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Saturday, 5/11/13 [Weather] and [Flight Articles] by [Ron Faoro] & [Sundowner] [Susan Frank]
[Saturday photos] Sunday's Flights [Marty Devietti]

Saturday, 5/11/13
Leg 1 ~ Chiefs to Bluffs ~ 4 miles
Leg 2 ~ Back to the NW corner of the Stooges spine ~ 6.5 miles
Leg 3 ~ Down Stooges spine to Twin Peaks ~ 3.5 miles
Leg 4 ~ Back up behind Chiefs again ~ 2.5 miles
Leg 5 ~ Over to Puckers (the SE corner of the Topa Bluffs) ~ 5.5 miles
Leg 6 ~ OTB to Thorne Point ~ 9 miles
Leg 7 ~ Toward Mutau Flats ~ 1 mile
Leg 8 ~ Reverse direction to the Pit Stop (the point just east of Haddock Peak) ~ 5.5 miles
Leg 9 ~ Fall off downwind to Decision Point ~ 1 mile
Leg 10 ~ Final Glide to landing on Lockwood Valley Road (SW corner of the Valley) ~ 9 miles
Total distance around 9 turn points ~ 47 miles
Straight line distance from launch to landing ~ 15 miles
~ 4 hours 30 minutes airtime, 11ish to 3:30ish
Bantoo

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

Saturday presented special weather in Ojai.  There will be similar days, but the weather is like a fingerprint.  Never before and never again.  With Pine closed, the plan was to try and connect from the front range to higher development behind.  Looking at a map, it appears that going OTB from the high ground in Casitas Pass toward the SE spine of Old Man mountain may be possible, so that was our initial inclination, but we were getting much higher than expected in Ojai, and Casitas Pass may have been too close to the ocean.  Chiefs and the Bluffs will often work better because they are further inland.  Nordhoff is a bulls eye for the ocean air pulling up the Ventura River, so on marine days, Nordhoff typically doesn't work as good as Chiefs due to it's exposure.  I think White Ledge and Divide Peak will work if you can get there, because they are high, have some separation from the ocean, and are a topographical convergence zone, but you have to claw far enough across 33 to start getting some protection from the marine air coming up the Ventura River.

At some altitude, you transition from flying the terrain to flying the clouds.  The clouds were telling us that we needed to angle back behind the front range.  We were able to get enough altitude that we didn't need to scratch up the east side of White Ledge.  I don't know if we could have gone OTB from Chiefs with 75 and connected, but I think angling back toward Dry Lake Ridge with 9K had realistic potential.  We don't normally climb out over Dry Lake Ridge when gliding to Ojai from Pine, but we don't typically get to 9K under a 12K Cloudbase over Chiefs.

We all fly for different reasons and our personal reasons flux.  Some parts of flying are more fun than others.  I personally like gliding down wind, but I often need to struggle to put myself in a position where I can enjoy a down wind glide.  I tried a lot of stuff on Saturday, trying to get in position to make a play OTB, but I wanted more altitude than 75.  Rather than forcing the issue, I repeatedly counseled myself to be patient and persistent.  Stay in the game.  Saturday wasn't a race course.  We only went 15 miles straight line from launch to landing.  Due to the convergence (east wind to the east and west wind toward the coast), I think the distance potential from Ojai was limited.  The day was more about making connections.  At some point you make a play and it either works or you flush, but you could go anywhere on the Ojai Range Saturday and still reboot.  We landed at 3:30 after a 4-1/2 hour flight and the day still had hours left in it.  I was prodding the Nordhoff crew would make a 2nd trip to launch and give us flight reports from late in the day.

It looked like a good day to fly big, so I left Susan a message and she confirmed on Friday night.  Ron and Bob picked me up at 8 and we met Susan in Ventura at 8:30, leaving Bob's car at the bus stop.  We tied the bags on Susan's roof.  There was a full boat of pilots when we arrive at Nordhoff High School at 9.  We had just enough room to squeeze everyone in John Kloer's suburban, but Terry Taggart was waiting for a friend with a HG and opted to go to SB instead, so we only had 12 bodies (room for 1 more).

It was a quiet ride to launch, but there was some excitement as we could see CUs starting to form high over the front range.  We got to launch about 20 past 10.  Ron Faoro departed first at 10:45 followed by Bob Peloquin.  They climbed slow and steady over 9K.  Their reports cleared launch real quick and we were off tandem near the back of the pack around 11ish.

