[Amigo] > [Dean's flight index] [Sunday's Article Set]
Dean Stratton
Sunday, 8/7/05
Pine Mountain to Hwy 395 near Red Mountain
~ 108 Miles
and Saturday , 8/6/05
Pine Mountain to the Beach in Santa Barbara
Dean's Photos [Saturday] [Sunday]
Dean's Track [2D
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Track Log Data File [mps]
[gdb]
Pine just keeps putting out...and out…and out…
I have to continue to remind myself how lucky we are to have such a great site right in our backyard. Yes, it can be fickle but when it’s on it’s on! This weekend was definitely ON.
SATURDAY
A few of the usual suspects saw the potential of the day and showed up to see
cumis popping over launch around 10:30 near 12k. The day had a little NE
to it but what really caught our attention was the OD in Lockwood that appeared
to be heading our way. Diablo headed East early to his eventual landing in
Inyokern and the rest of us played at Cloudbase until the call was made for a
possible run to SB. We swung from the cumi monkey bars and watched the
development grow and march slowly SW. By this time Lockwood Valley was pouring
rain with occasional lightning, and it was heading our way.
The key was to get to Mt Arido or Old Man Mtn, get stinkin’ high and make the jump over the SB range. OJ, Brendan and Meyer made it to the jump point and were getting to 10k+ but they weren’t confident they had the glide. I’ll admit there’s a lot of “what-ifs” that play a role in deciding to make the jump and if you don’t clear the ridge you’ll end up with a long hike out of tiger country, it’s a huge commitment. It’s close to 5 miles from Arido to Noon Peak and you never know what kind of headwind you’ll run into. So, one by one they all did an about face and headed back to Pine Mtn Inn.
I made 2 low stabs at Arido, each time having to retreat back to the front of the development to get back up. My 3rd attempt put me at Arido around 7500’ waiting for the next pulse. It finally came through and it was a freight train averaging 1400-1600 getting me to CB (11,500) in no time. GPS showed 6:1 to Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria, so I was off. Last year Pipkin and I made the run from Pine to Carp and I came over the top of Old Man Mtn close to 10k and made the beach with only 100’ to spare. Pipkin hit the beach first and watched me nearly take out a roof antenna as I squeaked in to a sandy landing. So, at 11,5 I felt sure I had it made.
The first ½ mile had some sink but after that it was smooth and buoyant. Zero turb, averaging 200 down and trim speeds of 28-32. It was so good that I altered my course to East Beach instead coming in with 2k to spare. It was a 30 minute/14 mile butter smooth glide from Arido Mtn to East Beach without a single bump along the way, what a ride.
Bo scooped me up and took me to Aaron and Allison’s wedding, to which I was not formally invited. To make things worse I didn’t have any clean clothes. So I’m crashing a wedding, looking like a salvation army donation, smelling like a farm animal, no gift for the bride and groom and dozens of beautiful women dressed to the 9’s wondering what dumpster I fell out of. I couldn’t have put myself in a more embarrassing situation even if I tried. Fortunately during the wedding SA had seen me coming into East Beach, so when I arrived at the reception looking homeless my story checked out. Of course I went straight to the open bar for some nerve agent. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable in my shabby state, SA saw the opening and went right for the Achilles heel, he was relentless. Ya’ Gotta’ love him. Allison and Aaron made me feel right at home and Bo and I stayed until they closed the place down. WHAT A DAY!
Bo and I took lots of pictures of the wedding reception and following party. Look for a link later this week on his website, they’re worth checking out.
SUNDAY
First, I need to address something that didn’t make Bo or I too happy when we
saw it in Forgers post.
Quote:
Dean said we should land together so I circled around for them to catch up and
then headed north with them cutting the corner. It was a great plan (for Dean
and Bo). I landed and they kept going
I’ve been searching for the words that can convey my true feelings and I think
I’ve found them:
WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!
We launched around 11:30 under good development stretching to Frazier Mtn. and beyond. Tom and Sharon were on point with Bo and I close on his heels. Forger was close behind and caught up soon. It wasn’t long after getting through Lockwood that it started to rain fairly heavy trapping Ron Meyer and Hansford, putting them on the deck early. Left Frazier with 12k and the 3 of us ventured over Hungry Valley. Crossing the 5 freeway was very slow in the ratty lift. Once past the 5 the lift got a little more organized and we were finally making good time following the 138.
During most of the flight we played leap frog and stayed within a few miles of each other. As we crossed over to the Tehachapi side of the valley we came upon heavier development that blanketed California City and continued up through Inyokern. Tom and Sharon had been pushing hard all day and unfortunately got caught in the OD forcing them to the deck East of Cal City just a few miles short of the 100 mile mark. We ran the sun line on the South side of the clouds and headed NE over Cal City.
I got separated from Bo and Forger and ended up lagging behind a few miles trying to maintain altitude as the day got longer. I got real low a few miles NE of Cal City, down to 1200 or so agl. Bo and Forger got up to 9k+ and headed NE. It took awhile but I finally hooked a mellow thermal with a lot of drift that topped me out at 10k. I pointed NE and watched as my GOTO widow passed the 100 mile mark. Finally caught up to them near the 395 as they altered course to the North to avoid MOA airspace. Forger put it down on the South side of Johannesburg while I put down on the North side. I believe the time was around 6:00. Bo managed to work his way up to 6k and stretched it North as far as possible putting down at the 118 mile mark close to 7:00.
3 PG pilots flying over 100 miles in the same day together with a 4th tandem pilot coming up just short, how often does that happen...
High Points: 108 miles, 16,200 max alt, 1400 fpm climbs over Lockwood, 6+ hours airtime, a Big Eds Ice cream sandwich in Johannesburg and getting the 100 mile monkey off my back.
Low points: Balling up the glider at 15k+, adding in a few riser twists just for fun and requiring 2 full stalls and 2k of altitude to work it out. Forgetting to bring in-flight snacks and starving for 6+ hrs.
Something that could’ve made the flight better: Having Tom and Sharon cross the 100 mile mark with us.
Ride to launch - $20
Cost of retrieve driver - $20
Big Eds ice cream - $2
Clean underwear - $5
Sharing a dream flight in close proximity to your buddies – PRICELESS!
Thanks go out to Eddy for being on top of us the whole way.
Thanks to Chris Grantham for creating a very cool 3-D image of my track log.
