Sunday, 6/22/02
The Second Day of Summer
3 flights from SB
Bypass to Parma ~ 13 minutes
Bypass to SB High School ~ ½ hour
Skyport to the Biltmore ~ ½ hour
Bonanza
Hadn't flown in a couple of months due to the new arrival, so I needed to get out. The weather wasn't promising, but with a little luck it would be good for some airtime. Had a 10 am meet at Parma, but was 15 minutes late. Headed up hill in Bob Hurlbett's truck with Benson, Alan King, and Kristi for crew about 10:30.
Cloudbase had been below the Round House, but lifted up to the Antenna Farm. Not much wind. A little from the SE. Took a couple of tries from the Bypass and pulled a good glide across the ridge east of the Round House. Had a little lift behind the ridge, but thought it would be better over the trigger spots. Looked over toward the Rock because it had a little east in it, but nothing was breaking off the triggers. Found a little at the corner of Parma and did the slow fizzle.
Benson boosted me back up and I was airborne again without getting out of the gear. Not as good of a glide this time. Looked out toward the Monastery hoping for a little convergence. It was there, but weak. Hung on for awhile, up and down a hundred in the smooth air. Finally got lower and looked down toward Parma. Didn't hit anything at the corner, but had the altitude to search the south side. Got lucky and climbed back up from 12ish to 14 and cleared the Riveria with a couple hundred to spare, but the air was still over town. The glide toward the Junior High looked iffy, so I faded with the light SE and reached the ball field on the east side of the High School
Pack up on the grass and hiked back to Sycamore Canyon. Benson & Bob packed up at Parma and then collected me. They dropped me at Gibraltar road while they went to Saint Mary's for Alan. Kristi moved on to other activities. Slow traffic day so I was still there when they came back through. We opted for the Skyport.
Base was a couple hundred below at launch, and lower out front, but I could see out the bottom all the way. Got a little something over the Bypass, but not enough. Searched the Antenna Farm, but no luck. Down to a couple hundred over the Round House and out the spine toward the Monastery. Buoyant glide, but no beeps. The drift had switched from the SE to the SW, and there was a little more drift as I moved further south. Reached all the way to the east end of the Riveria (on the west side of Sycamore Canyon). Needed some luck or I'd have to bail for the canyon. Found a buoyant zone down around 11 and finally climbed back up to 17. The drift took me back up the canyon, so I was back down to 14 leaving across from where I found my thermal.
Got some extenders in front of the East Riveria, and reached the beach with 500. There was some SW wind, so I fell off toward the Biltmore. Didn't have quite enough altitude to set up an approach for the lawn, so I set down on the sidewalk on the ocean side of the street. Broke down on the grass.
Bob Hurlbett and Benson had trouble with their GPS, and wandered off course. Benson went to the Postage Stamp for a good uphill landing. He took the trail up to the road. Took him about 35 minutes with his pack. Bob went into Saint Mary's. Alan landed at Parma and retrieved Bob, who then collected me. Alan went back up for Benson (we had left Benson's car at the Skyport).
Since we had a good breeze at the Biltmore, I headed over to Wilcox, but it was a tad too light. Also looked at Bates and La Conchita, but opted to call it a day.
Enjoyed the smooth air, rare thermals, scenic glides, and good friends.