Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

We had onshore winds for New Year's Eve. Light winds, weak thermals. I flew for 1:40, most of it doing flat circles and climbing slowly or in zero-sink. Easier for the paragliders to stay up, so I was in close with them a lot. I did a few wingovers before landing. Fun!

Standing on launch at Crestline for 20 minutes was a record for me. The streamer below launch rarely showed the same as I was feeling on my face (or the backs of my legs!). Birds were drifting by in little gaggles a hundred yards out, but not driftin towards us. Could have launched in zero but I didn't want to have to head for Regionals immediately. Launched the UltraSport 166 at 1:25. The 30 minutes below Billboard was a great exercise in bubble-tracking.

There was a big structure-fire in the valley near Highland Avenue and the 215 Freeway. The smoke was flattening out and spreading at maybe 2k MSL but as the fire grew it punched a hole through the inversion and the smoke went nearly straight up. I got whiffs of the burnt bowling alley at times, more at Marshall than at Cloud Peak.

Thermalling with the paragliders at Cloud and Marshall went very smoothly. I found out later that a few of them are beginners, so Good Work guys and gals! Mostly low climb rates in the 200 FPM range. Cores were tight and mostly I circled around them, rather than really in them. Not much drift, mostly from the SE; the thermals would climb up the spines then drift true once they broke away. No big sink holes.

SSW at the LZ, where it was warm and the post-flight convo was subdued.

I noticed around Noon that it was going to be launchable at Crestline/Marshall today, contrary to the forecast.

I didn't get moving all that quick. I was going to drive straight up to Marshall but swung by the LZ first and saw that a load had gone up; some PG's were landing. At Marshall I saw Jonathan a few hundred up in his T2C. I set up with alacrity and launched my US 166 from Marshall at 2:25. Never climbed above launch. Scratched above the 750 for a while. While I was heading for the LZ Stephen put on a little acro show with his paraglider. Fun to see it from nearby and slightly above; caught it on video, put it on YouTube. I got 20 minutes.

Ready to fly again tomorrow. EARLIER!

(Based on GoPro folder) Good launch, got to 5k at least. GoPro batteries apparently ran out at 100 minutes. A number of other pilots out on this winter day.

It went from sunny in the morning to cloudy at Noon with increasing north winds at Crestline. The clouds had just lifted from Marshall but I opted for the sure-thing 750, launching at 12:43. One pass along the bluffs and landed. It shortly got sunnier. Some others sledded from Marshall but a few had longer flights. It appeared it was switching back and forth up there, with one pilot, Ignacio, reporting the Marshall windsock showing north before he landed, then a few PG's popping off from the SW launch. Fun hanging out and BS-ing a bit. Nice hike to the 750 to get my truck.

Was setting up for a SE landing when the lower sock suddenly showed SW. Whipped it around and did a S final in no wind.
Good. Hang loop at front of sleeve.Vt=16. OK.

Chilly, SE, pre-frontal. Stayed up west with the crowd, went east and climbed to 3,500. Right-hand approach almost to HG cone.

Good.

Clouds filled in and it was more east. Sledder to SE approach to PG cone.

Good.

More east, clouds darker. Used the east launch. Sledder to east approach.
Good.

Has new kingpost cap. East launch again. Sledder. Landed heading ESE into ENE flew, due to traffic.

Good.

Light S at launch. Found no lift, descended into the SE flow, interesting. Landed smoothly heading east.
Good. TT to 35+, tightened inboard Velcro shear ribs 3/8 inch each.

Very bouyant but not much climbing. Worked Last Chance vicinity for a long time. finally drifted up canyon to face between Regionals and Cloud and then just above Cloud Peak. Did a ground-skimming speed run straight to the LZ and a S approach, final, and landing to win spot with about 8 feet. Got video and posted on YouTube,
Good.

It went from sunny in the morning to cloudy at Noon with increasing north winds at Crestline. The clouds had just lifted from Marshall but I opted for the sure-thing 750, launching at 12:43. 45 degrees cross on front launch so I went to the East launch. It was 0 to 1 there for a few minutes, so I went back to the regular launch. It was still for several minutes until I got a light in cycle. One pass along the bluffs and landed. It shortly got sunnier. Some others sledded from Marshall but a few had longer flights. It appeared it was switching back and forth up there, with one pilot, Ignacio, reporting the Marshall windsock showing north before he landed, then a few PG's popping off from the SW launch. Fun hanging out and BS-ing a bit. Nice hike to the 750 to get my truck.

Was setting up for a SE landing when the lower sock suddenly showed SW. Whipped it around and did a S final in no wind.
Good. Hang strap at front of sleeve. Vt=16, OK

First flight with my new Z5 harness. Very light with the Diamond Ripstop. High clouds, SSE with cancelled rain forecast. Not quite soarable for me. Won spot from a long way because Matt ended up on his butt near the cone.
Good. VDT=19.

Didn't get up at all but the others did. Good zero wind landing.

Good.

Climbed to 4,500 before diving out of it. Not much down low. Landed in zero wind again, couple of steps.

Good. Very slight right turn. Twisted left tip one hole. TT to 35 VGT. Tightened inboard shear ribs 3/8 inch each.

Glassing off with SE flow. Won spot with 4 feet, right-hand approach.

Good.

Very east, used east launch. Landed heading east over the shade structure.

Good.

SE and active; switch day. Got to 5k in one thermal, bailed for Marshall and the LZ. Good SEE landing.

Thermal went straight up from Cloud Peak. I saw 800 up, left it at 6,700. Flew toward Little Mountain, to Kendall and SHD, (5,000 feet)..

Good. VdVGT=51.

Glass-off, got to 4,300 off Last Chance. Good SW landing.

Sweet. VdVGT>72, TT to 25.

Almost sunset. Landed heading west to PG spot. Lost the cone in the glare of the Sun on the horizon - had removed sunglasses. Won spot with 3 feet.

Good.

Warm November day, hazy. Windy at Crestline earlier, gusty at Marshall. PGs and HGs soaring all over, some 1k overhead. Heard there had been some big sink cycles. Good launch into light lift at the house thermal and was soon a few hundred over and drifting North, thinking of Crestline. More S than W wind. Worked several thermals above the peak N of Marshall and they would peter out at 5k or so, drifting quickly at the end so I'd head back to Marshall. Got 5,200 in one about halfway to the back ridge but found sink heading that way. Finally got one that touched 5,400 halfway back and then I followed the spine, veered left for the Crestline house thermal, arriving just below ridgetop. Less wind than I expected but I climbed above the ridge as I flew over launch; the western side was working better. Got 6,100 at Billboard with Tim Ward, saw the dirt pit at Camp Paivika where the pool used to be. Flew fast to Pine but it wasn't working well enough (plus drifting to NW) to go further. Flew from top of Pine straight to Regionals, hoping to find lift to Crestline along the way. Only a handful of gliders in the air, mostly 4,500 or lower. Hung out at Cloud Peak until I got 4,600 and went to Marshall to scope out top landing. Lone PG sitting on Marshall, plus my truck. Sink and light wind so I did one descending circle and landed smoothly, farther up than usual, about 30 feet from where I had setup the glider. Fun flight. T-shirt and heavy gloves were perfect.

