See John Fly

King Mountain 2011

2011-07-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Day 1:
I woke up with butterflies in my belly and confidence in my heart. This was the first day of the competition and I was going to go far! Keep in mind I also had that "first flight at a new site" nerves thing going on. In fact, I had that same feeling all week long. King Mountain is huge in the sense that it's "big air" and changes constantly. The morning skies were usually clear with perhaps one or two popcorn clouds indicating moisture in the air but usually by noon the skies became riddled with clouds, some of which became massive cumis. Day 3, we decided not to fly at all due to the overdevelopment.

Each morning really began at the pilots meeting in the campground. I opted to stay in a motel thinking I could use the space for downtime, shower and a place for overall energy regenerating. I soon found out I really needed it. The days were long and draining if only for the amount of waiting on launch in the sun with very little food. Thankfully, I brought lots of water each day.

After the pilots meeting explaining forecasted conditions and general information about the event, we headed to launch. King Mountain is awesome in many ways and one of them is because it takes no time at all to drive to launch. There's an upper and lower launch. The upper is steeper but has limited space for cars and gliders so we opted for the lower launch which has a much shallower slope but plenty of room to setup and relax.

While setting up my glider I was constantly assessing launch conditions for my comfort level (first flight nerves and all) as well as assessing my overall flight plan in my head. (strong launch, turn left then right, feel out the thermals and stay hooked in one all the way up over the peak behind launch... don't go across Ram's Horn Canyon unless I've got altitude... always maintain a viable out to safe landing... remember to watch for barbed wire fences, power lines, cattle... remember to be patient and persistent in finding lift off potential thermal generators... On and on the list goes in my head... communicate my whereabouts on the radio but don't chat too much... remember to drop a streamer and follow it prior to landing... what were the names of all the peaks, roads, towns?

Oh my! I was way too much inside my head to even consider launching. I needed to step back every few minutes and just remember to fly and have fun. It's not like I haven't done this before. Right? Well, not really. I have only twice landed out away from a site's designated landing zone. This was freaking me out. So, after a long wait on launch for both my nerves and conditions I decided to launch. No problem! In fact, it was one of my best launches... directly into a nice thermal cycle that I worked for a few minutes before getting comfortable in my harness. The air was nice and smooth thermaling like I've done before in some of the local sites in California. It put me at ease so I could get to working on my in-air XC strategy. Back and forth, above launch I worked the thermals trying to get higher and higher but just couldn't get above 9700'. I did this for about 30 minutes until I heard my teammate, the Legendary Ryan Goebel, say on the radio that he'd landed out in front of Ram's Horn Canyon. At that moment I could see where he was and thought it would be fun to glide out and let next to him, high five and call it a day. As I headed north towards Ram's Horn Canyon and lost very little altitude and flew well above Ryan to make it to the other side of the canyon. Reaching the lower spine of Mr. Nasty, the peaks above the north side of the canyon, with more than 800' above the ground, I was able to hook into a nice thermal that took me up to 10.5k and back over the top of Mr. Nasty. Great name, by the way, because the tops of those mountains were like nasty, rocky, teeth. But oh so beautiful. As I fiddled with getting a drink from my camelback and adjusting my harness, zipping up further, and messing with my VG cord, in a single 360 I rose above the tops of the peak to an amazing view of the valley beyond... 30 miles to the next mountain range. Sigh.

I continued on to the north slowly losing altitude and heading back towards the valley while trying to catch lift off some of the lower spines. Several times I was able to maintain my altitude but never went back above 10.5k. I was okay with that because I was having fun! trying my hardest to cut across Elbow canyon on my way to Pass Creek. If I could make that I would be extra happy. Down slowly I went and began picking out a field to land in. The sage brush in some of the fields looked awfully large so I chose to double back to a clean field with 5 silos in a corner. I dropped my lucky streamer (my daughter helped me make) and successfully circled it, watching to see it hit the ground. My depth perception wasn't quite what I thought it was and it took 5 or 6 360 degree turns until it hit the ground and showed me the wind direction. After a few more circles I dove around into the wind and landed in a nice 10-15 mph headwind for a soft landing. Unfortunately, my position in the field from the road was about 1/4 mile south. So, after a nice long walk with my glider I set her down, got out my extra water bottle and cellphone, took a moment to enjoy the surroundings with photos and Facebook postings. There's nothing quite like landing in the middle of nowhere and having not only a cell signal but enough of a connection to upload to Facebook. Here I am!

Thanks to Team ACP and our drivers... Wendy and Eric! ...who brought us all back safe withiin an hour or so each flight. Not bad considering they have to find us with little directions and/or gps coordinates.

Day 2:
The day was cancelled due to strong winds and unfavorable direction.

Day 3:
Even before the pilots meeting in the morning the cloud development was not looking good. Of course, the old timer/local pilots were itching to get into the unstable air. Not me nor any of team ACP. Instead CRV, Brian, Wendy and I decided to head to the town of Mackay (pronounced Mackee by the locals) for lunch and then we'd head to the bailout LZ to watch others launch as the sky grew darker above the mountain range.

The day turned out to be quite the learning experience. We watched as Ben Dunn launched, got drilled and headed south over the smaller hills towards Arco using his patience and persistence method of flying. One of my downfalls or lack of experience issues is being patient and persistent while flying. Watching Ben fly was a treat and inspired me to chant "patience and persistence" in my head for the next 2 days. He was able to maintain his altitude and little by little eek out a few hundred feet to proceed around the hills. It appeared that in each new location he was able to find either lift or no sink and managed somehow to get high enough to blaze over the mountains and to the East to pull off what I consider awesome XC. For Ben it was just a romp in the air. :)

Day 4:
I can't remember what happened day 4. I think I had two short flights to the LZ. Bummer but, at least there were two more flying days left. I still felt good. Disappointed but good.

Day 5:
The conditions were much better this day in my mind. Little puffy clouds everywhere and happy thermal cycles making for good launch conditions. I was feeling good and much better prepared food/energy wise. Even so, I had a late launch and was able to reproduce my flight from day one almost exactly! Similar altitudes were achieved, I caught thermals at similar points in the flight and I even landed out in exactly the same field 11 miles away. I'll even bet I landed within 50 feet of my first flight there. Sweet! Sure I wanted to fly farther but being able to redo that first flight was fun!

Day 6:
Saturday, my confidence was up and I was feeling good! This was the day I was going places. The conditions looked to be strong but still good if I were to get off launch early. We decided to get lunch first and then head to launch for a 1pm launch window. I'm glad we did but right after I was done setting up my glider the thermal cycles on launch were getting stronger as well as the Southerly winds. I usually prefer some downtime immediately after setting up to get my head in the right place and center myself. Instead, I watched as Ryan and Trey launched and then took my place on launch. The wind howled and they held me and my glider in place a few minutes until it backed off. The next cycle appeared to be trickling up to launch so I lifted the glider and began my run 10, 11, 12 steps... and I was in the strongest air I had been in all week. I had to pull in and dive to counter the strength of the wind and lift I had launched into. White knuckled and not having fun at all I chose, a few minutes later, to head for the bailout. I didn't want any part of that kind of air.

In retrospect, and after hearing some of the epic flights others had that day, I kind of wish I has been patient and persistent in working the air further out from launch in order to get up high. There were many pilots that bested their XC distances and I could have been one of them. Having said that... I am glad I'm in one piece and don't regret any of my judgement calls this week. Next year I will have that much more experience to make similar judgement calls that will take me that much further.

For photos click here

Soaring Waddell fills my soul

2011-07-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Waddell Creek has put out for me each fourth of July for the last 3 years. My first flight at Waddell was less than epic but, the very next weekend, fourth of July, turned out to be just that...epic! Here's the video from 3 years ago. Ryan and I enjoyed smooth, into and across the canyon air up to 1700' all day long.

Last year, of course, I anticipated and expected the same conditions. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as epic. However, I do recall it being more than soarable. It was fun! The same held true for this fourth of July weekend. Zooming, stalling and diving repeatedly and showing off for the beach goers, not to mention the cars below who were constantly trying to race me. No worries, with a downwind blowing typically 20-30mph I can beat them in a dive, soaring 60-70mph. It's wicked fun and tends to spook and impress motorcycles and convertibles as they drive south on highway 1. Another one of my favorite flying routines is to fly north, parallel over the highway, with my shadow below lining up with the road. Also, occasionally, there are hikers on the fireroad on the East side of the highway in the woods. It's fun to shade them as the walk, like I'm a giant bird... keeping in mind that there is quite possibly "spanking" to be had while soaring low over the trees on the point. Shadowing people on the beach can be tricky because you have to fly well out over the ocean in order to get the right angle form the sun. Typically, this just means zooming back to the bluff at the last moment. No problem this weekend. I swear it brings more than a smile on my face. Soaring Waddell fills my soul.

Sunday, Mr. CRV joined me at Waddell only to wait all day for the white caps to hit shore. When they finally did, it was the oddest thing... You could stand at launch on the edge of the bluff and feel the wind blowing 15-20 but all the streamers on the hill were showing wind blowing out of the canyon. Yep, it was going to be one of those days... two air masses mixing on the bluff. Not the safest flying conditions but after an unexpected and awesome visit from Dirk and the Stanford family, and much prodding from Callie because she had never seen a hang glider launch and land before, I decided to give it a go. Fortunately, I shot straight up, as if on top of a bubble of hot air, and within a few passes had to land for fear of being "spanked" to the beach, I came in for a top landing, rodeo style. Yeeehaww! Three minutes of filling my soul.

