US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

I think it was on the HGAA forum that Joe Faust started an on-line hang gliding log book. I'd like to carry on that tradition here.

If you'd like to log your flights or any particular flying-related activities, please feel free to post them here.

I flew my Falcon 3 (195) at Torrey Pines on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 for 2 hours and one minute.

It was a strong day, and I wanted to get some air time before the Torrey Hawks club Fly-In which is held on the Second Sunday (the 12th in this case). So I flew from the the whole length of our legal range - Scripps Pier to Bathtub Rock (aka Flat Rock) - many times. I had a great launch (thanks to help from Ernie!!), and a nice top landing.

Torrey Pines - February 12th, 2012.

We held our regular "Second Sunday" fly-in for the Torrey Hawks Hang Gliding Club, and we finally got some good conditions. I set up both my Falcon 195 and Little Hawk. I took a short flight on both my Falcon and my Wills Wing Arcus (paraglider). I only flew about 5 to 10 minutes on each flight because I dedicate most of my time during Second Sundays to meeting with our members and helping them get some flight time.

We also had 3 other Torrey Hawks fly my Falcon on Sunday, and that's in keeping with our club's tradition of promoting the sport of hang gliding at the Torrey Pines Gliderport.

As an added bonus, it was good to see John Wright stop by. John met our new president (thanks Brian!!) and several other happy members of the Hawks. I think that made a difference, and in John's words, we've "buried the hatchet" with regard to the HGAA. John has rejoined the Torrey Hawks, and we welcome him back as Torrey Hawks member #8.

Torrey Pines - February 16th, 2012

I checked the weather at work and I couldn't resist sneaking out for a "short flight" at Torrey. The forecast was for 8mph straight in, and increasing to 9mph through evening, so I was planning a paragliding flight (better in light winds ... and easier to carry up).

But when I got to the Gliderport, the wind was at the high end of the scale for my old Arcus, and it was looking more like a hang gliding day. So I made the decision to go with the Falcon, and it was definitely the right call.

I set up quickly and Ernie helped me down to launch. By then, the wind had picked up, and I launched and went straight up. Wow!!

The wind was cross from the northwest, and there were just a few high performance paragliders parked in that direction. I had a great time flying in all directions with the increased speed that I got from the Falcon (compared to a paraligder, that is). But even so, it was a slow creep heading north, and a very quick trip when flying south.

I had launched around 3:30, and there was plenty of lift and plenty of open ridge. But as time moved on, the wind lightened and a few more paragliders jumped into the air. The softening of the wind continued, and I was working my way back for a landing, but the combination of conditions and traffic made it difficult. Then, right around 4:30 (16:30 in the graph below) the wind turned to come almost directly from the north (350 degrees on the graph). That generated virtually no lift on the west-facing cliff and I was flushed to the beach with at least 7 (maybe more?) paragliders.

I don't usually carry my full glider bag with me, but I do take my tip bags and ties along on every flight. So it was a quick matter to get the glider ready for the long trek up the cliff ... the exercise couldn't hurt me.

The highlighted region (yellow) shows the time duration of my flight (just about 1 hour). You can see the abrupt change in the direction plot from around 300 degrees (30 degrees off of straight-in) to 350 degrees (80 degrees off of straight-in). That's the little blip that sent everyone to the beach.

bobk wrote:Torrey Pines - February 12th, 2012.We held our regular "Second Sunday" fly-in
As an added bonus, it was good to see John Wright stop by. John met our new president (thanks Brian!!) and several other happy members of the Hawks. I think that made a difference, and in John's words, we've "buried the hatchet" with regard to the HGAA. John has rejoined the Torrey Hawks, and we welcome him back as Torrey Hawks member #8.

This really sounds great, . United we can do some good. Thanks again, BobK.

You're right Sam. We need to start regathering ourselves after the disaster of the HGAA.

By the way, I flew my paraglider for about half an hour today. Brad Geary (one of the Torrey Pines PG crowd) tried to pinch me against the cliff today between 3:30 and 4:00pm - in flight. He did this while flying a tandem passenger at Torrey. He's also played "chicken" with Dave Beardslee as well - sending Dave to the beach at least once.

Bob,

First off, Congrats on the good flights, recently, there at Torrey. Tell Dave B.
I said hello. Is he in any of the Second Sunday pics? Doubt I would recognise him. You guys appear most dedicated.

The news about the bully flying tactics is really sad. How insecure that guy must be.
Or is he pushing the minimal safe tandem conditions and trying to avoid going to the beach? At your expence?

One thing we don't have around here is too much glider traffic, lol.
Hopefully we will get some entries for the flight log soon.

Thanks,
Sam
SWTHG
Chapter #4
US Hawks

SamKellner wrote:Bob,

First off, Congrats on the good flights, recently, there at Torrey. Tell Dave B.
I said hello. Is he in any of the Second Sunday pics? Doubt I would recognise him. You guys appear most dedicated.

I'll check on the Second Sunday photos and let you know.

SamKellner wrote:The news about the bully flying tactics is really sad. How insecure that guy must be.
Or is he pushing the minimal safe tandem conditions and trying to avoid going to the beach? At your expence?

If it were a matter of him staying up, then I might have understood. But there was plenty of lift everywhere. He was intentionally trying to drive me into a dangerous situation. He might have caused an accident if he didn't start thinking about how my warnings were alarming his unsuspecting passenger. The passenger might have even asked him to give me more clearance. I'd like to be able to interview that passenger, but there's little chance that I'll ever find out who it was. But I'm pursuing the avenues that I have available to me.

SamKellner wrote:Tell Dave B. I said hello. Is he in any of the Second Sunday pics? Doubt I would recognise him. You guys appear most dedicated.

Hi Sam,

I dug up a few photos of Dave B. from Torrey, Horse Canyon, and King Mountain. I hope you enjoy them!!

More Flight Logging ...

I flew Torrey on February 28th, 2012 in both my Falcon (HG) and my Arcus (PG). The Falcon flight was relatively short (maybe 10 minutes?), but I wanted to be sure to land on top. The PG flight was a bit longer (more like 30 minutes).

Both flights were relatively uneventful ... but lots of fun!!