The lone PG at launch introduced himself as Homay, from 'Persia'. Said he was a famous opera singer waiting for his friends to drive back up. He had flown earlier. Said Turkey has a lot of great sites. Heard him singing operatically while I was breaking down the glider. Drove to the LZ and there was quite a crowd full of happy babble.
Great handling, little TT.

Switch Day, warm. ESE 5-10.

Good.

Some NW cycles at launch. Landed heading WNW.
Good.

Others got up a little but I didn't. Made up for it by landing 3 feet short of cone.

Good.

Absolutely no wind for landing. Hesitated on flare, wasn't prepared to run real fast. Took out a downtube.
Good.
Replace RT downtube.

Fun late day scratching. Got above launch. North winds at Crestline.

Very nice.

Great switch day. Didn't have the landing gear basetube, landed on wheels anyway, light and switchy. Pru, Indian fellow, steered very well. We climbed from 3,400 at Cloud Peak to 6,400. Chilly.

Magic air, we climbed going from Crestline to Marshall and she was steering, well. Fun but not much to do to stay up. Windy at the LZ with a lot of traffic below us. Touched down at the very NE corner of the grass. Lots of pilots. Happy pilots.
Marine

Flying my tandem, solo. Got to 10k MSL over Top Town. Went to the High School, dropping through 8. Got lower and lower coming back. 5,600 at the interchange. Got up to 6,200 and dove for Crestline. Got 7 again, circled the radio towers then top landed Marshall.

Still barely soarable. came out over the LZ high and landed after some wingovers.

Foggy late burn, 11 AM.
Good.

Red Baron glider. Heard it looked awesome in the air.
Red Baron glider.

Still murky.
Good.

Ant glider. Soarable.
Good.

Good switch day, windy with a lot of drift. Anna very comfortable in the air. Some climbs to 4,300.

Clear and warm, weak lift on tandem earlier. Had great fun scratching the bluffs for 10 minutes. Nice no-stepper in 5 WSW. Dusty drove for me.

Good.

Switch day, light south. One of the last two production Condors (possibly). Stormlite sail.

Got a tiny core east of launch, eventually 500 up to 3,750, drifting south above 3,500.

Good.

Low save from below the 350. Dove for the LZ when I reached 3k.

Good.

Lift going off, but muddled. Save to 4k, then wingovers. Won spot with 15 feet.

Good. VdVGT>72, TT to 25.

Lift not that great, winterlike. Some good cores. GoPro on keel, wingovers.

Nice glider. VdVGT=62. TT to 25, only after VG3/4.

Great glass-off climb atop a gaggle. GoPro on helmet, nice video.
Good.

S 15. at Crestline, ridge lift on and off, some thermals. Went to 5,500 in 600 FPM at Cloud Peak, straight up, then dashed back to Crestline. Short flight, another glider to test - Matt Barker and I testing on a Saturday. Good landing 20 feet abeam of the HG cone.

Good. Slight left, twisted tips 1/2 turn each. VdVGT=63.

Windier, hazy. A few hundred above Crestline, then 6,500 at Billboard. Foray east but didn't seem reliable enough. Got up again at Pine, after waving to some hunters, and inched my way to Sugarpine in three steps, just over 6k. Then to Regionals and a last dash to a deserted Crestline before heading to the LZ to land. Flew over the pow-wow at CSUSB first.

(no notes recorded) Too windy for Crestline. Group of a PG pilot's co-workers. Rick did well.

Good sledder. Nervous but calm co-pilot.
Angie was a real spaz, could barely run though early 40's, tall, big thighs. Wouldn't have taken her if it hadn't been windy enough for an easy launch. She couldn't get into the boot of her harness. I finally put her foot into it as we got to Regionals.

Launched from the east ramp. Right-hand approach to straddling the cone. Video.

Good.

Another east ramp launch. My toe touched a bush. Low save 300 AGL by the house to 2,450. Right-hand approach to standing a foot short of the cone. Tied with Mike.
Good.

East again, went to east end of bluffs and back then got up under Matt by the 420. Bailed from the thermal at 3,200 - could have skied out. Won spot with six feet, dropped wing. Video.

Good.

Quite east but straight up launch. SE of Cloud wasn't working at all, just terrain bumps. Got up by west bluffs again. Switchy at LZ. Steve landed NW. I landed SE. Matt won spot. Forgot to start camera, tried in-flight but just changed modes.
Good.

Scratched in front then got up from <300 AGL over the ranch house. Sink on final, a bit short. Video.

Good.

Good. VdVGT=52. Good PP, little TT. Loosened all battens one turn for handling.

Switch Day. Rim Forest and Sugarpine. Got to 9k briefly, mostly above 7k. Flew with Mike Bilyk. GoPro video.

Cooler, onshore 10. Inversion at 3,500, plenty soarable, got to 4k. Climbed from LZ a bit. Won spot with 15 feet.

Good. Slight left turn, set right tip one notch. VdVGT=49.

Bumpy air, active in pitch. Got to 4,300+, overflew Marshall. Good wingovers. Won spot with 8 feet.

Good. VdVGT=50, no TT.

Went right from launch and got low and bumped around. Felt like another inversion, probably just afternoon wind. Got to 4,400 from the 750 but it was a struggle at first. Good landing in light and very switchy.

Good. VdVGT=54.

GoPro on helmet, stills.

Strong right turn. Twisted tips 1 3/4 turn each.

GoPro on helmet, 4 videos - close to Falcons, Mike top landing Alpha 210 at Marshall, Mike Bilyk landing 225 at the 750. I was 20 degrees off wind on landing, dripped tip and nose very very slowly.

No turn. Good PP VGT, no TT.

Great lift everywhere, some some 800 up. Got to 4,500, stayed around 4k a lot.

Steve Watkins' glider again. Raised sprogs, left 1 each, right 2 each. Turned tips up one, loosened wand levers. Definitely rolled easier. Almost got up.

Raised sprogs, left 1 each, right 2 each. Turned tips up one, loosened wand levers. Definitely rolled easier.

Steve Watkins' glider again. Still Good.
Still good.

Steve Watkins' glider AGAIN. The glider responds more quickly to roll inputs now and it "settles" at a slightly shallower bank angle when thermalling. I flew it for an hour late in the day and was having fun climbing to 4k+ while the PG's were sledding off Marshall. Trim speed at VG tight is a mile or two per hour faster than before, 25-26 mostly. Flies 21 VGT if you push out a little. Buzzed Mike Bilyk, who was tandem, pretty close and fast and did a couple of wingovers. Startled him but they liked it. Good no-stepper right after Hoffman landed.

The glider responds more quickly to roll inputs now and it "settles" at a slightly shallower bank angle when thermalling. I flew it for an hour late in the day and was having fun climbing to 4k+ while the PG's were sledding off Marshall. Trim speed at VG tight is a mile or two per hour faster than before, 25-26  mostly. Flies 21 VGT if you push out a little. Buzzed Mike Bilyk, who was tandem, potty close and fast and did a couple of wingovers. Startled him but they liked it. Good no-stepper right after Hoffman landed.