And then Chris and I sat on a Dirk's ride...

On the fence. Yosemite, Dunlap, Slide.

2011-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been "on the fence" about so many things. Where to fly this past weekend was no exception. I had been invited to Slide Mtn. and to Dunlap but, I was also really looking forward to Yosemite, a trip I signed up for weeks ago, because the falls would be rushing and I missed out last year at this time due to a flooded LZ. As the weekend got closer my gut was telling me the LZ at Yosemite would be flooded again and now I was shifting gears, in my mind, to join the gang at Dunlap and maybe try to do some XC practice prior to King coming up. On Thursday I get a text from Mr. CRV saying the flying is good at Yosemite and the LZ is manageable. Back on the fence. So, I make a last minute decision to head to Yosemite for a Saturday morning flight and then on to Dunlap for a Sunday flight. I also decide to bring both gliders, the RamAir for Yosemite because it is a little slower flying and easier to land at high altitude, and the Litespeed for Dunlap. Glad I did because I ended up breaking both downtubes on the RamAir after a less then desirable landing. Actually, I kind of enjoyed the landing. Let me explain...

I was poised on launch at Glacier Point. Ready to go. Hang checked. Camera on. Breath caught. There I was looking out over this awe inspiring valley towards several waterfalls in the distance as well as Half Dome and a slew of other peaks Miss Wendy so graciously pointed out to me earlier. My head was in the right place and my goal was to fly directly to Yosemite Falls and get some awesome close up video and feel the mist on my face. My launch was perfect. The glide around to the left of Glacier Point, hugging the giant granite walls was nothing less than spectacular. I even felt lift for most of the way around the valley. Then I flew beeline towards Yosemite Falls keeping in mind my camera was filming from behind me on the keel of the glider. I made some slight left and right input to make sure the falls were being captured and as I flew closer to the falls, directly at it mind you, I was almost hypnotized by it's beauty. I remember laughing and hollering as began I right turn into a full 360 no further than 50' away from the falls, about halfway up from the misty base. This video was going to be ACP epic and worthy of professional movie editing treatment. As I came out of my 360, back into the falls, this time a left bank to capture the falls towards the overlook trail I could see half a dozen people staring up at me/the falls. Now it's show time! I manage to burn some altitude with some slow figure eights and then from 100' up I pulled in and dove directly at the overlook. Now I could begin to see there faces, some not even looking at me! Can you imagine? So, I do my best John Simpson Indian call... "aieee aieee aiieeee aiieeee". I strafed the tourists about 10 feet above their heads, capturing some of my best onboard video yet. Did I mention this was going to be epic video? Next, it was time to plan my landing. Although, I inspected the LZ the night before, from the air it appeared to have more water in it than I remembered. No problem, I had my heart set on a new kind of approach. Not the standard parallel-over-the-river-right-turn-base-to-final-towards-the-path-approach. No, this time I was going to scrape the tallest trees farthest from the river and come in parallel to the path towards the river. Now, if you haven't figured it out already, my camera was not, in fact, turned on. I blame CRV. You see, he successfully turned on the camera in the setup area before launch and upon review it did capture my walk out to launch. Oh, how exciting. But, prior to launching, Mr. CRV noticed the display was black on the back of the camera and we went through the start-the-camera-procedure again. Somehow, it didn't take. Darn you CRV! My theory is that he wanted me to stay to fly on Sunday as well and if I "accidentally" didn't have video then I would for sure have to redo the flight on Sunday. Little did he know I was going to thwart his plan by clipping a tree, landing in water and breaking both my downtubes. Where was I? Oh yes, I was ready to dive in on final approach, scrape the 150' tree...in the back of my mind I was getting all of this on video...awesome!! Moments after initiating my dive in over the tree tops I realize I have way too much energy to safely land short of the breakdown area or the river for that matter. So, I reacted by pushing out to a controlled stall, trying to loose some of that energy and then entering the dive to get into ground effect sooner rather than later. This all worked great! However, I was already halfway to the river and skimming the dry, highpoints of the LZ with my legs, no flare window in site until the last second I had to bump right slightly to avoid a small pine tree. Not enough to miss the small branches which turned me as I flared, trying my hardest to avoid the pond I just flew over and the pond I was headed for. Twenty feet further is the overflowing river. My flare slowed me down enough to be safe but because my feet weren't on the ground my basetube slammed into the 2 foot deep pond and my arms forced the downtubes to break forward. Soaked, and elated that I got it all on video, I walked the glider to the nearest high ground and laughed out loud at myself. Later on I laughed even more because the "high ground" I chose to breakdown on was surrounded by 2 foot deep water. Nice! Despite the mangled landing I was absolutely elated by the flight. And, I got it all on video, right?!!

Needless to say, I was so disappointed when I reviewed the "video" only to find it had captured my walk from setup to launch and that was it. :( Hence, the detailed flight report above. (I don't really blame CRV for the camera malfunction. I could swear I heard it beep too as it usually does when it starts filming.) Regardless, it was truly an amazing flight and I can't wait to do it again...only next time the standard landing approach will do just fine.

After a semi-quick retrieve I was on my way to Dunlap. The drive really wasn't that bad, 3 hours through scenic Sierra foothills. When I arrived there was Trey, Donnie and Stephan from the Marina crowd. Gerry P., Eric F., Eric C., Yotam, Paul C. and Victoria, as well as the Berkeley crowd. It was quite the happenin' scene. Not too mention the 20 or so paragliders there for an XC event. No worries for flying though because they generally got up high and went XC early on.

Sunday morning after a hearty breakfast at the local grill we headed up to launch, setup and waited for the first person to launch. Eric F. decided to go first and up he went. I hardly saw him at all the rest of the day. After I launched I struggled to the right of launch trying to scratch any lift from strong broken bubbles until finally I had to ditch my efforts and head south along the ridge. Once over the winding dirt road I finally caught something that carried me almost to cloudbase. I managed maintain altitude back and forth, North and South of launch but it was much more work than it should have been. Finally at cloudbase just North of launch I headed for Sampson only to have lost most of my altitude and found myself scrambling to find lift. Usually, there's abundant lift at a certain point in from of Sampson but it just wasn't working for me. So, I returned to in front of launch and aggressively worked any bubbles I could find. Again, I ended up scratching south of launch above that dirt road. I did get back above launch a few times but never back to cloudbase or Sampson. Meanwhile, Gerry P. and Eric F. were long gone. At one point I could see them circling together above Delilah and then Gerry radioed they were on their way to Bear Mountain. Way to go, I thought, and satisfied by just over an hour flight and reaching cloudbase, I decided to head for the LZ. Maybe I could eeek out some thermal above the last chance hill. Once over last chance hill I realized I was with several other pilots all trying to coordinate landing approaches if lift wasn't in the cards. So, I decided to do my patented spiral dive, a few 360's to lose altitude quick and come in first. Nailed it, perfect landing, 5 feet from the spot with a beautiful flare. That felt good! None of it on video because I didn't even bother with cameras. I'm over it.

Eric F. and Gerry P. made it to Bear Mtn. Gerry turned back in order to land at the ranger station and Eric, sans radio, ventured as far as he could towards Fresno. He made it a whopping 18 miles! Nice job!

All in all a great weekend full of useful flying experience and great friends.

ACP send off at Mission Cloudbase

2011-05-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday, May 6 & 7, were my days to fly this week. The routine, in my head anyway, is to check the conditions at several local sites, Marina, Waddell, Funston, Mission, Ed Levin...not necessarily in that order. (I always lean toward Waddell as the preferred flying site for some reason. Although, recently I've had some awesome airtime at Marina as well.) So, my flying routine began late Thursday night with a check on multiple websites showing similar strong west conditions. Marina was looking to be the best. Friday morning the conditions started to favor Waddell or so my heart was telling me. Indecisively, I saddled up the Bronco with both the RamAir and the Litespeed just in case I ended up at Marina. I've tried to fly the Litespeed at Marina before and it's just too big and fast to launch off the dunes. The RamAir is much better suited for scratching the dunes and the Litespeed is much better suited for Waddell. If the conditions were just a tad more favoring towards Funston then I wouldn't need to bring any gliders because I keep a Litespeed in the clubhouse. Yes, my quiver is full.

Naturally, I ended up heading to Funston and not needing anything at all because when I arrived to see 4 set up gliders in the process of breaking down I decided to head home myself. Bummer. I heard through the grapevine that Marina was too Southy and Waddell was blownout as well as Funston. So, I called it a night and prepared for Saturday. Must fly! Back to the routine...check conditions...wake up...prep truck...decide on...........

