above the Big O 350, and he got video of my landing too.

Lots of pilots took shots at getting up from the Big O 350, without much success; I think a few PGs might have gotten above launch or better. A big crowd waited on Crestline for conditions to improve and they slowly trickled off launch and down to Marshall/Cloud/Regionals, getting stuck below the inversion. I was loaded-up on the Ranger around 4:30 to do another launch and landing for the heckuvit and we discovered that the Ranger had a flat tire. A can of Fix-a-Flat and a portable compressor filled it long enough to get to the climb above the camping area. Oh well.

The spot landing contest was competitive. I think John Wright won the HG division. The BBQ was excellent. My steak was medium-rare and tasty, easy to cut with the plastic knife. Good-sized crowd. Lots of raffle prizes.

An HG threw his chute around 6:30 due to his glider becoming uncontrollable. It was setup improperly and was stuck in a turn.

Got barely above launch out at the bluffs. OK landing, long, switchy.

Good.

Landed two paces past PG circle. Won spot.
Good. Soft handling.

Got up a little, back and forth. RT hand approach again, ran from 4' before PG cone to 6' past. Won spot.
Good.

MedBlu/Lime with white bird assymetric split; gorgeous. Got up a little more than previous flights. Steve and I low over the LZ at the same time. He was lower but I ended up landing first, crossing ahead of his very long final and running in a big arc past the PG cone. Keystone Kops, with Benny Hill theme music.

Good.

Normal summer day, rather hot. When I got to the 750 a couple of PGs were below eye level and they got back up, so I was encouraged. Launched into a cycle and worked back and forth in front of launch to no avail. Made a pass along the bluffs and the Big O 350, went down and landed.

Right-hand approach, overshot PG cone by a lot.

Right-hand approach, overshot PG cone by less - very buoyant over the grass.

First left-hand approach of the day. Landed On the edge of the PG circle, won spot (only one today).

Broken thermals. Got to 4,900 briefly, against the inversion. No wind at the LZ, held out at the bluffs as long as I could, but no cycle came. Stopped on knees and basetube.

Nice. VdVGT=58. No BS rumble.

Full-mylar U2, Transient Trim to 35-40 VGT; a bit stiff. Common for the full-mylar version. Fine of you're a racer, I suppose.

Cored sink south of the LZ from >1k AGL, then found sink all over the LZ and had to tighten my left-hand approach considerably. Three-stepper, short of HG circle into WSW 5.
Good. TT to 35-40 VGT. PP neutral through 50, came back at 50, came back at 55. TT VG1/2=28 VdVGT=58.
Tighten inboard shear velcros 3/8 inch each.

The bowl west of Regionals was working - Steve was already there. Slowly got to 4,500 in a core that drifted very slowly NE behind Regionals. Very calming. Dove the better half of the visiting British PG couple at Marshall as she prepared to pull-up. She smiled and waved. Did a long Vd run to the LZ into a nice right wingover, high. Threw in a spin as I climbed/exited. It really locked-in and after about 400 quick degrees with the nose dropping I let the bar back in. Good landing into SW.
Very nice. TT to 28 VGT. VdVGT=58
Sticky haulback safety button. Ream rear.

Hottest day of the year so far, 112 F at 1300. Overdevelopment to the north, east, and south. Strong onshore winds, over 20 at Crestline in the afternoon.
Enthusiastic co-pilot, very interested in hang gliding, very comfortable in the air. 125 lbs.

Good 2 1/2 step launch at 16:07 with immediate climb to a few hundred over. Fairly turbulent. William flew from Marshall to Cloud Peak, some difficulty steering the glider, especially tot he left. He got the idea after a couple of more tries. The thermals were moderately strong, 400-500 FPM, but they were blowing by so fast in the wind that they were hard to track. No problem staying up, just more slowing down in thermals than circling in them. Got half-way down the Cloud spine and flew over to a T2C, found only sink. Did some passes along the bluffs and got to 1k AGL, so headed out over the LZ. Nice breeze in the LZ, more westerly than usual. Smooth approach to a no-stepper just outside the HG circle for a 40-minute flight.

Pilots flying Crestline said they were going miles up and down the ridge at will, getting heights of 9k-10k+. BBQ and bevs in the LZ after - great to hang out as it cooled off.

will.h86@gmail.com

Fun, soarable. SE approach to S final. Steered to spot; 9 feet, won.
Good. Noisy.

Went to Marshall, dove to the LZ for a south cycle. Just short of PG circle and lucky to get that far.

Good. Worked in a crowded gaggle st Cloud - fun.

Was stuck in front of Cloud at 3700 for a while in broken thermals. Finally got 400+ up to 4,400 and dove PGs setting up on Marshall. It was very hot and that combined with weird air and a mild right turn had me ready to land. Flew out above Ryan in the all-yellow S2 (my 160 was all-white) as he climbed at the bluffs. Cored sink and landed a little long.

Minor RT turn, left tip up 2. Vd VGT=62 TT to 31

First flight on my new tandem wing - black LE, white TE, red body with large yin/yang symbol inlaid at the center. Looks spectacular! Puffs from the left and then from the right, swifts circling out front. Waited for an in cycle and launched and climbed right away. Circled easily with it just above the 750, mugging for Ryan Voight's camera. Matt Barker (sailmaker) drove my truck down. I drifted NE with that thermal a little, then made for the LZ - Dan Tuckwiller and his gf, my scheduled tandem copilot, were due any time. I had a nice floaty cycle on final approach and did a little extra skim and steering to a no-pressure no-stepper in the HG circle. Very satisfying.
Great.

First tandem flight with my new Yin Yang F3T. Olivia had been to the training hill a couple of times and had done a 4-minute tandem sledder with a roll-out landing at Hyner View, a couple of years ago. I had her use the blue apron/spaghetti harness and she had the same bottom edge flip-up issue that Shelby had in July. On Sunday I found my better small harnesses in a bag in the garage while figuring out how to store three gliders in there.

Worked a little lift right near launch, then crossed to the Cloud spine and we were soon out over the LZ. The flags were pointing SE weakly and I realy didn't want to land; went where the flags were pointing and found the lift that was producing all that sink - yin yang in action. Climbed easily at upwards of 400 FPM until we could relax again. Easy soaring after that. Flew near Dan and others. I had Olivia steer a few times, trying to go straight. On the third try it clicked for her and she was doing great after that. Flew over launch at 900 AGL, got to 5,200 MSL later. Some serious bumpiness here and there and scattered large sink. We got down near the bluffs again and I decided we ought to be ready to land, at least. Soon we were in big sink and we did a pretty quick approach to a SSW landing. two- or three- stepper that happened to be about six feet from the HG cone.

My first tandem with a Falcon 3 Tandem and it really outshines the Falcon Tandem and the Falcon 225. It really felt and behaved like a normal glider with a normal load. I still really want to lose some lard, but I think my useful copilot weight limit will be higher than I had thought. I'm 230 now and had figured 160 max for the copilot would be prudent. Perhaps 170 or even 180, at my current weight.

Bag short.

Scratched bluffs hard.

Bag too short.

Mike was getting up right in front of launch. I counted to 10 in the steady cycle as he flew away and ran hard. My feet left the ground, then I dropped right down the lower face of launch, my basetube going through the midpoints of a number of three-foot tall dry weed stalks. Climbed a bit out front.
Good.

Got to 4,700 then drifted below the inversion to 5,300 halfway to Crestline. Got below BB for a few seconds before turning back for Regionals. Landed 8 feet abeam of the cone, won the spot.
Good.

