[Amigo] > [Diablo's flight index]

Flight Articles from the weekend of 6/24 - 25 (in order of posting time stamp)
[Andy Palmer] [South Side] [Diablo] [Tony De Groot]

Tony Deleo (El Diablo)
Saturday, 6/24/06
Blackhawk

I took off first at 12:30 or so after the high cloud coverage had disappated.  Bruce Barmakian took off second and he and I flew above takeoff with the 10 other pilots on the ground watching.  Bruce was to later land back at the Crestline area.  Our expressed goal was to fly north into The Owens Valley with the idea of going the max. distance.

The Kagel crew showed up with the idea of flying west which for max. distance is questionable at best.  With Saturday being nearly the "longest" day of the year and with cloud base being advertised at 15K+ it seemed like a waste of the day, the altitude and an "under" call.

Barmakian and I were in the air for at least 1 + hours prior to the Kagel gang even taking off with the conditions getting better.  Given the "slightly" less than advertised conditions theirs was the better choice, with us heading northwest and them heading west.  As far as an "arse" kicking, had we all had the same goal and taken off at relatively the same time I might agree.  Hopefully they will show up more often, it was nice to see them.  Saturday there were 12 pilots at Black Hawk which is nearly triple what we see if we see anyone.