Funston! Looking good, I thought I was going to drive by Waddell on my way to Funston but by 9am Waddell was reporting 6-19mph already. Straight to Funston, I could see gliders set up and the windsock looked good. Made a few calls and was confident it would be nice! When I arrived, Mr. Valley was there to report lumpy conditions. It was obviously leeside shear going on with potential of greatness later in the day. I decided to hangout for a couple hours and went ahead and set up the glider. After about a half hour or so I just wanted to get into the air and feel it for myself. CRV had flown for about 15 minutes and landed to report that it was subpar for his ACP tastes. My tastes aren't as sensitive so I thought I would have some fun while no one else was in the air. I had a great launch and a nice workout for my shoulders. It was definitely lumpy. However, there were moments of pure smooth air up high. Determined to get in some airtime I headed to Westlake to see how the higher altitude would treat me. ...it was more of the same...smooth moments but mostly lumpy air. Back to the parking launch for a ACP landing and eventual breakdown of the glider. It just didn't seem like the shear would make it to land and my gut told me it would do what I call the Waddell dance where the wind, fog, and shear come in, and fade out, and come in, and fade out, back and forth all day long. Chris and I along with Urs and Dirk decided to pack it up and give Mission a go.

Mission! Yes, this was the place to be! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, cloudbase was fluctuating betwween a couple hundred and 1000' above launch. We waited and waited until I just couldn't take it any longer and I launched pretty much knowing I would be skimming the bottom of the cloudsuck until I was forced to land at the parking lot LZ.

The best moment of my flying weekend was ACP CRV's send off Mission launch...watch the video...

Launch at Funston...

Landing at Funston...

Thanks to Chris, Robert, Urs, Dirk... I love this sport and the people who eat, sleep, breathe hang gliding. Long live ACPs!

McClure! Pink panties, Golden Eagles, Cloudbase...

2011-04-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was determined to start the weekend off with a bang on Friday by cutting out of work early and heading to my favorite flying site, Waddell Creek, or possibly the backup plan of Marina or Funston. All these decisions were made for me one by one. First, I raced home, 2 minutes away from work, packed the glider on the truck and headed on highway 17 south towards Santa Cruz. I could make the decision of Waddell vs. Marina in the 40 minutes I had to get there. Unfortunately, the freeway was a parking lot at the intersection of 17 and 85. And, since 85 heads to Funston...hmm, I thought "Oaky, new plan...head to Funston". Not more than 5 minutes up 85 the truck starts sputtering and telling me it wants to turn around and go home. :( Sadly, I listened to him and went home, called the repair shop and promptly took him over to be assessed. He's still at the shop and I'm not really in a big hurry because I don't know when I can use him next for flying anyway.

The new plan? ...prepare the BMW for a trip to McClure... arrive in style and mooch off of other's 4x4s to get to launch... Thanks to Carm & Bob and Robert and Will and KM and Glen and hmm, thank you everyone!

I needed a weekend entire to myself, about me and nothing but me. So, I decided to head to McClure based on my own analysis of the weekend conditions, not influenced by the fact that my friends were headed there as well. (Only, some decided not to show up. You know who you are...Ryan, Chris, Doug, Etc.) Fortunately, I got to meet Ann (Fawkes) from Belgium and stay in Glen's hang gliding hooch (thanks Glen!) rather than pay $22 just to camp (read: sleep in my car). Unfortunately, my eyes burned out of there sockets as Noman wore pink panties the entire time in the LZ. He wears pink panties but cooks some mean McClure meat nuggets.

Saturday was epic flying with so many gliders in the air. I think there was 8 to 10 of us all trying to core thermals together. I may have even had a few close calls. My traffic flying experience is limited to ridge soaring and at times it seemed chaotic in the air. No worries though. Loads of fun and made for an exciting flight. At the same time, I was really able to explore the area like I never have before. Making it over to Schwill and towards Horseshoe further than my past flights. Other pilots topped out around 4800' while I was only able to reach about 3700'. Plenty to enjoy the day and discover new ground/air. And, oh, what a view from up there!

Sunday's flight... I'm still coming down off my high from yesterday despite the hang waiting we had to do. Five of us were driven up to the top, (thanks Bob & Carm!), and left to set up our gliders and wait out the rain. At first, conditions looked to be building perfectly but soon it became too developed and dumped rain on us for a solid 30 minutes. When it looked to be clearing, Bob headed down in the truck, our only ride down if we ended up not being able to launch. :/ ...which didn't seem to be needed when we saw through the rain on the other side were some beautiful popcorn shaped cumulus. Unfortunately, the wind was little or nothing on launch and of the little wind it was over the back. We couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on because the rain had passed and the clouds were definitely moving from the West but there were zero cycles blowing up the hill. All I can think is that the ground was too wet for thermals to be forming. So, as soon as there was a single puff of thermal coming up launch KM flew, scratched the southern point and momentarily hooked a thermal taking him above launch. Ten minutes later he was on the ground. The same with Will and then Terry and Robert. I was last but after assisting Robert launch I put on my gear and decided not to hook up my radio and use my camelback. No need, I was just going down to the LZ, right? Not the case...as I stood on launch, hooked in, ready to go, the cycles died, cloud shadow covered the valley in front of launch, and wind began blowing over the back. I waited and waited for a single cycle to come through. Ten minutes later my feet left the ground and as soon as I was in the rising air I fell right out the falls on the backside. Easily lost a couple hundred feet and head towards the LZ, away from the hill. But wait! I hooked into a thermal and cored it once, twice, three times...and suddenly I was above launch and going up up up! I kept going until I felt the cloud, a huge developing cell above launch, suck me up! I reached 4000' in a manner of a few minutes and have never heard my vario scream that way before. Oh what a glorious, and frightening, sound.

I only have a few flights where I've been able to play with cloudsuck and this was one of the stronger times and it spooked me. I'm sure I flew conservatively because I headed away from the clouds before I felt the whispies underneath, light rain on my visor. It was time to explore and head to another cloud. I was also trying to figure out the prevailing direction because the clouds were apparently moving from the NWest and my vario indicated from the SW. I was convinced it felt like SW headwinds and decided I would fly out over the lake and then towards Horsehoe. Meanwhile, my vario was beeping UP UP UP the entire way. As soon as I turned around I was in a stiff NW wind and my glide ratio even at full VG was maybe to the LZ which look like a 6 to 1 slope. On the way to the LZ I spotted 2 Golden Eagles circling below me and decided to follow suit. This took me back up to 4800', looking down at the bottom of the clouds around me, the whispies dragging underneath. Magical. A few minutes later I saw another Golden Eagle circling on my left wing and we cored a thermal together, eye to eye. Heaven!

Fully satisfied and kicking myself for not using my radio or my camelback (my mouth was sooo dry), I headed towards the LZ and spiralled in for a hot landing typical of the likes of CRV, the best flaring pilot I know. (Did I say "flaring"? I meant "flaming")

Wonderful weekend! John is satisfied. John can't wait to fly McClure again. John will dominate wherever he flies.

2011 Ed Levin Speed Glide

2011-03-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

Soaring was had by all. What a fantastic weekend of flying!

...beginning with Waddelll...
I was able to start the weekend early with a relatively decent 1 hour flight at Waddell on Friday after cutting out of work early. :) This always makes me happy. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to break the 600-700 foot ceiling of major spank on the back ridge and due to the tsunami warnings the beach was closed with park rangers patrolling the area. This meant if I had to make an emergency landing on the beach I might be cited...at least that's what was going through my head each time I flew to the back ridge. On the upside I got to fly for an hour and had a perfect top landing. That's a great feeling!

...on to Ed Levin and Mission...
Saturday morning, bright and early, we met at Mission Soaring Center in Milpitas for a 7am pilots meeting. Then on to the top of the mountain where this year it was clear and beautiful. (Last year the fog stayed down low and prevent a second day of flying.)
I decided to enter the kingpost class this year flying my Wills Wing RamAir 154 for several reasons. 1) it's just so much fun to fly! 2) There's no chance of me even placing in the open class on my 82 lbs. Litespeed 5 and 3) because it's just so much fun to fly!

Here's some video taken by event coordinator Chris Valley at the start gate...

After getting in one speed run and one just for fun, Saturday, we headed to Mission and Lindsay was able to tandem fly with Ben. They soared for 30 minutes and I did as well never getting much higher than 200' above launch. Wayne and Eric managed to soar all over the place getting at least 1500' above launch.

Sunday, we were back at it...8am in the LZ and 8:45 at launch, ready to go. The pilots meeting determined that the conditions would alter the course slightly. No altitude control at any of the gates and the last gate would be over the 300' hill in order to allow for safe landings. Good call. It was clearly an active day already but we were intent on getting in at least one speed run. I am very pleased by both of my speed gliding flights, one on Sat and one on Sun, and had an extra treat of an hour long soaring flight Sunday after the awards ceremony. Which, by the way, I won first place in the kingposted class. Woohoo!

Special thanks to Chris Valley and Brian Foster for being awesome guys, pilots and event coordinators. True ACP style.

Here are some photos of the weekend's activities...

Marginal Mark shows us his best move.

Marginal Mark at the last gate, taking times and watching the course.

Ed Levin LZ full of happy pilots.

Doug K. and Mark have a chat about what else...hang gliding.

Robert Booth is ready to fly! He went on to dominate the sky with a nearly 3 hr soaring flight after the speed glide was over. Way to go!

Hey! That's me! ...accepting the award for 1st place - kingpost class. So exciting!

Lindsay shows us multiple fingerbangs after a 30 minute soaring flight with Ben Dunn

Handshakes all around after an incredible afternoon soaring session.

Brian and Chris showing us his landing approach technique...dive it in and stick it!

