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Hangola May 4 - 9, 2004

Flight Reports

OK, this flight's not as interesting as my last flight with Paul, but you're reading, aren't you? Paul is obviously not flying, but he had to go to his doctor's, so we borrowed a truck so he could make his appointment, and I managed to fly. Thank you, Paul (he is too much of a wussie to drive my stick shift)! The other victims were Hank, Karma, and John Middleton.

No wind on launch while we set up, but sunny, vivid blue sky. As we neared readiness to launch, we noticed the wind had ramped up. Good. It looked brain-dead soarable as far as ridge lift was concerned. But the entire sky had clouded over, too, so in spite of the early sun, I feared the thermals would decide not to rise, but instead go back to sleep in their fields.

Karma launched first, stayed up. She sat awhile on launch, but as I was climbing into my harness, I didn't know the winds had again died -- so she had good reason to wait. I was second off, and quickly found a reasonable 5 or so to get me off the ground. Remembered how to footlaunch.

But the ridge lift was slim, if existent at all. I stumbled into some broken thermals and struggled to 900 over. Need to learn how to core mountain thermals better. Karma kicked ass. I could have swallowed my basetube when I saw her rocket upward in a thermal, banked steeply, outflying me to the max.

Good things. I flew with a Bald Eagle, and soared next to an Osprey. Hank radioed that another Baldie tailed me while I chased the first, but I missed his advice to look behind, because the radio plug that hitches to my helmet broke right before I launched.

Bad things. While I followed the ridge, I flew through a thermal -- not even a very strong one, just a couple hundred up a minute. I didn't turn, just flew straight, not particularly pushed out. On the backside of the thermal, my glider dove straight down and more. I really thought I was going to somersault. I have never ever ever -- and I fly quite a bit -- been in that position in a glider. Paul asked what I did to recover but I have no clue except I screamed really loud. Pointed past down, weightless. Trees blurred towards me.

I have never been scared actually just flying my glider before. Ginny recovered, but when my weight hit the harness again the shock felt so violent that I heard my back pop, and it immediately began to ache. My back and neck and arm are significantly sore tonight. Maybe Spark is right, that you have to be prepared to die at any time. Really, though, I'd rather wait a couple more years. I have lots more trouble to get into, thank you very much. Weird, I didn't think conditions were radical. I thought about landing after that but there wasn't a reason. I never hit anything remotely like that again, just normal spring trashy bullets.

Lost the lift and went out to land. Was alarmed to see the windsock totally backwards. Tried to figure out if it was better to land downhill, upwind, or stick to the standard approach and hope the wind returned to a more normal direction. Found a thermal at 400 feet. Worked it, remembered the advice to try to wait it out. Landed when the sock briefly pointed down the hill instead of the bad way, but by the time I reached final it had swapped again. Landed downwind, shit shit shit, screamed across the ground, what will we do when both Paul and I are crips???

Of course, I was in my little Eagle, so easy, and headed uphill, so a good run and a second of wondering if I was going to drop the frame was the only bad thing that happened. I had to run like a young girl, though, but I had religion, that's for sure.

John Middleton -- who complained about how he was sooo cold because he was sooo high, and sooo tired because he's not flying fit, and how he had to land because he was tired and freezing, poor baby -- killed the rest of us. I got 900 over, but John got something like 4500 over. Poor old geezer, I feel sooo sorry for him! Like he said, though, he was just really lucky to get high, and then it was easy to avoid the flush that ate the rest of us. Then it was easy, he is soo lucky, it is a good thing he isn't just a better pilot than the rest of us.

BTW, Hank carried my glider up to launch. I said I would worship him forever. It is true. Thank goodness for young bucks with big hearts. Worship worship worship.

Lauren Tjaden

ExtendoDoggers at Hyner. Soarable till dark @ Super Bowl. Shawn, TBone and Me.

High tailed it to WS to meet Sparky for a morning flight. Beautiful blue skies with a few clouds. Set out several streamers and talked of the warm weather. Sparky did PG flight and got over launch, I was taking pictures and watching the birds thermal. WOW what a morning. Picked Sparky up at LZ and headed back up. I took my flight and soared!!! well, I thought I was. Tried to get up but took it like a man and sledded out. I had a good landing tho' woo hoo, one stepper. Sparky launched again and I took photos. Packed up and headed home. Stopped for flowers and candy for the big day. Mothers Day. Anyways, good to fly before a trip. I am going to check out the PG flying in Alaska, between work, wish I knew how to PG. Gene

No time to write! Couple of extendoes, haha, didn't need all the extensive figuring about the airspace to avoid. Very good practice thermaling in the light stuff, cut short by approaching storms. Amazing how quickly they arrive. Me, Joe, Steve, Dave B, and Bob Buchanan enjoyed the day, though.

