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Friday, 5/3/13 [Weather] and [Flight Articles] by [Tom Pipkin] [Ron Faoro] & [Sundowner]

Friday, 5/3/13
Leg 1 Chiefs Launch to Power Line Ridge ~ 19 miles
Leg 2 Power Line Ridge to Fillmore Middle School ~ 33 miles
Total distance around 1 turn point ~ 52 miles
~ 3 hours 15 minutes airtime, launch at 11:45ish and land at 3ish
Trango

Sundowner's Flight Report, see also [Weather Archive]

The Spin Doctor was gracious enough to provide door to door service.  Met him at my house at 8:50 and arrived at NHS 5 minutes before the 9:30 meet time after a couple of stops on the way.  Took awhile to load due to the large load in Chris Grantham's suburban.  Arrived at launch about a quarter till 11.  Ron was off and up about 11.  I was going to be close behind, but opted to strip and add an under layer for warmth.  By the time I was back in line, Tom Pipkin and Ron were climbing high over Chiefs.  I didn't want to wait in the launch line, so I opted layout and pull up below launch, unfortunately it was strong and the canopy came up in a turn.  Tried to correct, but ended up flopping around and having to dig out of the brush.  Finally got off about a quarter till noon.

Had to fish out front, but the thermal over the middle bump was big and strong.  Got close to 7K and went on glide chasing Tom and Ron who were crossing the 33.  Pretty easy going with altitude to spare, but there was big sink on some of the glides.  Came in below Bump 3 across the 33, but finally climbed back into the high 6s.  Got to 76 over the Back Step.  Climbed over White Ledge Peak and again over West Divide.  It had been tailwind all the way up high until West Divide, where I started encounter some wind from the SW.

Tom Pipkin was plugging upwind along Castle Ridge, and Ron Faoro was at the Power Lines.  Left Noon peak with OK altitude, but was down in the low 4s at the Power Lines.  There was a thermal right over the lines, but it was drifting pretty good from the west.  Everyone was complaining about the headwind, so I voted to turn around and head for Fillmore.  It was easy going eastbound.  I though we might have to deal with the east wind that we had earlier, but the west had pushed through at all altitudes.  Did encounter some east over Chiefs and the Repeater, so I opted to boat out front.  Got back into the low 7s over Boyds.  The drift was now from the west.  Not sure if it was my location or it simply pushed through.  Took the altitude and glided over to Santa Paula Ridge, arriving above the high ridge by a few hundred.

Trolled over the ridge, but didn't hit anything worth turning for and had to fall off to the south side.  There was the typical west wind up the river.  It was 90 degrees cross.  Had a couple of opportunities to run in and wiggle up in the ridge lift on the west faces, but didn't was to deal with the turb close to the terrain.  Opted to fish out front. The flats were working good in Ojai, but no luck out in front of Santa Paula Ridge.  Stretched the glide across the river into Fillmore.  Didn't have enough to reach the Vons field, so I put down at the Fillmore Middle School about 3 PM.  Packed up barefoot on the grass in the shade of a big tree.  Ron collect me and we swapped stories on the ride back to Carpinteria.

As both Tom and Ron mentioned in their reports, we were flying with Travis from LA on his first flight from Chiefs.  He did impressively well, making good decisions and executing.  Look forward to flying with him again.

Ron was first off launch and hit the highest altitude.  Tom Pipkin had the longest westbound leg, and I had the longest eastbound.

Thanks to Chris Grantham for providing his truck and driving down on a day I'm sure he would have preferred to fly.  We would have flown the Nuthouse if the road wasn't open, but I'll take a ride up over the hike on a hot day.