Bates was FANTASTIC today

[Tony de Groot]

For those that I didn't call, and that would be everyone, I apologize. For I drove home from Parma early and thought the day was junk for flying and that everyone driving around would just be chasing it. Then I got the call from Mr. Anderson that it was 10 -15 straight in. With so much moisture it could be epic and so I went down, and there was Hammer all set up. I don't know where he came from. John Fritche was also there with a new pilot friend of his and it was game on. I called Skippy with the new cell phone she got me and let her know we would be flying and then I adjusted my altitude setting. For some reason it was at 2900 ft and I brought it down to 300.........didn't notice the "m". Uggghhh that would be meters and that messed with my whole flight as I thought I was supper low the whole time. Well, compared to the toplesses who were getting above the clouds at 2800 ft. I was super low. Hammer kept saying he saw me picking avocados from his lofty heighth. What the.....I can only muster 600 but they're at how many feet?..well....you get the idea. Little John came out....he could sense it...and Double D...but Dster was a bit late and didn't fly. Normally, it gets cross and stronger, but this was a very good day and it stayed good the whole time. Bob, John, his buddy and myself were flying to the 7 up plant before a new pulse came in and Bob, John and myself got up and did the jump. Hammer flew from Faria to Bates straight losing only 200 ft. Those guys were going all over the place. I had fun following some hawks in deep to one ravine and we climbed the whole time. I finally got to the clouds at Taylor ranch and should have gone out over the freeway but went over the back, hit sink and when I tried to fly towards the beach ended up crabbing and losing a good deal of altitude and decided to land at C street point, stables, where I knew there was an easy retrieval. It was great when Skippy came with Kirra to see. Almost three hours of great flying with your friends. It was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday. Thank you Marge and Skippy for picking us up. Can't wait to see Bob's pictures. They are going to be awesome!

[Kelly S]

It was a little strong for those of us with bags But I did get some pic's.

http://cid-e75a91317ee93000.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Bates%202-8-09?authkey=jGw!HYfhs9o%24&ct=photos

[BobA]

Yeah, it was on !

Cheers !

[Dean S]

Man...you guys are killin' me! I was up early ready to go, saw the winds in the mountains and the clouds stacking up, so I decided to stay home and work on my to-do list - OOPS! Stupid - stupid - stupid (sorry, that was me banging my head against the wall) Wish I was there.

At least tell me it was freakin' cold upstairs, and your fingers were like popsicles so I can get some sleep tonight - please

Maybe we'll get some tasty post-frontal this week.

[Ramey]

I blew it too.

I was looking at it. I got on the radio and couldn't raise anyone. So I bailed and worked my to-do list. And damn. Maybe tomorrow will be a repeat?

Robert Ramey

[Marty DeVietti]

First off,

Nice flying Hang Dogs! Those are the days (and photos) that make me wish I was bi-wingual for sure!

I heard from Mike M that it was huge at Bates as I was heading out to the Grade for a little exercise with the hope of some air time at around 1:30. Art had already decided against it and chose not to go because of the strong wind...

I figured it would only get stronger so I didn't hesitate to get up to the 2nd launch. The lulls were decent and the peak gusts were within limits so I got off and vowed to stay mostly out front so as to avoid getting parked over the top. The lift was smooth with some strong cores that took me 1600' above launch and as I pushed up wind at 3 or 4 mph I managed to link up a line of lift that took me upwind and to around 2300' msl. I had the field on a 2:1 glide and was directly over my car. Not surprisingly, it took most every foot I had to make my goal field on 1/2 bar. All smiles for me, as I know it has been slim pickings lately for us bags.

Here are a few pics, that of course don't compare to the fantastic photos from Bob, but nonetheless, I got my knees in the breeze, and that is enough to put a smile on my face.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MartyintheskywithCarmen/GradeA?pli=1&gsessionid=cFL6TJ9CiPwMHl4OR6oYbw#

See you up there,

Marty

[Cormac]

In case some of you guys were still wondering what all that noise was... What a great day to fly!
http://picasaweb.google.com/CormacPara/Albatros#

[henderthing]

Hey Tony-

Matt here--I was with John F. on the Orange/White Falcon...

Not that I'm ready to do this any time soon--but how high do you need to be to make the jump from the launch area on a Falcon--and where does the ridge pick back up when you're southbound?

-m

[Tony de Groot]

Matt,

Glad you had a nice flight. That was a pretty special day. That was also the first time I did that flight on a single surface glider. Some things to be aware of is how the winds usually change during the day there. Normally, the wind picks up in stregnth during the day and also gets more cross during the day. So, you have to be looking out at the ocean at the surface to keep aware of the growing white caps and thus the wind strength coming. Realize that a single surface glider has it's limits with wind stregnth, a lot more than a more advanced glider. As the stregnth of the wind increases you want to be further in front of the cliff so you don't get caught being overpowered and blown over the back which would be REALLY bad. When you get overpowered there is nothing that can save you. I tried to tell you that when I saw you quite far back one time but I'm not sure you heard me.
So, as it gets more crossed during the day the lift wanes so there is the timing of the increased wind stregnth before it crosses which is the go time. Hammer got it early, then it got a bit crossed and we were stuck, then the wind straightened out again and we all started getting up and it was go time. So, what heighth to leave? I had 900 feet off the beach and the wind was pretty straight, AND it was low tide. With the wind being straighter I didn't have to go as far around the point. With a more cross wind you need to go farther around the point to avoid the mechanical turbulence. The best thing to do is to fly Bates some more to get a good feel for it. Get your radio and PTT working and bring a cell phone. Try to go with someone who has gone before. I also would prefer to do that flight with a higher performing wing. It was fun and novel with a single surface but a better wing gives you more options, a better sink rate, more penetration, and is a lot less work when searching out the lift band. Try to do the flight with a low tide like we had. It gives you more options for landing. All, you do when you leave is to go downwind to the first part of the cliff in La Conchita and when you here the beep turn into the wind. I like to do a few 360,s in the first lift I find and drift back a bit with it. The fight itself isn't very hard technically. The big deal is keeping an eye on the changing conditions and the wind stregnth. Hammer mentioned to me that I might want to land at the overhead instead of flying to Ventura where the wind strenghth might be too strong for me. It wasnt' too bad on this day but you might want to keep that in mind too. You want to be clear of any obstructions when landing in strong wind. Don't go behind and structures. I through in the towel a bit early and hovered down at C Street at the point so I could be clear of any structures. You want to make darn sure you get a decent LZ and don't get caught leaving that last good landing zone trying to go a bit further.