The beautiful, new, small, Discus is in. Sunny showed me how to do her battens, etc, while it rained. Later, I ran her around the field. Great to handle on the ground, not sure if the frame is way smaller or whether it's just the faired (don't know how to spell that) downtubes but I have never had a glider wedge on my shoulders like that. Great pitch authority, easier to ground handle than Ginny Eagle. Can't wait to fly it.

Hope you all have fun today, back to work here.

Lauren Tjaden

I took a couple of truck tows Friday at Blue Sky about noon. Just sledders so waited about 40min. On the next tow it was still sometimes 90 cross but not strong so still only got to 700 on tow. Managed to work 100-300fp lift to just over 3k. Headed across the pond to check out the other brown fields and got massive sink the rest of the flight. I'm happy with 33min though. A PB for me at MFP.

Charles had a good flight on his Fusion and Tex got some time on the brand new Sport 2 that Steve just got in. Nice colors and Tex said it almost thermalled by itself. I doubt it'll last long. If I had the money, I'd have plunked it down before even flying it.

Rance

Hey, I have a repaired glider. 1 day. How's that. I really lucked out. First off it was blown out so nobody was flying. Second, when I got there Steve W had been sewing stuff all morning and was ready to take a break from the machine ( Hey, wanna take the sail off my glider?). Finally, he didn't know whether he could get to the torn part without taking the sail apart so he put it in the machine just to see. And when it turned out he could, he figured why not sew it up. I even almost got to test fly it. Tex was working on a pavilion shade structure and offered to tow me up if I could swear to being desperate. But I couldn't really. You don't want to push your luck.

On Sat, 8 May 2004 09:00:45 -0400 Steven C Kinsley writes:

> I just ripped out a couple of seams on my undersurface. Normal
> procedure
> is to put the straight battens in last after all the curved tips
> have
> been put in and the sail tensioned. I thought, 'why not put in the
> two
> straights at the same time I put in the curved?' Seemed reasonable.
> But. What can happen is that when you tension the sail, the VG wire
> can
> snag the top of the batten pocket. Not good. Off to Blue Sky for
> a fix.

Actually the adventerous were at 501, Including Shawn, Doug and Dave Fink. I arrived late to help launch Dave and while about to walk down Doug and Shawn showed up to assist. Doug explains they launched awhile ago and landed at the Grimes Airport. Winds were strong but when a lul came through Dave took the leap and launched with ease as he stepped on the elevator button. Winds were straight in, sometimes gusting to 18 mph but during the luls the winds were down to say about 10 -12. Vultures were up and having a good old time. Dave flew for about 1/2 hour and and Landed in Ron's field (now plowed, last week it was still old corn stalks). I picked him up at the field and returned him to his vehicle like normal!
Happy Mothers Day!

Clint

I'm pleased to announce that Mark Cavanaugh, the proud father of a brand new U 2, had it carry him over 30 miles to the end of Jacks Mountain, on it's maiden flight no less!

My own somewhat less stellar but still gratifying flight of approximately 10 miles to the gap, was my first foot launch high flight in about 7 months. I'm told the launch was a good one too.

It's nice to be back in the air and amongst the best friends a person could have. Special thanks to Ellis who spent the day retrieving instead of flying the paraglider.

Thinking about Ridgely today.

Dan T

Yup, yesterday was really sweet. Thermals were cruisin' downwind at a 45-60 degree cross, so I just followed 'em. 31.8 miles to the end of Jacks', where I got flushed when the sky decked over. Bright and sunny 20 minutes after I was on the ground, oh well.

John Dullahan landed on the other side of the same farm, for 31.9. He didn't even know that he'd picked the same place to end his flight :-)

--mark

PS: Also thinking Highland for today...

