2nd Weekend in April 2021

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2nd Weekend in April 2021

Postby sd » Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:49 pm

Friday Afternoon Review

The wind is more pronounced toward the west.

Today, Friday, looked quite good on paper for the mountains, but I didn’t see any pilot reports? There was north wind up high, but down lower it seemed to mostly block and the lapse rate was impressive. I suspect SB, Ojai, and Pine were all flyable, Carpinteria was light from the SE all day with an occasional bluster.

Saturday (tomorrow) the lapse rate fades a little and the north wind picks up, perhaps enough to be problematic in out local mountains. Ojai has more protection from the wind and will likely work for flights to Fillmore and beyond if you are willing and able to hike. Increasing potential for high clouds. The local Channel eddy is forecasted to give way to local afternoon flow from the SW on the coastal cliffs, but perhaps too cross to the west (Wilcox) and too light to the east (Bates)?

Sunday, the lapse rate continues to fade but only by a little. The north wind relaxes some but likely not enough to merit trekking back to Pine. The surface temperature will still be above seasonal norms, Ojai looks dependable. I expect SB will be flyable and soarable but not as good as Ojai due to more exposure to the wind and the ocean. High clouds look likely (thicker than Saturday), but the sun angle in April should permit enough heating mid-day. The local Channel eddy is back so the coastal cliffs don’t look promising.

Monday is a different day as the onshore flow increases and the marine air dominates. The coastal stratus should persist into the week.
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Summary for Saturday, 4/10/2021

Postby sd » Sun Apr 11, 2021 8:14 am

Saturday Summary
Group Ayvri Web Animation Link of Santa Barbara PG pilots flying from Fillmore and Ojai on Saturday.
https://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg73pnjo/ckndcdlle0000256jye3c5enq

Based on limited review, a couple of pilot reports (below), plus inReach and Ayvri tracks, it appears that Marty and Garcia took a group of pilots to Fillmore to get out of the forecasted wind toward the west (Santa Barbara Mountains). The Fillmore group had a number of successful soaring flights.

Sangwon looked at the weather and thought Ojai offered the best potential. He wasn’t able to drum up any pilots willing to hike, but with some prior experience having previously flown from the Nuthouse (once), he opted to go solo and had what might be the best flight of the day locally? I’ve added his narrative and track below:
2021_04-10_sangwon_suh_nuthouse_solo.kmz
Sangwon's Google Earth KMZ for Saturday, 4/10/2021
(81.48 KiB) Downloaded 420 times

DM from Sangwon to Tom Truax posted to the SBSA telegram chat on Saturday, about 8 PM

I got a good lift right from the launch, figure 8ed up to the ridge-line, dolphined to Spine One. I played around the lower spine of Chiefs Peak (Twin Peaks). Got up to about 4.7K, and I was weighing between (1) benching back higher and going further East, perhaps to Santa Paula, or (2) heading back West toward landing in Ojai. I opted for the latter, given that I was flying solo and that I have not flown to Santa Paula before.

The air was smoother than I expected, and the climb rate was decent but not crazy (3-4m/sec at the most). It was a pleasant and not too stressful day in the sky.
________________________________
Post to the SBSA Telegram Chat by Chris Gulden on Sunday at 9:56 am (about Saturday)
I got a half hour in at MM yesterday, and the Leadbetter windtalker was just indicating low teens.
2021_04-10_more_mesa_by_chirs_gulden.jpg
Chris Gulden over More Mesa on Saturday, 4/10/2021
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