Benched up easily to Chiefs, but couldn't get over 75, so we tried the Repeater and got a little over 8.  There were high CUs out front a bit and over the Bluffs, so we plugged upwind for the NW corner of the Bluffs.  Came in even, but the wind was from the east and we couldn't get established on top.  Every time we climbed above, we would get blown out to the SW.   It was SE below the Bluffs and more east or NE above.  We tried plugging upwind toward Puckers, but there wasn't much draw into the face.  Didn't want to get too close because we were in the lee.  Finally gave up and ran back downwind for the Repeater, and then to just below the middle bump of the Chiefs Spine.

Got back to 75 again and tried the back ridge, hoping to angle back toward Dry Lake Ridge, but wanted to leave further west.  We tired a small peak just NW of the Stooges spine.  Found a few bubbles, but nothing to climb in.  Fished down the Stooges spine.  Tried a few thermals, but they didn't pan out.  The lower drift was from the SW.  Eventually ran back for Twin Peaks and climbed back up to Chiefs.

There was more wind from the south above the ridge as the day aged.  Could only get into the high 6s.  The clouds looked better out in front of the Repeater, so we plugged upwind to the Repeater and got to 83, then plugged upwind further to the corner of the Bluffs.  We were in a similar predicament as the previous iteration.  We did a little better at the corner.  Got a hundred over a few times, but couldn't get establish on top.  Kept getting blown off from the east.  Opted to plug upwind toward the SE and got around the corner at Puckers.  We were now on a good line and the thermals drifted us up over the high ground rather than out into the lee.  Tracked back and topped about 95 a little NW of the NW corner of the Bluffs.

It was getting ODed in the back country.  We were still well below cloudbase, but I liked our line and angled down the spine that runs toward Piedra Blanca (the white rock cliffs below Thorne Point).  Down to 8ish about half way to the river.  We blundered into a fat smoothie and got back to 95, drifting slightly from the north, then continued on glide, but with better position so we went for Thorne Point.  Down to 72 about a mile south of the peak, we found a big zone of smooth weak lift.  Finally stepped up to the Peak and climbed to 10,500.

Drift was from the west.  There was a cloud street running toward Mutau Flats.  The meadow at Mutau Flats was in full sun, but everything else around it was in shade.  Opted to go down wind with the intent of angling back in behind the range for the Flats, but encountered sink and gave the logistics some consideration.  I've landed at Mutau Flats a couple of times.  It's 15 miles out to Lockwood Valley on a dirt road and we didn't have chase.  If we went down, we might not get out before dark, so I turned around and went back to Thorne.

Got back into the mid 9s and went upwind for Decision Point.  Overflew the top but didn't find anything so we angled back in to the ridge and bobbed over to The Pit Stop.  Climbed a couple hundred above on the east side, but hit some stiff flow from the NW and got blown off.  Ran back for Decision Point and arrived a little below the SW spine.  Hit our best thermal of the day and climbed quickly from 64ish to 10,800, drifting from the SW.

There was some marbled sun here and there, but it was mostly ODed.  Haddock to Pine was solid dark.  There had been some virga south of Pine.  Mutau Flats was also dark now.  There was a little sun west of Grade Valley, so we went downwind toward Lockwood.  We got a few extenders and circled on a couple of teasers, but it was mostly final glide.  There was some sun in Lockwood, but further up the road and we just barely reached the pavement.

We considered landing in Grade Valley because it looked safer, but it's 6 miles from Grade Valley to Lockwood so we opted to take our chances with scruffy landing options to shorten our hike.  The glide extenders got us to the paved road, but we didn't  have enough  altitude to turn back into the wind so we were planning to slide in on the dirt next to the road facing NE.  Took a triple wrap of break line and kept the speed up.  Flared hard and the glider stopped for a gentle touch down on our feet..  It was L&V in the valley and we lucked into a weak cycle from the east.  After touchdown, all the cycles were from the south west.

Susan's legs were rubbery.  She was a bit cold soaked also.  I made a couple of phone calls and left a message with Ron Faoro.  He called back in 5 and pulled up as we were zipping up the last of the gear.  Opted to take the Grapevine home because we weren't in the mood for a windy road.  Mobile about 4:15.  A couple of stops, dropped Ron at his clinic in Santa Barbara, and home before 7.

Special Thanks to Ron Faoro for outstanding Brotherhood support, and Bob Hurlbett for relaying our blind position reports so Ron was close by the time we landed.  Thanks to John Kloer for running his truck and assisting on launch, Chris Grantham for Friday's reports, and Susan for being a terrific flying partner.

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