Monday  [Photo Sets]  and Flight Articles by  [Bo Criss]  [Aaron LaPlante]

Bo Criss
Monday, 3/26/12

Skyport to No Name, to Castle Ridge, to East Beach

Article Copied from: http://scpa.info/bb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2483

Monday Rocked !
by Bo Criss » Posted Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:36 pm

Dean gave me a heads up last night that he might come this way to fly Santa Barbara. Now, I've had several calls over the last 6 months from Dean stating things were shaping up, but I believe this is only the second day I've seen Dean actually show up. Yep it was going to be a spectacular day. Jim packed a very full van of work skipping junkies and we headed up the hill around 10:30. Conditions were good on launch with light cycles coming in and a relatively low cloudbase. Leeside Lee hucked first and seemed to be floating about without any effort at all. As more pilots launched into the magic buoyant air I was really jonesing to get going, but Mr. Stratton was standing on my tail feathers telling me to wait for even better conditions. It was painful to watch everyone enjoying the smooth easy lift and not be flying, but I held out till everyone had left and finally launched around 1pm.

Nothing at launch and only dribbles at the Thermal Factory, I finally pinged up at the Antennas. Now the game became cloud avoidance, it seemed that the lift would get stronger before touching a cloud. Heading south as the lift increased was the only way to make sure you didn't lose yourself in the white room. Dean and I eventually got on track and headed west. Cloudbase was low enough so each crossing between spines seemed to be a bit desperate, but the lift continued to work everywhere we went. I ended up tagging No Name before turning around to avoid clouds that seemed to be filling in all around. Dean and I stayed out front most of the day for an easier southerly exit from the white hazard. Hammer took a similar route, but kept tighter in the mountains. As we travelled east I was doing my best just to keep up with Dean who wasn't turning circles, just turning south on occasion. It was the perfect lift conditions, although we would have enjoyed a higher cloudbase. The only other problem was we weren't earning anything, just flying straight. It was the easiest conditions I have ever experienced in my 10 years flying Santa Barbara.

In total we probably made 6-10 circles on the whole easterly leg from West Bowl to Castle Ridge. It started to close in a bit there with an even lower cloudbase and more shade so we pushed out to the very front points and made a youeeeee. It was now apparent that we had enjoyed a slight tailwind heading east as the upwind leg made for slower progress and entering the thermals from the leeside gave a bit of texture. The lift seemed to be getting stronger as well with some solid climbs. I'd go from being low, to avoiding the clouds in 3 or 4 circles with some big ups. We pushed on west to just past Cathedral before turning around one more time. One last climb way out front of the Tit and then a peaceful glide to east beach where Hammer was waiting to shake hands after our 3 hour flight.

If you are looking for an epic day to fly, just keep tabs on whether Dean actually shows up to fly. If he does show, bring an extra pair of gloves cause you're going to be at cloudbase most of the day.