Flying Laps 9-21-08
Today was a cool, sunny soarable day with many visiting pilots. I decided to see how many laps (Marshall - Crestline - Pine) I could do. I was shooting for three but ended up getting four.
I launched Marshall early about 1 pm and had to make a few passes at the hill before figuring out how the house thermal was going to act today. After a couple of minutes I found a cycle that was behaving itself enough to get me back to Crestline for the first time. The Billboard was really acting the fool today. I would get up a few hundred, then dumped back below the ridge. Had to really scratch and be patient for a nice cycle. Pine provided the day's best heights, 6200. It was pretty cold up there, must be fall...
I was back out front of cloud on my way to Marshall to complete (what I thought was) my third and final circuit, when I found the best thermal of the day. It wasn't really strong, 200 - 400 fpm, but it was large and smooth. It even attracted Rob on the Tandem and it got us both back to Crestline. I decided that this thermal was nice enough to warrant an attempt at a fourth lap.
Crestline wasn't really doing anything but sink and I found myself scratching low at the Billboard, 4500ish. It took several minutes, but I was able to get back up to 5800 and made the final glide to Pine. Made one more pass at Marshall to complete my fourth lap and dove in to the LZ. 2 hours 30 minutes air time. Lots of work today, wore me out good.
Later that evening two pilots got their first mountain solo flights. It's always fun to see the expression on their faces and remember my first time. It just keeps getting better and better.
I launched Marshall early about 1 pm and had to make a few passes at the hill before figuring out how the house thermal was going to act today. After a couple of minutes I found a cycle that was behaving itself enough to get me back to Crestline for the first time. The Billboard was really acting the fool today. I would get up a few hundred, then dumped back below the ridge. Had to really scratch and be patient for a nice cycle. Pine provided the day's best heights, 6200. It was pretty cold up there, must be fall...
I was back out front of cloud on my way to Marshall to complete (what I thought was) my third and final circuit, when I found the best thermal of the day. It wasn't really strong, 200 - 400 fpm, but it was large and smooth. It even attracted Rob on the Tandem and it got us both back to Crestline. I decided that this thermal was nice enough to warrant an attempt at a fourth lap.
Crestline wasn't really doing anything but sink and I found myself scratching low at the Billboard, 4500ish. It took several minutes, but I was able to get back up to 5800 and made the final glide to Pine. Made one more pass at Marshall to complete my fourth lap and dove in to the LZ. 2 hours 30 minutes air time. Lots of work today, wore me out good.
Later that evening two pilots got their first mountain solo flights. It's always fun to see the expression on their faces and remember my first time. It just keeps getting better and better.
posted by David Aldrich at
9:13 PM
