Skyport to Fillmore

Sharon Sweeney

Tandem ride – June 18, 2005
Skyport to Fillmore

Looked like a great day on paper or should I say the computer. Went up the hill early with Bob Hurlbett and Ron Faoro.

I was doing a tandem with Tom. Conditions were just starting to awake for flying.

At Skyport Ron Faoro described the flight he would have if he launched at that moment which was essentially flying out and scratching a long time then landing at Parma. He kept saying to wait but Tom and I launched anyway. Looked liked the clouds would come in and out and some of the day would depend on timing.

We went out toward the power lines immediately. We arrived at the antenna farm from the left. There was simply no lift. We found a wimpy thermal at the rock and tried 3 times to get some lift off the antenna farm. No luck. We left for Parkers and the day seemed better. So, we forgot about the lack of lift and headed back west. Ran into a sink hole and got lower than I’ve ever been over the Monastery. I saw an ant on the cross in the courtyard. Not really, it was a baby ant. Tom followed the least little beep on the vario and somehow managed an incredibly low save. I didn’t know the vario could do anything but slowly beep… beep… beep. At this point we were watching Ron and Bob flying above the Thermal Factory and flying like super stars. They seemed to be drifting in and out of clouds and blue hole openings. There were many staggered spots on the ground with shade and sun.

We started East on a bad line in between being not high enough and too low on the ridge. Reminded me of what I’ve been doing at Chief’s lately while crossing to Stooges. We searched out front and flushed at San Ysidro. I saw some amazing mansions seemingly hidden from the road but completely visible from the air. We landed at the field and were greeted by a friendly watch dog. We hopped a fence and headed to the road. Frank rescued us. We retrieved Bob Hurlbett as well and started back up to Skyport. Lots of pilots were reporting in and on course for the pass. We were anxious to fly again.

Got to Skyport after noon. We waited for a pilot to straighten out his lines but he stepped aside and we were clear to launch. We launched with a better cycle than the last time but we still skimmed over the trees. We flew in between antennas above the antenna farm. We tried to thermal off one of the antennas. We wanted to take the upper route but the vario was still the very weak beep… beep… beep. There was quite a mixture of shade and sun. It was colder than I thought it would be.

From Montecito to Romero there was a red, white and blue glider near us. Tried to contact the pilot on the radio but no success. It helped to look at the other glider and the birds. We thought we actually kicked off a thermal by flying around low to the ground. Lost the other pilot at the road cut and tried to contact but no response. He got low and I couldn’t see him. The day seemed open, clouds lifted, weak summer lift but spring conditions. Lift was not where you’d expect your favorite thermal to be. Stayed high on castle ridge, could hear Dean, Ron and Bo heading toward Bates. Tom Pipkin was on the ground doing his eternal search for a launch site. Eddie was waiting at Padaro. Dan and Ron were there as well monitoring the radio and having lunch.

We seemed to thermal a lot all day, slow, steady, not the quick boomers to the top with the resultant easy glide to the next boomer. Then we were at the power lines at 3800. We continued on but needed 1200 but somehow the thermal came along and it topped out giving us exactly 1200 feet. I looked back to see if Tom had some kind of magic wand he hasn’t told the rest of us about. Divide looked so far back from Carpinteria. The lift sources somehow came steadily and we were at White Ledge. I always referred to White Ledge as that one big slab of white rock but I find it’s a whole ridge. The air started to get worse and we got lower. It wasn’t tempting to try the nasty spots. Instead we bypassed Bump 3. Stayed on the front points as it seemed the safer route.

Riding tandem involves a lot of leaning left and right then straightening out. There were lots of hard rights and hard lefts. And there was a lot of thermaling up in very slow lift. So the trick is not to have to pee, not get dizzy and not throw up. Tom’s flights can go past 4 hours on any given launch. So, when you sign up for a tandem, know who your pilot is because he/she is in control and they decide where and how to fly. And there’s a lot to learn about where to fly and why, what works and what doesn’t – how to ridge soar in uncanny places. But I’m getting ahead of myself. And I digress…

Flying over Bump 2 and Bump 1 always brings back memories of my attempted landing on the fire road. It looks pretty small to me as we pass by. We fly over the river bed and to the nuthouse. We ridge soar a bit looking for the thermal to get high. The air is feeling shaky and twitchy – ok, downright ratty. I’m thinking the higher the better so we can glide right over that ridge and Bruce’s where it’s usually testy. So we got fairly high and then experienced sink right away. What goes up must come down as they say. But we got up at Stooges. It was tough flying, or should I say riding. At this point I’m glad I didn’t ride up to Chief’s and launch into the beautiful afternoon sun. It would have been terrifying. So, as we’re heading for west repeater I find out that Tom doesn’t like that place either. So, we keep going, getting lower. But help arrives and we got back up. We tried to go up the spine to the Bluffs but decided it would be a waste as we would just be sinking all the way back out again.

We went up to Santa Paula Ridge, passing the College nestled in the canyon. I thought we were finished with the ridge but Tom turned and we headed into a canyon. We were quite low with jagged rocks all around us stretching to the sky and below us. Didn’t look like any good landing sites were available. Last time I checked the paragliding manual chapter 101 going deep into the canyons and being low was not something pilots did every day. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it that day either. I decided to keep my eyes open even though they desperately wanted to shut so I could pretend I was on a beach in Hawaii. Somehow or other Tom had figured out how to ridge soar the rocky canyon. No thermals, just wind coming into the canyon and going up. So, little by little we traversed ever narrowing canyon but we were going up. Thank goodness! Once we were high enough for me to breathe again we headed out and looked to cross the river and land at Ronnie and Marks hideout.

I had flown quite a bit at Oat Mountain a few years back and I could anticipate the some of the nasty air we were about to experience. But it seemed like we were headed into a no win situation with two small ridges back to back. There had to be lots of rotor. After getting beaten up a bit we crossed back over the river to the ridge we came from. Pay attention paragliders- this is something you can do from Oat Mountain and extend your flights there. Surprise surprise! And you can cross back with a little luck. This time we came in at a better spot and cruised up to top land. Phew! From 12:35 to 4:45PM we had been having one heck of a flight.

There were no cold drinks at the motor home but there was a comfy chair or two and plenty of good earth and a spectacular view. We launched again and hoped initially to cross the power lines. The air turned out to be buoyant so we by passed the school and headed for the park near the 126. We came in hot and high in a very tight spot. I hate being first in the tandem sometimes. I rather thought Tom was kidding but the ground was coming up fast and I was calculating how to save a limb or two from a direct hit on a rail road rail. My heel caught the side rail and I tumbled hard. Wish I could call it a PLF but that would be a stretch. Tom was saying not to move but I had the wind knocked out of me so that was easy. Turned out I got a bruise and some swelling but all’s well that ends well.

We got Dan to rescue us. He was a life saver. He was settled in and happy at home and drove pretty darn far to come get us. Thanks so much! And thanks to Tom for a great ride. It is truly a learning experience every time. Rather it teaches me how much I don’t know every time.