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Flight Articles from Friday, 5/19/06, Pine (in order of posting time stamp)
[Tony DeGroot] [Greg Brown]

Tony De Groot
Friday, 5/19/06
Pine Thunder

When I think back about today the most intense, vivid image is that of thermaling next to a wall of rain, glancing with each turn at the growing darkness above me and thinking, two more turns, not more, don't let it catch you, this is so dangerous, get up and get the hell away from the growing monster that is threatening to blow you out of the air with a lightening bolt straight from Thor's hammer.

The day started mellow enough.  We were late, but the development was much less than the day before.  Tony Deleo was on launch and his Atos was already set up.  With me was Greg Brown, Lee Kahn and Terry Taggert and our driver Jeff.  I set up fast and just as Deleo was going over the back I launched and struggled up from below the knob out front.  Not a fun place to be in a Falcon.  I climbed up but the lift died at 8,300 and I searched around for something else. A short time, very short time later, I was below the knob again praying for anything and telling myself that I was going over the back with whatever I got this time. Got one that was drifting back to 8,500 and took it.

Yeah, it was low but I had a 30-35 mph ground speed headed toward a better L.Z. and usually can find something on the other side but didn't.  No trash and some minor lift but nothing solid and headed for Dry Canyon where I was somewhere down in the 5000 - 5700 range not much above the L.Z.  Caught a little one and hung on.  Lee came out and went to land at Dry Canyon near me as his zipper in his harness broke.  Greg got up to 9,200 at launch and came over and past me diving further toward Mount Pinos where clouds were forming nicely while I groveled in light lift around 6,000 ft.

There was a growing cell that had been coming our way from the Cuyama side of the valley and it started raining and dropping thunder bolts.  Nobody heard much thunder but I think it was because of their air speed and wind noise in their ears.  Flying slow in the Falcon I heard the low pitched rumbling every time and it made me, uggg, concerned.  As the cell got closer Lee mentioned a small gust front of 8 to 12 mph, but I was getting more established in the mid 9,000 range and was drifting over the bad lands with the road below me.  I saw Terry Taggart glide in just above me and keep going.  I started to follow as the cell dumped rain and was growling and growing.

The Pinos area was developing into all kinds of dark unfriendliness and Frasier was developing and I was in my putt putt Falcon over the bad lands trying just to get to a landable area in Lockwood Valley.  Greg was skied in front to over 13,000 and then saw something that scared him bad.  A bolt of lightening around Frasier that sent him looking for a safe place to land in Lockwood, quick.  Struggling for Lockwood it started raining on me.  Hey, are we having fun yet!!  Terry was going fast and was heading out to the far edge of Lockwood as I wiped rain off my goggles and kept driving for a better LZ and sun.

Got ahead of the rain and hail and got to some nicer lift ahead of the wall of water and while climbing up along it's shower curtain edge, kept glancing up at the growing beast behind and around me.  Each part of my turn close to the wall of rain got a few drops on my goggles.  It was beautiful, amazing, foolish and dangerous.  More lightening around Pinos.  Had a beautiful hawk join me further away from the beast in the sun line and we climbed to over 11000 feet, but the giant overdevelopment was again starting to chase me down.  I drove and drove for the south end of Frasier toward smaller clouds, and sun, but instead of niceties I started getting slapped around.  Maybe at 9,300 I had enough to go on glide but I wasn't sure about the retrieve potential.

In the distance a giant anvel head was overdeveloping in the desert and I had had enough.  Turned around and parked in a strong headwind heading back to land in Lockwood as lightening bolts descended over on the other side of the valley.  Landed nicely on a dirt road about a quarter mile from the road where Lee and Greg came over to help me get out.  Terry got up to 11,000 at Frasier where I wanted to go but by the time I was there it was overdeveloping and I wanted to stay away from any more thunder heads.

We got lots of beer, sandwiches, and ice cream at the Mountain liquor store to quell our nerves and picked Terry up after a nice 65.5 mile flight landing at Hwy 14.  He wanted to go over the windmills at Tehachapi but it was going nuclear over there and he didn't want to get the venturi winds if they came down that way and glided all the way to the Fourteen.

Lots of excitement but I'm happy to be home and just watching some T.V. with Skippy.