Monsoonal stormy hot and muggy earlier, with a big north gust front at 3 PM. Fun and interesting day. Glass-off flight after Mike and Shelby Bilyk's wedding ceremony at Crestline. They flew tandem in their wedding clothes. A bunch of us flew with streamers and air horns. Reception at AJX. The sun was just sitting on Mt. Baldy and it was smooth and easily soarable, 15-20 MPH. Landed heading SE in the twilight inside the heart that was mown into the LZ.

Super hot and muggy. Overdeveloping to the east. Shot straight up off launch in a narrow core. Lift everywhere. Tried to milk my final glide and almost lost it. GoPro stills.

Good.

High overcast, 15 MPH SW at Crestline. Thermals mostly 200-400 FPM. Steve Watkins' glider. He described it as stiff in initial roll and wrapping in once a turn starts. The #2 strings were a little loose, so I tightened them during setup and adjusted the lever batten, which were not far off except for the root battens being very loose. Trimmed 21 VGL, 27 VGT. Pitch pressure a little light VGT in a steep dive. Slight left turn VGT. I would raise all sprogs one turn for pitch pressure, one extra turn each on the right for the VGT turn. Otherwise seems like a perfectly normal U2 to me.

(no notes recorded)

(no notes recorded) Alice enjoyed flying.

Almost caught some lift. Good SW landing on wet grass. Won spot. Hunter Industries crew doing sprinkler maintenance.
Good.

Sink near the LZ. Matt and I landed simultaneously, I did a right-hand approach. Mike won the spot.

Good. Needs hang loops. Stock position.

Pure sink, pure zero wind.

Good.

Rain over by San Gorgonio. Got up in a solid core SE of launch. Went to 4k. Got video. Landed pretty short.

Good.

WSW 18 at Marshall height. My first HG landing at the 750. Third honest pass I finally got low enough. No-stepper a few feet from the SW edge. Video on the rear keel.

Windy,

Too windy at Crestline, strong at Marshall. Climbed several hundred immediately. Natasha was tense but liked flying. We got to 5,400 doing wide circles and she asked if we could stop climbing. Boated around for a while. Went out to land and had to climb some (lift everywhere) to let lower traffic land. Good wheel landing, stopped rolling 20 feet past the cone.

(just had copilot name and date for this this flight, other details estimated - confirm with High Adv)

Clear, heating up. Had a light cycle to launch in but as soon as my feet left the ground I was terrain-following down the slope. Had a strong urge to push out but resisted as I picked up airspeed. Almost sortable. right-hand approach to a good S no-stepper 30 feet past PG cone. Mike nailed it.

Had the PG cone all lined up from a right-hand approach but a gust made me overshoot.
Good.

Couldn't quite hook that thermal. Landed 12 feet past cone.

Booming lift. Went Crestline, saw the burn area. Got a good look at a mid-sized fire plane that was at my altitude enroute to the desert. Video with helmet cam. Good landing 12 feet short.

Good.

Got up by scratching in rowdy cores to 3,800 before bailing to join the others in the LZ.
Sweet.

Pulled 1/4 inch shims before flight. better, still jerky in roll.

Twisted both tips up one notch before flight. Much much smoother in roll.

Sure is nice to top land.
Not much different with two notches up. Set them back to one after landing. Lost my right #1 batten at some point in the ten minute flight. Sure is nice to top land.

Light SW at launch. Sank to the 750, got under Steve at the bluffs but didn't get it. Hunted back and forth for 10 minutes before getting one that I rode to 2,700. Good S landing past cone.

Good to scratch with. TT to 40. Tightened inboard shear ribs 3/8 inch each.

Harder to stay with the week thermals. No-wind approach to a puff of tail wind just past the cone. Slid on knees and basetube skids, lucky to not bend a downtube.

Good. TT to 35.

Sank to 750 then found a hot little core that took me to 5,000. Bucking bronco of a thermal. Worked lift west of the LZ until the flags showed some life. Good S landing after a bumpy approach.

Good. TT to 40 but then only 32 after a long speed run.

Huge lift. Saw 650+ up on my averager. Got to Crestline in five minutes.
Nice.

Cool for August and clear. Ridge soared a little then down to Billboard, weak. Went for the west side of Devil Canyon out front. One thermal. Struggled below Cloud Peak for a while; felt like several inversions. Had one big nose drop between adjacent thermals and twice more as I circled through them. Finally got to 4,700 at Marshall. Dove for the LZ and had a good SW landing. Had a tandem at 3:30.

Nice glider. Flew straight. Veered left VdVGT. raised right sprogs one turn each, might need more. VdVGT=65. TT to 30.

A little bit of ridge soaring, climbs in thermals then we flew nice and level for a while before landing.

Milestone day for High Adventure - 3 pilots, 12 tandems. Top staff from a relief organization devoted to North Korea and refugees. Nice breeze to launch into, some thermals even. Good landing. Knocked cone over with sidewire.

Windy at launch. Great lift at Cloud Peak. Got back to 4,800. Aimee liked thermalling. Good landing to the S, turned to final a tad high, rolled well past cone.

Wind had not picked up, surprisingly. Good climbs in thermals, got 4,700. Came in a bit high again.

Glassing off, still decent thermals out front. Came in a tad high yet again. High base leg in case I had to turn more south.

Clear, not too hot. Smoke from the Elsinore fire in a layer but couldn't smell it.

Got popped up as I flared, landed sitting on my butt.
Good.

Didn't get thermal right in front of launch. Scratched above the 750 for ten minutes in little pops close to the hill. Fun but boring at the same time. The others got up. Nice steady SW cycle to land in :-) went long but won.

Good. Replace keel placard - wrong position. All 155 keel straps tightened 3/8 inch.

Nice roll. VdVGT=54, TT negligible.

Tighten keel strap 3/8 inch.

Strong and disorganized thermals near the terrain. Finally got a bit away and found a solid one. Climbed to about 4,500 riding the beach ball. Switchy at the LZ and lift around. Thernalled with Mike and Steve for a while, a few hundred AGL. Saw a southwest cycle and dove in hard. Landed fine, rather long.

Good. Tightened keel strap 3/8 inch before flight. BS much quieter, handling still good.

Bailed from deadly lift right in front of launch. Perfect no-stepper but well past spot.
Good.

Rowdy. West of launch was active but not great. Got up from Cloud Peak spine. Turbulent north of Marshall. Nice SW landing, long.

Good. Very slight right turn, twisted left tip up one.

Scratched Last Chance to no avail, then from the 750 down. Relaxing.

Good.

Good launch but barely climbed. Sank on the second pass, went for Regionals. Yun had warned of getting motion sickness easily, but she was fine. Lots of sink and we had traffic, so I chose to dive in and land. Good flight but awfully short. A number of pilots who launched at the same time also landed in short order. Had arrived at launch to find fire truck and paramedics. Apple Valley Mark had crashed (again!) into the rocks, buzzing launch with a T2. Such an idiot. I told his father and son that he had to quit flying. Ambulance took him away despite his protests. Wanted to examine his head. Nothing in there to hurt.

