skyport sat

[andy dainsberg]

full van ~ up on the eagle express. conditions seemed a bit boring at launch so i figured i would provide a blown launch for comic relief. anyway, i paid a little attention on the 2nd launch and it was typical scratching up over launch and then over to the r&r mostly sightseeing for @ an hour @4K in light cycles. hooked a nice thick and sticky thermal off the r&r which granted @ 2K as i drifted w/it NE over the road behind skyport. took the high ridge eastbound at close to 6K getting a good glide ~ came out over romero. from castle to 1k over the ocean at padaro beach and saw a huge ray flying thru the water.

[BobA]

Sweet Andy !

Justin making the harbor then beach from 2500' at the antenas!

Climbed out with Marty at EJ Bowl!

[SA]

Saturday turned out to be pretty nice day of flying. Andy D. went from the outhouse to the penthouse skying out everyone at the R&R. Everybody blows a launch here and there, especially with light cycles like we had early on Saturday. However, not everyone proceeds to follow a blown launch with a sweet scratching session and work the light stuff all over the place, and then proceed to speck out. Nice flying Andy!

The day was showing north wind in the morning at the ridge line in both the forecast and the observations. We opted for Skyport after looking at the forecast. Neal Parrow called from the T mixed up about the meet location, He said he would just head for Alternator, and I wished him luck since the Alternator was showing north wind in a classic Santa Ana.

We had a full load in the Eagle Van, and arrived at the Skyport to light cycles out of the south. I checked the wind at the peak and it was showing light over the back 5 to 6, so we were confident the cycles coming up the hill were not rotor. Neal called from the peak asking about conditions at the Skyport since it was blowing down at the Alternator. I joked with him about not knowing how to do his basic weather forecasting and reading current observations. The Alternator crew headed down to join us at the Skyport. I’m sure it started blowing up there an hour or so later, but its no fun to stand around when it’s blowing down.

Larry was off first again at the Skyport, and had a buoyant sledder to Parma. We had loads of pilots up there. Andy D. got off next and showed us all that it was on and he had the flight of the day. The rest of the Eaglet students were eager to get the high flight experience the mountains were offering. They all had great launches, some got to soar at launch and a bit out front. Everybody but one person made Parma on the first flight. New Novice P2 rated pilots Mark Lynch, Larry, Fullerton, Dmitry, Jamie & Mike, Dave B, Mike R., Morgan and some of the veterans all got some good flying.

We picked up the crew and headed back to launch for round two. The cycles were much stronger at launch which made for a completely different approach to the launch. It was great for the students to see how quickly conditions can change and how each launch is different. Justin got off first and had a nice climb out front at the Antenna farm RH zone. I think he flew to the beach. The first pilot or two made Parma, but the SW wind kicked up a bit and we had most everybody else make the conservative play for Saint Mary’s. Some of these pilots likely could have made Parma, but they made the smart conservative choice and went for the LZ they new they could reach.

We rapped up the day with the second half of a ground school session that went to 9:30pm last night. Congratulations to the 8 new Eagle students who received their Novice certifications.

[Ramey]

We rapped up the day with the second half of a ground school session that went to 9:30pm last night. Congratulations to the 8 new Eagle students who received their Novice certifications.

I'm out of touch with the current certification rules. Is there a certification that comes before Novice? Just what are the current "rules" for launching the eliminator for PG and HG pilots?

Robert Ramey

[andy dainsberg]

i dont know what the "certified rating launching rules" for eliminator/skyport are but while parawaiting at skyport, we were saying how great it was for rob to be giving a 45 minute (not exaggerating) site briefing to a group of pilots (newer and also visiting advanced pilots). ive had my p4 for 10 years and had the lamest launch just being lazy. i realize this post has nothing to do w/ your question~ i just thought it'd be nice to let everyone know of the highest quality launch supervision that i've ever seen given on saturday.