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Hangola May 21, 22 & 23, 1999

I am thrilled to report my first flight off of High Rock today! The flight itself wasn't terribly noteworthy, just a simple sled ride down to the LZ, but it's an important milestone for me, since it marks my first ever cliff launch.

It all started after I had called Steve Kinsley to ask about flying this weekend. He called me this morning, and mentioned that "the rock" looked good today. Since I had looked at the weather forecast last night and knew that it was probably going to go southwest this weekend, I decided to take him up on his offer to fly today. It took me an hour to re-schedule everything that I was supposed to do today, but, what the heck; none of it was all that important anyway.

When I got there, Steve was already in the air; I helped wire off one pilot, then got to talking with Brian H., who offered to observe for me. Since it would be my first cliff launch and only my third mountain flight, he was a little hesitant, but we talked about launching and landing and the approach for a while, and he decided to let me fly. The winds were pretty light, and kept trying to cross from the south, so we sat up on the ramp for quite a while, but the sun was out, and I got a pretty good tan while waiting. Bob G. came up to the ramp later, and with his encouragement (as well as Mark Fink who kept saying "Throw him off! Throw him off!") We finally decided to go for it. I had to wait a bit for decent cycle, but I finally got one that was pretty straight in; I yelled "clear" and took that big leap of faith off the edge of the rock. Brian had done a really good job of explaining the launch procedure, including the importance of keeping the bar pulled in until I had enough airspeed, so I knew what to do and was able to do it correctly. I followed his instructions and came out of the launch very smoothly, and then there I was, floating gently across the valley!

I'd like to say that I finished this off with a perfect one-step landing, but with the wind coming out of the southwest, I had a very light tail-wind as I landed, and when I flared I couldn't get my feet under me and had to come in on the wheels instead. Oh well; I'll work on my landings next...

The high point of my day had to be meeting Emma Jane, who was [apparently] fascinated with my legs (I was wearing shorts). I believe her exact comments were "Look at the hair on those legs! Why, if you had been born a day later you'd have been born a dog!" Woof. I don't care though, I'm still not shaving them...

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have finally flown High Rock, and I'd like to thank the three observers who all combined to make this possible:
Steve K., for inviting me up there;
Bob G., for contributing additional encouragement; and especially
Brian H., for taking responsibility for me and actually letting me fly.

Thanks,
Ralph

Just got back from a day at Manquin flight park. Arrived at 1:30 to hear of Greg DeWolf's XC flight in progress. The wind had picked up to 10 to 15 and an inescapable sink hole sat over the park for the rest of the afternoon. Many gliders would beat the truck back to the launch area.

Rain moved in for a couple hours around 4 and some flying resumed after the skies cleared. Roland towed Tex with the new tug. Greg, having returned from a 30+ mile XC, took Ed Reno's mother tandem. Everything went OK until the landing, Greg tried to run it out but whacked hard, providing a cushion for Mrs. Reno. Greg broke his left arm above the elbow. There was some debate whether wheeels would have helped as there were none on the glider. I guess even the best can screw up.

MC

The title pretty much sums it up-- Sheila, Joe, Allen, Craig, Gardinator, Steve K. and I all had a sled at the Rock on Sunday-- Brian VH took two sleds and Karen had an extendo actually getting in a couple of passes along the ridge. Very buoyant air-- I was able to push out to almost zero sink, so at least it was a nice long sled.

Matthew (first non-soaring day of the year for me, of Karen and Matthew)
PS The grass is above knee-level in the the LZ and with all of the rain will probably be waist high by next weekend.

Nearly everyone who went to the Pulpit on Sunday soared for as long as they chose to. Bacil twice, Tom, Brian, Mike C., Jose, others including me.

It was a good day to practice flying in marginal soaring conditions. The grass is chest high at the Pulpit. We all landed on the dirt strips.

Mom is great and loved her flight. She was visiting from Ca and has always wanted to Hang Glide. When I became a pilot it peaked her desire even further. The ride was a belated Mothers Day gift from me. She is 75 and I am not sure which she enjoyed more, the flight or hanging on to Greg.

On the subject of judgment, my mothers first remark was "The only reason that I am ok is because he threw himself in front of me." One split second judgment that Greg made was to continue to hold on to the down tube and stay between it and my mothers aged and fragile neck.

When I think about that, all other judgments become impossible.

I was asked if my mother would like to write something about the flight for our newsletter and she agreed. She also wants to be able to brag about her flight at her Bridge games, so we agreed that we would talk all about the flight except for the few final instants. Whata Mom!

Ed

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This page last updated May 24, 1999