Kevin Williams' T2 Not-C. Cloudy, small thermals. Took 20 minutes to get above Cloud Peak, then another 15 to get from Marshall to Crestline. Inversion between 4,500 and 4,700. Had a yaw/dive event in turbulence over the bluffs. Bumpy and switchy around the LZ had to pull-in twice on a very long ground skim. Good two-stepper.

Rebuild sail swap. Good. Right turn, twisted both tips 3/4. VdVGT=64. TT to 30.

Good launch into light ridge lift. Did a couple of passes and then headed for Billboard and then Regionals. Melody steered well on the way to Regionals. Sank a bit, climbed on a core from the 750 area. Her back started to hurt from being arched in the harness. We flew straight and then landed after a big wide final. She shot video with her iPhone from about 800 AGL down to the landing roll out. Her boyfriend, Ben Glieb (TV, Comedian), went with Dusty.

Clear with light winds at Crestline. HA Double Double. Some kind of movie shoot was going on, but we just set up in their clear area and did our thing. What were they doing up there on a weekend?!? Didn't soar the ridge at all. Kathy steered out to Regionals. Worked a few very narrow cores as we descended until Kathy asked that we not circle any more. Big wide left-hand approach to a nice wheel landing. Hit the cone and stoppes a few feet past where it had been.

Played Kuub with Owen and James in the LZ afterwards. Fun, challenging. Could go on forever.

Lots of haze from the big fire in Idyllwild. Puffing north at Crestline. Weak cycles up at launch. Some lift at the east draws above the 750. Surprised I got 8 minutes. Right approach to SE final, 16 feet short of the HG cone.

Good.

Better launch wind. Lightly soarable. Another right-hand approach to 20 feet short of HG cone. Mike overshot in a cycle, so I won.

Nice. Mid-keel pad coming apart

Active thermals, but tight. Had to work to stay with them, especially close to the hill. Got above Cloud Peak. Left-hand approach to S, 12 feet short of the HG cone. Winner.

Good. Mid-keel pad coming apart.

Shoot up to 4,800 with the first thermal at Cloud Peak. Active around the LZ. Won with 35 feet short.

Good. Light roll.

Still easy soaring. Won with eight feet from HG cone.
Nice.

Got up just west of launch to north of Regionals. Went to Cloud Peak and then Marshall, buzzed launch not real low. Buzzed Cloud Peak windsock pretty close. Good landing, left-hand SW. Mike won spot. No vario - just batteries, I hope. Had the GoPro on the keel.

Light SW with lulls. Clouds shadowing the hills. Let Craig steer over to the 750 and we rode a thermal up a few hundred in the same place twice. Had to rush the landing a bit due to sink and traffic. Wheels rolled nicely. Craig then went to the training hill.

Almost no wind until the afternoon, hot. Launched and went right, sank a few hundred to above the 350. Went east and caught a core at the green gap. Rode that up as it snaked around to east of Cloud. OK at Marshall, most cores going to 4,600-4,700. Back and forth Cloud and Regionals looking for that good one. Got 4,800 from Cloud and went striaght tot he cell tower site, hoping being higher would give me time to find a core. Drifted north along the spine working every little burble of lift, got to 5,150 not quite to the highway. With all the sink I'd seen earlier and it not being windy at Crestline, I decided not to dive back for it.
Farted around out front above Last Chance and the 750 and decided to land at the 1.5-hour mark. Good landing into WSW 8. Hiked back up to get the truck.
Good.

Was doubtful about flying today being any good. Mike Bilyk posted that it was nicely soarable at 1 PM, after top landing Marshall. Eventually I dragged my butt off the couch and away from an unpromising Dodger game and drove directly to the 750, saw a few gliders maintaining. I set up quickly and put my camelbak, filled with ice and water, in the harness to drink during the hike up to get my truck.
Launched the F3 Tandem at 3:45 and scratched hard just west of launch for ten minutes, cranking and banking close to the terrain in elusive little bullets that would only last a few turns. I was getting barely above launch and then just below it over and over. Finally caught a solid 600 FPM thermal above the pond notch and climbed to the top of Cloud Peak in five minutes.
At Marshall I was getting up on 400+ FPM but they kept fizzling at 4,600 MSL over the cell tower construction site. Finally saw Mike (tandem) and a couple of PGs climbing steadily over the windsock. Joined them and climbed up to Mike seeing 5,300 on my vario.
I headed north along the spine to Highway 18 hoping to get another thermal so I could go to Crestline. Ran into a small core just short of the highway and got back to 5,250 so I decided to chance the glide to Crestline. When I got there I did a pass below launch then got up in a thermal at the east house thermal. Flying over launch a bit my vario read 5,000, or about 200 feet low, meaning the pressure was lower in that airmass than at the 750. So my dive back to Crestline with the Falcon hadn't been that bold after all :)
Enjoyed the weak but steady ridge lift for a few passes, then slowly sank at Billboard and headed to Regionals and Marshall. Decided to descend and get ready to land at the 1-hour point but found good lift down by the 750 and climbed back up to Cloud Peak. Matt Barker joined me at the top of that for some close circling in a thermal that had rolled me out hard when I first stumbled into it. Matt said he'd seen that and he later got dumped hard by one over the LZ.
Descended again and made some low passes by the 750 until reason got the better of me and I went and landed at 5:10. Very fun and satisfying flight!

We had a group of four doing simultaneous tandems together, during the fly-in. Barely ridge soarable at Crestline, did a few passes by launch. Some circles at Billboard then across the canyon - she did some steering. Got a couple of good climbs then sank to the bluffs and the traffic. Had two PGs and three HGs below us over the LZ. Had her drop the little flour baggie from
about 1,500 AGL for the contest; it wasn't even found! Had to dive ahead of the last guy, HG, because we were in sink. Had the wheels but foot-landed into the steady WSW breeze. Was closer than Mike and Dan so I won two bucks. Decent flare, one-stepper and put the basetube down. Eleana enjoyed the flight.

Low, thick inversion, about 2,700. High clouds 70% coverage. Only a couple of bumps. Good SSE landing.

Went right from launch, to the sunny area, and slowly got up at Last Chance. Went to the Cloud spine and got nothing. Right-hand approach to thirty feet past the PG cone. Spot was declared a tie.

Good.

More overcast. Workable thermals few and far between. Got above launch on the west side of Cloud. Right-hand approach to straight east landing at the PG cone, 15 feet short. Spot was declared a tie.

Good.

Lift turned ON. 600 up took me to 4,700 drifting NE quickly; bailed. Rowdy with the increased wind. No-stepper six feet short of the cone after a left-hand approach. Won spot, all tied up going into the last round.

Good.

Got a boomer just to the west of launch. Could barely drift fast enough to follow it up the spine. Got to 4,700. Landed pretty short in the headwind.

Good.

Very hot, high pressure. Friend of Frances Barker. Not quite ridge soarable at Crestline. Katia steered from Billboard to Regionals. Narrow thermals with big sink around them, she liked the turbulence. Climbed at Cloud and went to Marshall, had one there that was too small to get ahold of, over the falls close to the hill. Boated around over the Cloud spine and watched traffic. Good landing on the wheels into SW flow.

No-stepper five feet from spot. Mike got three feet.
Good.

Almost caught a thermal. Landed 30 feet to the side of the cone.

