Flying possibilities

[Bill Cummings]

Should we send pilot flotation devices down to the sod farm for Hadley's students. We don't want anyone to drown down there.
Hadley post a picture of your vehicle before the car wash.

[Bill Cummings]

Robin is picking me up and we are headed for Mag., Rim.
I’ll post later about it later--oops---darn it!

[Bill Cummings]

Well if you don’t at least try and risk failure you will never succeed.
We tried and failed. So at least we did something right.
It was NW and West at Mag Rim which faces SW.
We called Hadley and told him not to go to the Rim.
Robin’s forecast was right. It wasn’t going to be any good at Mag Rim and we witnessed that it wasn’t any good at Mag Rim.
Still unanswered is the question:
If no one is at Mag Rim to see that the wind is in fact blowing into launch is the wind in fact blowing into launch?

[RobinHastings]

Tuesday, Aug. 19th at Dry Canyon: I met up with Jan Zschenderlein at 8:35 this morning in the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo. We were at the PG launch by 9:30 and at 10:05 he made a perfect launch into buoyant, light-wind air. Cumulus was starting to form by then. He had a 20-minute flight to the LZ, making a few passes and thermalling just a bit, and was waiting for me by the time I got down with his truck at 11:00. We quickly traded vehicles and drove back to Dry Canyon launch, stopping on the way to fill in a couple of holes in the road with rocks of varying dimensions. (The road is pretty well packed now, after the beautiful rainy season we've been having.) I launched in my Formula 144 at 12:40 pm, with some good-sized cumies forming but nothing threatening. I went left from launch, came back and found myself looking up at the ramp 100 feet above me. Yikes! I went out along the ridge and found enough lift to get above the ridge a bit, and made it to the West Face at ridgetop height. I found some lift around there, and finally got a good thermal by the church on Scenic Drive, rising from 6000 ft MSL to 9200. I could have hung out longer, but saw dust devils just emerging and decided that getting down as soon as possible would be a reasonable idea. I had a pretty good landing, for me, whacking the nose only semi-violently. I had 50 minutes in the air and a big grin. We got some lunch at the Rustic Cafe and headed out - he to work, at Holloman, and me to Las Cruces where I could relate every detail to Bill over a barbecue dinner. (Thanks again!) A good day all around, and a great way to finish out the summer before I start grading papers once again.

See you all in the air, I hope!
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

Well if you don’t at least try and risk failure you will never succeed.
We tried and failed. So at least we did something right.
It was NW and West at Mag Rim which faces SW.
We called Hadley and told him not to go to the Rim.
Robin’s forecast was right. It wasn’t going to be any good at Mag Rim and we witnessed that it wasn’t any good at Mag Rim.
Still unanswered is the question:
If no one is at Mag Rim to see that the wind is in fact blowing into launch is the wind in fact blowing into launch?

Had wanted a picture of the green grass growing at launch. It is the greenest spot on the hill. We should get an atta boy for that.
Had I didn't realize that my dead-ish battery took the picture until I stuck new batteries in it just now. Sorry for the delay.

Green Launch.JPG (75.19 KiB) Viewed 6217 times

[RobinHastings]

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014
I drove to Alamogordo and arrived at 11:00 am MDT, in time to meet up with Mike Ellsworth, Jan Zscenderlein and Jan's kids Emily and Soren. We all drove up to Dry Canyon launch in my truck, despite overcast clouds (Hurricane Odelia is off the SW coast of Baja California, pushing moisture into our area). We had rains at launch and winds blowing gently down, but it got drier and turned around by 2:45. At 3:05 I launched in my Wills Wing U2. I had a nice soaring flight when I got a good thermal at the end of the Bowl, rising from 6500 ft MSL to 8400. Not bad at all, and the sunshine was getting stronger by then. I hit rougher air up high, and finally left for the Cox Field LZ, where there was still lots of lift. Jan had driven my truck back down, and was waiting with wind info, which helped me have a perfect landing at 3:40 pm. We then drove back up, where I helped Mike to launch at 5:50 pm and Jan at 6:15. They both had fine flights; Mike reached 8500 ft and Jan about 7300. I found them in the LZ tearing down, having landed just before I arrived at 7:10. After packing up Jan and I took our long-time driver Finis Miller to dinner at Rustic Cafe, and hit the road for home. (Mine a much longer one.) It was a very nice day of flying, despite unpromising conditions, and just goes to show how a good site and lots of patience can really pay off. Let's do some flying, folks!
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

