Media

[Bill Cummings]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0URUs-tDsv0

[Bill Cummings]

Friday August 5, 2016 PG towing out on the grassy flats north of the Corralitos Ranch on BLM land.
Pilots met NW of Las Cruces on the Corralitos Tow Road.
Jan Z brought his winch/reel over in his truck but everyone had to wait for the wind to calm down.
Dave was towed up just before sunset for a good high tow and I spaced out getting the landing time so I guess if I had started a stop watch it would still be running. (Darn it.)
During the tow the wind picked up a little which made head way tough for Dave. Jan was back before Dave landed.
The wind died down again but it was too late to tow so pilots practiced kiting and had some kiting wars.
I (Bill) was the only one that didn't stay to camp out for the night on site but I'll try to get up early enough tomorrow
to race sunup.
I'll post the still pictures tonight (Now) and upload the video's tomorrow.
Ty and Tina brought their camping trailer and the two dogs -- the big dog, Mary, and the little dog I was not properly introduced.
Jan Z and another Jan, Ty, Tina, Dave camped over night. I dropped about 5 calls to Wyatt Lines due to the poor cell coverage in the middle of the desert wilderness trying to talk him into coming out. I later called on my way home and Wyatt (PG) may show up tomorrow.

Jan hooking up Dave before sunset..JPG (53.03 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

Paying out some line for tow..JPG (66.66 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

Dave 700 ft. and climbing..JPG (11.65 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

Kiting at sunset..JPG (36.83 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

Sparks to the north..JPG (17.32 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

Ready to camp over night..JPG (38.15 KiB) Viewed 5773 times

[Bill Cummings]

After the wind died out there was only time for one tow on Friday night before sunset. Playing until dark or at least until to dark to see setting up the tent.
https://youtu.be/GyL2SVzofYM

[Bill Cummings]

Wyatt and Jenica(?) Jenika(?) had to get up at 5am to drive the 120 or so miles to meet with other PG pilots from Alamogordo, NM. The tow road is NW of Las Cruces and north of the Corralitos Ranch.
Wyatt and Jenica were going to serve Jan Z. up for the test flight on the new winch/reel that Wyatt bought.
It was just about too windy so Jan was plucked up when the line went tight at 7:37 AM. The tow was good but as is true with most things the towing procedure will come easier as everyone involved gains more experience with a brand new state of the art contraption. It was kind of like finding the electric side mirror adjustment button on a new car. You know the button is here someplace and in time you can adjust the mirror without even looking and at the same time feel quite smug about doing it.
Right now everyone is still trying to attain the first level of smugness with the new winch/reel.
Wyatt was boating around for the better part of an hour as I was getting home before noon. I've yet to hear where he landed and how long the flight was. The rest of the PG'ers folded up and headed home as conditions were getting just the way Wyatt likes it.
Below are some stills of Saturday's flying.

Running the towline out. New winch-reel of Wyatt L..JPG (49.1 KiB) Viewed 5758 times

PG tow up 8-6-16 Corralitos Ranch..JPG (71.94 KiB) Viewed 5758 times

First tow on new winch-reel - It Works!.JPG (21.84 KiB) Viewed 5758 times

Towing made easy..JPG (18.76 KiB) Viewed 5758 times

Wyatt I think going XC.JPG (15.84 KiB) Viewed 5758 times

[Wyatt]

I only flew to the I-10, just 8 or 9 miles away. Was in the air for 2 hours. Nice flight, uneventful, max up was around 800. Had a nice landing on the hardball road to avoid mesquite. Could have stayed up much longer but didn't plan on doing XC so I didn't bring any water, and my helmet mounted push to talk wasn't working and I didn't have a hand mic. So I just called it a day and went back to the hotel and took a nap, saw a movie in a real theater. Oh, I found out what was wrong with the truck radio! The antenna coax had come loose at the base, one of the wires wasn't even connected! Fixed that and the AC on Sunday, so at least those things won't be an issue anymore. I'm planning on towing with the Tucson crew this weekend, dialing in the winch some more so hopefully I'll have a lot of takers next time.

BIG thanks to Jan Z for understanding the plight of a tow tech with a new rig that nobody wants to be the guinea pig on! You made this happen, and I can't thank you enough!!!