Eric Froehlich and his beautiful blue T2C

Jim Hillman - photographer extraordinaire. He took some great photos on Saturday...click here. If you download his photos for $5 each all of the proceeds go to the Susan G. Koman foundation. He has been working hard to raise his goal of $32k this year. Way to go!

I title this one "Ben"

Brian and Chris presenting awards.

My ACP Litespeed...so pretty.

Chief and Star walk the LZ

Doug...almost as big as his glider.

ACPs represent!

Diev calls it!

Dirk and Ben thrilled to be on the ground. *sarcasm*

Lindsay and Ben are ecstatic about yet another tandem flight!

Me and my award for 1st place. Did I mention I won an award? ...1st place - kingposted class.

Robert Booth, definitely the sky god this weekend!

Ryan's pre-birthday soaring at Marina.

2010-11-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Mother nature delivered a present today... West winds 15-20 all day for fellow ACP Ryan's pre-39th birthday! It turned out to be a well deserved albeit chilly day at Marina. Ryan, Doug, Lee, Brian, Ben, Nile and I dominated the 6 mile stretch of dunes from Marina to Sand City. And a glorious sunset to top it off... HaPpY BiRthDaY Ryan!

I love my Ram Air...

Niles and Jessica with big, post-soaring, smiles...

ACP Brian calls it before a flight...

ACP Ryan enjoys a birthday beer after a long day of soaring the dunes...

ACP Brian is happy to see me...

Yes, that's Brian running in the middle of the photo. He was trying to be in every frame off the panorama but the camera was too smart and only recorded him once...

Slayin' It! ACP Newsletter debut

2010-09-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Today is a glorious day! The birds are singing, the bees are humming, and the Official ACP Newsletter, Slayin' It!, is available (www.acecomppilot.com)! Yes, as essential as the birds and the bees, Slayin' It! will bring to the hang gliding community great pleasure. With each and every article there will be an ounce of common sense to guide all future ACPs as well as existing ACPs into a new era of pure ACP bliss. So, come with us and enjoy the pretty colors...

Slayin it! Yosemite style. (including ACP apology)

2010-09-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Before I describe in detail how I slayed it this weekend, Yosemite style, I need to apologize to my ACP brethren/groupies. It's been 3+ months since my last blog entry and despite some good flights here and there I've neglected to report on my adventures due to the overwhelming sense that this season has been sub-par. Here's a brief summary of some of the less than epic flights had during this season as well as some of the better ones:

June, July, August:
Dunlap - 3 or 4 trips beginning early June. Hammered sled rides due to broken thermals or winds splitting the ridge from the North. Fast landings resulted in whacks nearly every landing. "Yet again!" was my common mantra after my feet/knees hit the ground over and over.

Funston - Took forever to turn on even vaguely consistent with the seasonal Spring winds. I spent many nights after work or even cutting out of work early only to arrive at Funston in marginal conditions. Marginal is good enough for Mr. Lilledahl but Mr. Taylor has been called a "conservative pilot" and doesn't quite have the ACP cajones to slay the Funston ridge in light winds. I mean, come on guys...my glider weighs 82.5 lbs. and I hook in at a whopping 245 lbs without my bags packed in the harness. Need I say more? The flip side of the inconsistent conditions is that I was able to fly in broken shears on 3 occasions making John a happy boy.

Waddell - Nearly every week I would either get skunked or spooked by showing up at Waddell after work or on a lazy weekend. If I was lucky I could scrape in 20 minutes on the bluff and embarrass myself with a poison oak top landing. Let me tell you...there were never any ACP groupies popping out of the iceplant to make it worth my while.

Ed Levin - Yes, I tried to slay Ed Levin this season on several occasions. Each resulting in possibly "extended" sled rides. (Whoopee! Write a blog about it! ...I don't think so.) Still it was good to get back to the brown hills of Milpitas. There's something to standing on the top of the mountain at the south end of the bay that is very satisfying.

Owen's Valley - This was my first trip to the Owen's and I was extremely nervous. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you view it, this trip turned into a half trip to Dunlap before flying the Owen's. Sure it was tons of fun hangin' out with the ACP brothers, Chris and Brian, but the first day Dunlap was, again, ridge splitting, washing machine hell. The second day proved more promising and I found myself reaching new boundaries for myself by flying to Sampson and Delilah before whacking "yet again" in Dan's LZ. I do love that place! The latter half of that 4 day weekend I was unable to sleep/rest good enough to really enjoy my flight. The conditions were less than epic and I found myself landing out with Chris V. basically in front of launch down by the lakebed. Oh boy! My Owen's XC flight amount to less than 5 miles. (On the up side, my landing was spot on and truly felt ACP worthy.) I chose not to fly the 2nd day at the Owen's because my body told me so. (ACP judgement kicked in and I decided to slay the Owen's by driving for the ACP brothers thereby appeasing the ACP gods so I may once again wear the ACP logo proudly) [Yes, I was trying to use "ACP" as much as possible in that sentence. Try it! It's fun!]

Slide Mtn. - I don't remember much from this weekend. Oh yeah, I was able to get one day at Slide that weekend but, there was no flying to be had. We were introduce to a relatively new site NW of Slide Mountain, Rainbow, and the LZ in a suburban park which happens to be right next to a sports bar and grill. Not a bad place to land. Unfortunately, only one person launched and got drilled to the bailout. I didn't even bother setting up.

Hat Creek/Lakeview - This was an interesting turn of events. I was asked to go fly Makapu'u, Hawaii and almost figured out the logistics with the help of my sister's flight miles and several ACP buddies with contacts out on the isles. However, after realizing that it was the Lakeview fly-in over 4th of July weekend and fellow ACP Doug was turning 50 with several of his friends joining him at Lakeview, I decided I couldn't miss out on that!
(Side note: For those of you who don't know Doug K. He's an honorary ACP who grew up essentially teaching himself to fly and eventually found himself flying with the Moyes boys in SoCal and the world. Not only does he have some kick ass stories about flying way back when but he's a wealth of knowledge for flying in any conditions. We met Waddell one day a couple years ago when he mentioned he was selling his Litespeed 5. I asked to test fly it (we weigh about the same). Hooked in and flew it with the greatest of ease and will forever be a Moyes boy at heart due to his mentoring at Waddell and beyond. Thanks Doug!)
So, of course, a hang gliding trip to Lakeview, OR, from the Bay Area, must begin with a stop at Hat Creek which was another site I had not yet flown and was anxious to experience the legendary "glass off" conditions. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any spare downtubes. Enough said. ...After a raucous flight (in I think ridge splitting air again. Different site but same result) I barely made the bailout LZ getting tossed left and right all the way to the ground where I had a wicked landing. The video has since been destroyed because I was so embarrassed by the lack of ACP skill shown on my part that day. Bummer I didn't have a spare downtube but the weekend had started and I was closer to Lakeview than anywhere else. So, I continued on up to, at least, hang out with the legendary Ryan Goebel and his girlfriend, Mele, not to mention birthday boy Doug and friends. Sadly, my sleeping/camping habits caught up with me again and I didn't feel well enough to fly even if I had fixed my broken downtube. Thank you Mele! (and Ryan) for taking care of me that weekend. (They got me soup and rocked me to sleep that afternoon). As it turned out we had 3 spare downtubes that would have sufficed until I tried to replace it and found the joint at the keel had broken too much to be comfortable with just a replaced downtube. All in all it was a good experience meeting new people and seeing new flying sites. I drove for some of the pilots but the conditions were less than epic so there wasn't much driving involved. Did I say "not much driving involved"? After watching the fireworks at 9-10pm I got in my car and drove home...through the night with very few stops! The next day on my way home I stopped at Mission Soaring Center (even though they were closed) and Stacey let me purchase the joint parts/downtube I needed to become flyable again on the Moyes Litespeed.

Yosemite - June trip to Yosemite was miserable. Yosemite Falls was gushing and that made the valley floor WET! The LZ was flooded which meant no flying. To top it off ACP Brian F. and ACP Chris V. forced me to hike to the top of Yosemite falls in lieu of flying off Glacier point. Essentially, exchanging the most serene, surreal and satisfying flight with one of the most excruciating hikes I have ever been on. I was literally crawling at the top of the trail while Brian and Chris were prancing around with ACP Diev like little school girls video taping the wonderous Yosemite experience. (Alright, the best part of this trip of playing with the RC helicopter and staying at the condo in Yosemite West. "ACP has it's privileges".

Funston Air Races - Now, I don't know exactly why but, I am very into the Dan Murphy memorial BBQ at Fort Funston. I didn't know Dan Murphy personally but I feel a connection to the hang gliding community at Funston more so than any other site. Perhaps it's because I remember visiting Funston as a child. Regardless, the pilots are eclectic and very experienced in coastal flying. There is a lot to be learned just hanging out at Funston. Of course, I should mention that it's a weekend then I tend to stop and Waddell to check conditions prior to heading to Funston. The weekend of the Annual Fort Funston Air Races/Dan Murphy Memorial BBQ was no exception. In fact, Waddell appeared to be near perfection. I set up and flew for 30 minutes in ultra smooth air not getting very high on the back ridge but enjoying every breath while racing cars on highway 1, zooming (stalling and diving over and over), spiraling to show off to the beach goers and of course completing the flight with an ACP executed top landing (crabbing from the coastal side and setting down gently on the runway). Now there's a flight I review in my head on a nightly basis. I love Waddell! Oh yeah, and then I drove up to Funston, setup the glider super quick in order to run off launch by the 2pm race window closing, scraped the lower bluff like never before in an attempt to actually get in a good speed run, landed and ate BBQ before getting in another flight which turned out to be a mild shear at Westlake and the first time I have ever flown as far as the pier in Pacifica. That was a good day and I should have blogged about it... So...

