Skyport, Sunday - 10/7

[faoro]

Yesterday's wild winds backed off, Skyport blocked early and it became a beautiful autumn day to fly. There were a dozen pilots in the Eagle van up the hill shortly after 10 AM. Half a dozen hang gliders were lined up at Eliminator when Bob Hurlbett and I arrived at launch. We inserted ourselves into the lineup and punched off shortly after 11. Andy and Art got off first and went downrange. It was easy lift in the house thermal and absolutely dynamic at the R&R. I got up into the cool air at 4,500 feet and took a little west leg over to La Cumbre Peak. It wasn't exceptional over the top, so I turned east and tried to catch up to the leaders.

Bob had a knot in a brake line, so I caught up to him where he was flying with Kabir at the Thermal Factory. They got up to about 5K in the strong lift and left for Montecito Peak with me close behind. I could already see a wing down by Romero Canyon; it seemed plausible that we might make Ojai if these conditions persisted. The lift was just as strong at Montecito Peak; we left there with over 4.5K and quickly crossed San Ysidro and then Romero Canyon - pumping up a bit for each jump. The air was trashy at Romero. Northwest wind was blowing over the top, making for some exciting times and it became progressively harder to hook the big thermals. But Kabir made it look easy, always higher than Bob and I. We were hitting the tops of thermals at around 4,400 feet along Castle Ridge and rarely getting up to 4,800 any longer. The best stuff was along the back ridge all day. But the day was becoming noticeably flatter. We were treated to a skywriting airplane that wrote: "I love you, Bob" (Heart-u-Bob) out over the ocean as we neared Carpinteria. Bob has so many fans out there.

Andy and Art had left for the Padaro Grill. About a mile short of the powerlines, Bob headed for the beach. I went to the powerlines to check out the Ojai potential. Instead of a nice, warm welcome, I was thoroughly thrashed by the sharper-edged thermals pulling back toward Noon Peak. After this whuppin', I took my medicine and headed out to Carpinteria Beach to land with Bob and Kabir on the grass. We were right in the middle of the Avocado Festival. Sharon graciously drove us back to Parma to round up the vehicles.

One hour and fifty minutes. 1,050 up; 775 down.