Memorial Day May 24-26 2014

[JanZ]

Hi guys,

Memorial Day is coming up and I wanted to start a new topic, so we can make some plans.

I can make T-Shirts again, but this year I'd like to know the sizes in advance, that way we can avoid people going home without a one (sorry Robin, I'll have one for you this year ). It would be great if somebody has a good source for the shirts, so they won't be as expensive as last year. If you give it to me on the 24. I can press it on a shirt you bring, must be cotton though.

I can offer my yard to anybody who wants to camp out and doesn't want to miss out on a shower in the evening. We can have some Beer and Brats too.

Let me know what you think.

-Jan

[RobinHastings]

Hi, Jan! That sounds good. I need to put an announcement in the USHPA magazine, too. Having your yard and shower available would be very generous indeed! I'll be looking forward to the event. In other good news, Heather at the Forest Service says that the road to Dry Canyon launch will be graded this spring - maybe in late March or in April. (And since we've had a bit of rain lately, we can hope that the forest will stay open this year. It could be good...) Hope to see you again soon!
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

UPDATES FOR THE FLY-IN:
The Memorial Day Fly-In is still a go! Heather at Lincoln National Forest said that there would certainly be fire restrictions (there'd better be!) but she does not know if the forest will be closed then - let's hope not. One thing we do know is that the road to Dry Canyon launch has been graded. I went up it last weekend with Mike Ellsworth and Jan Zschenderlein, and it was great. Dusty but smooth, and negotiable by any 4WD. If we could get some rain to pack it down a bit, we'd have as good a road as it's ever been. Cheers for the Lincoln National Forest, and let's see their efforts put to good use the end of next month.
-Robin
PS - I'll be sending in the application for the Fly-In today. Entry fee is $20 apiece.

[RobinHastings]

Everything looks like a go for the Memorial Day fly-in. The weather should be good, with some rain in the mountains on Friday and then clear skies. Winds on Friday should be south, on Saturday, southwest, and neither day looks blown out. I'll keep posting here as the days get closer, but so far, so good. See you all out there!
-Robin

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hello JanZ and Robin!!!

I hope you guys have a great flying day tomorrow.

Fly safe!!!

Bob
=========================================
Ooops ...
I was thinking that Memorial Day was the 19th ... I guess I should have read the topic title!!   
Have some great flying days ... NEXT weekend!!

[RobinHastings]

MAY 23-26, 2014
Weather for the Dry Canyon Fly-In looks pretty good. Winds should be moderate, from the south and southwest, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Monday the winds shift to the west and northwest. So the first three days ought to be fine for Dry Canyon and the Fly-In. The last day, Memorial Day, will be good for the La Luz northwest launch - or maybe Dry Canyon, if the winds are more westerly. We may get some rain on Friday, then the moisture tends to avoid our area and give some drought relief to the rest of New Mexico. All in all, it's looking good, so come on out and have a fly-in this weekend!
-Robin

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hello RGSA,

I hope you are all having a great and safe time this weekend. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it, but for those following my email discussions you'll know that I've spent a good part of this holiday weekend working to secure site insurance at Torrey Pines through USHPA.

I look forward to a time when the Torrey Pines site is managed by the pilots and for the pilots through clubs like your own. That's when I'll be free to take long flying weekends at great sites from coast to coast.

Until then, thanks again for your membership in the US Hawks!!

Sincerely,
Bob Kuczewski

[RobinHastings]

Hi, folks. Here is some access to video shot by our ace driver, Finis Miller in Alamogordo.
-Robin

Hi Robin,
Here is some video I shot at the fly in. http://youtu.be/6caQa13Ao_0
There are some others in the Hang Glider play list and I'll slowly add more HG videos from these http://www.finisblog.alamopulse.com/1913/fly-in-2010/
Finis

[RobinHastings]

THE 2014 DRY CANYON FLY-IN
By Robin Hastings

The weather got wet. The air got cool. The winds got strong. And still we flew…

The Dry Canyon Fly-In was a success – though I’d have to give credit for that to all the folks who pitched in and made it so, rather than efforts on my own behalf. Folks like Dave Church, who generously paid for the meals on Friday evening (after a 15-mile XC flight past Tularosa!) Folks like Dave DeMill of Albuquerque, who took over the cooking on Sunday evening and produced a remarkably fine barbecue off a remarkably tiny grill. Folks like Finis Miller, who showed up without a phone call being made, ready to drive. And folks like Charlie and Mel Glantz, who did all they could to make beginners into pilots. In fact, everyone contributed in one way or another – at the very least, by showing up. We had a pretty good turnout of 18 pilots, about half and half PG and HG (and some biwingual). I appreciated every single one who came.

