La Luz New Mexico (USA) Vertical is 1,100' from the NW launch. (5,870' MSL) Vertical is 1,140' from the upper launch (SW facing) (5,910 MSL) LZ MSL Average is 4,770' Glide is 6/1 to the LZ
Postby RobinHastings » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:14 pm SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017: Ann Dunlap and Bill Cummings came by my house about 8:15 this morning. By 9:30 we were meeting up with Mike Ellsworth in the La Luz landing zone. Everything went smoothly from there: drive up, set up, get ready to launch - except that the La Luz launch winds did not cooperate. We were at the Northwest Launch for hours, without a good lull to launch in while winds roared from 20 to 35 miles per hour. Finally, we carried the gliders for all three pilots (I was driving, today) up to the Southwest Launch. Winds still were not good, but both Bill and Ann made launches there after some long waits. Bill shot up 500 feet above the launch - then plummeted as he began searching for thermals. His flight was about 8 minutes in duration. Ann had similar problems - she waited quite a while, then finally had a good takeoff. However she, too, had only a short flight. She worked some small thermals, but couldn't get much altitude in them. Finally she ended her first flight at the site by landing perfectly in a clear area on the east side of the power lines (Bill landed past them, to the west, right by the flag he had planted). She had a 6 minute flight. Mike wisely decided to pack up his T2C and ride back down with me. All's well that ends well; we had all the gliders tied down to the vehicles by 5:30, and went off in different directions - Mike to Ruidoso, the rest of us to dinner at Margo's Mexican Restaurant, and then Las Cruces. Better luck next time, eh?
Man, that was quite a flight, Bill! I was gripping the base tube (well, keyboard) just watching it. "Smart is way over rated - lucky is where it's at!" Considering the conditions that day - you were smart. -Robin
Saturday, September 29, 2018: Things went very well today! Bill and I got to Cox Field exactly at 10:00 am, and in a couple of minutes Juan Mira showed up with his friends Leslie (who lives in Alamogordo) and Maritsa (sp?) who also goes to University of the Southwest in Hobbs. (She and Juan are on the tennis team there, Leslie used to be before graduation.) We went to the La Luz landing zone, pointed out the power lines to Juan, and headed up to launch. I took off about 12:35 pm MDT into perfect conditions - southwest winds, right up the slope, 12-15 mph. I went up a bit, got bumped a bit but nothing bad, and headed out to the LZ so that I could be there to radio Juan on in. Bill stayed on launch to make sure Juan had a perfect takeoff, at 12:43, and within the first minute I could see that Juan was going to be just fine. Like me, he had a 3-minute sled run (my estimate) and a perfect landing. Great first flight in New Mexico! He loved it, and everyone back on launch was well impressed. We'll see what we can do tomorrow, too. It looks like we have an excellent new Hang 2 in our region! -Robin
RobinHastings wrote:Saturday, September 29, 2018: Things went very well today! Bill and I got to Cox Field exactly at 10:00 am, and in a couple of minutes Juan Mira showed up with his friends Leslie (who lives in Alamogordo) and Maritsa (sp?) who also goes to University of the Southwest in Hobbs. (She and Juan are on the tennis team there, Leslie used to be before graduation.) We went to the La Luz landing zone, pointed out the power lines to Juan, and headed up to launch. I took off about 12:35 pm MDT into perfect conditions - southwest winds, right up the slope, 12-15 mph. I went up a bit, got bumped a bit but nothing bad, and headed out to the LZ so that I could be there to radio Juan on in. Bill stayed on launch to make sure Juan had a perfect takeoff, at 12:43, and within the first minute I could see that Juan was going to be just fine. Like me, he had a 3-minute sled run (my estimate) and a perfect landing. Great first flight in New Mexico! He loved it, and everyone back on launch was well impressed. We'll see what we can do tomorrow, too. It looks like we have an excellent new Hang 2 in our region! -Robin
Juan Mira had a nice, 5-minute flight at La Luz today, launching at 12:10 pm MST. He soared briefly, then the wind died out and he headed out to a very fine landing in the LZ. Steve Crye laid out his PG, but finally decided that the terrain at the La Luz NW launch is just not suited to paragliders. He and I drove on down and picked up Juan, then Steve headed back to El Paso in hopes of airtime at Nelson's Launch. Beautiful weather today, and Juan is having a really good break from academics for a week. -Robin
Thursday, January 14, 2021: It's been a while since La Luz has been flown. I helped Attila Plasch launch it on the Monday of the Memorial Day Fly-In, 2020, and he soared it for over an hour before landing at the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo. But today, with Finis Miller driving for us, Mario Manzo and I both soared it. (Mario lives near Ojo Caliente, north of Santa Fe.) I was first to take off, at 2:00 pm MST. Winds were coming in NW about 12-15 mph, with mostly clear skies and temperatures about 55 degrees F. I immediately went up, and soared the ridge, working thermals and light ridge lift. When Mario launched about 2:10 we shared the air for a bit, then I started getting down to launch height, and headed out. I cleared the power lines by 100 feet, found buoyant air as I tracked them southwestwards, and had a perfect landing into northwest winds in my Sport2-155. I had 15 minutes of airtime, which isn't bad for La Luz, and the air was very smooth and pleasant. Mario followed me and landed about 10 minutes after I did, again with a perfect touchdown. We both agreed that the flights had been, if brief, really pleasant. We packed up as Finis made it down, then Mario went north and Finis & I went for barbecue. As winter days go, this was a really pleasant one. -Robin PS - I forgot my flag in the La Luz LZ when we departed. If anyone happens to get out that way, and sees it, please pick it up and let me know. Thanks!
January 20, 2021: Today the nation watched as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took their oaths of office in Washington, DC. However, I was not tuned in to it. Instead I was up at La Luz (NW winds, so couldn't fly Dry Canyon) with visiting Texas pilots Tony Conger, Chris Chaney, and Joe Gamerisfelder. The conditions were overcast, and the NW winds were very light. Joe took off in his Falcon 3 at 3:15 pm, and I launched in my WW Sport2 about 45 minutes later - both of us in winds less than 5 mph, but at that launch, you can do it. We both, expectedly, had 2-3 minute sled rides. But good landings, at least, and in the buoyant air, we cleared the power lines with plenty of altitude to spare. Chris and Tony wisely decided to await another day, and rode back down in my truck with Finis Miller. Joe was jazzed to fly a new site, and I was glad to get some more airtime, however it came. Maybe we'll get to Dry tomorrow. So far, so good... -Robin