Got a late start going to Jacks, arriving at 3P. Conditions on the way up looked stellar, with small cumies popping at a high altitude, and breezy conditions on the ground. As I was setting up, clouds moved in from the west and decked the sky over the mountain and conditions got light. The one visible pilot, Bob Buchanan, was getting lower. John Dullahan launched and struggled, but got up. Dave ? launched and got up. Another pilot launched and got up. The sky started opening up again, and conditions picked up when I got on launch. From the pilots in the air, it was easy to see that it was way cross from the SSW aloft. Launched in a straight in cycle and got up in lift out in front of launch. Got about 500' over and started heading NE, a little out from the ridge. Heard John say on the radio that he had jumped the Rt. 322 gap. Since conditions were so cross, I basically thermalled out away from the ridge, halfway between the ridge spine and the fields far out away from the mountain. Had to get some altitude to cross the high voltage lines crossing the mountain about 4 miles out. Crossed, and started losing altitude down to ridge level. Went out to land, and caught another low save, gaining back to 2800' MSL. Drifted towards Rt. 322, losing altitude, and pondered my landing options. Spied the field right next to 322 that I landed in in 2001, where I ran into an irate landowner. Across 322 I saw a soccer field bordered by trees and power lines. Decided to put down there. A little bumpy coming in, but I ate up the diagonal of the field and landed just past the goal. Looked around, and I'm barbed wire fenced in! Great! Then two young fellows showed up on the field, and I asked them how they got in. They said there's a hole in the fence up by the adjoining ball field. Vectored John's brother Jim, who was driving for us, to pick me up. A challenging directional vectoring, to say the least. We then picked up John, who landed near the town of Middle Creek for 32 miles. The goal was the end of Jacks Mt. at Penns Creek, 43 miles from launch. There's some serious trees at the point in the mountain where John and Mark Cavanaugh (great flight Mark!) bailed into the valley, and the mountain has a huge gap in it before it continues on to its terminus at Penns Creek. Went back and showed John the soccer field I put down in, and he said there was no way he'd get the Litespeed in there. Back at launch it was blowing in a steady 10 to 15 MPH at sunset.

Bacil

Met Shawn and Dave at 501 around 4pm saturday. We were greeted by blue skies with scattered Q's which would later line up in streets and winds 10 to 20 STFI. After dropping a vehicle at Ron's, Shawn and I returned to launch and conditions were about the same but the clouds were starting to dry up and the sky was mostly blue now. Conditions were definitely maxed for what I like to fly in at this site but it was nearing 5pm and I figured the gusts would soon start to diminish not to mention there were some really nice cycles to launch in. The last of the clouds slowly dried up just as I was getting ready so I figured I would give the valley a few minutes of full sun to see if conditions would change. Winds picked up a little but nothing out of hand so I decided to walk down with Shawn and Dave on my wings. Picked a good cycle and rocketed up to 300 over. My launch was a little quirky or at least it felt that way to me, Shawn said it looked like my left wing dipped a little but it was towards the end of the chute and nothing major. I did feel it and did a small correction. But what I felt was different, I remember my nose, (the glider's nose) popping up as I transitioned to the base tube. I was wearing a different pair of gloves than I normally wear and I think I either let go with both hands during my transtion to the base tube or my right hand which is usually the latter to transtion to the base tube slipped off the down tube and I just went right for the base tube instead of trying to find the down tube again. Either way it worked out fine but it wasn't as smooth as it could have been and I think I will go back to the grip type gloves I am more comfortable with.

The good stuff. Themals were still kickin with good solid climbs to 2200' over launch and the air much smoother than expected. The lift extended way out in the valley which was really nice since I didn't want to drift over the back very far with the winds at altitude a good 20. Left for Baldy with 1200' over and arrived with 859'. Flew down the ridge to Grimes and found a nice blue street and left the ridge flying in lift all the way to the airport. I talked to Shawn later and he hit the same street on his way out. There was a nice couple at the airport who came over and gave me a hand carrying my equipment over to the house. They gave me a tour of the museum and both hangars which are full of antique aircraft and auto's. Paul was there working on one of the biplanes so we talked for awhile and waited for Shawn to arrive. They really seem to enjoy having us land there so the next time you are out flying 501 on a good day check it out its a great place to land with short grass and a huge wind sock.

Shawn got us a ride back to our trucks and we went back up to launch to help Dave get into the air. He went right up to 800over with out a turn and landed out by Ron's. Great day considering the forecast.

Doug.