Warm day, onshore with some overdevelopment over the desert. Thick marine layer, low lapse rate. People had sledded off Crestline around 1300, so I was in no hurry to go up the hill. Mike and Shelby offered me a ride and when they returned from lunch that turned into a ride for all of us with Steve in his boxy van to Crestline. Launched the colorful Sport 2 155 into a cycle just after 1630. The ridge was working, but barely. BB same, so I went down to Regionals so I could do some thermalling. Tougher than I expected down there, but no too much work to stay up. Others reported some turbulence but I just found smll bumps at the edges. got down to the 750 vicinity and had a lot of fun saving it in a very weak thermal from above the 350. Went to Marshall and came back down. Buzzed hiking Hoffmann (he got a photo) then scratched up again. Got 4,300 behind Regionals, hanging with a weak one as it bumped and wandered under the inversion. Went out and spiralled down casually from SW of the LZ into a left-hand approach and a no-stepper plop just short of the HG circle. Another fun and relaxing flight working with what the day had to offer.

Broke down the glider slowly and enjoyed the LZ banter. About half liked the glider and half hated it. Black LE, Lime TS, Bright Lime TS, Silver BS with Bright Red, Med Blue aft stripes plus the Lime TS and Lime TE gave it 5 colors when viewed fromthe bottom. The grey looked muddy green in the air, I was told.

Trim keel strap.

Cross from left for a while on launch. Inversion below us. Sledder. Good 9-foot spot in nil wind.

Good.

Worked a tight little core above the 750 until it got its act together and I got above Regionals. Right-hand approach and overshot, running.
Good.

Breezier. I didn't really hook anything until I was down by the 420 launch. That core was small but strong. Drifted NW up the canyon, then NE to over Cloud. Tried to take some pix of Mike, but very bumpy. Burned it to the LZ. Landed into SW, just past edge of circle, past cone.

Good.

Got up to the west of launch. Hit the inversion a couple of times, then floated back to Crestline. Landed S with light cross/tail from NW. Tubage but nosecone pristine.

Very nice handling. VdVGT>70.

Weaker lift, buzzed the truck above the 750. Fun scratching on the bluffs. Landed short of the PG circle.
Good.

Went to the bowl west of launch and slowly got to 4,100 . Went on final from just below Cloud, terrain following. No-turn approach. No-stepper one foot from cone.

Light WSW, worked the far west end of the bluffs with Mike, a PG, another HG. Good no-stepper just inside the HG circle. Won 4 spots today.

Clear, warm, normal sunny day, light base-wind, switchy at the 750. Had a weak down cycle when I walked to launch. When it turned to weak in I launched and found light lift right in front of launch, but when I came back it was gone. Sank to Big O 420, about 150' AGL, and hit a great core. Rode that up to 4,400 MSL at 400-600 FPM. Hit the inversion at about 5-5.1k and sank behind Marshall Peak. Did that again, then at Cloud Peak. Got under a tandem PG in front of Cloud and came very close before he bailed for Marshall. Kept working it, drifting north as it got real weak with my vario showing just over 5,200 MSL. Realized I could see the top of the glider that was back on Crestline ridge.
I was halfway back to Crestline already, so I turned downwind and pushed out. Got to Crestline just at launch height with my vario reading 150' low - I had set it to 2,450 at the 750. Weak ridge lift but soarable. Said "Hi Linda!" to Ms. Dunn, who was standing on launch. She later said that the spectators got a big kick out of that. Got to about 4,700 MSL at Billboard in some bumpy, sharp-edged stuff and headed straight out the canyon, finally turning for Regionals.
Got bumped around a lot - sudden roll and pitch changes, sink, helmet tapping the downtubes. I'd find the cores and while they were good, they weren't the boomers that the turbulence implied. Got up a couple of more times, dove Marshall, flew out and landed into light SW near the HG cone.
A pretty fun flight, actually!
Nice glider. Highly visible. Replace plastic and velcro keel/xbar protector. Plastic peeling away from velcro.

Hot normal summer day. Cycles at Regionals. Sank to above the 750 before finding anything, then found a little bronco close to the hill that slowly got better. Got over Marshall, then wandered to over the LZ at 3400. Waited out several thermals for a good south cycle. Won the spot with 6 feet inside outer circle, short of cone.

Excellent glider. Almost no transient trim. Vd VGT=52.

Was at 6,200 over Billboard ten minutes after launch. Good south landing in sporty cycle. Just outside of circle but still won spot.

The thermal from Regionals was 1,200 to 1,400 FPM at times and it either petered out or outran me at around 5,100, halfway back to Billboard. Above the water cylinder I caught another that took me to 6,200. I'm sure I could have kept going up up up.
Very nice. Huge lift right off launch, 1,200 to 1,400 FPM at times.

Right after launch the draw to the west served up a strong tight core that I rode to 4,400 above Marshall in one big stretched-slinky of a climb. Then I dove straight for the LZ :)
Right hand approach into essentially no wind., long but OK. Earlier flights I'd been able to float above the LZ and pick a landing cycle, but this time I held the dive from Marshall too long before checking out the wind indicators.

Pretty bumpy air overall. I hear it mellowed out to big, easy soaring later.
Good.

Some clouds to the east, but of no concern this side of the mountains. Wind at Crestline was trending light, 12 MPH or so, all morning, but it picked up after noon. Thermals were scattered and uneven. Bumpy. Not hard to stay aloft, but not always very high. Took some pix, recorded a GPS track. The high cumulus layer over the desert did drift west over the mountains. Shaded the east end of the valley, making for some weaker thermals for a few pilots who'd flown downrange expecting to come back; they all made it back.
Launched into weak ridge lift and made a few passes, went to Billboard and got to 6k right away, then dove at launch, losing much extra altitude in big sink. Back at BB below the ridge, headed to the west side of the mouth of Devil Canyon, for something different, maybe get up to Pine. Had a low sink rate out to the Afterbay but couldn't find the source/core. Laughed when I noticed that Mark H. had followed me. Flopped around all over Marshall, slowly getting low then moderate climbs to the low-4k's and so on. Decided to go land as I hit the hour mark. Cored sink south of the LZ then was amazed at my high groundspeed heading to the LZ. Did a quick approach and saw a Falcon pilot landing as I went downwind! No issue and I landed nicely inside the HG circle after going for my left downtube twice during ground skim.
Nice handling.

Clear and hot. Tight cores close to the hill, hard to stay with. Managed enough short climbs to feel out the wing. When I got below the bluffs I saw the windsok and flags hanging slack, on the west sides of their poles. At 400 AGL east of the LZ I found a bubble to maintain altitude in for a minute. Saw a south 5 MPH cycle and dove on in, a little high. Heading south from way back by the ranch house, a bit high still, I was headed straight at Mike Meier way out in the field to take pix. Got a bump up and let the bar out a little to bleed off airspeed, then descended as expected. Was going to be close to Mike, but clearly miss him. Got a side gust just as I reached him and started to flare. Put the glider down on the basetube, nose-up, and went through the left downtube.

Also slammed my bent left knee into the ground pretty solidly. Knee wasn't tweaked, but I skipped a round to work on a customer's glider and mellow out. The knee stiffened slightly, but bore weight without pain. I decided to skip flying the other 154 they had for me, because I didn't want to HAVE to run hard on the knee if things wen't pear-shaped again. Iced the knee over the course of the afternoon.
Good. Very slight RT turn. Twisted both tips 1/3.
Replace left downtube.

First flight with the UltraSport since I worked on it one month ago. The lower wires wete tangled when I went to set it up. I had tools, so no problem.

Classic summer soaring conditions at Crestline and Marshall Peak today , lots of 600 to 1,000 FPM up. About 40 minutes into my flight I pulled out the (tethered) Kodak fun camera and took a couple of snaps. Got above a colorful wing in a great thermal and took about 30 shots of Peter Wurr (and a paraglider) as we climbed from below Cloud Peak. Was then high enough to go back to Crestline and I got there just as Linda Dunn and some other pilots were launching. Rougher up there, so many blurred pix of bushes :)

Really fun afternoon of flying! Just what I needed. And deserved, since I mowed the front yard first.

