Ron Faoro
Friday, 2/4/05
Skyport to El Carro Park, Carpinteria
~ 11 miles (LFSD points ~ 11)

At almost the two month mark since a decent cross country flight from Skyport, Sundowner, Pinky (remember Pam?) and I drove up to Skyport on Friday at noon to see what we could get.  Tom and I had discussed flying last night at the Soaring Association meeting (which was a lot of fun).  There was a fair enough lapse rate with an inversion at 3,000 feet.  The cycles looked good and we were fortunate to have Bob Santoro and a friend there to shuttle the vehicle.  Pam and Tom were doing a tandem, so I lined up ahead of them for the first spot. I got off at 12:30 and found lift far over to the left in the canyon.

The R&R was Rock and Roll, not Rest and Relaxation.  I topped out at about 3,900 and headed East downrange in search of friendly skies.  The Thermal Factory lift was out front or way in the back on the little knoll behind the rocky front.  Thermals were bending East in a good drift due to a West wind of about 5-10 mph.  Got 4,300 there and left for Montecito Peak with the tandem directly below me.  Skipped Shadow and came in at the top of the peak while SD swung out front for the West and mainly the East arm of Montecito.  It was tricky getting up and the air started to get trashy.  Tom took the low road and got ahead of me.  I caught up with him at San Ysidro.  But Pam had had enough of the sharp thermals and they left for the polo fields.  I continued across Romero Canyon and left at the East end of Castle Ridge.

The best thermal of the day was the last one.  I took the four grand and made a long downwind glide to El Carro Park by Sundowner's house.  Came in with 1,900 feet over the high school and 900 at the park.  Landed 11 and a quarter miles from Skyport, my longest flight in 2005.

Sundowner picked me up within five minutes and Pam offered me a choice of Heineken or Firestone.  Sweet!  We retrieved their car and a short time later we were sitting on my deck, looking at Montecito Peak and the Roundhouse, philosophizing about spouses, kids, life and housing in Santa Barbara.  What more could you ask for on a beautiful and sunny afternoon?