Good.

Nice little core off to the left got me straight up to 1k+ over launch. Nailed it three feet from PG cone and won the spot.
Good.

Pure sledder. Won spot with eight feet. GoPro helmet.

Fun low save SW of the pond, trading altitudes with Mike a couple of times. Won spot by default. GoPro helmet.
Good.

Hot with high clouds filling in. Thought it might be too stable but at the LZ they said it had been punchy and rough. Shuttle was full so I drove to Marshall, planning to top land. I had almost gone straight from the house to Marshall anyway. Had to work a little to get up at first but then got 5,500+ and went back to Crestline for some ridge soaring. Got up again at Billboard, drifting back a bit, and went for Pine. Never got real high at Pine but worked some vigorous cores near the peak. Lots of sink heading for the Afterbay and when I got to Last Chance it was either find lift or go for the LZ. There was a strong core that I climbed and relaxed in up to 4,500 MSL. Worked some stuff drifting NE from Cloud with other pilots then went above Marshall and did some wingovers above the PG gaggle. Descended on purpose and had a decent top landing at the 55-minute mark. Great fun, had the GoPro on the keel.

Good day! I got to the LZ about 3 PM and heard reports of ratty thermals that were hard to get hold of. There were a lot of pilots out flying eventually but we were all pretty spread out. Regular 300-600 FPM lift for the most part. Heights were reportedly lower than Friday, which was lower than Thursday. There were several UltraSports flying around, which was fun to see. There were a few HG student solos from Marshall at the end of the day and all of those went pretty well, it appeared - Congrats Guys! Mike Bylik had brats on the BBQ and there were brats with a lemonade stand too.

The 3:30 shuttle was full, so I drove to the 750.

For my first flight of Saturday, 22 June, 2013, I launched my UltraSport 166 from the 750 launch (2,450 MSL) at 4 PM and struggled a bit to get up. Got above Marshall Peak (4,000 MSL) after about 20 minutes and did some celebratory wingovers. Then I got to 5,350 and tried for Crestline Ridge (5,200) but got there a couple of hundred feet below and couldn't get above it before I had to head back out front (prudence). I top-landed Marshall at the one-hour mark. I've gotten up from the 750 plenty of times, but this is the first time I've top-landed Marshall from there. Logging an altitude difference between launch and landing points of -1,550 feet is kind of fun.

I inadvertently had my GoPro in stills mode instead of video, so I got about 1,900 similar-looking photos and a few good ones. I made a stop-action video of the top-landing. Did get video of the second flight but it's just 15 minutes moseying down to AJX.

Just easy late-day boating down to the LZ. Did some wingovers.

Great lift already. GoPro on the helmet. Got Zippy's launch. Nice no-stepper but my feet slipped out from under me!

Sweet. VdVGT=62 TT to 29 VGT.

Sank down to the 750 before finding anything. Tight core jumping all over the place, got good above launch level. Zac fly-by, other fun. Good landing, got lifted and floated past spot.

Good. TT to 35. VdVGT=62.

Got up to 5700 in one thermal. Went to Crestline and Pine. Maneuvered too long going for spot and got behind glider. Took out a downturn.

Good. Slight right turn. Twisted 1/2 each. VdVGT=70. Minimal TT.

Not ridge soarable at Crestline but had some 1k up at Cloud. Her son JJ flew with Mike B. She had a long-standing desire to experience HG, enjoyed it.

Friend of previous student, CSUSB connection. She loved flying and was fun to fly with.

Thermalled above the 750 in a gaggle with PG's. Good practice, Dan did most of the flying, most of the approach. He's read,y depending on training hill performance.

Clouds in front of launch, burning off. Good SW wind. Some tiny cores. A little bumpy on approach.

Good. TT only a couple of MPH. Root battens stick on BE opening when inserting unless inverted.

Soarable over the 750. Got above 3,400 at the end before diving to the LZ. Good breeze for a regular left-hand approach. Won spot with a one-stepper 10 feet short of the PG cone.
Nice handling. VdVGT=50.

Soarable, but not as good as last flight, more sink. Overshot the cone by 20 feet but nice no-stepper.

Good. No TT.

Lift pretty broken up. Scratched by the 750. Decent landing 15 feet short. Won spot.
Good.

Nicely soarable. Got to 4,800 over Marshall on the second thermal. Did some wingovers. Tied for spot at 15 feet.

Good. VdVGT=52, TT minimal.

Dan's second tandem, did tandem w/Mike B. and training hill yesterday. Good directional control, light touch. Decent on doing 360's to a heading. I had to dive in approach a bit. Went for HG cone and rolled right over it. Kat got video.

SSE cycles at launch. Easy when I finally went. Good lift, above launch quickly. Got to 4,600 and change. Big lift, big sink. Save from over the bluffs to 4k with 600-800 FPM up. She was ready to land and I found nothing but lift all around the LZ. had to stuff the bar and hold it to descend without spiralling down. Good ab workout. Landed a little fast and bounced once on the wheels. Hanging higher, so no dragging on the grass, but more effort required.

Previous student's father. Still SSE at launch. Lift mellower and bigger. He has some airplane experience and flew the glider well, for a first-timer. Smoother landing.

Some low clouds burning off. SW 10 with thermal switchiness. SW turned to NW during ground-skim. No tubage, at least.
Good.

Save in a dust devil at 250 AGL over the ranch house to above the 420 launch. Right-hand approach to ESE final. Won spot by default. We all three landed in different directions, Mike heading NW.
Good.

Soarable. Good scratching by the 350. Right-hand approach to S final. Fifteen feet short of cone, Mike was closer.

Climbed in a rowdy one right next to launch, with Steve. Stayed with it until 3,200. Dove for the LZ, right-hand to S final. Twelve feet won.
Nice handling.

Scratched bluffs. Good S landing.
Good.

Windier, SE. Scratched up a canyon in a dust devil. Glider felt big. Another right-hand approach to SE final. Good landing but too far from target.

String battens. Good.

Got a rowdy screamer to 4,200 at 600-800 FPM. Could have gone up father. Later thernalled at full arm extension for a few turns just for the heck of it. Wingovers and spins, then landed with a steep left-hand approach. Won spot with 12 feet.

Sweet handling.

Windy, SW. Got a good core just right of launch, scratched close at first then tried to keep up with the drift. Pretty much continuous circling to 5,600 MSL. Chilly up there. Considered going back to Crestline but the cold and the wind deterred me. Only two gliders left onthe trailer, so I didn't need to land soon. Spotted the truck heading for the 750 and decided to buzz them when they got there. Dove and circled and timed it perfectly, but only Steve hopped out to guide while Mike backed the truck to the trailer. Oh well. Good landing at about 30 feet after a left-hand approach. Won by not touching basetube.
Nice.

Weak SE.

Weak ESE.

Lift turned ON! Got to 4k in 650 up after slowing around 3,400 to 3,600.

Sank to below Cloud then screamed up at 600 to 800 to 5,400. Went to Billboard, lost 600 feet. Turned back and ran into good lift right away, so I climbed to 5,400 with some Swiss PG pilots. Lifty all around the LZ. Right-hand approach and nailed the PG cone.

