Dry Canyon Alamogordo, NM (USA)

[RobinHastings]

Here are some photos from Jim (in the air) and Marzena (on the ground) Gibson, from our flight on March 22, 2020.
-Robin

Icarus and Daedelus - Jim Gibson (upper left) and Robin Hastings above Dry Canyon.

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Jim Gibson looking west over White Sands and Alamogordo. March 22, 2020.

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Snow-capped Sierra Blanca to the north, from Jim Gibson's glider above Dry Canyon.

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Robin Hastings with his Sport2-155 in the Cox Field LZ, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

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[RobinHastings]

Friday, May 29, 2020:
A pretty good time at Dry Canyon today. Rick Warner, a pilot visiting our area for the next 4 months, was up for some airtime today. He had a driver, too, his co-worker Oliver Chang. We set out from the Cox Field LZ about 12:45 pm. The road to Dry Canyon launch is still in lousy shape, but my Tacoma made it up again. This was Oliver's first time trying anything like this, and he did a great job getting us up there - and, later, launching me. Rick took off first, in conditions that were clear westward but with darkening clouds to the east (they never did anything, though). He quickly reached 8000 ft MSL (a thousand feet over launch) in his Sport 2, and I was able to join him in the air not long afterwards. We shared some thermals by the Bowl and at the West Face, then I made a leisurely glide toward the LZ from my highest point, 8000 ft. I got popped up as I was setting up my last turn into final approach, but had enough of the overshoot area to make a very creditable landing, using the wheels. I had about 25 minutes in the air. Rick did much better, about 10 minutes later, with a perfect touchdown in the field after a 40-minute flight. He reached 9600' MSL over the West Face, then lost 3000 of that coming to the LZ - it was famine or feast today. When Oliver arrived and we had the gliders packed, we had a nice takeout meal from Margot's, devoured at nearby Washington Park (though dine-ins might resume this Monday, June 1). No epic XC flights today, unlike 5 days ago, but a very satisfying first Dry Canyon flight for Rick Warner. (And Oliver learned a LOT about off-the-pavement driving.)
Robin
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[RobinHastings]

A picture showing the pilot and the conditions on Friday. The clouds looked promising but never delivered rain.
-Robin

Rick in the LZ after a very successful first flight.

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[RobinHastings]

Sunday, June 28, 2020:
Do we have some good days, or what? Greg Kendall, Rick Warner and I all launched Dry Canyon today, with Brian Ho as our ace driver. Conditions were ideal, with southwest winds at launch, not too strong, and storybook cumies springing up all around the clear skies. We did some excellent roadwork on the way up - 4 guys can fill in some pretty big craters, it turns out. Greg launched first at 12:25 pm MDT, followed by Rick at 12:30 and myself, with Brian on the nose wires, at 12:50. We all got up - I was at 8500 ft MSL within 5 minutes, and hit 11,500 (4500 over launch) in my hour-long flight. I landed on the wheels in the LZ. Rick and Brian did much, much better. They spent the majority of their hours-long flights at 12,000+, and sometimes at 15 and 16 thousand. Both Greg and Rick went XC. Greg landed on the road to White Oaks, north of Carrizozo, where Brian & I picked him up about 4:30 pm. Greg almost broke the Dry Canyon record set a month earlier, by making his personal best, longest flight: 165 miles in his Wills Wing T2C [Moderator's note: Post author corrected this to be a Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 in a subsequent post] (Rick & I fly Sport 2's) and a landing 10 miles east of Santa Rosa, NM, just north of I-40. Wow! Of course, it took a while to chase him down, and I didn't get home until 1:00 am, but it was worth it to see the smiles. I have some pictures enclosed. What a day...
-Robin

      [Moderator's note: See posts below for corrections]

Left to right, Greg, Brian and Rick - just one of the craters they filled. Hooo-ah!

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Brian Ho, ace 4-wheel driver, testing out our work. (No problem...)

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Ten miles east of Santa Rosa, where Greg landed after 6 1/2 hours, in limitless LZ country. Sunset at 8:00 pm.

