Skyport 9/20 and a ditched glider

[Kabir]

Today got us all fired up for it looked "epic" to say the least.
The Eagle van went up early with a Chip, Parma Chris, Cormack, Both Kevins, Rob, Magic Mike & Terry (great to see ya broh!)and we where at launch and ready to go by 10oo
Then Riss showed up and later on Ron.

Rob took of first and conected at the house thermal and took ofto the R&R
I left second and had a funky launch and a craappy 1st couple of mins.
We knew it was a bit east so i went to the holly hills.
It was really east it turns out and the thermals where a bit strange today.
It felt more like ridge soaring than anything else.

At some point I realized that making it to parma was a bit dicey so thought of making a play for cocopuffs but couldnt get high enough to feel comfortable w/ the transition.
In the mean time all them trango 3 boys and Co where high up smugg w/ their superior speed.

Since I saw Kevin M gettin some love on the round house spine i beelined for it.
It was preety strong, I had to get on 3/4 speed to make any real progress.
Once i got to the water tank on the spine the thermal was there but I decided not to turn and just get on min sink and make 180's to gain altitude w/o loosing ground.

I finally made it to parma to find it very mellow and welcoming.

Some peple landed at St Mary's
Reese and Ron at Cienegitas area while some others decided to drive the cars down
I dont know if it was more exiting to fly or to watch.

Now for the ditched glider

On my way back home saw a bunch of SAR and CHP and fire engines and LPNF trucks all looking over the edge and since I could not see what it was I cheked it out on the scaner when I got home. Mostly because they looked more curious than preocupied. I even wondered if a glider had gone down for some odd reason (it was the right kind of day for that for sure..)

It turns out that someone landed out near the hw 154.
since they had to go get someone they left their glider in the bushes for latter retrieval.
You could not see the glider from the road. So probably someone called it after seeing the pilot going down.

It was a fairly big deal for the rescue people. all of 2 hrs including a helicopter.
Mostly they where trying to figure out what the heck happened to the pilot.
They sent people to the ussual places where we park our cars.
There was People crawling all over the place looking for tracks and things like that.

Finaly the pilot called in to say that he was fine. (after someone recomended he do so)

I guess that I'll start carrying pencila and paper to leave notes should I land out and leave my gear behind.......

Remeber!
there is always next sunday!

[faoro]

Yesterday was never as bad as it was hyped. Radio contact varied from "scariest day ever" to "very mellow and calm." No wonder pilots at launch were confused and many drove down. But there was a strong east wind in the prefrontal conditions and "unidirectional" flying is something all pilots should learn, sooner or later. It certainly reduces the options for cross-country and landings, as well as making Skyport launches more dicey. My flight was a lot of fun. The lift was in unusual places - as often happens in strong conditions with prevailing wind. I got up in the middle of the canyon directly in front of launch. I quickly was on top of the R&R, but couldn't penetrate the 4,200 foot ceiling, despite cloudbase being at 5K. It was the same at La Cumbre Peak. So I headed out front to meet Riss at Cathedral Peak. There was a lot of sink and uneven air on the backside of the peak. It turned out to be the edge of a monster thermal and in two minutes I ascended from 3,200 to over 5,200 feet and touched the clouds that were forming over Westbowl. Groundspeed west was about 30 mph! It looked tempting to take the screamer express westbound over the 154, but there was a big blue hole between the VOR and the westside. So I tagged No-Name and headed out to land at the "T." Twice I was on final approach, only to get bounced up several hundred feet by the thermals popping off the field by the highway and had to start over. The one hour flight was nice for opening day.

It is surely uneeded publicity to have the city spend thousands of dollars and the media have their lead-in story be about the big search: looking for a paraglider pilot who leaves his wing suspended without telling anyone of his whereabouts.