I apologize to my ACP brethren and all the groupies out there hiding in the iceplant. We know you're there! And, I promise to continue this blog on an adventure by adventure basis and to abide by the ACP founding father's motto: "Act Tough, Talk Big". Anyone can fly but can you say you slayed it?

Slayin it! Yosemite style!
Oh man, I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to this weekend! The best part was that all the stars aligned and I felt on top of my game from the drive out to Yosemite to the early morning wakey wakey to get setup and off Glacier Point in regulatory time. Honestly, my nerves had been eating away at me ever since before flying at the Owen's Valley. There's something about the phrase "high altitude landing zone" that really eats away at me. Remember all those Dunlap "yet again" landings? However, I was fine at the Owen's and I know I have the skill to pull of a thin air landing but nevertheless it always comes up in the nightly ACP visualizing of past and future flights prior to any hang gliding trips. This trip was no exception. Even as I set up the glider atop Glacier Point my mind kept looping the video of landing too fast, not holding the flare and ending up on my knees. ACPs don't do that! They We are perfect! You'll have to watch the video but, I am so proud of myself landing the Wills Wing RamAir, which has incredible performance/glide/energy retention. I think I probably could have landed the 82.5 lbs. Litespeed with similar results. Yes, I landed on my knees but, I was laughing and elated at such a wonderful flight. There is truly nothing more spectacular than flying, scratch that, hang gliding from Glacier Point to the valley floor. There will most definitely be more trips to Yosemite.

Thanks go to ACP Chris and Brian who, through constant sarcasm and innuendo, make hang gliding FUN! (Side note: ACP Ryan showed up late, forced his girlfriend to drive, camp under a floodlight next to the bathroom, spilled coffee on her and then moved on to Dunlap for God knows what. (I make fun of Ryan but he slayed Yosemite flying Chris' old Saturn, ACP style. Way to go!)

Some photos from Yosemite...

Mission to fly

2010-05-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Another weekend of unknown flying destination as of Friday evening. That didn't stop me from preparing the truck with camping and flying gear rarin' to go anywhere within a 200 mile radius. Woke up Saturday morning and made the standard calls to gather information from fellow ACPs as well as checking the typical online site forecasts. This time the decision was Mission!

Other than the site intro I had last year as a sledder, the few times I've flown Mission since then has turned out to be epic for me. Saturday was no exception. In fact it was a great prep for flying the Owens this coming Memorial Day weekend (if the weather cooperates). The thermals were rowdy and big and the cloud suck made it difficult to come down... in a good way. I had visualized being a Sky God, on top of the stack, and there were a few moments when I was... But, the real Sky God came out to play. Eric F. ventured south XC and ended up landing all the way out at Casa de Fruita! Now that's what I call a Sky God! Way to go Eric! I was happy maxing out at just over 5k and having a solid one hour flight.

Sunday was a bit different. No clouds in the sky and only a handful of fellow ACPs who missed the previous day's flying. We were all hopeful that a few puffs would develop amidst the strong Northy wind but... no. That didn't stop us from setting up and getting in a good hour or so. I think I topped out around 3600 feet. This time the Sky God was ACP Ryan who not only went XC but made it as far as Casa de Levin. Way to go Ryan! After his retrieve, which pretty much took up the rest of the mid-afternoon we celebrated at the local El Toritos... ACP style... Macho Combo, beer and, of course, paparazzi.

Here are a few shots of Sky Gods...

Dirk, Wayne and Abishek? all sporting yellow and black like a swarm of bees.

ACP Chris... preflight pray for lift...

ACP Doug - Purple Sky God...

ACP Dirk on launch...

Nothing sexier than a bunch of hang gliding racks backed up by little puffy clouds and a filled windsock...

ACP Chris - Double finger-bang...

Mission to fly...

ACP Brian and his finely tuned wing, er, he thinks...

ACPs invade Dunlap and shear it up at Funston

2010-05-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently, flying Dunlap three times in the last month wasn't enough. Friday night's decision was based partially on the good experiences I've had there recently and partially on being slightly burnt out on the coastal flying or lack thereof. Don't get me wrong, Waddell Creek is still the most beautiful place on the planet to fly but after some raucous airtime and multiple bouts with poison oak it's time to head to the mountains.

Dan Flemming is the gracious host of the LZ at Dunlap and allowed dozens of pilots, both PG and HG, to camp for the weekend and enjoy some fat air in the surrounding mountains. A big portion of the Bay Area gang showed up too... Walter, Chris, Charlie, Ian, Paul, Eric, Brian and even Doug from the Waddell Creek gang. Doug's last visit to Dunlap was about 20 years ago prior to our previous trip a couple weekends ago. Me thinks he likes it again. I know I do! And, this time I had truly one of my best flights there so far. I was able to stay up for essentially as long as I wanted, about an hour and a half, and explore some of the peaks I've not been able to reach on prior attempts. Oh yeah, I'm goin' back for more as soon as I can.

Unfortunately, Sunday, the storm front came in and shutdown the site. But...you know us pilots... As I was heading back home I was calling anyone and everyone to find out conditions at other sites, Ed Levin, Mission, Funston. I was even considering going back to Waddell just for a little taste of airtime. Fortunately, I, and most of the rest of the gang, made it all the way back up to Fort Funston just in time to squeak in a few hours in what turned out to be one of the season's best shears! I was able to get at least 1500' over Westlake for an hour in buttery smooth air. At one point I let go of the basetube, rested my head gently on the control bar and took a nap. No worries, I woke up in Pacifica and turned back. Seriously though, I made several passes with zero input on the control frame. That's how smooth the air was!

Below are some pics from Dunlap. Good times!

The elusive ACP

2010-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

Official ACP members have always existed and up until now were part of a secret society only the privileged belonged to. "Talk Sh!t, Act Tough!" is their motto and rightly so. You don't want to mess with an ACP member. They have the most expensive and exotic gear, the kind you find only on a different continent, they are living legends in the hang gliding community, they'll out fly you, and most importantly out talk you. You'll know when you've met one of them.

Recently the ban on this secret society was lifted and the ACP was born once more. Official ACP stickers are in production (see below) and will be issued in the usual manner... the secret hand shake.

2010 Speed Gliding event at Ed Levin

2010-02-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I had to wake up around 5am to get ready for the pilots meeting scheduled for 7am at Mission Soaring Center in Milpitas. You'd think I would be excited but instead I was super nervous. Not sure why. I've got about 500 flights under my belt now and enough experience to feel confident in most flying conditions. So, the weather conditions weren't making me nervous. The fact that I would be competing, albeit friendly and really just for the fun of it, with some stellar pilots was stirring butterflies in my belly. To most of my family and friends the following names and photos don't mean a whole lot but to me these are celebrities amongst hang glider pilots. The best part of an event like this is rubbing elbows and gaining valuable experience from some very accomplished pilots. (click on their names below to see their blogs). It was an honor to compete and "hang" out with these guys.

So, Saturday turned out to be perfect. Everyone got two rounds of flying in, averaging about 1:45 minutes from launch to landing, 1750' difference. I was very proud of both my launches and landings but, my speed gliding left a lot to be desired. On my first flight, as I approached the start gate I decided to take it diagonally in anticipation of the next turnpoint and ended up clipping the left post (a 20' high, 1" diameter PVC with streamers) with my left wing. It was no cause for concern as my hang glider is an 82 lbs. beast and would probably slice through a brick wall without making me yaw. But, I was DQ'd for that run. On my second flight I flew through the start gate much more perpendicular and centered but had difficulty diving down to make the next gate at the 600' hill which cost me valuable time. I learned so much and can't wait to do it again next year!

Below are some shots taken by Jim Hillmann...a really good photographer who devoted his whole day to hiking the hills and documenting the first speed gliding competition at Ed Levin in a decade. Thanks Jim! Here's a link to his gallery of all the shots he took. Below are my select fav's...

Thanks to everyone who made this event possible. So much fun!! See for yourself...

Group photo atop Ed Levin

Setting up Saturday morning with the fog still in the valley

Launching 1

Launching 2

Wayne Michelson

Brian Foster

Ben Dunn

Eric Froelich

Me!

Flying through the entry gate

Flying through the start gate

Turn point 2

Flying from the 1200' hill towards the 600' hill

Flying through the 300' gate

Flying through the last gate in the landing zone

Jason

Mary

Dirk

Brett

Ben Dunn

JB and Chris

Noman's incredible trophy creations

Where to fly...

2010-01-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday, check weekend weather for speed glide event at Ed Levin...cancelled, postponed 'til Feb. 6th, 7th. :(
Friday night...check conditions for Saturday morning.
Consult with fellow pilots. Consensus is to fly Mt. Tam.
Saturday morning, consult with pilots heading to Tam due to high tide concerns at Stinson beach LZ.
Check roads at Ed Levin...closed.
Briefly consider Big Sur...same effort as getting to Tam. Decide to head to Waddell.