Great.

Short test flight. Low cloudbase, SW wind 0-10. Not much lift. Landed 30 feet short of PG cone, running in zero wind.
Good.
Change rear keel sock to tighter one.

Almost no wind, clouds higher, still solid. Pure sledder and absolute zero wind for landing. Basetube and knees.

Good. Change rear keel sock to tighter one.

Some cycles to launch into. Big weak thermals over the bright spots. Got above launch. Dove to the LZ for a weak WSW cycle but landed as it went to zero, then NW. One knee.
Great! No transient trim. VdVGT>70. VtVGT=21.

Windy, cloud suck. Got to 5,700 (cloudbase). Good landing into SW 10.

Good. TT to 26 VGT. VdVGT>70. VdVGT=19.

Intro Tandem. Just hitting 20 at launch, Elevatored up in a lull. Student was great, got into greet harness smooth as silk. Bumpy at times, sink north of Regionals. Did some climbs at 800 FPM. Good landing into steady WSW.
Very relaxed in the air. Pushed out a little early on landing and we settled to the ground from about a foot up. No problem.

Cloudbase just at Regionals, breaking up quickly. Upslope 5-8. Soarable, but mostly just maintaining in Barrie cores close to the hill. Good landing short of the target, won spot.

Good. VdVGT=47.

Clouds gone, soarable. Landed 30 feet past spot.
Good.

On the stiff side VGT. Solid soaring. Got up just right of launch. Had a helicopter fly under us, by the 750. Good landing..

Good.

Great lift everywhere. Had an active approach and landed reasonably close to the cone.
Nice.

Not quite soarable at Crestline, went to Regionals shortly after launch. Some thermals but narrow and drifting fast. Had some fun but no big climbs. Student was ready to land, so we did, on wheels. Her husband flew with Mike Bilyk (anniversary) and they surprised her mom with a flight after, with Mike. I then went up and flew the Alpha 210.
Landed on wheels to protect student's knee. Forgot to lower rear landing wheel. Was skimming just off the grass and slowing downto minimize vertical motion. Rolled in fine.

Worked some very light cores by the windsock. Glider flies 16 MPH or even less. Very easy to top land.
Trimmed slow, somewhat stiff. Top landed and moved hang loop forward 3/4".

Worked some weak thermals and orographic lift spots. Flew very low over the 750 then good scratching at the bluffs. Came in high expecting the glider to lose energy after diving into the mild breeze but actually overshot the HG cone by about 20 feet.
Trim was better but the hang loop slowly slid back to the original position (no sure-grip on keel). Still very enjoyable.

Strong lift, bumpy. Student liked it. Climbed above launch a couple of times, got to 5,400 over Cloud Peak. Good wheel landing. Part of military recreation group, 12 total. We did two rounds of three tandems.

Smoother, still easy soaring. Student said "It's like a movie!". Good wheel landing, had to thread between two just-landed hang gliders.

Much weaker, more or less a sledder. Let Sean fly out and practice speed control, feel deep mush, etc. Had Sean do entire approach and wheel landing; I helped with dive on base and final.
Final tandem before soloing.

Got some great footage if the GoPro was filming. Nice thermals. Won spot but wasn't close

Good. VdVGT=54.

Good thermalling in 600+ FPM.
Great! Black!

Got up easily, went back to Crestline low, didn't get it. GoPro battery ran out early in flight. Wind shifted on base so I didn't even try for a spot.
Good. TT to 32. VdVGT>72. Stiff VGT, otherwise normal.

Got up to Regionals after scratching from the opening next to the 350. Flew over the rest of the WW crew. Got a little above Marshall, drifting back along the spine. The cores were weakening but I slowly gained altitude, 100-200 feet each. Was at 5,400 halfway back, above the spine, and went for Crestline. Dove for the LZ after I flew over launch and Billboard.

Sweet!

SW 15-20 at Crestline. Bumpy air with strong thermals. Took Sean a few minutes to get the feel of the glider again. Got below the ridge at Billboard and I took control until we got higher. Sean then worked a strong thermal to 6,150 MSL in traffic. Good long glide to Marshall and other targets, a little more thermalling. Sean had the controls on approach, made good decisions and turns. I took over during the turn to base leg, mostly to get us down a little lower. Good roll-in about 30 degress off the 5-8 MPH wind - no problem. Sean could manage a solo approach now, wants to do one more tandem. He felt he really understood what was going on for the first time and wants to practice it again. Had dual GoPros on a new basetube boom the Rob has worked out. One took stills, one took video. Fun to watch. Needs to be more on the student side of the basetube.

North up high, SW on the deck, gusty everywhere. Mid-level clouds out of the north, low-level clouds out of the SW. Did a round of Falcons off the 750 to guage the character of the air. Easy to stay up in turbulent air with bullet thermals. Got to 3,200 before diving for the LZ. Straight west when I landed, bumpy. Other directions when Steve and Mike landed. They decided to call the day because it would be sketchy landing T2's in those conditions.
Good.

Windy ESE and turbulent out in the air. The 330 felt like a raft on a strong river. Nothing to soar in until over the training hill, a few circles at 300 AGL. Windier 150 feet up than on the deck. Right-hand approach to SSE landing 12 feet from PG cone. Won spot. Mike called the day due to turbulence.

Good.

Wind 15-20 at Crestline. Good ridge soaring intro and then directional control across the canyon to Regionals. Above Cloud Peak we found a thermal and Sean worked it to 5,700 with minimal control help. Later we did some circles with exit on a set heading. Had Sean do the first part of the approach after dealing with traffic at our level. Had to take over when we hit lift while sighting the VASI. I forgot to drop the rear wheel until Sean reminded me on final. It deployed smoothly and landing was fine, a little past the HG cone.

Rather west, as expected. Launched and went right immediately. Was able to scratch the faces along the road and got above launch after a number of passes.

Lighter wind and low sun. Launched and went to the sunlit bowl west of Regionals and worked light lift coming up there, turning very slowly. Very relaxing. Not much action on Cloud spine, eventually crossed to the west fingers for fun and then went in and landed close to the PG cone.
Good. TT to 35 VGT.

Was north at Crestline until 11 AM, then puffing down. West cycles at the 750 turning to SW as I set up. Launched into a cycle but couldn't quite get hold of it. Some bumps and the sink alarm went off twice. Flag at Ranch pointing to SE, LZ W, but I couldn't find the core at 200 feet AGL. Good landing into WSW 5. Had the GoPro on the keel - 3:30 of airtime. GPS track too :)
Good. Fully-sleeved keel (for water operations with floats). Top rear wire goes on tight. Handling stiffer than usual, as expected.

Almost no wind. Seven or eight feet past PG cone.

Needs two cinch-ring Velcro straps midspan.

South 5 at launch. Light lift coming up the SE facing draws No big climbs, but good thermalling. Watched a Red Tail dive down the draw below the 750. Landed long in S 5.

Nice. No VG runs.

LifT was ON. 500+ fpm at times. Thermals breaking off west of the LZ so I waited a while at 1,000 feet AGL until I saw zero wind. Dove in and had SW 8 to land in, way long. Lifty on downwind.

Good. VdVGT>72. TT to 29.

