Tony Deleo (El Diablo)

Friday, June 24, 2005
Black Eagle Mine, Independence California
to Grass Valley, Northeast of Austin Nevada
228.4 miles 7.25 hours
Atos VX

[Carolyn's Perspective]

Black Eagle mine, or Easter, is located east of Independence California in the Inyo Mountains.  The Inyo Mountains run south to north and form a portion of eastern range which defines the Owens Valley.  Go north and you are on The White Mountains.  The first 100 mile flights in hang gliding were just south of this area from Cerro Gordo Mine.  Takeoff at Black Eagle is 7000’ msl.

Friday morning; Long time rigid wing hang glider pilot Herb Seidenberg and I, awoke to find signs of an upper level west wind, so Herb suggested we fly Black eagle on the eastern side of the Owens Valley instead of the more popular Walt’s Point on The Sierras.  Herb is a legend in flying The Owens Valley and southern California.  He had over 50 100 mile flights when he quit counting sometime ago.  Who was I to argue?  Accompanying us were Santa Barbara pilots Robert Millington, Bob Anderson and John Lyons.  All experienced pilots flying “top less” gliders.  Herb flies a modified B Model Atos seated.  It has be affectionately renamed the ATOAD.

With the conditions cross at takeoff, I get off the mountain at 12:45.  Not being able to get established at takeoff in winds which are due south, which is parallel to the range, I opt for the front points.  After nearly an hour of floundering near the base of the range I climb to 15,300' south of Mazurka Mountain.  The forecast was for south to southeast winds at 10-15 mph.  The next stop was Black Mountain then on to Piute Peak on The White Mountains.  Out in front of White Mountain I went to 14,300’.

I had purchased the VX in November, which in southern California is when the weather is transitioning from fall to winter.  This was to be the first flight that I would get to fly the VX in “good” conditions.    I began to question the sanity of flying hang gliders in The Owens Valley and I was glad I'd put an extension on my keel that extended the tail outward another foot.

Three of the other pilots were having trouble getting established and were working the front points at much lower altitudes.  It was off to Boundary Peak which is at the north end of The White Mountains.  This area is noted for the trashy-rowdy air.  At this point I heard a radio communication from one of the pilots that he was at 13,000’ over Chalfont which is at the base of The White Mountains.  This told me the flats were probably working and gave me a great excuse for avoiding Boundary Peak.  I skirted around the front of Boundry at 12,000’ in turbulent air.

I was over, Janie’s Ranch, a former brothel in Nevada, now closed.  Working the hills on the north side of the Highway 6,  I was tempted to turn and fly due north over the high plateau that separated me from the clouds 15 miles ahead.  To maintain this course could have meant a “land-out” in fairly remote terrain at high altitude.  Instead I opted to cross back over Highway 6 and back onto The White Mountains which had wind broken clouds forming that were drifting from the south.  My bail out was to be the ranch on the alluvial fan.  As soon as I crossed Highway 6, at the base of The Whites about 9000 MSL,  I contacted weak smooth lift that drifted me slowly thru Montgomery Pass over the casino, into the convergence, and up to 15,000’.

At altitude the cloud shadows indicated a drift from the southeast which would have taken me to Hawthorne, and then hopefully to The Pine Nut Mountains which run north and south along the Carson Valley.  I was now on glide to Mina.  Southeast of Mina in smooth lift I went to 17,999.  It was at this point that I began to question my decision not to fly with my oxygen system.  I'd left the O2 in our vehicle assuming the day was going to be so-so!  Ahead, The Hawthorne area was over developed with rain.  East of the over development was sun and broken cumis about every 10-15 miles.

This was the furthest I had ever been in a hang glider.  I switched my GPS to the moving map function and 2 way points appeared; Gabbs and Austin Nevada.  I opted for the proven route the “great” Larry Tudor had made so many times before.  A “quartering” tail wind was better than a head wind.  The Santa Barbara pilots had or were in the process of landing around the 70 mile mark at Benton Station.  Herb had broken radio communication and was still in the game, but would later land at Luning Nevada, 105 miles another 100+ mile flight.  Carolyn, my girl friend and chase crew, would stay with Herb.  My last radio communication with chase was at Gabbs as I headed for Austin crossing The Ione Valley to the Shoshone Mountains.

The day was getting late and I had not stopped to “tank up” unless it was necessary.  At Petersen Station which is adjacent to Highway 722, I was down to 9000’ feet, 1500’ AGL.  I could not believe I was at the 180 mile mark, 10 miles from Austin, and on the verge of flushing just short of 200 miles.  200 miles was the very least I wanted for the day.  I have one previous flight of over 200 miles but it had a “dog leg” in it.  The prior summer had been spent in the southern California desert, and with abysmal soaring conditions, the best I had been able to do was 186 miles.  200 miles was important to me.

The blow off from Hawthorne to the west of me was beginning to shadow the area.  I ran into a weak thermal and was determined to make it work.  I pushed out on the control bar slowing the VX to 23 mph and drifted to the rising terrain at Railroad Pass where I felt the thermal would open up once it reached the more defined and higher terrain.  I was not disappointed and climbed to 15,000 just short of Austin at the 190 mile mark.

Over Austin the batteries on my flight deck and GPS were indicating low voltage, probably from the cold at altitude.  The hose on my camel back had frozen closed during the flight on 3 or 4 occasions.  Shortly thereafter my GPS went dead.

I kept the setting sun to my left as I crossed onto the Toiyabe Range, and with the sun setting I went on final glide to a not so dry lake bed 30 miles ahead in Grass Valley with my body shaking from the cold.  A portion of the lake bed had water in it which I mistakenly took for a “mirage”.  This “marshy” portion would later be a major impediment for retrieval.  At the lake bed and at 500 agl I began looking for the wind direction and at 8:00 P.M. landed 228.4 miles from launch.  The lake bed was 5400’ msl.

I immediately used by satellite phone to leave my coordinates with chase on Carolyn’s cell phone and with 2 of my pilot friends.  They generally enjoy it when you ask them to come and get you in the middle of no where.  At 11:00 PM I bedded down for the evening and was tempted to turn off my radio to conserve batteries.  My feeling was that due to the hour, chase would probably stay in Austin and try and locate me in the morning, but they came over the radio about 1:00 PM as they arrived in the area, however, we were not able to affect retrieval until 7:00 AM.  My 3rd “all nighter”.  The temperature dropped to 45 degrees.  Carolyn, Herb, and I carried the gear out to the vehicle 1.3 miles away, which is a story in itself.  We stopped for lunch in Austin.  Carolyn and Herb split the driving chores and we got back to Lone Pine at 5:00 P.M.