Land, Sea and Sky

The leadup to the weekend was a great one for destroying productivity.  Over a week out the prognosticators are calling for good looking conditions.  Soon, good was upgraded to great.  Then it even looked like it would align with a weekend day. By mid-week the NAM , the RASP , XCSkies, Matt, Darren, Walt (WX) were pumping Saturday as the day.  The consistency of the blipmaps as Saturday approached continued to build confidence.  What would the task be?  Straight-out?  Across the valley to the Sierras? Around the Horn? Friday morning Julie learned that her Saturday had just been freed up.  Thankfully my offers to the back seat of the Duo had been declined by those I'd reached out to and she was able to claim her right.  Saturday morning we arrived at the airport a little later than intended.  Damn battery stop to replace the batteries in my Spot that I had left on the week before.  I think almost every private ship at Avenal was ...

Problem:   You want to take pictures or video from your kite or your lines. Solutions:   Buy a $40 mount that is nice quality connects quickly and you are up and running.  Downside: very little adjustability and is typically "in your face" and too close. Mount the camera to the kite Downside:  Who is that speck? Make your own for cheap that is adjustable and super stable Downside: Possible ridicule, most likely jealousy. I thought I was the creative maker type and opted to make my own. Requirements:   Easy to install on the kite Stable and resists twisting or wobbling Adjustable to allow positioning up/down the lines. lightweight sturdy enough cheap so that if I destroy it, I can build another materials must be relatively easy to get at a hardware store Should break down for travel Materials: 4 - 3/8"x3'  Hollow Carbon fiber Kite struts -  available at any kite shop 4 - 3/8" Inner Diame...

Walt Rogers got me excited that the weekend held an opportunity to continue my quest to capture the egg from it's nearly permanent home at Air Sailing.  Great conditions were called for in the Great Basin, the challenge as always is connecting from Avenal to the desert. I had a plan, a westerly line down the California Valley, jump to the Sierra Madre's near Santa Ynez and run the convergence past the Tehachapi's connecting to the Sierra and blasting north hoping for something late in the day near Minden for final glide into Air Sailing.  Sunday, we'd take a tow out of Air Sailing, egg safely tucked in the Duo and fly back South hopefully getting to 18k somewhere down near Mammoth and dead glide our way back across the Sierra and the valley towards Avenal. Conditions looked like they might allow for an early (for Avenal) start around noon.  I was set to go it alone in the Duo as Karl was flying our ASW-20 with Julie willing to crew should I end up short or need a re...

Sunday morning July 3rd started hot at Avenal.  A projected high of 104 seemed realistic as the early sun beat down on the hangar as I did some maintenance on the tractor. Forecasts had held overnight and we were looking at good conditions from New Cuyama on and 16k in the Owens Valley.  This could happen. Matt showed up around 10:30 and we discussed our options.  It looked like we'd need 100+ temps on the ground to get to 6-7k near Shandon.  We'd planned on launching around noon, but temps were a bit slow in coming on. We finalized preparations in the glider.  More backup GPS, cameras, video gear, stereo speakers (yes, stereo speakers), batteries, clothes, lots more water.  My concern was sinking out somewhere in the CA Valley and having a 3-4 hour wait in 105 heat, so we had lots of water on board. Just before 1:00 we were off the ground.  A little bit of a breeze helped the club 150/150 lug our heavy bird into the air.  The air was we...

If you're from region 11, you may know about the PASCO Egg regional capture trophy.  A beautiful walnut (I think) egg that is occasionally captured from various glider operations mostly in Northern California and Nevada.  It has been a goal of mine to try and capture the Egg for Avenal  from what has practically become it's permanent home at Air Sailing .  Our neighbors to the north at Hollister also have their eye on that prize, but we have the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains in between us and our trophy.  That and nearly 300 miles.  Once the Hollister crew and I realized we had the same secret goal, we began to share information on tactics and approaches.  There are really only two options when it comes to the Sierra Nevada.  Go over or go around. Going over the Sierra has all sorts of challenges and intimidation, but the first problem is crossing the massive San Joaquin Valley.  The typical summer weather pattern that w...

The return to Avenal After an amazing day Saturday with thermals, powerful convergence and wave the unstable weather filled in and rained on us for a good part of the night.  The rain wasn't really all that bad.  But a combination of factors put that night at the top of Julie and my list for worst camping night ever. Mercy Hot Springs is a nice place, a little oasis in an obscure valley in between I5 and 101.  They had a group camp area in these brushy conifers that seemed like an ideal place to pitch a tent out of the wind.  Setting up in the dark, the first bad sign was a bird that wasn't happy with us invading it's territory and was beeping incessantly.   Surely it would quiet down once we went to bed.  Next were the beetles.  Beetles you say?  Why yes, think of the movie The Mummy and the floor covered in beetles.  Sure, these were smaller and mostly they just covered the trees, but there were thousands and thousands. After a great ...

Ferry Flight from Avenal to Panoche The goal of the weekend was to fly to Panoche on Saturday.  BBQ, BS and camp with the BASA and Hollister pilots and then fly with them on Sunday before landing back at Avenal. For a 3 day weekend with unsettled weather, Avenal was pretty dead.  No formal tow pilots on the schedule, just a couple of students and one other glass ship ready to fly.  Kevin drove out with me.  He was flying with me on Saturday and would then drive our truck back to San Luis Obispo on Sunday morning.  Julie was driving up with the truck and the camping gear on Saturday afternoon after dealing with some other activities.  Complicated, but at least we had a plan. We rigged the Duo.  Small cu were popping early, though they had a distinct marine influence look to them.  Kind of grey and not real vibrant.  Wave clouds were visible up on the San Benito range and it was looking quite cloudy to the NW. So despite the markers, I ...