Dry Canyon Alamogordo, NM (USA)

[Bill Cummings]

I'll drive if you can't find a driver.
I'm not going to fly.
Mike is working on his carport.

[RobinHastings]

OK, I'll give you a call late in the morning tomorrow. We can assess what the conditions REALLY are in Alamogordo for that time.
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

K

[RobinHastings]

Monday, Oct. 24:
It turned out to be a pretty nice day! BIll Cummings drove for me and we left Las Cruces at 12:15 pm MDT. By 3:15 I was all set up at launch at Dry Canyon with my Wills Wing U2-160. Conditions were sort of clear over the mountains, east, and sort of hazy and coming in, out to the west. Winds were about 15 mph, straight up at the launch ramp. I took off at 3:20 pm, and went up and left - good timing, right into a thermal. I did S-turns to gain altitude, heeding Bill's advice on the radio - "Stay right here!" No problem - that first thermal was nice and smooth. I circled and got up to 8000 ft MSL (1,000 ft above launch height) and then cruised the ridge. Thermals were tight and a little turbulent, after that first one, and I went up and down between 7000 and 7500 over the Bowl and the West Face. I headed out towards the LZ from the West Face at 6500 ft, then finally found my best lift of the day and took it up to 9000. Well! Now I have some options! Instead of heading over to Cox Field, I went towards La Luz. Bill radioed to me that he was at Stone Corner, where Florida Avenue meets Highway 82, and that he had a visual on me. Great! My radio wasn't reaching him, but I could hear OK, so I went to the gigantic field at La Luz. Not much lift there, but I was able to hang out just long enough for Bill to arrive and give me the wind conditions (south, about 4 mph). With that kind of intelligence I was able to make a nice, south-southwest approach, and a perfect touchdown at 4:17 pm. (Well, let's round up, and claim it was an hour...) We got my glider packed up and were headed out of Alamogordo by 5:00 pm. I hope that I can be Bill's driver soon, because I sure owe him one for today!
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

Monday, Oct. 24:
It turned out to be a pretty nice day! BIll Cummings drove for me and we left Las Cruces at 12:15 pm MDT. By 3:15 I was all set up at launch at Dry Canyon with my Wills Wing U2-160. Conditions were sort of clear over the mountains, east, and sort of hazy and coming in, out to the west. Winds were about 15 mph, straight up at the launch ramp. I took off at 3:20 pm, and went up and left - good timing, right into a thermal. I did S-turns to gain altitude, heeding Bill's advice on the radio - "Stay right here!" No problem - that first thermal was nice and smooth. I circled and got up to 8000 ft MSL (1,000 ft above launch height) and then cruised the ridge. Thermals were tight and a little turbulent, after that first one, and I went up and down between 7000 and 7500 over the Bowl and the West Face. I headed out towards the LZ from the West Face at 6500 ft, then finally found my best lift of the day and took it up to 9000. Well! Now I have some options! Instead of heading over to Cox Field, I went towards La Luz. Bill radioed to me that he was at Stone Corner, where Florida Avenue meets Highway 82, and that he had a visual on me. Great! My radio wasn't reaching him, but I could hear OK, so I went to the gigantic field at La Luz. Not much lift there, but I was able to hang out just long enough for Bill to arrive and give me the wind conditions (south, about 4 mph). With that kind of intelligence I was able to make a nice, south-southwest approach, and a perfect touchdown at 4:17 pm. (Well, let's round up, and claim it was an hour...) We got my glider packed up and were headed out of Alamogordo by 5:00 pm. I hope that I can be Bill's driver soon, because I sure owe him one for today!
-Robin

https://youtu.be/dToMm3v0PiM

Robin @ La Luz LZ Monday October 24 2016.JPG (38.77 KiB) Viewed 6156 times

[RobinHastings]

Nice video, Bill! I enjoyed reliving the flight through it. It was a really nice day and I'm glad we went.

It's with a lot of sadness, though, that I saw confirmation this morning of the death of Tom Pastinsky at the La Bajada site, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The details of what happened Saturday will probably emerge as time goes on, but he was flying his hang glider there after a year-long hiatus, and could not get up high enough to top land. He impacted an outcropping and was probably killed instantly. Tom had one of his first high altitude flights at the Dry Canyon Fly-In about three years ago; I remember lending him my altimeter to fly with there. He was a nice young guy (late 20's, then) and really eager to soar.

We enjoy this sport so much! Be safe, everyone. Every pilot is precious - and every human being is a wonder to our universe.
-With Joy and Sorrow Mixed,
Robin

[RobinHastings]

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2016:
Another nice day at Dry Canyon. PG pilots Jan Zschenderlein, Steve Crye, Ty Bonnel and Ben Abruzzon (from Albuquerque) assembled along with me at the Cox Field LZ at 2:00 pm today. We took up my truck (with my U2-160 hang glider), Jan's truck and Ben's FJ Cruiser to the Dry Canyon launch. PG pilot Rod Burton, not flying today, was my designated driver. Everyone started launching about 4:00 pm MDT, with myself going off at 4:15. (Ty had to wait a while, though, as the winds got stronger right after I took off.) Conditions were excellent, with clear skies all over New Mexico, and the thermals were abundant, smooth and moderate in strength. I got over 9000 feet MSL on this flight (2000 over launch), boated around for 50 minutes, and had an excellent, no-wind landing at Cox Field. First down - all 4 PG pilots came in a little bit later. We visited with a nice couple in the LZ, who were letting their dogs have an outing. Rod had my truck down well before I could finish packing up. He and Steve headed back home to El Paso, Ben headed back to Albuquerque, and I had to get home to Las Cruces to get back to grading lab reports. Jan and the remaining group (Ty had brought along Tina and two friends) all went out to Chile's for some well-deserved sustenance, as the twilight slowly deepened and the temperature plummeted towards the low 70's. Can you beat a day like this?
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

I just re-read my post from Sunday - that's Ben Abruzzo (not Abruzzon) who is part of the famous ballooning family up in Albuquerque. A very nice guy - I hope we see him more often down here!
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016:
The weather was calm around our region, but it all worked out pretty well. Rod Burton of El Paso was the man of the day, being the driver for me and the four PG pilots today. (We had Steve and Jan, from El Paso and Alamogordo, and from up north, Patrick and Max.) Conditions were light, but the PG's were able to stay up pretty well. I launched at 1:35 pm MST and had a sled run, but a fine landing in the Cox Field LZ at the end. (Well, Max thought it looked fine - and who am I to argue?) As I packed up my glider, the three who reached the LZ went to get Steve, who landed up near Plateau Espresso, and then all four of them went up in Jan's truck to fly a second time. They also had Ty Bonnel and Tina with them, so she drove back down; Rod and I went back up the hill in my truck when I was finished, to retrieve Max's vehicle. Everyone got to soar. The skies were clear and the temperature was 70 degrees at launch, winds were light but coming straight in - you can't ask for much nicer days than this one.
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

I forgot to include Jan's friend Dave in the group - he, too, flew his PG on Sunday. It was a really pleasant day.
-Robin