Yeah, Jack's wuz working (well) too! I got to the Burnham-Yeagertown exit off 322 under beautiful blue skies. As I was headed for the LZ I could see the spooge movin' in. By the time I got to the LZ (3:30) it was pretty much decked over and a flag in the field showed SW. Aaargggh! Talked w/ Chris and Alice(?) from Maryland and they said that folks skied out earlier and that it was getting more crossed at launch, but there was one pilot in the air. Headed up to launch and pulled in just as Ron Dively and Mark Dunn were helping Dave H. over the rail to launch. It was a bit gusty and a bit crossed, but Dave waited for a good cycle. He did a bit of a wiggle-waggle on the way out of the slot due to a noticeable cross just after launch, but nothing spooky. He went on to have a great flight (2.5 hrs) at (short) times he appeared parked but otherwise looked quite comfortable. Bob Buchanan then rolled up from the LZ and a previous, good flight to help us launch (THX, Bob!) We kicked stones for a while due to the gusts, intermittent sun, and cross, but we all agreed it WAS lookin better. Right before 5:00 Dennis showed up and asked why weren't set-up. Not having a good excuse we set up and launched into really nice conditions. I topped out at 1G+, but there were nice, workable t-mals a-plenty to play with. I got about 1.25 hrs w/ the others approx the same. I know the Maryland gang did better, but a good time was had by all. The five of us then supped and beered-up at a nice sports bar in Burnham before saying G'nite. I think the place is called Edwards' and is on the main drag. Recommended for those who are interested. Glad to see you guys had a goody at 501, also.

I went to Ridgely today, rented the target and had my first couple of flights in over 3 months. Felt good, except for a disconcerting few minutes after release from tow when for the first time in my life it actually sunk in that I was dangling from nothing more than a couple nylon straps a couple thousand feet above the ground. Never bothered me before - hope it never does again. But I slapped myself out of it and proceeded to enjoy flying immensely, even if it was only a couple of sleds. Rolled in after failing to shake a foot out of the harness during the first approach. Second one wasn't stellar, but both feet plopped down at least. Thanks to the Highland crew for being there: missed you guys.

Brian Vant-Hull

If it was a perfect day why didn't you go to Jacks? I didn't even look at the weather because I couldn't fly this weekend! But I did get 40 min at Redwing Thur. Light lift but a great day to be off work!

Gary

I went out to Ridgely late this afternoon just to be social and hang out with people. Took a few photos while I was there, now available at:

http://photos.sickinger.net/20040509_ridgely/index.html

Enjoy!

R2

All the way up to 501 I saw wave clouds over the "Great Valley" region in northern Berks county. They were lined up as if the wind were straight out of the east. Strange.....??? Lennys over the cloud streets which were running north/south. In other words the lennys were right over top of the cloud streets lined up in the same direction. Never seen that on a south day especially over a relatively flat area. Winds were quite strong on the ground so I half expected it to be blown out on launch.

Arrived up top around 4:30 to find Doug and Shawn all set up and ready to go. Conditions were guite strong and straight in but there were lulls one could get off in.

Doug launched first and shot right up followed by Shawn. They both flew for quite some time before I felt it was safe for me to launch. Conditions had strengthened to a steady 20 after both of their launches and it turned into a waiting game. I knew evening magic would eventually arrive I just didn't think I would have to wait so long. I finally got off the mountain around 7:00 after Clint LeRoy arrived and Doug and Shawn made it back from "landing out" at Grimes Airport. Great job guys and a big thanks to Clint for driving over once again to help with launch and retrieval.

Although the air was very smooth, I only flew for a half hour because of being a little un-nerved by the strength of the wind and worrying about penetrating out to the LZ. (Ron's) The ranch was full of horses scattered over the both fields.

I left the ridge with full VG at 850' over and arrived at the edge of Ron's field with 250 feet to spare. Looked down at trees boiling in the wind. Thought to myself....now this is going to be interesting. Did 2 slipping 360's and flared into a 8-10 MPH wind for a nice no stepper. Close one..... fortunately I didn't hit any sink on the way out.. I really need to get one of those new fangled topless wings.

Seems the switch is on for 501 recently. Three great days in the last 10.

Dave

Just thought I would throw this out to the lemmings to hopefully save someone else from making my mistake.

