The weather outside looked as it has all week, cloudy and gloomy so I went back to bed. At 10:30am I got a text message letting me know that there were 2 wings in the air at the dumps. It was noon by the time I motivated myself to head out. The coast seemed damp! Every now and then I'd feel a sprinkle, the clouds looked like they were going to let go at any time.
The day turned into one of the best. The air was smooth and it was easy to gain altitude. At one point there were seven hang gliders and 4 paragliders flying over the dumps. There was a cloud which the hang glider pilots were climbing above. I attempted to climb, made it above the cloud once and decided to give up on it because I would need to fly over the houses. I saw Tim flying his red, white and blue hang glider and tried to climb towards him but I was maxed out. Tim and I worked at the same toy company a few years ago.
What a great winter day. I was going to land at the normal landing area but I had plenty of altitude and the winds seemed good so I decided to fly over the parking lot. During the first attempt I didn't lose any altitude but decided to fly back over towards the dumps. There were Pilots flying the other side of the parking lot so I thought about it again and decided to give it another shot. I was just going to go to the edge of the death bowl & return. I didn't lose altitude so it seemed fine. Little did I realize that as soon as I reached the edge of the death bowl & turned to head back to the landing area I was not going anywhere. The winds shifted North & I was stuck, basically sitting still. My landing choices were now cheeta, the sand pit or the beach. I knew to avoid the death bowl & was happy when I reached the other side. Now the decision was land at cheeta or head to the sand pit? I've spent some time watching Dingo & JJ fly cheeta & know that there is lots of lift in the landing area as well as rotors. I decided to fly over cheeta to attempt a landing. The attempt started well but I hit a rotor and started bouncing around, at one point losing altitude. The right side of my wing collapsed as I bounced left and right continuing to drop altitude fast! Maintaining control I aggressively flew towards the sand pit. Once I got away from Cheeta the flying was smooth again. I flew for a while before deciding to land at the sand pit, 2 hours 5 minutes after takeoff. What a great winter day.
Hang glider and paraglider pilots playing above the cloud.
The weather outside looked as it has all week, cloudy and gloomy so I went back to bed. At 10:30am I got a text message letting me know that there were 2 wings in the air at the dumps. It was noon by the time I motivated myself to head out. The coast seemed damp! Every now and then I'd feel a sprinkle, the clouds looked like they were going to let go at any time.
The day turned into one of the best. The air was smooth and it was easy to gain altitude. At one point there were seven hang gliders and 4 paragliders flying over the dumps. There was a cloud which the hang glider pilots were climbing above. I attempted to climb, made it above the cloud once and decided to give up on it because I would need to fly over the houses. I saw Tim flying his red, white and blue hang glider and tried to climb towards him but I was maxed out. Tim and I worked at the same toy company a few years ago.
What a great winter day. I was going to land at the normal landing area but I had plenty of altitude and the winds seemed good so I decided to fly over the parking lot. During the first attempt I didn't lose any altitude but decided to fly back over towards the dumps. There were Pilots flying the other side of the parking lot so I thought about it again and decided to give it another shot. I was just going to go to the edge of the death bowl & return. I didn't lose altitude so it seemed fine. Little did I realize that as soon as I reached the edge of the death bowl & turned to head back to the landing area I was not going anywhere. The winds shifted North & I was stuck, basically sitting still. My landing choices were now cheeta, the sand pit or the beach. I knew to avoid the death bowl & was happy when I reached the other side. Now the decision was land at cheeta or head to the sand pit? I've spent some time watching Dingo & JJ fly cheeta & know that there is lots of lift in the landing area as well as rotors. I decided to fly over cheeta to attempt a landing. The attempt started well but I hit a rotor and started bouncing around, at one point losing altitude. The right side of my wing collapsed as I bounced left and right continuing to drop altitude fast! Maintaining control I aggressively flew towards the sand pit. Once I got away from Cheeta the flying was smooth again. I flew for a while before deciding to land at the sand pit, 2 hours 5 minutes after takeoff. What a great winter day.
Hang glider and paraglider pilots playing above the cloud.
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