EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

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EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby Southside » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:46 am

Had a nice flight from EJ Bowl yesterday, landing at Sand Canyon Rd. and the 14 for 73 miles after waiting out the sun line. Low 4s through SB then 7+ just short of the powerlines. Bypassed both Noon and Whiteledge (after tanking up at Divide) heading for Bump 3. Climbed out again to 7k just short of Bump 3 and then basically copped a glide to Three Stooges (stopped at Nordoff for a couple of turns but the air was bit too textured for my blood). Despite the high climbs earlier in the flight I actually almost flushed off of Chief's. A low save from the foothills in front of West Repeater kept me in the ball game. Back to the high 7s over Boyds and then close to 9k over Santa Paula Peak. After a few turns over the foothills just east of Fillmore that didn't amount to much I took my altitude and headed to Piru. Started to pick out landing fields about half way to the 5 from Piru, but I had a nice low save that got me back to the mid 7s. The thermal changed my goal to Sylmar. However, the high peak between Simi Valley and Chatsworth was completely shaded in and 7k ended up not being quite high enough to clear the San Gabriels on a glide. And at the point I had caught up with the shade line so I just veered to the left for a glide to the 14.
Last edited by Southside on Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby gracecab » Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:08 am

Holy Moly! Epic! And I stayed in because of the dirty skys! Gotta get me a hang glider! :)
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Soothsayer

Postby sd » Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:04 am

For the newer pilots less familiar with our local history, John (aka Southside) took the art of picking days to the next level years before he finally convinced me to bother with the NAM Skew-T forecast soundings. I think he polished his insight out of necessity, married with kids and a long drive from LA, so he only gets to fly once a month at best. One of the impressive aspects of John's flight on Sunday, besides it being the longest local flight to date in 2015, is that he trusted his forecast despite the thick high clouds. The lapse rate and forecasted max altitudes were impressive, and I suspect Saturday's east wind backed off also. It was pretty easy to smoke the toasters since he was the only one at launch, and for bonus points... he called the day mid-week. Look forward to reviewing his track log in Google Earth.
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Re: EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby Southside » Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:58 am

Thanks Tom. I have to admit that the main reason to make the trek had more to do with my daughter. She's back for spring break and brought two of her classmates with her. One of the things she wanted to do with them is chase for me. We probably would have driven up regardless of the forecast. Having said that, I chose to fly Sylmar a few years ago under very similar conditions -- great lapse rate, perfect winds but high clouds -- and ended having, what at the time, was my longest flight (from Sylmar) to date. The cloud deck was actually much thicker, but that still didn't stop cumis from forming along the convergence line. Like Sunday I was by myself; if I had known where I was going I'm pretty sure I could have gone much farther. Anyway, the bottom line is you never know the effect high clouds will have on the soaring conditions.

Regarding my track: I have a glitchy Garmin. The Garmin recorded the track -- I can see it -- but it won't download.
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Re: Soothsayer

Postby gracecab » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:25 pm

ok: Gotta ask: What is SMOKE THE TOASTERS from? great figure of speech.
sd wrote:For the newer pilots less familiar with our local history... It was pretty easy to smoke the toasters... and for bonus points... John called the day mid-week.

Ditto on the track log. Now that I turned off "show atmosphere" on GoogleEarth on my Mac, I can see terrain.
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Re: Team Toast

Postby sd » Wed Mar 18, 2015 2:23 am

gracecab wrote:ok: Gotta ask: What is SMOKE THE TOASTERS from?

Back in the 80s and early 90s, before paragliding, there were 2 primary hang gliding groups flying the local mountains. The southern group hailed from a USHGA chapter named the Topa Flyers http://topaflyers.com, and the Santa Barbara crew was named the Santa Barbara Hang Gliding Association. The Topa Flyers called themselves Team Topa, and the SB crew called themselves Team Toast. Not sure of the exact connotation of "Toast" but it had something to do with the SB crew rolling out of bed late and wandering up to launch without too much effort after breakfast. The Topa pilots drew more from Ventura County plus a smattering of LA so they were used to driving more and started their day earlier, typically before breakfast. The Topa pilots were usually set up by the time the Toasters arrived at launch.

The Topa crew mostly got married and old, fading away. The remnants assimilated into the Santa Barbara group as boundaries became less relevant with longer distance flights connecting previously tribal sites.
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Re: EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby Southside » Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:50 am

Toasters

I think it's a bit more derogatory. I'm pretty sure it comes from the word, "milquetoast."

Not only was Team Topa first at launch, but they also had no problem flying in less than ideal conditions. Of course, that had a lot to do with their team leader, SD.

Back in 1996 a flew in the Nationals. It was my one and only major contest. I did well, finishing in the top 20 out of 144 pilots, winning the top rookie award. We left before the awards ceremony, but if the presenter asked how I did it, I would have said, I've been flying with Tom Truax for the last eight years.
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Re: EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby gracecab » Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:16 am

John that's a pretty good reference if SD is calling you Soothsayer, as we have been heard calling Tom..the Oracle!

We have some pretty good mentors in So. Cal... us noobs consider ourselves lucky! We also have some Instructors of the Year floating around up here.... pretty good company we keep. :D
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Re: EJ Bowl to Soledad Canyon

Postby Southside » Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:23 pm

Video from the first 20 odd miles of the flight. I said in my write up that I bypassed Whiteledge, but I remember now that I did do a couple of 360s before moving on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glIPWbak9Jc

And a full write up here: http://socalxc.blogspot.com/2015/03/ej- ... anyon.html
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