Eagle/Dean Stratton Thermal XC Clinic Wrap UP!

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Well the weather has been pretty flat lately, and I thought I would follow up with some news on how the Eagle Thermal XC Clinic with Dean Stratton went.

Dean put together some really nice Google Earth presentations, including track logs and XC maps. We reviewed the routes from Santa Barbara East to the I5, Owens Valley into Nevada, and Pine Mtn. to Antelope Valley during the ground school portion of this clinic. We viewed photos taken from the air along these routes as well. This was a great opportunity for pilots to see what it looked like down range and talk about different lines and sweet spots to get climbs.

We covered many other topics including a big section on weather acquisition. These clinics turn out to be a very rewarding experience regardless of the weather. There is so much value in these presentations we could fill up a whole weekend with them. However, we got lucky again, and had great weather. The group was able to head up to Skyport and plan an XC route for the day.

We had many pilots send it down range with Dean on a nice XC flight. These pilots included Heidi Chu, Dave Bader, Adam Geeb, Faiz Kayyem, and Marge Variano. They all went down range and the leaders made it to Padaro on their gliding out to the coast.

At the end of the day we downloaded track-logs and imported them into Google Earth for discussion. Pilots checked their tracks and we had discussions about the decisions made during the day. These debrief sessions are invaluable to helping folks continue to grow as pilots.

The next Thermal XC Clinic Eagle Paragliding will put on with Dean will be at Marshall July 25 & 26. The weather is guaranteed to work out at Marshall. Space is limited so look at your calendars and reserve your spot if you want to get acquainted with another great southern California flying site.

Here are some photos from the Thermal XC Clinic….

Photos – Eagle Paragliding Thermal XC Clinic with Dean Stratton