Got to 3900 with a dust devil from near the 750. Switchy landing conditions. Right-hand approach into S, Steve had just landed left-hand at HG spot. I went long and it was a little SE. Was heading for Steve on ground skim, so I half-flared early and ran it out. Couldn't stop laughing.
Good. Nose collar tight for tang.
Mike file nose collar. Got to 3900 with a dust devil from nearthe 750. Switchy landing.

Fun save from near the bluffs to the top of Marshall. Good landing with abrupt stop. Won spot.
black marks right leading edge fore and af of top surface wire. Nice handling, some BS root flutter.

Ripping lift and sink. Rough climb from Cloud Peak to 5500, then Crestline. Landed in a big sink cycle. Tight approach, good landing.
Previously sold glider returned for sail work - wrinkles in the leading edge. Myler pocket zippers moved inboard, look good.

First tandem after checkout flight with Tandem Administrator Zac Majors to restore my T3 rating. Shelby Clark is going to learn to HG (from McKenzie) and has been tandem a couple of times. She's gotten sick on previous flights. I had her rigged more head-up and she felt fine, though admittedly she didn't really have much time to get queasy. The actual flight was about eight minutes, I think; GPS reports 12 minutes moving time.

Good launch into SW 10. No lift by Marshall, big sink heading to Cloud spine. Fell out the back of a weak thermal NE of the 750. No beeps heading to the bluffs. Went out over the LZ. Got slightly upwind of off-field target, probably 900' over it, and Shelby dropped the bomb for the contest. It was way off-target to the SE, but on the dirt. We won! We were the only entrants ;)

Went upright at 700 AGL (to the field) heading for downwind leg. Had a good strong approach and a nice two-step landing heading SW.

It felt really good to go tandem again!

Close to a sledder. Won the spot.

Tight thermal with SP from below Cloud Peak. Got to 5000. Nice landing, won the spot with my right wingtip at the cone.

Very nice wing! Some mis-aligned TE bar tacks.

Red BS with huge yellow blood-shot eyes. Full weightless wire-snapper near Cloud Peak. Boomer to 5500, dashed to Crestline for photos. Very bumpy air everywhere. Nice one-stepper between the cones.

Nice wing. Vd VGT=62

Strong lift everywhere. Cored sink near the LZ to land, saw it was switchy and weak when over the LZ. Climbed up again, with Steve, then he found sink SW of the LZ and we descended and landed. Bumpy on final. Two-stepper. Spent more time trying to get down than trying to get up.
Strong right turn, "3 holes". Turned tips 1.5 ea. Neutral PP VGT; raised all sprogs one turn.

Wanted to land before my left arm got too tired. Coring sink with both hands on the left side of the basetube was vary smooth. Held it level all through final and the left wing finally started to drop right at flare time. Set it down on the basetube.

Mike Meier reflew it, declared it 'great' :)
Trim upper VG cord at single pulley. Bag too short; replace.

Still strong lift, but much smoother. Had great fun throwing the little glider around in the big lift. Caught a rocket of the 350 that was drifting almost straight east. Landed well short of the cone with a one-footed no-stepper.
Good

Upper level moisture from Mexico leaking in from the SE. Reports of sporadic rain in Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead earlier. Blowing about 12-15 SSW at launch. Overdevelopment visible high to the east, fuzzing out.

Good launch and easy climb to a few hundred over in smooth ridge lift. BB then Pine from 5,700. Flying from Pine to Last Chance I got a weak core over the middle of the canyon. Drifted with it as it bumped into 5,200 repeatedly. Eventually close enough to dive to BB and then got to 6,200 several times.

I noticed that the towering cumies over the desert had mostly dissipated. Occasionally bumpy and sinky. Flying W to BB thought I had left drift but saw no gust fronts on the desert; must have been a big thermal nearby. Went to Pine again - still only OK over there. Thermalled with a PG over Marshall, went west, decided to land. Saw that a big cell had developed north of Big Bear, no threat. Found sink well west of the LZ. Above the LZ I realized my altimiter was reading high. Wind W to SW, 10-15. Did a quick approach and had a nice no-stepper between the cones. Altimeter read 1875 MSL; I had set it to 5200 at launch.

Not many pilots out flying. Jeff and Linda were at launch and Jeff drove my truck down.

That big cell dissipated but a huge one from over Victorville drifted to Baldy and gave real nice shade as the sun got lower.
New style (tiny) BR tang. Goo. Mild RT turn, 1 hole twist. Glue RT #4 Bar tack. Twist for RT turn.

Cool and breezy after AM marine layer clouds. Cumulus forming and dissipating overhead. Lenticulars high in the distance, winds at Crestline forecast to be 30 MPH late in the day.

Good launch into S flow. Flew out to spine well above the 750 and saw the windsock hanging slack. Given the general breeziness, I too this to mean there was a strong thermal SW of the sock, and I found it easily. A little 1,200 FPM up at times but drifting fast and hard to get ahold of. Climbed a few hundred before losing it. Worked a few more coming off the bluffs, but not for long. It felt windy just flying around.

Saw a long west cycle at the LZ while I was setting up and it went SW then S during approach. Very bumpy on final, but only small altitude and L/R velocity changes; just lots of 'em. Waited it out and had a good flare and one-stepper SE of the target cone. Won the spot because my basetube didn't touch the ground.


Good.

The wind had picked up, probably 18 at Regionals. Launched into SW and got a core from Last Chance to 4,500 MSL right away. Chilly up there; cloudbase was probably 1,000 feet higher. Definitely windy and bumpy; felt like it could get blown-out at any time.

Glider flew great. Had a huge gentle thermal in front of Marshall to thermal in while concentrating on the glider's handling. Started at 4,400 MSL and the next thing I knew I was at 5,200 and climbing faster, getting cold. Did a speed run at VG 3/4, full stuff, to out over the campus, skirting the probable lift column under a large cloud drifting over the LZ. Vd VG 3/4 felt very secure - I rarely do Vd less than VGT. Found some strong sink at the north end of the campus and circled down lazily from 4,500 to 2,600 - that sink lasted longer than usual.

South at 12-15 in the LZ and not as bumpy on final. Had a very satisfying gentle one-stepper and barely won the spot with 20 feet from the cone.

Drove for Mike while he flew one of the remaining U2 145's and after he landed he called the day. Too windy to self-launch safely at Regionals, too bumpy in the air for good testing. It was gusting to 40 MPH at Crestline until 18:00.
Great. Vd VGT=70, TT to 30 VGT, good PP. Very slight RT turn, twisted tips 1/2 and 1/2.

Not too hot. Blowing 20+ at Crestline, not very gusty. A little uncomfortable setting up and I was glad when a truckload of gliders showed up as I was doing my preflight. The RC plane guys could have wired me to launch but pilots are way better.

Soaring the ridge was pretty smooth and I went from BB to Pine right away. Got there above 5,100 and the first thermal took me north to 6,000+. Thought I'd be dashing down to Cajon but I hunted around for a while and never found another core like that first one. Floated out front and dove to Last Chance.

Easy to stay up at the Marshall complex, but the thermals felt trashy, like I was getting the cast-offs from a nearby good thermal. Got 5,100 a little north of Cloud but didn't go to Crestline. The bowl in front of Marshall was working with multiple cores most of the time. There were guys doing big circles hitting two or three with each circuit. I was grabbing the cores when I could and we were all climbing about the same.

Hit the hour mark and went to south of the LZ to descend and land. That took a while - no big sink areas, and I floated to let some guys come in low from the side to land.

