sb sunday

[andy dainsberg]

Xc flying from SB in early October might be a tall order, but we left a truck at padaro just in case! aaron, kevin, dave, jimmy (et al) went up to ej’s; most of those guys were able to hang pretty well @the RR, good call. Robb and I launched skyport and he got over nicely~ but didn’t get much at TF. I flew straight over to RR from launch level and found some great lift low. Eventually up to @46, connected TF and @42 headed to Montecito peak with a tailwind. Faoro predicted mont peak would be the limiting factor for xc today. That was certainly the case for me.

[Faoro_Ron]

And for me and Bob Hurlbett yesterday. After spending an hour at EJ's Bowl getting star thistle out of our lines, we got into the high 4's at La Cumbre Peak and the R&R. Could have had a nice "tourist glide" down State Street to the beach, but we pushed on to Montecito Peak which was flat below the inversion and flushed to Westmont.

[Bo Criss]

I guess Ron is referring to me as the "tourist glide down state street".

Aaron LaPlant, Rayna and I launched Alternator getting up right away. Rayna stayed local to Alternator as Aaron led the charge East - LaCumbre Peak, R&R, Thermal Factory. We had to be more patient the further East we went, but kept getting above 4k at each peak with a max of 4,700 over LaCumbre. I topped out at Thermal Factory as Aaron charged to the beach and heading out I realized I was too high to cross the 101, so I did a B line for State Street. Awesome view over town, then straight out to the pier, and a quick left to the landing area. 10 minutes after landing a big B-52? and 6 other smaller vintage planes in formation came up the beach on a westerly heading about the same altitude we had been.

The real treat was Allison and Caden meeting us at the beach.

Best mountain flight I've had in Santa Barbara since spring. Nice going to those who went further East.

[Faoro_Ron]

I would rather have had the scenic flight over downtown and a nice touchdown at the beach, close to refreshments! You made the right call, Bo.