Chris Lorimer
Wednesday, 3/18/2020

Skyport to Hopper Canyon (Fillmore/Piru)

Reference: [IGC Text Data File] and [Google Earth KMZ File] or [Ayvri Web Animation]

SLOFD (Straight Line Over Flown Distance: 49.3 miles
Straight Line Distance from Takeoff to Landing: 49.2 miles
Personal Best/Longest Flight to Date

Article Submitted by Chris via email on 3/18/2020 (with minor edits by Tom Truax on 3/20/2020

Launched Skyport just before Noon.
Nice, strong lift down the range towards Carpinteria.  Mostly SSW wind around 8mph.  Cloud base was around 4300 ft with a north layer above that.  Clouds were nicely developed cumis with darkish bottoms.  No serious vertical development.

I spent more time than I would have liked trying to climb at Romero and still ended up crossing lower than I would have liked.  I could have used some of that patience from Romero around Divide Peak.  I ended up skirting around the front of Divide and coming into White Ledge low.  More altitude would have been nice but I didn’t think much of this- I was confident the bottom of White Ledge would be working.

From this point on, the wind picked up and I became a little less confident.  From Nut House on I was in unfamiliar terrain and higher wind than I was used to.  I bumbled around east of the Nuthouse trying to decide if I should follow the best line for lift, which probably would have got me higher and ultimately away from danger, or the conservative line that insured I would stay out of canyons and rotor from the high wind.  I opted for the more conservative line since I already made my PR (personal record) and if I didn’t find lift out front, I would still be very happy with my flight.

Through upper Ojai, the ideal line looked to be deeper into the mountains but with trim speed winds out of the west I was hesitant to go deeper and risk not having a glide out.  I stayed in the foothills through upper Ojai always making sure I had a decent LZ I could make down wind.

When I made it to the west ridge of Santa Paula Peak, I felt better about climbing high knowing that after drifting deeper with the thermal I would have a down wind glide over the top of Santa Paula peak to Fillmore.  Gliding towards Fillmore, I took a very wide (probably too wide) line around the valley to the north of Fillmore to avoid any wind being pulled into the mountains. Here I saw my ground speed clocking in at 43mph at one point.  Because of my ultra wide line I was only able to come back into the front most points northeast of Fillmore.  With all that wind I don’t think any thermals that low were standing up and I was landing a few minutes later near Buckhorn- a few miles west of Piru. (3:40)

Though I’m extremely happy with my flown distance, if I had to describe my flight in one word, it would be “Indecisive”.  I could have flown much more efficiently and probably overall safer the second half of my flight if I would have been less timid in my decision making.  I’m sure this confidence will come with more experience.  I’m happy to say, this flight gave me plenty to reflect on as I prepare for future flights.

Comments by Logan Walters (via email reply on 2/19/2020)

Very cool Chris!

I think there is a lot to pull away from your flight!  The winds in the SB mountains were very interesting with the north influence up high and good west wind lower.  I normally like to top out at West Divide and it almost always delivers if you are patient.  From there on a normal day you can glide with no stress to the front of White Ledge higher than where you came in but the same area.  On days with more north (like yesterday) I tend to take the time to go back to East Divide (along the back ridge, East Divide Peak, just east of the actual Watershed Divide, is the highest spot along the front range between Pt Conception and Ojai).  From there you can often get proper high with the north south convergence and put yourself on a nice line behind White Ledge (that's not always true but has worked a number of times for me).  I liked your line going over White Ledge.  We can conference with a map to talk about the two spines leading to Ojai.

You went a bit farther than the Nut House and the spine you went to has less odds than the Nut House or Spine One (one farther). But it worked well for you so nice job!  From the top of the ridge there I opt for more of an out front line which you eventually came back to.  It's a bit of a detour to go the back ridge.  I normally find a lot of mixing air near Nordhoff so if I don't find something good I normally skip ahead.  There is a nice peak halfway to chiefs (aka 3 Stooges or The Stooges) that works pretty well but not too needed as you normally have good SW wind.

From the Chiefs spine you have at least three options and you chose the front line which I think was a good idea yesterday.  I then tend to angle up a spine to the South point of the Topa Bluffs.  That corner works super well and its normally worth it to hang out at and get high there.  That will make your glide to Santa Paula Peak way easier.  Often if you come in low to SP Peak you can get stuck.  Thomas Aquinas College is a popular landing site because it's tucked between two valley flows and hard to leave.  If you do get by that then often the Marine air is low on SP Peak and makes finding a climb difficult.  With the good conditions yesterday (instability) you were able to get out nicely.

If you did get high at the Topas you can come into the top of SP peak and have much higher odds of finding a climb or at least surfing up and over it.  From there you can glide to Oat, the Fillmore F or across the valley.  The F seams the best odds for continuing and it is more or less what you did.  (I think there is a valley convergence there that allows for thermals to build energy a bit better I think).