Waddell, 11:30am, conditions too light to soar the bluff but potential for later in the day. Clouds overdeveloping above the beach/bluff/valley. Ryan and I drive to Davenport to call around and reconsider the day's best bet for flying. End up having a beer after finding out Tam is fogged in, Funston is too light. We discuss potential rogue launches south of Waddell and scout Swanton Rd. before seeing David Simms drive by on his way to Waddell.

3pm, we head back to Waddell because there's nothing better to do. David is setting up his Falcon. Conditions are better, almost soarable. We set up, launch, and spend at least an hour sharing the bluff, maxing out at about 250'. Ben Dunn shows up with his sis, Jess and promptly sets up his Tandem Falcon. Ryan scrapes out a top landing and Ben launches the Tandem solo. We share the bluff for 15 minutes until Ben top lands and picks up Jess. I decide to top land despite the scratching conditions and pull of a perfect corkscrew landing approach :) Ben takes Jess for a spin, her second flight in 5 years. Meanwhile, David continues to soar for a total of 1 hr 45 mins, and pulls off his first top landing! Way to go!

Celebratory brews were afterwards in Davenport. (see photos below) (Sorry, David, I had to photoshop you into the group photo. Ryan, what can I say...your head was in the way.)

Wintertime Flying

2009-11-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been pathetic when it comes to flying conditions. I've been out to Waddell Creek as much as any other time of the year and gotten tossed around way more than usual. This past Saturday was an exception. Fully intending to just stop by and look at the beauty that is Waddell Creek then drive south to Marina and possibly soar the dunes, I drove out Bonny Doon road to the coast and immediately saw whitecaps on the ocean. That's typically a good sign if you want to soar the coast. When I arrived at Waddell the wind was out of the Northwest at about 15-20MPH. Another good sign. It could have been a little more West to really make my mouth water. I setup my glider nonetheless around 11:30am and took to the air around 12pm. The wind was strong and not all that lifty and for an hour I flirted with the birds and tourists who stop along highway 1 and sometimes honk their horn. Saturday turned out to be a pleasant day of Wintertime flying.

Sunday was different. I decided to head to Ed Levin park in Milpitas as the wind was expected to be out of the Southwest at 5-15MPH. Lots of other pilots showed up and we headed up the hill while the top was just touching cloudbase. When we got to the top the clouds had come down a bit. We waited it out for a good 30-45 minutes before anyone began setting up. I was 3rd or 4th off and it was clearly only going to be an extended slide run kind of day. Fun despite expectations of epic soaring. My Ram Air is a sweet ride and I fully enjoyed my first mountain type landing with a long, fast final approach and good flare. Eric Froelich took the shot below making me look like a superstar! Thanks! Next time I'll practice a speed run in preparation for the WOR comp in January. :)

Turning 40 in Yosemite

2009-09-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

This was the year I turned forty. Oh yeah. What better way than to launch myself off Glacier Point in Yosemite for the first time? I arrived Friday afternoon and was able to grab a campsite along with John Simpson and Leah at Bridalveil Creek, more than halfway up Glacier Point Rd. This was more important than you may think because Saturday morning I had to get up bright and early to make it to launch in time for the highly regulated launch window.

After settling in at camp I knew I needed to check out the LZ but I also was hoping to bump into my family who had planned to be there for my first flight. Fortunately, they knew to drive up to the campsite and we'd eventually find each other. It was getting late and we thought we'd find the landing zone field but it turned out we were way off. To be honest, I was more concerned about consuming the cheesecake my mom brought than where the landing zone was. It pays to watch all those Yosemite hang gliding videos to know where the LZ is from the air and I wasn't too nervous about finding it since Chief was the first to launch and land, placing his glider in plain view at the LZ. It was truly an honor to fly with Chief on his 301st flight in Yosemite alone! It was also awesome being greeted by him and my family as I was second to launch and land on Saturday. Chief's wife brought out the champagne and we all celebrate the momentous occasion. It was a perfect 40th birthday. So much fun! I'll let the video below speak for the flight itself. In a word...SPECTACULAR! This will definitely be a yearly event if not more often. :)

Fort Funston Air Races/BBQ 2009

2009-08-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Had fun this weekend at the annual Fort Funston BBQ/Air Races. Lots of people showed up despite the light wind conditions and many of us landed on the beach. Thankfully, I squeeked out my speed run to Westlake and back in just under 10 mins. My personal best. It was also my lowest flying at the fort...only about 50' above the beach for most of the trek south to Westlake and when I got down there I had to make an extra pass to climb up above the turn-around flag. Dirk won the king-posted division with his 8 minute lap and Enzo on his Ferrari of gliders took the topless division with a little over 6 minutes. That's fast!

Below are a few shots taken by my buddy Derron who drove all the way from San Luis Obispo to hang out. Thanks Derron!

St. John fly-in 2009

2009-08-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

August 8 & 9 - St. John fly-in

Arrived at the main St. John LZ, Mary's place, around 10am with Ryan, shortly followed by Chris and Joe ready to head on up to launch. There were also some other familiar faces...Karl, Monte, Mike & Bob to name a few. The valley was filled with a smokey haze, no doubt from the fires near Hat Creek. We thought this might put a damper on the soaring conditions but wouldn't know until we were in the air of course.

St. John is huge! Launch at 6300', valley floor is around 1200'. I was intimidated by the bailout LZs which weren't that easy to get to from the air or the road. The rest of the valley was pretty usable once you were able to get up to about 9000'. We watched several rigid wings take off and get up high then disappear to the north on task. The task was pilots choice of XC as far as you could go or out and return where the return leg was double the points. I opted to stick to my plan of launching, soaring and landing without killing myself. However, once I was in the air I was able to follow Ryan and Joe around to get up to 9000' and decided to head north myself. Woohoo, my first XC! In reality I was just following Joe along the ridge searching for some lift but couldn't find another thermal I could stay in. Gradually I headed into the valley and away from the thermal producing mountains hoping to find thermals over the dry fields. Down I went and had to decide on a landing spot. That was the most nerve racking part... not knowing where I was going to land until the time came to land. Fortunately, as I began to head into the valley the first big field was a ranch that had an attached airstrip. Very convenient. There was even a windsock. Of course, I didn't see it until my final approach and came in slightly downwind...broke a downtube despite an otherwise sweet landing.

Sunday I hung out at launch and video taped launches before heading down the mountain in anticipation of the afternoon BBQ. Yummy food along with swag. I picked myself up a couple of vintage posters and a sailplane keychain/bottle opener. Woohoo!

Below is the video of several launches and plenty of photos of the event. Good times!

St. John launches fly-in 2009 from John Taylor on Vimeo.

Waddell turns on for Newbie in a rotor...

2009-08-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been about a month since I've flown Waddell Creek. Mainly because the last time I flew there I got my ass handed to me and it scared me enough to take a break. Today was pure bliss. The ceiling didn't get very high, about 700' when I was in the air. Later on Dirk got to around 1000'. We took to the air around noon and spent an hour playing around. The video below shows our interaction on the back ridge. Plenty of sweet air to be had with mild punishment compared with previous Waddell experiences. Brian Spyksma, Steve Cahill and Harry Bircher showed up too. Harry and Steve enjoyed some high altitude flights even though the fog filled in pretty thick. Brian opted to move on to Funston for a more comfortable flight. All in all it turned out to be a great day.

The fog put on a show for us across the beach and along the bluff...

Newbie in a Rotor from John Taylor on Vimeo.

Fun Foggy Funston

2009-07-30T19:13:00.001-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been a whole lot of foggy fun at Fort Funston. Each night last week I was able to get up there after work and get in at least a couple of hours depending on the fog of course. On a few of the nights the ceiling was playing with us by filling in maybe 50' above launch but on other nights the ceiling lifted after 5pm and gave us a heavenly sky to fly in. The video below is edited down from one flight that lasted a couple hours. The air was absolutely buttery smooth and made it extremely easy to fly in without any hands.

I decided to try a new view with the video camera out of curiosity and I think it turned out great! The camera was mounted on the keel facing backwards. At one point "Marginal Mark" sneaks up behind me to get himself fully framed and onto youtube. And, he flew as steady as can be even in my wake. Thanks for the cool clip Obi-wan!

Fun Foggy Funston from John Taylor on Vimeo.

Mission...to the moon... and being served and Waddell

2009-06-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

It was unknown where I'd end up flying this weekend. There was talk of heading to the mountains for a camping/flying adventure at either Indian Valley, Hull, Dunlap, Slide or McClure. However, due to the storms everywhere and percentage of bad flying conditions I decided to stay local and soar the usual haunts...Waddell Creek, Funston...oh, and this little place called Mission Peak.

Saturday morning, woke up, called around to get a sense for flying conditions and ended up at the Mission parking lot a little after 11am. Just in time to slap my glider on one truck and my bag and self in another. I don't like separating from my gear but if I was going to get a ride to the top I needed to be flexible. Fortunately, I got the front seat in Don Burns truck. It was good seeing him since the last time I saw him was as an H2 pilot launching Wild Cattle in Big Sur 2 years ago.

