Giving Thanks Downrange
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:57 pmSaturday dawned clear, crisp and beautiful. Finally, there's a bit of autumn color in the Sycamores. The morning air was cool and a cold airmass aloft made it look like a fine day for flying. The winds yesterday blew out the inversion and we had a decent spread of over 20 degrees for the lapse rate. But it looked like everyone still might have Thanksgiving commitments. Bob Hurlbett was headed to Pasadena for a wedding (missing pilots almost always make for good flying days). Benson was hiking up to Montecito Peak - his sacred grotto to offer small sacrifices to the gods who torment his twisted soul - before a quick flight to the beach.
So Doctor Air and I left the stylin' ride at East Beach and wound our way up to Parma. Art and I discussed the propensity for brief flights lately - up and out to the beach in a half hour. With delicate little cumulus in embryo form already making an appearance over the mountain tops east of Montecito Peak and out front, we promised ourselves a trip to Carpinteria, even if we had to scrape by the whole way at minimal altitudes. We glanced down Rockwood and saw two lonely pilots, OJ and Robb, looking like they had planned to meet us all along. We piled into my car and the four of us would be together for the next four hours.
The air was cool at Skyport. Many hang gliders. It was good to see Diablo and Fast Eddy out on the prowl once again. Even more of a surprise was to see Andy Dainsberg suited up ready to go at launch. Jim and Trifko were there as well and one paraglider was in the sky. He was going straight up, so we scrambled to get dressed and lay out. Trifko left right before me. He circled below launch for a brief time - then disappeared! We stood on the edge looking for him, wondering what he was doing. Suddenly, we heard: "I'm all right!" He had planted his wing in tall chaparral directly below take-off about 100-150 feet. When I got in the air ten minutes later at 11:30, I understood why. Never have I felt the bottom drop out so suddenly in the house thermal. It happened several times to Art and I. It took us ten minutes to get established, much to the disappointment of the hangies waiting to leave Eliminator. It looked like Trifko spent the better part of the day extricating his wing: his car was still on Rockwood at 4:30 PM when Benson and I went back up the hill to get my Subaru.
Art and I got up at the R&R. Robb Milley was a short way behind, matching our altitude of 4,500 feet. From there we bounced over to the Thermal Factory and on to Montecito Peak, where we watched Benson inching his way up the trail. Art and I spun around in the same thermals, did S-turns in the convective lift along the hillsides and were never more than a few hundred yards apart going downrange. Robb Milley dutifully followed; we could always see his bright yellow wing just behind us. John Kloer got stuck down at the Antenna Farm and ended bringing up the rear. Some pilots launched Alternator. We heard Kevin and Bo on the radio and I spun lazy circles above Montecito Peak with Andy Palmer when he caught up with us. Cloudbase was about 4K to 4,200 feet. You could always find good lift if you were patient. I watched Diablo sail out of sight over Castle Ridge when I left Montecito Peak to cross San Ysidro Canyon.
Art and I crossed Romero Canyon in some trashy air and struggled on the far side to maintain our altitude - about 3,000 feet. But the boomers eventually rolled through and we pushed up to 4K once again and continued eastbound with our five to ten mph tailwind. It started to darken up in places along Castle Ridge. Art dipped out front to catch the sunny hills and shot straight up into the clouds. I hopped across the dark ridges and tried to capitalize on the sunny slopes. It was a grand day to float downwind and soak up the sights of the first downrange event of the fall. Art left for Santa Claus Lane. Robb soon followed. I bobbed and weaved and hit the front points in the sun to keep me at 4,000 feet so I could tag the Powerlines. The glide out to the Padaro Grill was magnificent. The clouds out front provided a bouyant guide. We buzzed the dining crowd before settling on the beach. Susan Kloer came from Santa Barbara to pick us up. We drank a couple of pitchers of Hefeweisen and enjoyed the sunshine. Then, it was off to retrieve the five vehicles - all parked in different locations, from Cold Springs Trailhead to East Beach to Skyport. As we sat outdoors, the Pass seemed to open up and look doable. Cloudbase was at the top of White Ledge when I left the mountains. Now it looked to be about five and a half thousand feet.
Benson, not content to only hike UP a trail to fly, hiked from his landing on Padaro Lane to the grill - what had to be another two miles of exercise. We got our exercise munching onion rings and enjoying the camaraderie.
Two hours. Nine and a quarter miles.