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[Bill Cummings]

Greg landed in two places, White Oaks and Sant Rosa so where did Rick land?

[RobinHastings]

Yeah, that's what happens when you fly, chase 400 miles, get in at 1:00 am and don't proofread the morning's missives. Rick Warner landed north of Carrizozo for a 55-mile flight, while Greg Kendall (who flew from the Little Floridas to Las Cruces one week before) went 165 miles to Santa Rosa and beyond. Good pilots, no?
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

And yet another correction (sheesh, where's my mind these days?). As Greg pointed out, his glider is NOT a T2C, but a Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 (I knew that...) As he said, "Wouldn't want the boys from Moyes to think I'd jumped ship." It's a topless, as you'd expect, and it sure did perform for him. Rick and I were flying Wills Wing Sport2 155's. Here are a few more photos, courtesy of Brian Ho.
-Robin

Greg just after launch - from 0 miles, to 165. "The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step." Or a launch.

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Rick Warner taking that first step to a 55-mile XC flight. He didn't take long to sky out!

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Robin just after launch. No XC, but a fine flight anyway. Thank you, Brian Ho!

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[RobinHastings]

Monday, July 13, 2020:
Greg Kendall and Rick Warner had to work on Saturday, so flying on Monday seemed to be a just reward. They borrowed my truck (and I borrowed Greg's Outback) and sped off to Dry Canyon with Oliver Chang as driver. The day worked out well. Instead of going as far as they could (which is pretty darned far, they've demonstrated) they did an out-and-back to Coyote Peak, about 18 miles north. Rick got there first, and headed back, and landed, according to Greg, south of Tularosa. Greg flew all the way back to the Cox Field LZ, in some amazing area-wide lift, then went back to look for Rick. Greg found him, by the road, and so did Oliver, so Greg returned to Cox Field and put it down where there's a windsock. They got back to Las Cruces about 8:00 pm, which is quite an improvement over midnight, the return from our last time flying Dry. We traded vehicles that evening and all's well that ends well. It's great to see (or at least hear about) what great pilots can do!
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

Friday, January 22, 2021:
To my knowledge nobody has flown Dry Canyon since our Columbus Day Fun-Fly in October. Well, our visitors from Texas (Chris Chaney, Tony Conger, and Joe Gamerisfelder) joined me for some airtime at Dry Canyon today, with Finis Miller volunteering as driver yet again. With a crew of 5, we were able to fill in some of the craters on the road and make it up. Weather? We drove through some of the densest fog I've seen in New Mexico, from Las Cruces to Alamogordo, but as the day went on the weather cleared and we were treated to lovely blue skies and cumulus. Chris was first off, choosing to fly his PG, and had the flight of the day for over an hour. Tony Conger launched next in his U2-160, followed by Joe in his Falcon3-195. Tony had a fine flight, and Joe's first Dry Canyon experience was a great one - he got higher and higher without making a turn, and had an excellent landing at Cox Field. I was last off in my Sport2-155 and found abundant thermals. Wanting to say goodbye to our visitors, though, I cut it short at 20 minutes, and had one of my best landings ever in Cox Field. Temperatures by then were close to 60 degrees in the LZ, and we all had a pleasant visit together until our Texas friends headed eastward to home. I took Finis to lunch up in Cloudcroft, and made it home in good time for a bath and a relaxing evening, contemplating how nice it is to live in the Land of Enchantment.
-Robin

Joe Gamerisfelder before his first Dry Canyon flight. January 22, 2021.

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Chris Chaney, flying well at Dry Canyon.

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Tony Conger in his U2-160, Alamogordo in the background.

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Joe Gamerisfelder soaring at Dry Canyon.

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[RobinHastings]

Enclosed is a link to a video that Finis Miller made of our expedition to Dry Canyon on Friday, January 22. (He spells Joe Gamertsfelder's name correctly, I noted.) Good work, Finis!
-Robin

https://vimeo.com/503730977