It was obviously going to be a good day. Popcorn clouds everywhere, wind blowing just the right direction and intensity. The first few pilots launched. Dave sunk out after scraping for thermals at launch. I think a flush cycle may have forced him down. However, Joe Jackson, Don Burns and others went sky high indicating that it was on! I was a little nervous as I had only flown at Mission once and it was sort of a sled ride to the lower LZ...which I was not looking forward to due to the tight area and the glide ratio on my new glider. I'm still getting used to it. I wasn't thrilled about the top landing either only because of my limited experience on the new glider and not having landed there before. Turns out it's pretty sweet! So, my turn to launch...see for yourself... (2 words: cloud base!)

Sunday was another great day of flying. This time at Waddell where the winds were full on and in the right direction for some real action. Having said that, it was too much for my overworked shoulders from the previous day thermalling at Mission. Ben Dunn, Ryan Goebel and Brian Foster tore up the sky. Ben and Ryan made it to the north cliffs and soared up another 1000'. I think Ben said he max'd out at 1900'. Impressive for Waddell in such crazy wind. Below are a few shots of Ryan landing on his new LiteSpeed and Ben showing us how it's supposed to be done. Fortunately, my landing looked closer to Ben's than Ryan's :P

Demo Days at Marina/Waddell

2009-04-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a huge success for despite demo days being so fickle and moving around due to the weather. I was planning on attending but there were better places to fly. Saturday I ended up at Marina and would have loved to have tested a U2 160 at Marina. We flew there most of the day and it was sweet air. Diver Dave put on the best show dune-gooning with some impressive sliders and bunny hop launches. See video below.

Sunday, the best place to demo gliders was Waddell. I showed up around 10am and got in the air around 10:30 and didn't come down until noon after exploring the canyon maintaining around 2000', well above the top of the back ridge. Ryan will tell you differently but he showed up around 10:15am talkin' smack about the poor soaring conditions and didn't even unpack his glider until I was 30 minutes into my flight and soaring the top of the back ridge. Fortunately, Doug showed up with his Lightspeed and then Dirk showed up after I let him know Waddell looked "pretty". From now on that's the code word for Waddell being soarable. :)

The lift machine was working brilliantly but what was even more amazing was the exploration factor. Typically, the wind is so northy that you're constantly trying to penetrate the wind and just take what you can get. But, today was buoyant all the way to the north cliffs and well out over the ocean and way into the canyon. I ended up spending most of my time in the canyon because it was unusually smooth with thermals bumping me up ever so gently. Alright, I'm exaggerating but, the thermals were not folding and spanking like some of the days with the lift machine over the point. I decided to come down partially because the air was so cold but also because I knew Doug was there to let me demo his Lightspeed. Oh boy! See video below.

After I came down and took a break I was ready to get back into the air on Doug's Lightspeed. My first observation was how well it handled on the ground just walking to launch. The thing weighs a ton (75lbs? compared to my 60lbs. Sport 2) and the wind just whips on by. I'm so used to my billowing Sport 2. On launch the Lightspeed felt like a Cadillac and after a few solid steps forward I rose into the air, zipped up, took a couple passes on the lower bluff then headed for the lift machine. Oh my god! It felt like butter. I pulled the VG another couple of pulls taking it to about half VG and the thing felt extremely stabile. Not to mention trim. I think Doug and I may be the exact weight because it was dialed in. Very little bar pressure. I could stall and dive and whip around, penetrate the northy wind, and race back over to the point. Thinking about it just now, it was like a dream. Needless to say, I'm buying it as soon as Doug's new Lightspeed arrives for him. You can't live too long without a glider, so I'm letting him keep it until his new one arrives. :) Thanks Doug!

Waddell crazy!

2009-04-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday turned on for Waddell in the most unusual way. I decided to show up around noon due to the forecasted delayed window. Typically, the conditions begin to be soarable around 11am until 2pm, later if you are willing to brave a rowdy launch and challenging air. Today, the launch window was pushed back several hours possibly because of thermals blocking the West winds trying to push their way in. White caps nearly everywhere, Seagulls soaring with ease, I was amazed the wind was light at best on launch from noon until 3pm when I finally launched.

Trey and Peter showed from the Big Sur crew shortly after noon and were even more optimistic than I was about the soarable light winds. As soon as the wind was showing 9-12mph Trey launched and soared the bluff for a solid 20 minutes, scraping until landing out on the beach. Peter joined him after several passes and I decided to hold out another hour or so. Around 2pm Doug and Bob showed up. Bob not as enthusiastic about the conditions and rightfully so. The standard windsock was doing it's normal inaccurate blowing around as well as the windsock I put up on the hill. The unusual part was that there was a ton of lift building up just out front of the bluff despite the NE windsocks. We knew this because of the R/C airplane guys soaring their planes and giving us feedback about the air.

Doug decided to launch and up, up and away he went. He top landed shortly after to allow me to test fly his Lightspeed but, the landing conditions were insane.Doug had the right idea of crabbing from the coastal side onto the deck while I opted for my typical over-the-lumber-yard-and-power-lines-death-dive-from-above which you will be able to see in the video below. I've never seen it quite so backwards on deck and didn't feel comfortable test flying the Lightspeed in these conditions. The video doesn't do the insane landing justice. As I dove through the wind gradient it turned to complete sink, where I dropped 20 feet in a heartbeat, and then "leveled out" and got popped up 20 feet where the flare window should have been. Fortunately, I'm a "gifted" pilot. Bahahahahaha! (In the video you'll hear me say "I'm alive!" after I land because that's how I felt after that washing machine of a landing.

Good times.

Here's a shot of the north cliff enshrouded in fog pushing into the canyon. Heaven on earth!

Trey, mine and Peter's gliders setup and ready to go.

Easter weekend at Marina & Waddell

2009-04-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend turned on quickly at both Waddell and Marina. I got up early Saturday morning expecting to get to Waddell for the typical launch window, 11am-2pm, and have an epic flight only to arrive with the NW winds already blowin' 20-25. The seagulls were getting hammered and I had no intention of joining them. Charles showed up as I was convincing myself not to even try getting into the air. So, we headed for Marina. On the way we ended up caravanning along with Ryan and Bob and passed Terry and Matt who were heading north towards Waddell. I didn't know it at the time otherwise I would have called to let them know Waddell was already blowing out. They showed up later at Marina and updated us that Waddell was blowing 35mph around 11:30am.

Meanwhile, the West wind was lifting our spirits on the dunes. My first flight was a quick one with a couple of passes off the ramp launch and down to the beach. My second flight got me up enough to make the gap and wander south...6 miles. I think I didn't zip up for 3 of those miles due to the scraping just to maintain and then the winds picked up and turned the coastline into a giant playground. Ryan dominated the dunes by practicing his steeple chase flying. Charles took to the air and never came down. Gary made his XC very happy...or was it the other way around? I even saw Dave top land on what appeared to be a sand dune perfectly shaped by laminar winds. Way to go!

I was done for the day but as we all stood around talking and waiting for the last couple guys to breakdown their gliders a shear developed and the winds turned back into a very soarable West. You could see the cloud line shaped by the shear all the way down to Pacific Grove. *sigh* Always looking to the sky...The only way to end a day like that is at English Ales Brewery.

Sunday I had tentatively planned to check out Waddell again first thing and then probably head to Marina or Funston. After checking the forecast, I was excited that the launch window for Waddell was going to be a good one from 11am-2pm. Sure enough, I arrived at 10am and the winds were a soft 15mph from the West. I set up and launched by 10:45am, immediately got over to the point and began working the lift machine. Soared over the lumber yard, over the beach, into the valley...climbed upto 1100' which allowed me to journey into the canyon. At times I felt the local birds were giving me a tour because they were always in front of me, showing me the way to the happy lift spots. Yes, there are not so happy lift spots also. These are the "being served" spots along the point that demand your respect even on buttery smooth days like today.

An hour later I saw a couple pilots arrive as I was still in the air. Doug brought out his Lightspeed while Dave was itching to get in his 4th flight at Waddell on his Falcon. By the time I had landed they were pretty much set up and ready to go. Doug got off launch and felt out the back ridge for a quick flight but it wasn't buttery smooth anymore. I helped Dave off the north launch as the winds had picked up a bit. He went straight up and stayed there for a solid hour probably only making a handful of passes along the bluff due to the lack of penetration on the Falcon. Can you say "happy camper"? He wisely landed on the beach and came walking up later with a huge grin on his face. Good times.

My Sport 2 waits for me patiently on the beach.

Walter and his Northwing.

Terry and Matt hike up after Matt's elegant landing north of the ramp.

Matt's elegant landing face after his "elegant landing". (look closely ;)

Breakdown time with Stephen.

Marina shear on display thanks to the clouds.

Ryan hangs out wishing he was in the shear building along the coast.

Dave hangs out wishing he was in the shear building along the coast.

Terry puts on his photographer's hat.

Be sure to wear your Ace Hardware knee pads and sandals while hang gliding the dunes...if you want to blend in with the Dave crowd. ;P

Eagles, Hawks, close call and poison oak...

2009-03-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

No pictures or even video this time. My battery crapped out on me and instead only captured me walking the glider from setup to launch. Exciting stuff!