So Doctor Air and I left the stylin' ride at East Beach and wound our way up to Parma. Art and I discussed the propensity for brief flights lately - up and out to the beach in a half hour. With delicate little cumulus in embryo form already making an appearance over the mountain tops east of Montecito Peak and out front, we promised ourselves a trip to Carpinteria, even if we had to scrape by the whole way at minimal altitudes. We glanced down Rockwood and saw two lonely pilots, OJ and Robb, looking like they had planned to meet us all along. We piled into my car and the four of us would be together for the next four hours.
The air was cool at Skyport. Many hang gliders. It was good to see Diablo and Fast Eddy out on the prowl once again. Even more of a surprise was to see Andy Dainsberg suited up ready to go at launch. Jim and Trifko were there as well and one paraglider was in the sky. He was going straight up, so we scrambled to get dressed and lay out. Trifko left right before me. He circled below launch for a brief time - then disappeared! We stood on the edge looking for him, wondering what he was doing. Suddenly, we heard: "I'm all right!" He had planted his wing in tall chaparral directly below take-off about 100-150 feet. When I got in the air ten minutes later at 11:30, I understood why. Never have I felt the bottom drop out so suddenly in the house thermal. It happened several times to Art and I. It took us ten minutes to get established, much to the disappointment of the hangies waiting to leave Eliminator. It looked like Trifko spent the better part of the day extricating his wing: his car was still on Rockwood at 4:30 PM when Benson and I went back up the hill to get my Subaru.
Art and I got up at the R&R. Robb Milley was a short way behind, matching our altitude of 4,500 feet. From there we bounced over to the Thermal Factory and on to Montecito Peak, where we watched Benson inching his way up the trail. Art and I spun around in the same thermals, did S-turns in the convective lift along the hillsides and were never more than a few hundred yards apart going downrange. Robb Milley dutifully followed; we could always see his bright yellow wing just behind us. John Kloer got stuck down at the Antenna Farm and ended bringing up the rear. Some pilots launched Alternator. We heard Kevin and Bo on the radio and I spun lazy circles above Montecito Peak with Andy Palmer when he caught up with us. Cloudbase was about 4K to 4,200 feet. You could always find good lift if you were patient. I watched Diablo sail out of sight over Castle Ridge when I left Montecito Peak to cross San Ysidro Canyon.
Art and I crossed Romero Canyon in some trashy air and struggled on the far side to maintain our altitude - about 3,000 feet. But the boomers eventually rolled through and we pushed up to 4K once again and continued eastbound with our five to ten mph tailwind. It started to darken up in places along Castle Ridge. Art dipped out front to catch the sunny hills and shot straight up into the clouds. I hopped across the dark ridges and tried to capitalize on the sunny slopes. It was a grand day to float downwind and soak up the sights of the first downrange event of the fall. Art left for Santa Claus Lane. Robb soon followed. I bobbed and weaved and hit the front points in the sun to keep me at 4,000 feet so I could tag the Powerlines. The glide out to the Padaro Grill was magnificent. The clouds out front provided a bouyant guide. We buzzed the dining crowd before settling on the beach. Susan Kloer came from Santa Barbara to pick us up. We drank a couple of pitchers of Hefeweisen and enjoyed the sunshine. Then, it was off to retrieve the five vehicles - all parked in different locations, from Cold Springs Trailhead to East Beach to Skyport. As we sat outdoors, the Pass seemed to open up and look doable. Cloudbase was at the top of White Ledge when I left the mountains. Now it looked to be about five and a half thousand feet.
Benson, not content to only hike UP a trail to fly, hiked from his landing on Padaro Lane to the grill - what had to be another two miles of exercise. We got our exercise munching onion rings and enjoying the camaraderie.
Two hours. Nine and a quarter miles.
I'll make a short post latter to explain what happened. I'm 110% OK! 
. After successful takeoff I have turned left to get into the house thermal. I did hit some weak lift but I wasn't far enough from the ridge spine to make a full 360. I turned back toward the launch to do some fig 8. Went back to visit the house thermal again, but nobody was home. Turned back toward the launch and hit some sinking air (I guess the edge of the passing house thermal).... I sunk down and started to glide about 4-5ft above the bushes ... 2 - 3 seconds latter I scratched the top of the chaparral, and finally the hungriest bush in the crowd totally bites my Barney's butt (purple airbag harness)...good enough to make me and my wing a nice noon lunch. I ended up almost standing on the ground .... good .... I'm not hurt, not even a scratch. Since I didn't have radio with me, I climbed on the bush as high as possible and yelled toward the launch “I am alright!”. I saw one pilot (I'm sorry I don't know his name) looking down at me. I Showed him “thumb up” and switched in self-rescue mode. 3 steps....
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