FLYING DRY CANYON, SEPT. 27, 2014
The Miller Canyon Fly-In, scheduled for this weekend, got called for rain (and southwest winds) so my wife Nancy and I went camping in the Sacramentos on Friday night. On Saturday I got down to the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo at 11:30 am, just in time to meet with Jan Zschenderlein packing up his paraglider. Jan Richter arrived then, and we all looked for Patrick Harvey-Collard of Albuquerque, still skying out in his PG over Dry Canyon launch. Dave Coleman of Albuquerque pulled up with his Moyes Litesport HG just then. After collecting Rik, a new P2 from Abq (who landed out and then hiked down to NMSU-A) we all drove up to Dry Canyon launch in Dave's Tacoma. There Rik drove the truck back down and everyone else got to launch. I joined Jan and Jan in the air at 2:15 pm MDT and had 35 minutes of good airtime, mostly working thermals at the West Face. I joined Dave in the LZ with a pretty good landing in my Formula 144. Jan, Jan and Patrick finally came down about 20 minutes later. It was a festival of flight! Thermals were small and weak today, so the PG's had the upper hand, but everyone had a great time. Dave drove back north, the rest of us (along with Jan's kids and Nancy) had supper at Empire Buffet in Alamogordo. I understand that more PG flying is on tap for tomorrow - as for me, there's a time and a place for flight, and then it's back to work. Sigh...

[RobinHastings]

THE COLUMBUS DAY GATHERING, OCT. 10-13
Mike Ellsworth and I met in the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo about 9:30 am today. Winds were light and switchy, so it took a while before we decided to go up to launch. Hey, we owe a big THANK YOU to the Lincoln National Forest and to Sacramento Ranger District. The road to launch was graded AGAIN! It looks great! We had an easy time of it driving to the top, where winds were coming in nice and strong. I set up my U2 160 and took off at 2:50 pm, under darkening, flat-bottomed cumulus clouds. I shot right up, turned left, and worked up several hundred feet over launch. Then I cruised the ridge, and found a good thermal over the Bowl, which I took up to 8200 ft MSL (1200 over launch). I was heading upwards into a darkening cloud, though, so I headed for the LZ, where there was yet more lift - and more cumulus. By then the wind was coming lightly out of the northwest. I heard raindrops on the sail as I set up an approach from southeast to northwest. I flared a little early but landed OK, for 25 minutes of airtime, and while I was tearing down Mike arrived in the truck. Soon after that Lee Boone arrived as well, with truck and RV trailer, and flying RC gliders and planes became popular as I struggled with the U2. I finally had it on the truck and headed back to Las Cruces by 4:40 pm. It was good flying today, and I could have stayed up longer, but hey, I had some obligations. See you all tomorrow, I hope!
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

Monday, Oct. 13 (Columbus Day)
This was a low-key fly-in, but we had a great time anyway. Several Albuquerque pilots came down for it (Greg Clark, Patrick Harvey-Collard, Dave DeMill) and Saturday was a pretty good day. Patrick had almost 4 hours in his PG; Mike Ellsworth, Matt Hayes, Lee Boone and I all flew in hang gliders. PPG pilot Ty Bonnel, son of HG pilot Rick Bonnel, was up there with his wife April, and Ty wired me off at 3:00. The weather was really pleasant, and thermals, though small and light, were pretty abundant. Ty and Lee both flew their Powered Paragliders (PPG's) as sunset approached. We had a very nice time visiting in the LZ that evening until about 11:00 pm. On Sunday morning I took Patrick and Greg up to the launch, but even at 8:00 am it was already blowing too hard for PG's (and at the top end of what I'll take in my HG). We went back down and the day was devoted to visiting, and kiting PG's in the landing zone. The winds really started howling about 1:00 pm, and with a forecast for northeast winds on Monday the fly-in slowly dissipated. No injuries, no aluminum bent, and everyone enjoyed the company - which is what a fly-in is really about, no? See you at the next one!
-Robin

[Bob Kuczewski]

Monday, Oct. 13 (Columbus Day)
No injuries, no aluminum bent, and everyone enjoyed the company - which is what a fly-in is really about, no? See you at the next one!
-Robin

Nice report Robin!!!      It sounds like you've got a great club there.