Nice flying Chris.  So much to learn and everyday is different.  I learned a lot yesterday for sure!  So fun to fly new terrain and make decisions on the fly.

Logan

Sundowner Comments: / updated 3/20/2020

I generally concur with Logan's excellent review, but wanted to add a couple of notes.

There is a huge mental aspect to the game.  Seasoned pilots often don't need to work as hard mentally across familiar terrain and consciously manage their focus exploring new terrain, so good job hanging in there.  When I first spotted you down low out front between Stooges and Twin Peaks I didn't know who was flying the yellow and orange canopy, but it was obvious they were green.  I was impressed that you were able to stay in the game.  On most days you would have flushed, but Wednesday's lapse rate was much better than typical and it was working down low, however, Wednesday also had some wind and sharp edges.  You could come in close if needed, but it was a preferable to keep a little more clearance from the terrain on Wednesday due to the sharp air. With a little strategy and looking ahead for the most part you didn't need to go low to make good time (you were making pretty good time because you were skipping a lot of climb opportunities).

Through the Ojai Valley on Wednesday there was likely more wind down low out front (from the SW).  There was also more wind up higher but from the NW.  Sometimes you just get as high as you can, but on Wednesday you could often choose what altitude range you wanted to operate in based on the scenario.  A lot of your line through Ojai was lower and more out front than optimal due to your concern for the wind, which is a logical choice, but I think there was less wind up a little higher over the front points.  (Logan already noted that your line traversing Nordhoff was too far back for the day).

Your max altitude was near Santa Paula Peak (on glide), but you actually passed about a mile to the south of Santa Paula Peak.  On my flight I crabbed against the upper north wind to cross over the Peak where I got to cloudbase.  I don't usually go to the next peak (San Cayetano) because there is typically SW wind so I try to push out, but on Wednesday I think I should have topped up again at San Cayetano.

You opted to take "a very wide (probably too wide) line around the valley to the north of Fillmore" because it was your perception that you "wanted to avoid any wind being pulled into the mountains".  Wednesday had more north wind than typical up high, and the river flow was more west than typical without much of a component from the south.  I think your choice was based on your perception that the wind was from the north?  Which it was up higher, but down lower it was upriver from the WSW.

I need to caution you about your line on the north side of Pole Canyon (the canyon that separates the Fillmore "F" hills from the Oat mountain launches).   There is often more flow out front down low toward the river (rivers are channels).  It is common for the lower level wind to be pulling up all the rivers including the Sespe, so there is often a stiff south component to the flow.  Your thinking to go wide was conceptually a good choice, but I think your perception of the scenario was inverted.  You can get pinned in the SW wind behind the F Ridge if you go too far up Pole Canyon.  Your line up the north side of Pole Canyon can be a good option to stay out of the heavy river air, but you need to be aware that you can get pinned.  If you do choose to test the foothills on the north side of Pole Canyon, you probably want to be a little further/deeper to the north (about a quarter mile further north than your Wednesday line).

Wednesday didn't have the stronger south component, so your line up the north side of Pole Canyon was okish, but most days the more conservative line is to crab out toward the Santa Clara River after leaving Santa Paula Peak (make an effort to get high at Santa Paula Peak because you are shifting from a race course to an obstacle course) so you can teardrop into the "F" Ridge in front of Pole Canyon.  It was easy to "barrel roll" on Wednesday because the upper level north wind was pushing us out to the river anyway (and the lower flow was drawing us back in), so we could just go with it to intercept a good teardrop line into the "F" ridge.  Looking at flight tracks it often appears pilots are heading straight to the F, but in actuality they are often pointing south (almost perpendicular to the Santa Clara River) with a big crab angle difference between their "heading" and their ground track.

Had you tear-dropped onto the Fillmore "F" Ridge, you could have searched for lift along the ridge line with plenty of clearance, but you crossed the F ridge perpendicular to the line of thermals coming off the ridge.  Thermals will often line up along a ridge (particularly ridges aligned with the wind), so you have better odds of blundering into lift if you search along the line compared to crossing the line.  Because you burned you altitude behind the F ridge you didn't have much room to search along the F ridge as you squeaked over it (with 180 feet of AGL clearance).

I apologize if I sound critical or condescending, that is not my intent.  I try to objectively review the many decision I make and my perceptions to evaluate how to grow and do it better (or try an alternative) the next time... from what I've observed you are on-track to enjoy many expanding XC exploration adventures.  I hadn't even had my first thermal flight when I was at your time off the training hill (8 months and 50 hours).  Keep up the good work and we might let you fly to East Beach someday?

/ Tom Truax (aka Sundowner / sd)

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