Lift everywhere. Sink at the 750, save from 2,650 on east end of west bluffs. Decent landing into S 10.

Good handling. Slight right turn, twisted tips 1/2 each. VdVGT>72, TT to 26.

Windy, got low at the west end. Climbed to 4,600 from the 750. Sink after overlying Marshall; time to land anyway. Three feet from PG cone.

Nice.

Good.

Landed two feet from PG cone.
Good. Vs=17.

Rob McKenzie's tandem wing with his new deployable rear landing wheel system.
Good wind to launch into. Climbed about 700 feet at Cloud Peak. Sean worked on directional control. Stiff, all shoulders and arms. Wheel system deployed after that big climb, hindered prone thermalling a little. Traffic at the bluffs, so I kept control. Demonstrated VASI approach and rolled it in smoothly. Sean did well onthe training hill with Rob afterwards.

Rob McKenzie's tandem wing with his new deployable rear landing wheel system. Light S cycles at Crestline after north wind and low-clouds in the morning in San Bernardino. Murky marine layer air with the top at eye-level, but clearly soarable at Marshall. Waited for a good cycle and had a good launch. Flew straight to Regionals and found the first thermal there. Easy to stay up in 200 FPM and occasional 400, topped-out about 4,200 MSL. Did the student VASI approach and landed into 5 MPH S on the wheels - smooth as silk. Glider tracked arrow-straight on rollout, about 75 feet. It felt like cheating. Copilot loved it. Got GoPro video from the crossbar. My harness boot dragged on the left wheel strut slightly while prone and doing a little right turn on approach, but not a problem. Bending my knees let the boot drop and eliminated the issue; had full roll auhtority

Rob McKenzie's tandem wing with his new deployable rear landing wheel system. The two people I was supposed to take tandem didn't show, so Rob had me try out his new system. Big wheels on an extended basetube, little wheel in the back, under the keel. Works well. Landed rolling and it went arrow straight with a reasonably short roll-out. Looking forward to trying it tandem.

Morning high clouds burned off to sunny and warm. Drove the first two rounds and flew the only 154 on the last round. Had the GoPro on the keel but insted of video mode it was taking 6M photos at 2-second intervals (1100 of them!). Too bad it wasn't video, but I got a couple of nice wingover shots. No wind and switchy at the LZ, so I went back to the bluffs and worked a thermal, waiting for the flags to show anything. Back over the LZ a thermal was coming off the south end of the parking lot, so I worked that until it moved more north. Dove when the flags showed some life but they were slack before I'd lost half my altitude. Landed well into S 0-2. Waiting for wind added at least 10 minutes to my flight, so the guys were loading the trailer when I landed. I had chosen to wait and fly the last round for better landing conditions. Oops

Photos: http://www.crestlinesoaring.org/node/133
Great handling. Went 20 VGT and the bar would stay there. VdVGT=65. Slightest of left turns, twisted 1/4 each.

Blowing NE when we arrived at Marshall. Kicked dirt and setup slowly. It went still and there were puffs upslope. Good SSW cycle to launch in after waiting-out some S cycles. Couldn't quite climb in the house thermal by the windsock, so went to Cloud spine after a few minutes. Only tiny lift as we slalomed down the spine. Some big sink holes and no more climbing. Lingered to 2,300 at the bluffs hoping for something, anything. Found weak SSE at the LZ and landed S after a quick approach. Stumbled to one knee.

Hot and sunny, the lift was ON. Climbed to 5,300 MSL in the house thermal to NE of the peak. Speed run and some good wingovers and a sharp spin. Boated over the LZ waiting for a cycle from any direction. Landed into light SSW past the HG cone. Interesting to jump on a T2 right after doing a tandem.
Sweet. VdVGT>72, Vt=20, Vs=19. Climbed to 5,300 NE of the peak. Couple of good steep wingovers and a locked-in spin. Nice two-stepper short of HG cone.

Glass off. Mike and Steve had the Alpha protos and I had an F4 170 with Litestream tubes. Fun scratching the face of Marshall in the westerly flow. Tried a few spins but it would recover after locking in for 1/2 a turn. Good landing with a snappy flare about 15 feet past the HG cone. Won that spot.
Good.

Easy to stay up but not really climbing. Switchy at the LZ, waited and watched and got a SE 5 cycle. Landed worth a few steps 30 feet past cone; won spot.

Sweet. TT to 28 VGT. No VdVGT run.

Much more soarable, bullet cores. Good landing, S, way past cone.

Good. TT to 26 VGT (!) VdVGT>72, good PP.

Wind steady at 15+ at launch. Thermals drifting fast. Cooler. Mostly scratching near the hill. Had the GoPro on 2-second intervals from time to time. Good landing, 25 feet past PG cone.

Good. TT to 28. VdVGT >72. A little creaky overhead. Nothing loose.

Still windy, clouds starting to bank a little behind Crestline. Similar to last flight but I got up in the bowl on the west side of Cloud Peak. Buzzed Marshall with the GoPro on video. Dodd some nice wingovers. Good landing, into SW 9. Mike and Shelby landed tandem and she had a rock on her left hand and cry for happy.

Good. TT to 30. VdVGT >72.

Soared with Alpha 180 (Steve). I had the GoPro on the helmet mount to possibly get some footage of other hang gliders. After passing a couple fairly closely I headed west toward the Regionals launch and caught up to a Red Tail hawk that was heading in the same direction. I managed to slow down and followed it for about 30 seconds. It was just barely below me and I got as close as 8-10 feet at times - the wide-angle video makes it look farther away. I've never been so close to a hawk for so long. I saw amazing details before he put on the brakes to climb and let me fly by. I was thankful for the awesome few moments so I kept going west instead of going back and trying to get more video.
https://vimeo.com/61154252

Did a couple of sets of good spins. What a workout. Good landing, right-hand approach, just for fun.
Good.
Some dirt on TS, mostly right wing . Clean with Folex.

SW winds building up high, wide, thick cloud bands high over Crestline and the valley, concave on the bottoms. Light SW at Marshall. Good launch to join two HGs already in the air who had been above launch briefly. Not a bump to be found near Marshall or the Cloud Peak spine. Student had the controls for about half of the 8-minute flight - gentle turns and intentional mush/stall. Circled once over the Big O area when the vario beeped. Zero wind in the LZ, streamers indicated last puffs had been SE. Good approach and flared just a hair late. Basetube and knees on the ground.
First intro flight followed by training hill session. Sean didi a lesson at Dockweiler a year ago. Eager to become a pilot.

Windy reported SW cycles to 19 MPH at Crestline, there was a gaggle of gliders over Marshall at 14:00. Borrowed minivan was sitting very low with 7 people and several gliders. Went to Crestline so I could launch tandem and another guy could fly HG solo and thus reduce load so van could go out Marshall road. Too windy for self-launching, so driver and other pilots helped with set-up and wiring off. One step and we climbed 150 feet straight up before heading left. Air was butt smooth and we got to 400 over quickly. Copilot was loving it. Cold on the bare hands though. Did a few passes to Billboard and back, the other HG elevatored up also and was higher. After about 15 minutes we flew to Cloud Peak to warm-up and I was concerned the wind might build. Went through a mildly turbulent layer at about 4,800 MSL and we were below the high-wind layer. Bouyant as we flew over Marshall and then to the west end, but no thermals at all. The low sun lit the valley nicely. Demonstrated some dives and turns for fun, student enjoyed them. Again there was no wind at all in the LZ. Good approach and flared hard, I went to one knee as the glider stopped.

