10/1 Chief Peak

[Garcia]

10/1 Flight Report From Chief's and Feedback for newer pilots:

What an excellent day we had at Chief's. First, a huge thank you to Luise, and Kirk who offered to drive the van down. Another big thanks to Sundowner for helping on launch for 2 hours, and then flying back to The Peak and going OTB. Neal made it back to his car at East Beach. Andrew had a hike out from below White Ledge into a relaunch and made it out to the 192 and 150.

Congratulations to all the personal bests for distance and duration in the air, and altitude as well. Major accomplishments by many of the pilots there.

The feedback that I am going to give in this report is not meant to single any pilot out. It is simply things that I observed that can be improved upon. A lot of things I saw are very common among newer pilots and for the most part happen quite frequently. However, they do need to be addressed. If you were flying that day and would like to debrief further I am happy to do so. Sending me an Ayvri track solely will not get you any feedback from me though. Take the time to write out a thoughtful flight report, including the subjective and objective. I find that pilots more often than not realize most of their mistakes and successes just by writing it out before debriefing with another pilot.

When arriving and getting your gear ready you need to be 100% certain that you have done a line check and are hooked in properly BEFORE you set your glider down on launch. Personally I choose to diligently pack my glider at the end of each flight and know, with confidence, that I can get the glider down on launch, step back and be ready to launch. Having somewhat of a preflight done at the end of your flight makes life easier down the road.

When you have a busy launch as we did on Cheif’s, it is poor etiquette to be hooking in, trying to figure out riser twists, messing with go pros, varios, ect. A proper move would be to set your gliders off to the side, get hooked in, rossett and then walk over to the launch area. If you know you are going to be flying the next day, go to a park in the evening or the morning of, and do your line check and hook in there, and then pack the glider neatly and there is no fuss on launch.

A big reason that you do not want to be fussing around for too much time on launch is that typically conditions get stronger as the day progresses. Being ready to go and getting off early is key for newer pilots on days like this.


Some of the launches were beautiful and text book, some were absolutely horrendous, and some were just flat out lucky. Proper pacing is key. Whether you do A’s and rears, A’s and brakes or pull it up from the back and forward kite it to the front. You need to control the speed at which your wing comes up. I think everyone that was up on launch could use so more training hill time. Fired up you all got over an hour of flying in, now the next time you have free time for paragliding, you should go to the T hill and work on some skills in a variety of conditions. Challenge yourself. Grab an instructor, grab a more experienced pilot, ask questions and try something new.

I saw a lot of pilots using too much break and jabbing at the glider, you need to “let the glider fly” in order for it to come up and bite into the air flow. Be smooth and subtle with your hands. You want to pretend like you are dancing with Enrique and Shakira, not Brad and Karen.


“Where am I going to land” Ok here is a good discussion. Chief’s is a friendly P2 site for the most part. There is not a designated LZ. There is a nice one at the base of the spine that is open and fairly large, it can be tricky to see from launch because it is blocked from a front point, but you have it on glide as soon as you take off. There are LOTS of landing options in Ojai (Thatcher School is off limits). A number of you were so focused on where you were going to land that you were not able to focus on your launch or the climb out. When Neal and Andrew took off early they showed us it was on. Part of my guidance and effort as a mentor that day was to make sure everyone was established in the house thermal. I think every single pilot of the 17 that flew reached 7000ft that day. You have the world on glide at that point! Yes, the landing is a very important part, focus on your take off, then your flight, then your landing.

Here is a good sequence:
Arrive at launch, figure out the flight plan, where is the closest LZ. (not where your car is)

Ok cool, LZ at the base of the spine, on glide from launch, let's get the gear ready

Focus on your preflight and launch technique you will used based on conditions

Watch other pilots, sweet, that saddle right off the spine is working great, what's my flight plan to get there?, got it, let's get in the air

Focus on your launch, choose your cycle wisely, or lull,

Launch, get away from terrain, heading is a priority, stick to the flight plan

Remember you will hit the sink before you hit lift more often than not. As you are gliding out you get eyes on the LZ, ok I have that on glide

Entering the thermal, at this point all you need to think about is the thermal and flying your glider safely and efficiently, for more information on this sign up for a Thermal XC Clinic!

When you top your climb out you identify your LZ’s that you have on glide, you’ll probably have 4 or 5, choose A,B,C ect based on your altitude, wind direction, speed, and where your next move is.

Glide to the next trigger, change any LZ priorities if needed, focus on finding the next climb, and repeat.

Keep a good solid LZ that is within your skill set at all times

Chief’s is located at 4800ft and is a good ways away from the valley floor, vertically and horizontally. On a day like Friday, when we have a strong lapse rate and not a lot of wind, you can find a lot of draw in the mountains. Meaning that as the ridgeline and mountain peaks keep heating up, they pull more and more anabatic flow from the valley floor up to the high points. This can even be felt from further back from Cheif’s on the Pine side of things as that terrain holds even higher peaks and pulls air in from multiple areas. It ends up creating a lot of wind and compression close to the terrain. Meaning that the further out front and away from terrain you are, the less wind/draw you end up feeling. This doesn’t mean you always need to be out front, but at altitudes of 5000ft and lower you want to use the front points, and as you get higher you can bench back to the ridge line. If you were to gain 5200 right off launch and push back to the peak, you’d likely find a lot of wind/draw and that the thermals might be broken apart. The strongest pieces of lift stand up, the weaker ones drift. Not to say that you couldn’t get up that way, but we are talking about novice pilots here on low performing wings. There was enough draw in my opinion on Friday that it overpowered the forecasted E wind at altitudes below 7000 ft and was shown as just a straight S wind. The numbers I use in this paragraph are examples and should not be taken as a matter of fact.

Your altitude is worth more out front. It's a classic saying and very true. You have more available LZ within reach, you have the ability to search up and down the spines vs. just down. You can easily pounce on another pilot who marks the climb for you. And you generally have less draw to deal with.

Search up and down the spines for lift but don’t turn yourself down the drain. Fly where the lift is, not where it isn’t. A study of your ayvri tracks can help you understand and determine if you turned yourself down the drain or not.

XC flights are accomplished by staying in the air. Right now air time is more important for you than distance is. Sticking to the fish bowl or known triggers is an excellent training opportunity and gradually you can begin to branch out.