I started my approach and saw the flags trending west with a hair of north. Did a deep downwind north and turned 160 degrees to see more of the same. Flew to the NE corner and banked carefully for a west final - fairly low and wanted to conserve airspeed. It switched to more SW as I neared ground effect and I steered that way a little and encountered very bouyant air - skimmed well past the HG cone and yawed to WSW and kept floating. Had a moment where I thought I could easily overshoot. I bled off speed the whole time and managed a smooth two-stepper in the PG ground handling area. A couple of pilots came over and said they'd thought I might skim right off the end too. I had 1/4 VG on because it has been so long since I decided that I preferred full-loose; don't think the VG was the problem. Did have a good flare with low airspeed.

Happy pilots soon filled the LZ with tales of Santa's Village and more.

The future owner of this wing, Enrico Gatti, had asked about his wing several times on Facebook. Early in the week I responded that it was built and ready to test, but I was confused. We assembled it Friday and I brought it home to test fly to retain some credibility.


Good. Vd VGT=72 Vt=23 Vs=21

Warm, SW 3-12 at Regionals, typical morning switchy at the LZ.
Good launch into a light cycle. Got a good look at the yucca spikes below launch.
A few circles below Cloud, then serpentine down to the bluffs. Mike had something a few hundred up, just east of the LZ. I got under him and was getting hold of it. Could have climbed out with him but I saw a nice SW cycle to land in, so I dove on in. It switched to weak SE as I went downwind but I just did a long E-W base and came in heading SE to a point S of the HG target by 75 feet, near Greg, who was tending to gopher mounds. Clean three-stepper.

Nice little start to the day. Went to the wing mines and built a couple more.
LE sail mounts 4 threads showing, per SP. Vt=24, mush just below that. Otherwise great. MM reflew, said it was fine.

Hot, clear. Felt somewhat humid. Pattern break from June Gloom was yesterday, the first day of summer.

Mike and I flew Falcons from the 750 for the first 3 flights and it was surprisingly un-soarable. And un-scratchable. First two flights for each of us were straight to the LZ, more or less.

And it was getting hotter. Peaked about 103F according to CSUSB weather station.

Inboard right 3 lever pockets slightly mis-aligned. Clean up and superglue number 6 trailing edge pocket - bar tack removed

Good

Inboard right 3 lever pockets slightly mis-aligned. No action, per MM. Longer bag, KP cover.

Found a tight little coreright in front of the Big O 420, about 80 feet above it. Did a few steep circles in it. close to the hill, and gained a little. Mike came in below me and got to my level and I bailed, since my F3T couldn't maneuver as nimbly as his F3 145. I had a decent landing, anyway.
Good
All right lever pockets slightly mis-aligned. Loft re-align bar tacks. See Ken.

The lift had now turned on like flipping a switch. Easy climb in front of Cloud Peak to 4,300 MSL at 300 FPM solid. Fun whipping that little wing around. Went to Last Chance and then the bluffs, floating over the LZ at 3,200 in large weak lift. Dove in when the flags looked good and the trauck had arrived. Had a great little no-step landing at the PG cone, 9 feet away. Mike still won with 4' and a T2.
Good. Creaking RT corner bracket. Tightened.

Tore the sail, TS near root, spreading the wings a few weeks ago. Kingpost had gotten shoved down behind xbar junction, sail got caught on brackets. Martín gave me the repaired sail on Friday and I reassembled it Saturday morning at the shop. Also gave the frame and sail some TLC, cleaning off ancient duct tape residue (shutter release wire routing), goo from delaminating kingpost stickers, replaced stickers, new pads, etc. Also replaced the apex-slider track on the US 166, so I left the shop at 15:00; with pit-stops, arrived at LZ 16:30. People were soaring, said it was OK low.

At the 750 it was light SW, not too warm. Launched into a cycle at 17:20 and found small lift immediately in front of launch. Worked close-in, banking steeply, and after gaining a few hundred feet was able to climb easily to Marshall height. Buzzed Marshall and several visiting Falcon pilots. Went to Cloud and bumped into 4,300 MSL a couple of times, then a strong core went to 4,700 before flattening out and dumping me. Went lower on the spine and kept finding huge thermals to float up in. Fun one from the west bluffs with McKenzie and his co-pilot. Passed the hour mark and floated up to 4k again over the 750. It was going up everywhere. I cored sink and landed at 18:30.

Large contingent of Sylmartians visiting for the day. Good to see those folks again.

One pilot overshot all the way to the angled road from the sand pit (I didn't see it). Just before I landed a newer Falcon pilot, first time here, almost overshot; I think he actually ended up standing just past the lip.

Good hike to the 750 to get my truck.

There were still a few cottonballs on top of Marshall left over from the morning June Gloom. ESE at launch with occasional brief S cycles. Got above launch a little.
Good
Haulback buttons sticky (front). Tom inspect.

Got above launch a little.
Good

Short flight. Weird bumpiness at the bluffs.
Trimmed fast, seemed to wrap in both ways Moved hang loop back 1/2 in. Mike reflew, said it was fine.
Left downtube installed backwards

Gat barely above launch.
Good

Standard light SW at launch. Flopped around a little, then caught a little core in front of the Big O 420 launch. Circled like a madman, slowly climbed. Mike got in under me, which helped me track the core, which was all over the place. We climbed slowly for a long time, gradually drifting to SE of the 750, where it turned on a little better. We were 50-150 feet apart vertically the whole time, so never changed thermalling direction (left). I finally pulled away a bit and changed to right circles for a while. Got to 4,200 MSL and went back to Marshall and buzzed the 2 PG's on the ground, and the spectators. Got lower than I usually do; saw the whites of their eyes ;)
Bee-line to the LZ for a SSW landing in bumpy stuff near the ground.
Great

Scratchable, got above launch briefly.
Good

Rode a nice core to 3,500 MSL before diving to the LZ.
Good

Bounced around near the 750. The Tandem sure felt heavier than the Condors!
Good

Small core below Cloud Peak, near hill, in traffic. Too rowdy to work that close, ended up above the bluffs. Tiny cores surrounded by sink. I'd crank a turn in lift and then be in big sink. Had enough of that after a few minutes, went and landed. Launch time approximate - I neglected to log after landing; taking pictures and stuff.
Extra stitching holes, top surf, right tip, near velcro

Cut-off low moving inland from the coast to Central CA. Windy, 15+ SE at Marshall, high bands of lenticulars moving across from SW. Cool for June.
Was considering launching off the top-left into S/SE cycles, but occasional SW cycles made it look dicey, so I walked to the lower SW launch. Launched into a SW cycle and as soon as I was away from the hill the glider yawed to directly SE. Climbed a few hundred and played over the top a little, then soared the SE face of Cloud Peak for a while. Got to 4,500 MSL and the wind was much stronger. Found huge sink heading back to Marshall, so I turned for the Cloud spine, still high.
It was all going up down on the flats - climbed without circling, pointing SE, over Badger hill. Bided my time and enjoyed being parked in that vicinity. Found 700 FPM sink over the campus and descended there to 800 AGL, then shot back to the LZ for a regular SW approach and a nice no-stepper. Wind was SW below 500 AGL, SE above.
Good

Looked a bit windier than earlier, both the SE up high and the SW at the LZ. Launched S from the 750 and went up and down the bluffs for a few minutes, easily staying a few hundred over in ridge lift spots but not able to figure out the thermals. At the far east end I found a core in the gap and cranked and banked. Shot up steadily, hitting >1,000 FPM up at times. Paused above Cloud Peak, then inched my way upwind to Marshall. Headed back to the Cloud spine after a few passes. Lots of big climbs without turning, followed by big descents. SW 15+ at the LZ and had a regular approach to a SW final and no-stepper.

