It was a grand day at Skyport. Those who thought the weather would be marginal really missed it. Bob Hurlbett and I decided to take the nooner approach, waiting for conditions to warm up a bit, since the Montecito station was reporting 20 degrees warmer than downtown at 5 AM. The high cirrus clouds were a worry, but we could see some paragliders getting up above the Antenna Farm at 11:15 in the morning.
Chip was kind enough to give us a call at 11:30, just as we were about to head up. It reminded me of the old days, when pilots looked out for one another; a welcome call indeed. We met Chip and Parma Chris and grabbed SA and his brother (celebrating a birthday today) along with two other pilots and headed up to launch.
Bob got off first, but had both a knot and a stick affecting his lines on the left side (gotta love those comp lines). Still, he was able to get away from the hill and worked it - with the defect - high enough out front to get up and fly to the beach. He probably broke the record for fastest flight to East Beach.
I launched second. The house thermal wasn't working, so I went toward the Round House. But I got some weak lift out over the canyon and got the altitude to try for the Thermal Factory. It was doing fine there. The thermals were a little edgy, but I soared up with two hang gliders. Skippy followed me to the R&R. Topped out at 4,300 feet and left for La Cumbre Peak. I came in a little above the saddle and worked it back up top. The lift was the best of the day and it didn't take long to reach 4.5K. I was having trouble talking to Bob (you never know with Bob - is it just his radio or is it him?), so I pulled out a spare radio. He could suddenly hear me, but I fumbled with the antenna - lost it - and then took a 30% asymmetric in the process. That woke me up. I don't like to see the sharp edges of rocks come into focus in the Trango 2. I could see two hang gliders off to the West at the VOR. But the cirrus seemed to be thickening up some and I wanted to save some time to get to the beach. So I transitioned back to the R&R. Not much wind at all at altitude. With 4,300 feet, I took it back over Skyport - no lift - and the Thermal Factory - not much going on - and headed out front. The Antenna Farm boosted me back up from 3,400 to 3,600 and I joined Bob and SA at East Beach. Skippy gently reminded me not to land on the iceplant and we took the Eagle van back to Parma. One hour and ten minute flight. But if one had launched early, he/she could have flown for hours. A pretty Spring (almost) day.