INCIDENT: After setting up to fly at Jacks, I had done my full preflight and hooked my harness in Aussie style as I have become accustomed to performing my own "hang check" prior to getting into my harness. The lines seemed tangled and after trying to untangle, I realized that I need to undo the carabiner and untwist it. In the process of untanglement, the aft-support lines of my tracer harness were taken off and untwisted, but never replaced into the carabiner. Another visual check was performed and all lines appeared straight and hanging properly. Upon moving to launch, a normal hang check was performed and I seemed high over the bar so I got out of my harness and adjusted my tilt and got back into my harness and re-hooked in. Another hang check was performed with multiple eyes, and once again all lines seemed straight and my bar height was where it was supposed to be. As soon as I left the ground on launch, I was suddenly hanging at about a 60-70 angle with the bar at center chest level. I realized something was drastically wrong and pointed the nose at the LZ. Due to my hang position, I only had about 1 foot of pitch control and was having problems keeping the nose under control in the hot thermal conditions. Upon a quick control check, I realized I had good roll authority, but pitch authority was minimal and turns were going to be uncoordinated. I had the LONGEST sled to the LZ known to man, but set up in the center of the field away from all obstructions and proceeded to make a long straight in final. Flare authority was lacking, but I was able to pull it off with minimal stress. Upon post-flight, I found the loop that had slipped down between the lines and not thru the carabiner.

LESSON LEARNED: I was obviously not familiar enough with my harness rig to notice that one loop was not attached. Although everything appeared normal, it in fact was not. My personal lesson was to go back and look hard at all my equipment and make sure I know how everything is rigged (this may seem obvious, but obviously it was not) and what supports what. I have always prided myself on a very thorough pre-flight, but I guess if you don't know what you're looking at, it really doesn't matter. Since it was missed mutiple times, it was very apparent that I should be the expert of my own system and not expect anyone to catch something that I missed repeatedly. Too many variations of equipment to expect your wire crew to catch something thats not blatantly obvious on equipment different from their own. Luckily I got away with it this time, but it was a "Come to Jesus" moment immediately after take-off.

Second flight of the day was much more peaceful, 1050' over and 1:15 airtime. I missed my chance to go XC because of my incident, but luckily that was the only impact.

BATMAN

My 2 days off each week are particularly hard earned lately (with Paul's injury), so I was relieved to see Ridgely wasn't blown out when we arrived, as some forecasts predicted. While it was flyable, the lift was so light it was the kind of day if someone gets 20 minutes, they are really good.

Decided I might as well try to learn something. Practiced landing on Ginny. Was told if I wanted to fly the Discus, that I would first have to fly Ginny Eagle sans fin. I protested that Will's Wing says it should be towed WITH a fin, and who was I to argue with them? At the last moment I grudgingly agreed, but then Adam had Jim fly her without the fin first just to make sure she wasn't too squirrely. I have always left the fin on, since I have thought many times in the midst of a particularly horrific tow that I have plenty of adrenaline in my life even with the fin. Jim said she was fine, though.

I didn't think it would be a problem, but I had a small group around my glider right before takeoff, offering advice and reassurance. Started to worry maybe they thought I WOULD actually hurt myself.

Turned out Ginny was in some ways easier to tow since she was lighter to turn. I liked flying her better, too, though I have to say the air was smooth so we shall see. The only thing was as I turned on final Ginny turned a little quicker than I am used to and for a brief second I faced a different direction than I had anticipated. Straightened and had my best landing of the day.

Was hooked into the beautiful Discus. I am totally enamored with her. Briefly felt like I was stuck in the cart on launch and did what I do to Ginny, bash her basetube onto the cart to dislodge her. La Goddessa Discus disliked this treatment, and responded by leaping off the cart and veering sharply towards the ground. Couldn't believe I was in so much trouble so quick. Straightened her out and started to breath again at 5 or 600 feet. She never moved out of line with the tug again, in a way easier to tow than Ginny since she is so light. Next time I won't smack her basetube down, will just lay there and wait for her to decide when she would prefer to fly.

Thought she was lovely to fly at altitude. I flew her and turned her as hard as I could, but she was just a glider, and I had enough bar pressure I had some feedback. Got overly enthused at one point and managed to get her wildly oscillating. This is not Ginny Eagle, and The Goddessa is not as enamored with me as I am with her. Held still and pushed out a bit and she agreed to calm down.

Flew a VERY big approach, as I was a bit scared of turning her close to the ground (afraid she would have another tantrum), and it worked well. The glide was fine. Chickened out pulling in on final (have to remember, the bar position is the same, speed is still fine after I am straight) and had the glorious distinction of rolling in. Shit. Oh well, I did lots of it right, and I won't screw landing up next time, either. Might be a few flights before I would feel comfortable landing her in a tight spot though. 40 or 50 hours and I should be right at home.