Later, Chris Van Velden climbed out with his T2 from the 350 launch. Other pilots were landing their blade wings and saying they were happy to be on the ground. The wind was 20 in the LZ with one cycle over 25. Still SW and bumpy approaches.
Good

Great flight! Windy with a great lapse rate and big booming thermals. Launched a Falcon 3 Tandem from the 750 at 16:25. Sank to 300 AGL at the LZ fairly quickly. Found a thermal that took me to Crestline.

Pretty windy at Crestline - I was parked when I turned to face south. No problem heading back out front - I just slowed down in the lift along the way. There was big lift everywhere, lots of pilots up high. Wnet LZ-ward and then climbed back up to Marshal, yelled at a crowed of 6 parked (on the ground) hang gliders. Hovered near the 750, watching a couple of tiny PG speedgliders ground-handling on launch. Kept waiting for them to actually launch, but glad they weren't trying it.

Went of to Last Chance vicinity to use up the last few minutes for a solid hour and when I was over the water tunnle concrete pad, at 3,300 MSL, I got the strongest wire-slap I've ever felt. I'd had my hands just resting on the basetube. There was a loud BAM! and the basetube fell away and back from my hands and my feet an legs came away from the harness. It was over just as quickly, and no real pitch change. I hadn't had any dumps or big bumps for the whole flight. Went to south of the LZ and cored sink and landed. Could have done a no-stepper in the steady SW, but I milked it going for the spot and landed drifting and trotting left a little. Got an hour-eight according the droid GPS. Angular flight track due to battery-saving recording settings in My Tracks.

After babbling in the LZ for a while I hiked to the 750 to get my truck. Those folks were still ground-handling on the 750 launch. They were a college-age mixed group with a couple of skydiving rigs. I asked if they thought they had the glide to make it out from there with the headwind and one guy said "No way!". He said they were just taking turns playing with the parachutes and wouldn't land at the Airpark anyway, since they weren't HG/PG people.
Good

Some high cloud banks drifting over, fairly breezy from the SW, Flopped around above the 750 for a while in the bumpy air before hooking a thermal and climing to Marshall height. Decent SW landing.
Bullet holes TS RT tip near velcro. Light pitch well around trim. "Thumping" in basetube. Plenty of PP VGL full stuff; enough PP Vd VGT. Mike Meier reflew, reported some stall hysteresis and a strong left turn; turned both tips 2 1/2 turns; reflew and untwisted the tips a bit.

Still windy, better thermals. Got some pix of Owen and his custom T2C from above at Marshall, then went back and took photos of the huge backup on Highway 18, in both directions. We'd heard the sirens and the medical helicopter when we were setting up. It was a 5-car wreck at about 2 PM, according to the SB Sun newspaper. I uploaded a zoomed-in photo to the Sun website.

This glider flew great! It was a demo loaned to a comp pilot (Rinaldi) for the Florida meets. Raised the sprogs a turn after landing. It was bumpy on approach and I though I was going to go rather long. I got it down, then I got lifted at least 15' as I got to the edge of the grass while on final. Luckily I still had a hand on the basetube. I pulled in hard and expected to get dropped to the ground on the backside of the rising air, but I descended smoothly and was very happy with a two-stepper between the cones.
Demo returned from Florida (Rinaldi). Flew great. Raised all sprogs 1 turn.
new bag, nosecone, tape on battens, black on right LE might clean off, new haulback string.

Easy soaring, with big sink between the big lift areas. Glider was fine, so I relaxed for a couple of minutes then dove on in to land. Good SW approach and flare with the HG cone just off my right wingtip. Mike still won the spot.
Very nice

Light SW flow at Crestline after brief overnight offshore flow.

Got up and went to BB, watched a couple of gliders sink out right after launching Crestline. Got to 6,400 at Pine and made a foray NW but soon went back to Pine from the mouth of the canyon. Back to Billboard easily, then launch, Regionals, and above the LZ. Wanted to land at the 40-minute point but didn't want to force my way down; cored sink lazily and kept drifting into lift. Was at 1,000 AGL preparing to dive it in when the flags went slack, so I headed to the bluffs to wait for the next cycle. Lots of wings wandering down toward the LZ. I went over by Badger hill and found a huge slow core, so I rode that to 5,400 without much effort. Went back over to the LZ area, found solid sink nearby and descended to land. Went a little long heading SSSW and flared a hair late and had to run quick ly for several steps.


Good. Moderate right turn. Twisted each tip 3/4 turn.

Windy day, pre-frontal so lots of strong thermals. Launched from the 750' launch and climbed a couple of thousand feet right away, as did several others. From a higher launch I would have been cold setting up the glider, so I would have known to wear my gloves while flying. =8o
I did a lot of climbing and then diving and climbing again, to save my fingers. Great fun.

Good. Switchy LZ, right hand no airspeed, down slope to SE.

Good. Vd VGT=58. Some BS rumble VGT. Tightened inboard six battens one turn each.

Good.Hard bump on final.

Good. Stiff At VGL it was like a regular one at VG1/2. Not too beastly VGT.

Tandem check ride for my re-cert as Tandem Instructor, using Zac's Falcon Tandem. Tore the sail on my Falcon 225 while spreading the wings for setup - bare kingpost had pushed sail into xbar center, kinking left haulback wire at bracket and somehow catching the sail; when the xbar center came back it tore the sail (repairable).

Good launch into light S, had to dive hard through unexpected lift on base leg, landed a bit long, heading S with light WSW wind; 3/4 of a flare and took a couple of steps. 30-second flight.

Wind at Crestline had built from 12 to 17 MPH SW and was around 20 when our group started launching. Did the ridge lift a few hundred over for a few passes, then went to Billboard. Decided to dive for Regionals to warm up and catch some good thermals back to Crestline, which would be more interesting than ridge boating. Was soon above the 750 hoping for some kind of lift, anything. Had 3-4 PGs below me, on the bluffs, scratching, as indicators. Found tiny cores with sink between and had not net gain after 5-7 minutes of searching around. Finally got a coherent core that drifted up the east side of the spine, taking 10 minutes to get back above Marshall.
Got up again from Cloud drifting fast to the NE and then went to Crestline. Wanted to buzz launch but kept thinking better of it when I'd get into the trub below 300 AGL. Went to Billboard. Got to 5,600 and decided to go to Pine; went VGT. Within a few seconds of heading out I found lift and circled twice, gaining an extra 200 feet. Floated across the canyon in bouyant air. Pretty bumpy and breezy at Pine. Did a few cycles of climbing and drifting from the spine, going VGT and ending back at the same altitude above the same spot. Wanted to climb and go back to BB, but went toward Bailey Canyon and Last Chance, where I stumbled into lift.
Flew over Marshall again, then halfway to the radio towers, then back to Marshall and straight out to land.
Good S at 5-10 in the LZ and cored gentle sink slowly to approach altitude. Made a S final from a little high through a strong gradient. Went long and just before flare time had a sharp bump/drop and loss of airspeed. Flared hard and tried to run but was too low for a Groucho run and slid along the grass on my knees and the basetube skids for a few feet.
Fun flight, otherwise.
Mostly good slight RT turn. Twisted tips 1/2 turn each. Vd VGT>72
re-sew left number 7 trailing edge batten lever pocket. Opening was inboard of marked gap. Had to cut bar tack for lever.

Sank to just above the Big O launches fairly quickly. Scratched hard in a forming core and got back up a bit. Won the spot (not that close).
Good. Flew with hang loop 3/4 inch gap from backup loop. Too fast. Speed batten pockets Outboard 1 - 7 3/8 in. Inboard 2 - 12 in. Front fold - 3/4 in.
Speed battens. Keel pocket lettering.

Good.

Speed battens. Keel pocket lettering.

