US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Hey all. Last Sunday I talked some of my Tucson paragliding buddies into coming out to Bowie, AZ, to tow. Aaron Cromer, Tucson instructor and tow rig owner/tech, had already found a suitable tow road last year, and he did the slinging for the day. The air was pretty sporty, as to be expected this time of year in the high desert. My first tow was around 12:30 or so, made it 4K AGL and hit nothing but sink. My second tow, well, that was another story. Made it up to 11K MSL or so relatively quickly, so I started taking my planned route down the I-10. Got a little low over San Simon but was able to stay in the game until the Peloncillos, which got me stupid high. Getting to 12,500 and hopping from cloud to cloud over the Lordsburg Playa was pretty amazing. Wish I had found my camera battery charger the night before, it was some of the most beautiful sights I have ever or will ever see! Most of the flight was cloud flying, which I am not entirely used to but it was very welcome. Smelled like snow up there. Hit a boomer over the mountains right next to home, which, with the help of the ever-drifting light evening thermals, gave me another 30 miles or so despite momentary 1700 fpm sink on the other side. One of my best flights, and a great way to get introduced to the potentially epic flying in NM!

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/1385058

Oh, here's the tracklog of my Little Floridas inaugural flight back in October:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/1385062

That's tremendous, Wyatt! Best XC flight out here this year, for sure. Keep on soaring! "Work less, fly more," as Hadley likes to say.
-Robin

Wyatt wrote:Hey all. Last Sunday I talked some of my Tucson paragliding buddies into coming out to Bowie, AZ, to tow. Aaron Cromer, Tucson instructor and tow rig owner/tech, had already found a suitable tow road last year, and he did the slinging for the day. The air was pretty sporty, as to be expected this time of year in the high desert. My first tow was around 12:30 or so, made it 4K AGL and hit nothing but sink. My second tow, well, that was another story. Made it up to 11K MSL or so relatively quickly, so I started taking my planned route down the I-10. Got a little low over San Simon but was able to stay in the game until the Peloncillos, which got me stupid high. Getting to 12,500 and hopping from cloud to cloud over the Lordsburg Playa was pretty amazing. Wish I had found my camera battery charger the night before, it was some of the most beautiful sights I have ever or will ever see! Most of the flight was cloud flying, which I am not entirely used to but it was very welcome. Smelled like snow up there. Hit a boomer over the mountains right next to home, which, with the help of the ever-drifting light evening thermals, gave me another 30 miles or so despite momentary 1700 fpm sink on the other side. One of my best flights, and a great way to get introduced to the potentially epic flying in NM!

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/1385058

Oh, here's the tracklog of my Little Floridas inaugural flight back in October:
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/1385062

October's photos by Bill C.
(Click on photo to enlarge if need be.)