Copilot helped me fold the glider and had many good questions. Great crowd in the LZ and the festive atmosphere meant the long wait for my glider bag was enjoyable. Christina was smiling and talked to a number of pilots.

Kevin Garcia, WW intern from France, flew from Marshall after brushing-up his skills at the training hill yesterday. He floated with a 225 and had a good setup and approach. One wing low on landing but Rob was there to grab a wire as it started a gentle ground loop. Good to see him get in the air. Kelsey P. flew her new F4 170 - all black with a blue and green butterfly inlay.
Estimated 19-22 at Crestline, WSW and few lulls. WX graph shows that was the peak wind of the day, gusting to 25.

Switching to onshore and cooler. 15+ SW at Crestline. High clouds moved in in the afternoon. Plenty of pilots soaring the ridge. Good launch into just ridge soarable conditions. Gave Jube the controls after a few passes. Climbed in some small thermals at Billboard. The sun lit Devil Canyon up a bit and the thermals got better. We got about 500 feet over after about 20 minutes. Jube was relaxed and doing well so we worked the ridge for a while. Went from BB to Cloud Peak at about the 40-minute mark. Jube steered and was flying straight by the time we reached Cloud. Flew over Marshall and slowly descended to land. Bouyant over the LZ. The one glider below us wasn't sinking, so at about 600 AGL I dove hard around him to get in first. Good approach but the wind fell to almost nothing as we were on downwind. I hesitated in the high groundspeed and flared as we settled onto the ground, skidding lightly and using the wheels. Not pretty, but clean. Jube was stoked. He had been on two PG tandems at Torrey before. Lieks HG better, I think.
Wind zero-to-one at ground level in the LZ. Flared and rolled in prone. Otherwise a great flight!.

When I got to the LZ around 1 PM there were pilots at various altitudes and it was clearly on.

Full McBus, so I drove to the 750 with my UltraSport 166. Tom Swanson and Gene Embry both flew PG's by while I was setting up and gave reports and encouragement. When I walked to launch at 2:15 Gene was in a little thermal so I launched and joined him.

Had a very steady climb in that thermal to above Cloud Peak and drifted north with it, but it petered out.

Worked another one fruitlessly, north of Marshall 200' over the cell tower site. Left that and went back to Marshall low and found a core that went straight up. It hit 700 FPM up at times and took me to 1,500' above Marshall lickety-split. Gained another 500' drifting north and then dove for Crestline, arriving 30 minutes after launching.

After that, Billboard and out towards the Afterbay. Not much happening down low. Saw a couple of gliders descend quickly to the LZ from above the 750 and when I got in that area I found the same sink. Wanted to fly longer but my 55 minute flight was deeply satisflying.

Forecast to blow north up to 60 MPH at Crestline overnight and Sunday and still north for the next 5-6 days.

Pix on the CSS website

Low inversion, not much wind, SW 5. Broken lift just below launch level, some workable cores down lower. Light S in the LZ.
Good.

Tied with Peter S. on the spot.
Good.

Had a tight core below Cloud Peak that turned into 500 FPM at times and took me to 4,500. Nice glider. Landed short again.
Good. VdVGT=55.

Great sunset flight, maintaining in a little bowl below loud and then long traversing passes down to the LZ. Had the GoPro on and got some neat views - turning left with the sun low on my right my shadow panned across the BS of the left wingtip. Got Mike doing maneuvers with the A2 180 over the LZ, then landed right after him.
Nice.

Clear pre-prefrontal after an offshore warm spell. It blew in briefly Saturday afternoon. not too chilly at Crestline, patches of snow in the parking lot. Wind SSE gusting to 15 occasionally. Lots of pilots out to fly. I found my vario switched on in the pouch, so the baateries were dead. I found none in my truck and when i asked around, Igor got an old pair of AA's out of his car; they were also dead, but I didn't tell him.

Good launch into 12-15 at 12:30, the house thermal to the left was sort of working. Not really ridge soarable but enough thermals coming through to stay up easily. Got up at Billboard twice and lost it all heading back to launch. Mark Hoffman had a nice save from way below Billboard, having sunk there straight from launch. I got up at least 1k over and flew to Pine, right over the top. The SE flow meant it wasn't to great over there. Out to Regionals and Cloud and Marshall Peak. Without the vario it was a little tough to stay with the weakening cores when I was 1-2000 feet from anything. Still, the quiet and lak of numbers was a nice change, though I normally wouldn't pick February for doing it.

Good landing into light SSW after 1:10 of airtime. Had the damn Kodak out, with my glove off, way above the LZ but didn't actually get any photos. Hard to tell what it is doing with the broken display.

Kat drove, Matt flew the T2C 144 for Davis Straub to pick up that afternoon. Great seeing all the regulars again.
Good. VdVgt=52

slight left turn. Twisted RT tip two holes.

Good

Good.

Soarable. Used the GoPro on 5-sec interval mode several times. Grey murky air made for grey photos, mostly. Good landing, didn't win any spots today.
Good.

Sixty-plus degrees left cross, 5 MPH, on launch. Caught left top on brush or steamer post. Pulled hard right and pulled it off. Good landing five feet from PG cone.

Good.

Launched into a thermal and got 500 feet over or so eventually. Went over and worked the Last Chance area for a bit. Hit a thermal crossing back and drifted rather deep into the canyon for a way. Right-hand approach and overshot the PG cone by 30 feet.

Good.

No wind sledder, right-hand approach to no wind at the PG cone.

Good.

Thermalled at 13 MPH! A little breeze from the ESE. ONE thermal to work, got 200 over launch. Good left-hand approach, landed 15 feet short.

Good

Another sledder. Right-hand to PG cone, overshot 25 feet.

Good.

Total sledder. Not particularly close to the spot.
Good.

Breezy at launch, parked hawks overhead. Walked right off launch and ridge soared. Close to Matt and a hawk, should look good on the helmet cam. Went long, landed running into light south.

Nice. TT to 29 VGT. VdVGT=72.

No wind to speak of.
Good.

Same. Crossing down on launch but only 1 MPH. Ran like hell. East approach, landed short.

Good.

Clear, light onshore after days of Santa Anas. Rain coming Sunday AM.
Launched into a weak cycle and scratched around in front of launch for a while with some paragliders. Flew over the windsock once. Got lowish near the 750. Thermals were weak but easy to stay with; drift varied. 200 FPM was screaming up. Got up a little at Cloud Peak and went back over Marshall, into a crowd of PGs. Lift turned on about 12:45. Got to 5k briefly and was able to boat around up there for a while. Not too cold. Worked Cloud again, then went out over the flats to land and deliver the glider to McKenzie. Had a nice no-wind no-stepper at the PG cone.

Good to see everyone again. Three weeks without flying was too long. Had the GPS going but no photos.
Good.