Flew over Marshall Peak and then over to Last Chance, then crept upwind to just past the Afterbay. Downwind speed run back to Last Chance. Good landing, long.
Good. Very slight RT; twisted tips 1/2 turn ea. Vd VGT>72

Went SW from launch and followed fast-drifting thermal(s) back to Cloud Peak via Regionals, thermalling daisy-chain style. Hovered above Marshall a little, buzzed launch, dove to 750, then dove hard for the LZ. Good landing into light wind.
Good.

Kinda frontal with chance of rain coming overnight. Blowing 20+ at Crestline. Clouds just above Crestline when I launched Marshall. Windy with thermals and cloudbank shadows out to the freeway. Strong, tight cores with strong sink around them. Got rolled level or more a few times when I drifted to the outside of thermals. Worked close with some other Falcons - Dusty, Jeff B., etc. Cloudbase dropped below Crestline and I climbed to 4,950 with the wispies at my sides. Cold on the elbows with no jacket. Flew out SW to the sunshine, S of the original airpark, and crept up on Joe Weber in a PG. Used him as a turnpoint and found 500+ down all the way to the old Girl Scout camp - I was thinking it'd be pretty crazy to come up short of the LZ! Was torn between flying min-sink (downwind) and fast to get out of the sink. Found lots of lift on the east side of the LZ so I got to pick my cycle and position in the traffic.

Glider handled really well even after taking into account the effects of my wing loading. No turns, good stall and dive recovery. Some TE flutter between outboard 4 battens, both sides, at all speeds.
Linda Dunn's, after sail-off inspection. Flew well, nice handling, even with my 250 pound hook-in.

Good

Good

Good. TT to 29

BS serial says 35749. Needs proper kingpost cover. Needs all battens except nose and tip wands. Needs non-demo basetube.

Good

Late switch from north to south winds. Hot, mid-90s. Mike had a Sport 2 135 for Europe that needed to get shipped. Had heard that earlier pilots had skied out and those after struggled a bit to get up.
Good steady WSW flow at launch, went where the 750 windsock was pointing, NE of the 750, and found a solid core that drifted quite east. At 3,400 MSL or so it started going straight up and I was seeing over 500 FPM up on my averager. stuck withi it through one slow-down and rode it to 6,300 MSL, where it weakened considerably. Still directly above the canyon NE of the 750. Did a speed run out to Kendall Drive (bumpy) and turned to go NW above Kendall and had close to zero groundspeed. Pulled in a bit and I was above the freeway at 5,100 MSL. Another speed run back to the LZ (very bumpy) and fouind sink to dive to the LZ. Breezy down there and I came in through numerous bumps along the east edge of the LZ (better to be closer to the middle in those conditions). Good one-stepper. Nice glider.
Great! Vd VGT=68 TT=30

Pretty breezy at the 750 - required some care while setting up. Walked to launch and only paused briefly before my launch trot into 45 degree cross. Climbed immediately and had great fun ridge soaring the west faces of the Cloud spine complex. Back and forth with flat turns all the way up to just below Cloud Peak. Crept to in front of Regionals, then dove for the LZ in a crab facing SW. Good landing a bit past and east of the PG cone.
Good.

Wind had dropped to just a couple of MPH, still crossing. Did a few flat passes by the Big O launches. Dove in hard to a no-wind approach and couldn't bleed off my speed before passing the PG cone, but had a nice no-stepper.
Fine.
Shorten nose rib 3/8" at rear.

Clear and warm onshore day between Santa Ana episodes. Calm at the LZ and already a steady 5-10 SW at Regionals. Quite soarable. Nosecone wasn't attached so I flew straight to the LZ and landed. I had been ready to start my preflight and stopped to take a couple of pictures first, then re-started the preflight with the hang loop instead of at the nose area.
Flew without attaching nosecone.

I was at 5,500 MSL 6 minutes after launch.
Good. Vd VGT=68, TT=28

Getting breezier at Regionals, still good thermals.
Good. Vd VGT=62

Even breezier, careful walking to launch.
Good.
needs proper mid-keel sock.

Quite breezy and high clouds filling in. Took off wings-level and crabbing left about 20 degrees. Flew slow and ridge soared the various faces of the bowl. Had a 'very pretty' landing near the PG cone in steady SW 8 but didn't win the spot; won one earlier by default.
Nice
Has T2 mid-keel sock. Change to proper sock.

Low cloudbase, almost no wind at Marshall, switchy, mostly east in the LZ. Declined earlier to take Zac Majors tandem for checkout to reinstate my T3 rating after being hooked-in together on launch for 30 minutes. Still very short weak cycles at launch and reports of N-NW flow at the LZ, so I made a quick decision and flew down alone, with my old brown stirrup harness as the passenger. Had forgotten to fully re-zip my inner storage pocket and unknowingly dropped my tip bags over the Ranch when I pulled my legs from the boot, which I did not zip on the short flight. luckily the inner was zipped enough that my wallet/phone bag stayed in. Did an approach from the SE, smelling the BBQ as I turned to final. Nice no-stepper near the HG cone.
With all the visitors and clinic participants and locals and the BBQ going it was like an impromptu fly-in. Had a hot dog before breaking down my glider. Then there was the Spring general membership meeting after. I was at the flying site from 9 AM until 9PM.

Cloud base had been a couple of hundred feet below Regionals when we left the LZ and was below the 750 by the time we got there. Launched into 1-3 MPH S and terrain-followed until getting below cloud base above the bluffs, maybe 200 feet below launch. one pass on the bluffs and a couple of S-turns and I was landing near the PG cone going south. A two-minute flight. Steve went back up and flew a Condor 225 real quick, so we got the four Condors for Japan flown and called it a day.
Pitch pressure a little light. Moved hang strap back to against backup strap (how Peter usually builds them). Steve and Peter reported similar light pressures; I built all three gliders. Fill extra grommets at #6 battens?

Wear hole, RT TS near side wire hole. Patch with sail repair tape. Wear is either feom the exposed rear end of the keel or the top side wire bolt. Peter's had black smudges in the same spot, Steve's had wear on the heat shrinv of the lower tang. All three gliders had been out to the LZ once before, and on and off the trailer several times. Need more padding?

Late day flight on what had been a very warm day, but with a high cloud layer coming in from the WNW. It some hunting to find a thermal after launch and get above the half-dozen PGs swarming the top like gnats. From Regionals I had a weak but steady core that I milked to 5,073 MSL half-way back to Crestline. I went downwind slowly to the middle spine, expecting the stronger wind at Crestline to take me up the face quickly. About 1/4 mile out I found extended sink and was in it after turning left for the water tower, so I turned south before getting there and made it back to above the wedding chapel easily. Worked a weaker one back to about 4,300 before deciding it wasn't going to strengthen. The sun was edging behind the cloud layer so I flew out over the LZ, still above 4k MSL.

Boated above the college and worked a standing wave above Badger Hill at about 3,500 MSL for a minute or two, then went on in for a good landing into normal SW flow.

Fun, but I'd expected more vigorous climbs. It was a good day for pilots who'd launched a few hours earlier.
Good. T T to 31 VGT.

Good.

Good

Good

Good.

Clear onshore day, cloudy with a couple of token scattered showers the day before. Soraing Predictor reportedly had forecast heights of 10k but the banner clouds at Baldy and Gorgonio showed that it was blowing north at about 8k MSL; Clouds were forming at about 7k just in front of Crestline etc. to confirm the upper north flow. Comfortable in short sleeves at Marshall.