The weekend began Friday afternoon when I was able to get off launch at Waddell and soar the back ridge for abou† an hour. The wind was ultra smooth and allowed me to travel way out over the beach and water even though I only got up to about 800'. It was a great reminder of the stellar conditions last summer. My mouth was watering Saturday morning...so, naturally I headed out to Waddell to wait for the right conditions along with Bob, Mark and Steve. I was setup by 11:30 and waited until about 1:30 before being the test dummy. My five minute flight of scraping the bluff and showing off for the campers below ended too soon on the beach. By the time I walked back up to launch Steve was gone and Mark had broken down his glider, on their way to Marina I presumed. Bob, however, was set up and ready to wait some more. You never know what the wind will do at Waddell. I decided to head on to Funston.

Funston was grand! A little congested with all the gliders on the ground and in the air but, everyone was having a good time. Once setup I launched into a glorious elevator that took me straight up to around 500'. Explored the ridge and took a trip to Westlake where I reach approximately 1200' (My best guess...I neglected to put my instruments on). I was bummed my camera wasn't recording because I had a close call with Tom as I didn't see him coming back from Westlake low and fast through the bowl. The camera, mounted on my based tube, would have shown how close we got, belly to belly, about a wingspan. I thought I had cleared the area but noting the 3 gliders way at the north end and about 4 gliders all the way down at Westlake. Plenty of room to have some fun with wingovers in front of the viewing platform. However, when I came out of my second wingover, heading south, Tom was at eye level and roll out to the west to avoid hitting me and I continued rolling out towards launch, even tighter now that I saw him flash his red underbelly. Seriously, we were only a wingspan apart. Apologies followed as I felt miserable for not being 110% aware up there. Even Sunday morning I was just thinking of staying in bed.

...Until, Ryan called to say Ed Levin may be good. Boy was he right? I got out there early enough to go to the top with Ryan and Karl. Soared for an hour and got within 5 feet of a Hawk, sneaking up on him from above and behind. Amazingly beautiful with a huge wingspan! As soon as he saw me he dove out to the right very respectfully making way for the thermal that took me up another couple hundred feet. Forty minutes later, my flight declined after dipping below the 1200. So, I quickly spiraled down to the LZ certain that I could catch another ride to the top. Which I did, and even retrieved Ryan's truck before heading back up to the top with the Berkeley crew. Another round of pilots launched which made me a little wary of the congestion in the air. However, there was plenty of big air to be had making it comfortable enough to head to the north and try for that "Eagle" by reaching Mission and back. Absolutely incredible! The terrain is breathtaking and I can't wait to fly Ed Levin again!

Oh, and my legs are itching from poison oak I must have gotten at Waddell last week. Bummer.

Soaring Ed Levin

2009-03-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

This afternoon turned on for all of us at Ed Levin. Here are a few shots of the superheroes at, on and above launch...

Dirk soars like a super villain against a medieval sky...

SuperRyan's quick to launch after Dirk shows us all how it's done...

AeorChris in his red elastic, crime fighting suit and dashboard cam gets ready to pursue the evil Dirk threatening the very mountain we launch off...

SuperGary with his neon XC cape on, lifts a wing in support of the capture of the evil villain Dirk...who threatens...the very launch we...stand on! *dramatic music*

It's not until later that the legendary superhero Marginal Mark swoops down and scares everyone away...including all the other superheroes!...

Mt. Diablo - Site Intro

2009-02-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday turned out to be a great day for a site intro at Mt. Diablo. The gang showed up including Dave, Ryan and Bryan (thanks for driving!) as well as a good group of local Diablo pilots. The conditions weren't perfect for soaring into the heavens but the sled ride from the radio tower launch to the Mitchell landing zone was a good start. Mt. Diablo is truly an amazing site. It's huge, sprawling and extremely dynamic, with lots of thermal potential and many places to safely land besides the designated ones. Thanks to Robert Moore and Matt Epperson for showing us all the various landing zones (definitely H4 worthy LZs) and launches, Juniper and the radio tower launch. I hope to one day land out at the Byron airport just for the fun of it. :)

At first, I was a little nervous at launch because you can't see the landing zone and the glide out to Eagle peak and the LZ on the other side is a long one. After watching most everyone launch I felt confident I could follow their lead. Looking straight off launch I could see the Mothball Fleet clearly with Benicia in the background and off to my right was Discovery Bay with the snow capped Sierras in the distance. What an amazing way to spend the day and explore the terrain from above. There is nothing like hang gliding!

The setup area is fairly tight with the radio antennas towering over us all.

Bryan & Dave listen as Matt gives directions to Byron airport.

Ready on launch. The LZ is beyond Eagle Peak and at the base of the rock quarry in the distance.

Breakdown at the Mitchell LZ. The launch is hidden from view behind Mitchell Rock and Eagle Peak on the right.

Ed Levin - "5 flights" weekend

2009-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Well, wintertime is looking to be very stabile as far as flying conditions in the Bay Area and entire state for that matter. This calls for desperate measures to get out and fly. We headed to Ed Levin park in Milpitas to get back to basics, enjoy a few sled rides and take advantage of the sunny weekend. Chris, Ryan, Mark, Charles and a dozen or so other pilots showed up. I met a few new guys who took me up the mountain first thing Saturday morning. The wind was light from the South almost SE. My first launch was easy going and the flight was uneventful. That is, until my landing in the ditch, on my knees. I overshot the cone and tried to stretch it out until after the ditch. Looking back I should have flared hard and held it nailing the cone. Contused, I headed back up the hill with Ryan and gang. My next flight had a similar launch, running down the hill about 50 feet before getting off. Light to no wind launches are hard on the legs. This was one of my best flights, feeling out the few light thermals there were until I was about 1000' over the LZ where I could enjoy a bevy of wingovers and spirals. My landing this time was picture perfect with a slight bump as I transitioned my hands from the basetube up to the downtubes. The bump actually helped bleed off some steam as I like to come in hot. Thrilled to have hit the spot this time and it being early enough for a third trip to the top we headed back up for one more. This time the light wind had almost gone and I needed to remember to run my heart out on launch...and continue running even when I thought I was off the ground. I should have launched due East and flown out the gap. Instead, I decided to launch off the South side with a slight crosswind from the East. Bad idea!! My hamstring told me that 3/4 of the way into my run down the hill. I got off okay with a couple feet to spare without hitting the road just below the launch. Oh the pain! I zipped up immediately knowing I couldn't hold my legs in position for the duration of the flight no matter how short. The flight was smooth and easy. My landing was decent with a slight turn just before flaring. I was compensating for the fact that I would have to land on my left leg. I made the spot and limped over to the breakdown area. The drive home was tolerable but I couldn't wait to get ice on my leg and then take a hot bath.

The next day, Sunday, I woke up and decided I would at least drive out to Ed Levin and be a driver if I didn't feel up for flying. The wind conditions were better. The direction was most definitely South and 2-3 MPH versus the 0-2 MPH of the previous day. So, I headed to launch with Ian and a driver to bring my truck down. This time with the light wind I was able to limp/run about 10 feet before I got off the ground. That made my day and I had a fantastic first flight with a few thermals that held me up that extra minute until, like always, I was about a 1000' over the LZ and I just had to spiral down as many times as possible with one or two wingovers. Too much fun! Well, for wintertime that is. Finally, sleepy head Ryan showed up and we headed up the hill for my second, his first flight of the day. My leg was aching but that wasn't about to stop me from flying. Trust me, I wouldn't have flown if I didn't think I could get off the ground within 10' of running at launch. That's exactly what happened again. Only this time my video camera attached to the keel swiveled on launch and filmed Mark L. filming me at launch, the land passing underneath, recording cows and the terrain below. I was bummed at first because I had intentionally done some maneuvers over the LZ to make for an exciting video. Actually, the video turned out great! Watch near the end where I spiral one way with the sky being the focal point and then the other direction where Mike J's hang glider on the ground is the focal point. My landing though, turned out to be one of my favorite perspectives...my shadow!

Here's a video of my no wind launch where I pulled my hamstring. Thankfully, it doesn't look all that bad.

Milestones

2008-12-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here are a few videos to catch you up on my first 2 years of hang gliding. I consider these milestones on achieving my dreams. Enjoy...

Training via stationary tow in Hollister, CA.

Happy birthday to me! My 38th birthday was spent flying to the beach for the first time at Fort Funston as a Hang-2 rated pilot.

And here's a shot of me playing in the iceplant at Funston in 1976. Yes, I have had flying on my mind for quite some time now. I consider this to be my Hang-0 rated level.

Big Sur trip just prior to getting my Hang-3 rating. This was a good first trip and I met a great group of pilots I continue to fly with today.

Finally, Hang-3 rated and ready to soar the cliffs of Funston for as long as the wind will hold me up. :)

Epic, unforgettable, amazing...These are all words that describe how I feel about Waddell Creek. I consider this my home site because it's closest to where I live in the Santa Cruz mountains. During the spring and summer I am able to fly there nearly every night after work. :)

Speed gliding on a sledder of a day. I had to try it once and now I'm hooked! I can't wait to get that U2 and a Rotor harness so I can burn thru the sky at amazing speeds!

2008-12-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

To follow in the footsteps of other legendary hang gliding pilots (see links at right) I am starting my own blog. This will act as a journal and flight log as I continue my flying journey in this world as an H4 pilot.

This is my first post. 12/12/08