Skyport, 4/14

[faoro]

Chip took six other pilots up to launch on Saturday. It was overcast and gloomy, but the lapse rate suggested we still might get a flight if we were lucky. We seemed to arrive at an opportune time (11:30 AM); cycles started coming in regularly and several of us set up. Bob Hurlbett, Andy Dainsberg, Art and I managed to punch off. I flushed to the Antenna Farm after a brief attempt to get up at the foot of the Thermal Factory. Bob and Art worked the lower reaches of the TF with not much success; Andy was able to get high over the top out front. The west wind of 5-10 miles per hour was tough to negotiate and had the thermals tilted hard to the east. I got up to 3,200 feet a couple of times and made plays for the TF again, but always was confined to the area below the rocks. Bob and Andy flew to Parma; Art and I made East Beach. Chip, Parma Chris and Mike got stuck at launch with no cycles in the deepening gloom and had to drive down.

Afterwards, we celebrated John Kloer's birthday (and Tom Pipkin's upcoming birthday this Thursday) with some fine anejo tequila in a poorly attended SCPA meeting at my house with the few remaining Topa Pilots: Chris Grantham, Bob Hurlbett, Ojai John and Tom Pipkin.