People were launching and getting a few hundred above Marshall, so I launched at 13:35. Got up a few hundred right away, then threw that altitude away and was a little below Marshall, thinking I'd blown it. A weak core on the spine slowly got better and by the time I was at 4,300 there was a crowd circling below me. At 5,200 I headed north along the spine to the highway and found nothing, turning back south after going 3/4 of the way to the 18. Just north of the last big bump I found a little core at 5k and stuck with it, eventually getting to 5,500. I headed for Crestline in 300 FPM sink, wary of the possibility it was blowing down at Crestline. Climbed to 5,400 on the face, then took a core straight up to 6,100.

No ridge lift as I headed for Billboard and the shadows of the short-lived clouds were heading south. Got back up to 5,700 at Billboard and headed for Pine through big sink. Got there above the 4k launch at about 4,800 and didn't find anything until the lowest road crossing the main spine. Only got from 4,100 to 4,400 there a couple of times, so went for the Afterbay hills, again through major sink. Kept eyeing my glide to the LZ. Big sink crossing the mouth of Devil Canyon, getting to 1k above the LZ (2,700) before reaching the bluffs. I had been trying to find that balance between flying out of sink quickly and flying slow to minimize sink ever since I had left Pine. I'd picked an alternate LZ in case I'd hit really bad sink.

No lift along the first set of bluffs, except one bump I did one circle in. Decided to go for the Big O bluffs while I still could; get up from there. Nothing above the Big O launches and the LZ was showing steady east wind. Over the Ranch at 2,200 MSL I circled in a little lift but thought that if I drifted with it and didn't get up then I'd have fewer options for landing in switchy conditions, so I dove it hard in a big round right-hand approach into the dying east cycle. I barely made the grass at the north end near the parking lot, but did miss the toddler who was toddling across the gap. Landed at 14:25 trotting and pushing out with a little bank. There was a blade wing already down and a few more pilots soon joined us while the flags showed flow from about six of the eight compass points.

Most agreed that it was totally working above Cloud and Marshall but everywhere else it was either good lift or big sink. We spotted a couple of HGs out over the flats at 6k or more, but most were gaggled over Cloud and Marshall. A rigid wing reportedly went to Keller Peak and back.

Lots of pilots out for the day and most paused and slowly said "Yes, I had a good flight" when asked.

Some high overcast, 20% chance of rain predicted for overnight; day before was brief post-frontal north wind. Blowing in at Crestline from the wee hours.

Pretty much a sledder, landed in the inner PG circle.
RT BS wire hole flutter (noise); tightened corresponding batten.

Scratched above the Big O launches for a couple of minutes but only maintained altitude.
Good

Worked a lot of little thermals and stayed up easily, but no big climbs. Waited out a switchy period and had a good landing into SSW 5.
Great! TT to 31, good PP.

Got a boomer right after launching Regionals at 14:25, went to 5,400 then tagged Billboard, turned 180 and went VG-tight full-stuff for Regionals. Found strong bumpulence halfway there and slowed to 60 MPH for a bit before diving some more.
Very nice handling. TT to 32, good PP.

I climbed with a couple of ridge-soaring passes, then found the air was going up EVERYWHERE - no need to circle or anything. I kept looking up for cumulus formation, but there were just the high wispies. At 5k and south of Marshall I decided to practice flying 60 MPH some more (harder to keep on a line than full stuff) and headed out over the Cajon High football field (big circle in the middle). On the way I knew I was out of the lift band and when I slowed and turned for the LZ I saw 1,100 FPM DOWN on my wailing vario! I got all efficient and shtuff, with the distant LZ as the stationary spot ahead of me. When I got past the observatory construction site I was back in the lift band again and had a good SW breeze to land into.
Great! Usual TT and PP.
Replace bottom rear wires. Kinked near tang while packing.

A lot less wind at Regionals, and Wisconsin Paul was boating around just above Cloud Peak. I spent a long time between 2,800 and 3,200 working the glass-off coming up from the power plant vicinity. Ventured back toward the west face of Regionals at VG 1/2 and pushing out, expecting a little escalator up when I got close. Right before I started to turn to parallel the face I got a serious WHUMP from above - a little rotor downwind of Last Chance, I think. That woke me up and I flew rational speeds near the terrain for a bit longer. Near the 750 I passed pretty close under Kevin, who was flying a PG; luckily, I had no kingpost. Easy landing into steady SW again.
Another nice one. New bag is excellent.

Overcast and weak. Farted around in front of Marshall and Cloud for a while then went and landed into WNW, downwind of the shade structure, in traffic.

We had a couple of T2 154's for Paradise Gliders that really needed to get tested and shipped. Wind at Crestline (in the clouds, 98% overcast) was 20 MPH SW and dropping. Zero to 2 MPH at Marshall and Regionals, with lots of weak N and 90-cross (WNW) cycles. We waited it out for two hours and finally got a decent in cycle that was two gliders long. I got a little lift on the backside of Last Chance. Peter managed to soar out over the flats.

Dove hard through the gradient and put my hands a hair higher than usual and really popped the flare for a great almost-nil-wind 1.5-stepper going SW.

I had hung out at the LZ for two hours the day before, in similar overcast and steady 10 MPH East. Went home without flying, it rained a little overnight, as predicted, so it felt really good to fly at all today, unexpectedly so.
Good. TT to 29 VGT. No turn.

Good

Very nice. TT to 32 VGT. Good PP. Small ink blotch on TS, 3 feet left of keel.

Needs proper kingpost pad.

Good

Great flying conditions today! The wind had been forecast to blow from the north, but it turned south in the wee hours. Launched from 5,000 feet (Crestline) and was perfectly comfortable in a t-shirt and light gloves. Got to 6,400 MSL, flew for an hour-ten, and landed when I wanted too. More, just like this, please!

Light winds, steady. Well-formed, long-lived thermals. The climb from below Cloud Peak to 5,400 took a lot of circles and a long time, at ~100 PFM, but easy to track the thermal. Buzzed a group standing on the rocks at Crestline, then stuffed the bar and made a bee-line for the LZ. Cored sink and landed into SSW 5 MPH.

Good

Got lifted and rolled just short of the target circle. Landed running with right wing dropping. Glider got ahead of me, the basetube hit, and I bent the downtube.

Replace left downtube.

Very nice.

Saw the flags pointing at the parking lot, went west of the utility lines and found the offending thermal. I was following the sage dictum "When the ground is repelling you, don't land." The ground repelled me from ~700 AGL (2,400) all the way to 4k MSL :) Had a routine landing into SSW 0-1.
Good. Trimmed a hair fast.
Replace hang loop with 175. Loosen sprog nuts. Cut right zipper open more

Good.

Good

Clear and warm, cycling SW 5-10 at Marshall.
Quick test flight before landing at Noon to meet Peter, Dexa, and Blake for another ride up. Davis Straub drove for Steve, Dustin Martin, and me.

Launched and found lift part-way down the home spine, climbed quickly to 4,500 almost straight up, then it started drifting to the north a bit. Dove over the peak from the NE and buzzed the Falcon on launch within 10 feet. Flew out over the LZ and did a left hand approach to a nice landing on the HG chalk ring, abeam of the cone.
Good

SW 10-15 at Marshall, still warm.
Rode up with Peter, Dexa, and Blake.

Found good lift out NW of the front bowl - climbed from 3,400 to 6,000 in one go. Not much at Crestline and BB, could have hugged the ridge. Went to the spine west of the pipes and worked a weak one, then saw a big gaggle of gulls over the water. Got above them and climbed to 5,700. Nothing at Pine, found lift near the Afterbaya again. Climed to 4,500 east of Last Chance and was going to buzz the crowd at Marshall but at 200 AGL north of the peak it was too bumpy, so I eased up and just flew over. Went to the LZ, cored sink, and had a nice SW landing in the HG circle after a left-hand approach.

Fun flight, just what I needed. Lots of pilots out.