The event started on Friday with Dave Church and I getting some very nice hang glider flights about 2:30 in the afternoon. Jan Zschenderlein drove for me (it was too windy to fly his PG anyway) and QJ Wilson drove for DC. Clouds were everywhere, notably dark and threatening north and east of Dry Canyon launch. I went first and shot up to 11,000 ft MSL (launch is at 7,000) with Dave soon following. He went up to 13,800 and then proceeded to head XC to the north – he eventually landed about 3 miles past Tularosa. I made a flight to the Cox Field LZ, where I spotted a vehicle and suddenly recalled that I was the Meet Head for this event. I spiraled on down and quickly found that the truck in question was Jim Stelzer’s, from Los Alamos. When Jan came down his kids played with former Abq pilots Steve & Kristin Tomany’s boy, all getting suitably covered with dust. Then we all had a fine meal at the Rocket Buffet, good Chinese food that DC paid for. (He might have gotten hypoxic way up there…) There was camping in the LZ despite thunderstorms in the night – don’t tents and things melt in the rain, or something? It’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with “water”…

On Saturday we had the first truckloads of pilots on their way up the Dry Canyon road by 8:30. Jim, Jan, Patrick Harvey-Collard and and Chloe Bureau-Oxton in PG’s, and DC and Mike Wiest (from Tucson) in HG’s. Everyone except DC took a flight, and some even reached the landing zone! (Mike had to head north to Santa Fe, so he flew a bit early for the conditions.) By noon a number of other pilots from Albuquerque drifted in, and Mike Ellsworth from Ruidoso had American flags set up all across the LZ north fence. (This is Memorial Day weekend, after all. Like your freedoms? Thank a veteran!) After a late lunch we went up to launch in PG’s and hang gliders. Strong winds and weird dumps from threatening clouds kept us fixed to the launch for quite a while. Jim, the lone paraglider pilot, chose not to fly, as did two HG pilots, but six of us took to the air when conditions calmed an hour before sunset. Charlie took Dylan, a prospective new HG pilot, for a tandem flight, and Tom Pastinsky had his first Dry Canyon flight. Dave DeMill got high and went XC to Tularosa. It was very pleasant all around. We finished the day with some six of us enjoying a late supper at the Rustic Café (whose quality seems to be pretty good once again). The night was cool and pleasant in the landing zone, and everyone slept well after a quick check on us by the Alamogordo police force – very convivial folks, once explanations were made. It’s a great town to be a pilot!

Sunday was another cloudy day, though quite a bit less so than Friday and Saturday. Winds appeared to be ideal when the PG pilots headed up about 8:15. I set up a telescope to keep an eye on the launch, and we soon saw bright wings soaring there. Jan went out to retrieve one who landed short, and Chris Grotebeck and I picked up Tom when he landed in the bushes near Scenic Drive. The winds got stronger and everyone with ambitions to fly decided to wait it out for calmer conditions. Late afternoon (when I should have been thinking about barbecue coals) we had eleven HG pilots launch: me, Dave Church, Bo Frazier, Tom Pastinsky, Mel and Charlie Glantz, Dave DeMill, Dave Williams, Chris Grotebeck, Mike Ellsworth and Dave Coleman. Jim Stelzer, Finis Miller, Sahar (with Charlie) and Lucy (with Tom) were our drivers. All of us reached the LZ, though Tom took one turn too many before final approach and hit one of the flagpoles as he squeaked it in at the northeast corner – very dramatic. The crowd went wild… My own joy was a successful semi-whack into the LZ near the spot, followed by the unexpected sight of my daughter Keighley running across the landing field to help. I thought she was back in California! My wife Nancy had driven from Las Cruces with her, a very pleasant surprise. We had a fine barbecue that evening, with salads, bread, burgers, pork, hot dogs and bratwurst. Dave DeMill took over the grilling, just to show you how helpful the flying community can be. (Or how concerned about their stomachs..) There was plenty to drink, and a few trophies for Open XC, Spot Landing and Highest Altitude. As the evening light faded we enjoyed hearing Chris show his artistry on the guitar amid lots of good flying tales. There may be better times than this – but not many. Ah, if only Doctor Bob, Curt Graham and Bill Cox were still there to enjoy it with us! It would have made Paradise complete. (Bill Cummings, too – who is alive, indeed, but had a severe bad back this weekend.)

On Monday, Memorial Day, most of the pilots had returned to their dens. Albuquerque PG pilots Jesus Garza and Mark Hillier joined Jim Stelzer for early flights. I went up to the PG launch with Keighley, Jan, and Dave DeMill, but winds too light and rain too heavy finally impelled us to hike back to Jan’s truck, and give Keighley a lesson in four-wheel driving on the way back down. Mike Ellsworth was there in the LZ on our arrival, and the site was cleaned up as if a struggle had never taken place. We said our farewells after lunch, and went on our separate paths to home and life – but with good tales and good airtime to remember it by.

Many thanks to every pilot who flew, every driver who drove, to the City of Alamogordo for letting us do this, and to the Lincoln National Forest staff (yay, Heather!) who got the Dry Canyon road graded yet again. See you at Columbus Day, if not before!