So I did lots of new stuff and got nearly two hours of airtime in all. Those Highland guys are just the nicest, best people in the world. And Paul waited all day for me, and Mark C and Paul broke down Ginny while I was flying La Goddessa Discus. I am very very lucky.

Lauren Tjaden

Julia and I camped overnight at Blue Sky Saturday, so that we could be there bright and early for her scooter tow lesson on Sunday. Julia has tried the dunes (weather sucked), the training hills (wind wasn't quite right, and gliders are heavy for little girls!), so we thought we would check out the scooter tow thing (if the wind changes direction, move the scooter tow; no hill to walk up!). The Condor is a HUGE glider and flies at 13mph! Perfect for first lessons. Each flight was better than the last, and she had fun and learned a lot.

It was fun watching Steve pull some of the other students on the scooter. When the glider was in a turn, I though Steve would stop the scooter and let them land, but with the finesse of a surgeon he was able to relax or increase tension at just the right spot and allowed the student to recover and keep going. (There were of course times where he did just stop because there was no way that the student could pull it off.) It was amazing to watch students fly for 800 feet. Julia was able to get a good feel for the glider and get a sense of cause and effect to her inputs.

I flew high for the first time since October, and got the rust off. But the day was tough, and the flights were short. Met a bunch of pilots from further south in VA and NC, as well as some more local to the DC area. Oh, and Holly does make good cookies!

-Mike Balk

Decided to try Oregon Ridge on Saturday figuring we had a 50/50 chance. This time we lost the battle with very cross winds/moderately fast winds. A little bit up the hill and the wind was coming from all kinds of directions at different times probably rotoring into the slot.

For Sunday, we went to Taylor Farm and had a successful class though the winds weren't doing quite as predicted. Lighter than expected winds and crossing more from the South to SSE at times. Did get quite a bit of decent wind direction during the day. One student got 16 flights! As we were arriving to the area we noticed a number of trees down and as we got on the road going in we found a bunch of trees split or over. One of the neighbors told us they had a tornado on Friday! Lots of trees down, the barn near the first flying area right after entering the property was mostly destroyed. Trees down all over the area and one hit the Taylors house. Of course the trees at the bottom of the hill to the left were left un-touched. Also didn't notice any cows in the field. The grass is getting a little high in the LZ but sparse enough so that it didn't pose any problems. Not sure about it in another week or two.

Also, asked Mark Cavanaugh to have a look of Kirshners on his way back from Jacks on Saturday and he said that it looks fine at this point and the grass is not to high.

- john middleton

Went to OR with John Middleton and several newbie's+ (I count myself among the newbies), but the winds were too cross and John opted for the safest course of action and cancelled. We didn't even set up. Lots of long faces, but at least the faces are intact and not splattered among the trees or amphitheater.

Flew Blue Sky Sunday 5/9 (mother's day present from the kids). The kids had a great time and I had my own munchkin pit crew for each return haul I made, and several other pilots were extended the same courtesy, whether they wanted the assistance or not. Winds were 7-12 or so, overcast for the first half of the lesson and then clearing and sunny, humid, winds only a little cross - not enough to stop us. A little thermally at first when the sun broke out, but it settled into a nice even breeze before too long. Had 7 tows each for us newbies on the Condor 330 and small scooter. That baby floats like it's in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Landed on my feet 5 out of 7 with the last landing a perfect flare! (John M. should take note and be pleased - hopefully no more nose-plows for me). Got up approx 20 feet on the last one (go ahead and laugh at my altitude all you experienced pilots - we'll be terrorizing the mountain launches before you know it!) The opportunity to practice kite control was super, and I finally understood what "going to trim" means and will be able to apply it to the training hill foot launches now. Will graduate to the Falcon 170 next time at Blue Sky. Tex was gracious enough to give my 11 year old a tandem tow - and now she's hooked! Steve W. was generous in hauling the pit crew on the golf cart. Julia did great, and Claire was a real trooper and made steady progress to a long & strong last flight. Scott W. had perfect flights and landings each time, inspiring us newbies to get to that point as quickly as possible. We couldn't stay to watch the afternoon truck tows, but hear they were good, too.

Linda Baskerville

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This page last updated May 10, 2004