Worked at the training hill with Blake Woodward for a couple of hours, using Rebar Dan's Condor 330 - a godsend in the very light winds. On Blake's second run he flew for a good 10-20 feet and ran it out nicely. Good instincts with the glider (ran with the F3 195 on a previous day). We only got four runs in before the wind got too cross - katabatic when the sun went behind clouds on the horizon. Gonna try again Monday or Tuesday.

Great

It was great seeing such a crowd out and flying with everybody. That thermal up the east side of Cloud was strong, and was there every time I went back. Other areas were more off-and-on. The gaggles were fun and required good peripheral vision and awareness.

There was a PG (teal with orange LE) that seemed to be tethered a couple of hundred feet over Marshall for a long time but everyone else was getting up and going places. I made a cautious foray back to Crestline and Billboard, but the prospect of working reported gusts to 37 with a Falcon meant I didn't stay back there for long.

I had the heavy gloves out, but stashed the liners in a pocket when I went to put them on. Good thing! I think my hands would have been too warm with the liners. Also, I was able to whip the right glove off and get some photos of the Marshall launch-line - 7 HGs, more on top! Could have easily stayed up a lot longer. I bobbed around above the 750 and the bluffs at about the one-hour mark and decided to land before the pattern got crowded. A while later 5 HGs came in to land one after the other, all decent landings and no close-calcs.

The guys on the blade-wings went east past the high school and west out to Cajon(es) Pass at will.

Lots of great low-wind landings in the LZ while I hung out babbling after the flight.

Set-Up area crowd


Marshall launch-line

A good long thermalling flight confirmed my impressions of 1/1/11.
More or less normal-feeling when flying from A to B. Fine-tuning roll while thermalling takes more effort than with a regular Falcon 3. Roll rate is normal, it just takes more input to get it going. For a while I was wondering why I was having trouble being smooth in this big fat winter thermal, then realized it was the glider.

A fine onshore day in SoCal after an extended stretch of offshore winds, so we had a trailer-full of gliders to test. Some of the WW comp pilots happened to be in town, so we got a few more gliders flown per round than usual. Many local and visiting pilots also showed up and got some airtime, making it a fun day.

A slightly extnded sledder from Regionals. Did a S final and as I went to flare I dropped just a little. My left foot was trailing and my toe caught on the ground so I was late getting my feet under me. Finished the flare in a joggign crouch and put the basetube on the ground.
Good

Light steady breeze at Regionals. Went right after launch and it took a couple of minutes to find a real core, which I worked slowly as it consolidated. Got to 4,800 above Regioanls. Went north a little to lose altitude and buzz the crowd still at launch. Ran into lift as I neared the ridge in my dive, so my 'buzz' was about 200' AGL! Kept the dive on out to the 750 and worked some small thermals. The flags were dead at the LZ so I worked steady puffs above the bluffs for about five minutes, waiting for an in cycle. Finally just dove on in and landed in zero wind, inside the PG circle.
Good. Keel strap loose.

Quickie off the 750 with Mike and Peter while the reat of the test crew were still flying their second round.
Rebuilt

Waning conditions. Traversed close to the terrain down to the Big O launches. Standard SW approach to the HG spot vicinity.
Good.

Easy floating for the last flight. Landed at the HG spot heading just a hair north of straight west. Won a spot, finally. It soon went fully katabatic at the LZ.

Onshore window between sustained Santa Ana events. It blew in for a couple of hours the day before, late afternoon. Today started out blowing in and the RUC forecast siad it would blow down at Crestline around Noon - this proved accurate. It was hazy down low and the cycles were weak at Regionals at 11:30. Standing on launch I could tell there was a thermal off to my right; when it got closer and in my right-rear quadrant there was a good cycle to launch in.

Worked choppy lift near the hill right over the flatter section SW of Regionals for quite a few turns before I ventured further SW and found the real core. Was able to really check out the wing finally, though I had a pretty good idea before that.

Did a speed run to Cloud Peak and then went and landed because we wanted to be sure to get the second round of T2Cs flown before the north pushed through. The windsock and flag were limp but the ground handling streamer show some SW, so I purposely went a little long on final to have a little wind for flare. Good landing.
Good. Good PP VGT. Mild RT turn - twisted bolts 1 turn each tip

It had already started blowing north at Crestline, but when we got to Regionals we found steady 10-15 SW, which was nice. I could have just walked right off the road and launched, but I moved down the slope a few feet and assessed things frist. The gaggle was getting up in front of Cloud Peak. I went west from launch, thinking there might be some upslope from the north faces and a mini-convergence. There wasn't. Slightly sinky, in fact. Several hundred feet above the 750 I found a core that I circled up to 4,300 in pretty quickly, nearly straight up. I flew over to Marshall, waved and did a circle over the windsock, then back to Cloud. Meandered out over the LZ, sniffing for hints of north flow. It was still at the LZ. Did a high-groundspeed approach and put it on the basetube after a couple of steps. Might have had 1/2 MPH tail wind (thermal).

My DroidX GPS track stopped at 3k feet near the 750. I pressed "stop recording after I landed, so it should have still been in recording mode. Glitch, I guess.

We went to the 750 for a round of Falcon 3 Tandems. Peter launched, then Steve walked over to launch. I had my harness on. It got strong east all of a sudden - I considered the east launch. Then the wind built and clocked 270 degrees to gusty NNE . I had to turn my glider twice and was reluctant to leave it. Steve was having trouble keeping his glider's nose down enough while still hoooked in; a relative lull allowed him to unclip and grab the nose. We called Bill to come pick us up. There was a short in cycle and I was tempted to launch quickly, but we all thought it might be too dicey in the air if another north gust cycle came through. One came shortly and we just kept folding the gliders.
Very nice!

Wind switched from north to south at zero mid-morning. We had seven double surface gliders to test, so we went to Marshall. Thin overcast, few cycles, mostly SSE 2-4 MPH. I waited a long time for an up cycle. Had a good launch. Worked a little core south of Last Chance, then a couple of passes on the bluffs. Good SW landing into 0-2.

Replace used velcros.

Sunnier, but fewer cycles than earlier. Good launch from Marshall, then went straight to Cloud Peak area. Not much there. A pass by Regionals led to south of Last Chance, where I worked a teeny core for half a dozen circles before going to the 750. Went out to land and saw the flags showing NW 0-2 so I landed heading straight west near the PG circle.
Good. VG hard to pull past 1/2.
Spray keel for VG. Replace used velcros. Bag needs handles.

Flight from Crestline to AJX on New Years Day. First time using the GPS tracking app ('My Tracks') on the DroidX. Very light conditions with high clouds moving in, rain expected for the next few days. Mostly zero wind at Crestline. I launched into a little cycle and found a weak but long-lasting thermal on the spine to the west. Got to 5,450 with it. Sank from BB to RGNLS, then scratched west of the 750 for another extended period. Good SSW landing in 0-2. The track was immediately viewable on the DroidX, with an elevation side-view and times and speeds. The track was very smooth - nice circles. Recording interval defaulted to max. Battery lost about 50% of charge for the 1/2 hour the GPS was on. Will record at longer intervals in the future. Emailed myself the kml right from the LZ. Sent pix to Facebook too, took video and some panorama shots. I'm lovin' this gizmo!

I had pegged the flight at 25 minutes by glancing at my watch. The track said 26:45 'Moving Time', which counted walking to launch and to the breakdown area. Pretty cool!
Other numbers: Max Speed: 37.06, Avg. Moving Speed: 23.96 mph, Max Elev: 5,526', Min Elev: 1,687', Elev Gain: 624'.
Regular F3 with reduced anhedral - some instructors had asked for a less responsive version for brand new pilots. I mostly noticed that fine roll adjustments while thermalling took a little more effort than I expected with a Falcon.