13,999′ + in a glider today!

It was a great day to be in the glider. Set my new personal record with how high I have flown an airplane with no motor. The first trip was a good one but only lasted about 20 minutes as I had my first real “Rope Break” as we were passing through 7200′ About a 1000′ AGL. I ended up finding a few spots with lift but all in all, I was still early and needed to be towed to about 8500′ to find sufficient lift to really climb. The rope break was interesting and I did not expect it!! Sort of scared the shit of out me to be honest…Just was not expecting it! Thankfully it was not at a 100′ AGL…It was a great experience!!

The next lift I got towed out over Boca Hill and dumped the tow plane at 8700′ and found myself in a 1000′ per minute of lift! I was going up like a rocket! Talk about a thrill ride! I continued to watch the VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator) climb as I circled in the thermal and found myself at…well to be legal you need to stay at or below 13,999. So I will leave it at that! Here are a few photos from the epic soaring from today…

Highboy Ridge Departure in the Skywagon

So as I have said prior here, we had a great weekend with the fly-in. The video’s are now starting arrive and I will try to post them here. This was taken by my buddy Rob in his 170 when I was departing. I felt like a glider departing what I call “Highboy Ridge”. It sits at 9800′. The runway is about 350′ in length and downhill. Good times!! Enjoy the link!!

My buddy Russ landing another ridge down from the one in the above link. This one is around 8800′ or so.  He pulls up to my plane just after landing. You can her my voice in this one.

http://vimeo.com/28622181

 

Nor Cal / High Sierra Fly-In

What a great weekend! We have just finished the first annual (may end up being monthly) Fly-in. I have never hosted a fly-in before as this was my first attempt. We ended up having 14 planes total over the weekend and a whole lot of fun. Members from BCP.Org, Supercub.org and the Skywagon club showed up and fun was had by all! The first day out we landed at 15 or more of the 35 landings we have on the North Circuit and another 6 or 8 on the South loop the next day. Day 2 had a few hiccups with a dead battery on a mountain top and 2 flat tail wheel tires. Needless to say it took about two hours of our time to fix and deal with the scenarios. Once everyone was back up and running we were off again but due to the time of day and the heat, the day found itself winding down. My personal highlight for the weekend was seeing all the planes parked on a mountain top above 8700′. The other was the lonesome cowboy riding up from nowhere high on a ridge. He was a real cowboy and a pretty cool character. Anyhow, here are some pics…

See the entire gallery here: COPY AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING TO YOUR BROWSER

https://picasaweb.google.com/112659077316291353600/1stAnnualNorCalTruckeeFlyIn?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJuk6cT0nre18wE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/115528061092467996033/1stAnnualTruckeeNorCalSierraFlyIn

Day dreaming today

Washed the plane  today and removed a whole lot of manure…in other words, information pills cow shit. That stuff really sticks to the underside of the wings. Its not that easy to remove.

Just a quick post here as today I spent more time day dreaming about flying than actually doing it. Its such a great thing to ponder on. The really cool places we get to fly, the people we meet, the things we see etc. I think flying to high places has become my favorite. Its challenging and rewarding when you get somewhere and have a million dollar view. Here are some photos of the various landings we have around here on our North and South circuits and my dream plane..the Cessna Caravan with amphibs of course.

Another trip to the windy dusty desert today…

A very windy day at Black Rock today. Blowing 30 straight down the makeshift runway with much higher gusts. Made me feel like I was in a helicopter on landing. Not certain how all those people can spend days on end in a dust storm…seriously. Lots of very interesting things to look at but, viagra 40mg your still in a sand storm all day.

Picked up a few friends that flew into Reno via AK Airlines from Seattle and picked them up at Million Air on the GA side of the airport. After dropping two of them off, what is ed I had one more that needed to get up to Cederville to get his RV, erectile 45 miles north of the Playa. Dropped him off and then went to Alturas for fuel. Pretty cool little spot but a ghost town with a really good deli! Then back to Truckee from there. Here are a few pics from today. Not certain what to think about the guy or girl in the hat driving the cart….Good day flying all in all….

 

15 holes on the north circuit today with my buddy Harry V

Took a friend flying today on the north circuit. I think we hit 15 or so holes (LZ’s) and added a couple new ones. The new ones were dubbed “the Bumpy Barn #1 & #2” for the unforeseen jump on the 1st landing. Really it was not that bumpy but, given the fact that we really did hit a jump that sent us about 50′ we dubbed it “the Bumpy barn”. The other side of the barn also had a good landing and of course we could not pass up the idea of landing there as well. It turned out to be much better and a whole lot smoother.

It always baffles me how you can do so many slow passes at certain spots and still get a surprise when you touch down.  One thing that is so important is doing just that. Making approaches but not landing. Prior to any new landing I ever attempt I will make anywhere from 5-10 passes / approaches at it trying to get a good gauge on the various required items prior to touch down. My touch down point, my roll out, can I get out once in and on the ground, can I turn around, any structures in the way (fences, posts, logs, rocks, animals, holes, ditches, you name it).  All of this is coming into play prior to any attempt. Anyhow, long story short here, we had a fun morning. The other pics here are in an area I call “Plateau Land”. Lots of landings out here on the Nevada border above 8000′. This one has a great view and is one of my more favorite places to land.

Black Rock Desert…Burning Man drop offs

This week will be busy taking friends out the the BROC desert to the famed “Burning Man”. This evening was a fun flight with the winds howling about 30 or so on the ground. I felt like a helicopter landing. Anyhow, web I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Many folks are still setting up as the gates open tonight at midnight. Here are a few pictures from the trip out and back.

Out to the Sierra Valley

Went and burned a bit of low lead today with a flight pending late this afternoon to Black Rock. Winds have been howling as of late making for some fun landings. Check out the cloud formation. Wishing I was in a glider for this one. Here is a shot of what we call “Totem Pole 2” freshly mowed, health along with a few other pics. Also the nice new TBM belongs to my buddy Jim Morrison. Its a very nice plane! Will post some pics of the burning man airport when I get back this evening.

Going high to get away from the heat!!

Had to get away from the heat so I went way up high today. This spot is becoming one of my more favorite spots at just over 9800′ in Nevada over looking just about everything. Saw a few sheep, lots of antelope and a few wild horses. I am betting DA was around 11,000 plus or so. Did not get a temp while I was up there. Just stoked on the view. Wild flowers are still going off up there as it was just beautiful! Anyhow, headed to the coast tomorrow for a little surfing.

Glider Flying

Just a quick clip here from my Iphone yesterday flying the glider.  Click the link to check it our. Its kinda cool getting towed from another airplane and then pulling the handle to release. As you see here the handle gets pulled and the tow plane banks away to the left. 7 solo flights today. Not really any thermals or wind to speak of so these were just sled rides back to the airport from 9000′. It made for a 10-15 minute ride depending. Here it was around 10am so not much of either element but good practice flying an aircraft with no motor…
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