Learning to Fly

When I heard Tom Petty on the radio Thursday morning at work, I had a feeling I was going to get some airtime soon!

I left work early on some comp. time, picked up Landon (85 lb. 11 y.o.) and pointed toward Short Divide, only to find launch conditions a bit too strong: 30 mph out of the southwest gusting to 35!

The winds were in advance of a cold front which was forecast to arrived sometime Saturday. I even heard the weatherman use the four-letter "S" word - but only "a dusting" on the tops of the highest peaks! At 3:30 pm, it was still early, about 85 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and I knew it would mellow out in the next few hours if we were patient. So we set up behind the protection of the junipers, and then re-checked conditions: 25 to 30 mph - better, but still a bit too strong for my glider.

So we passed some time playing with a medium-sized dark-colored setter-mix which had appeared on launch. He was friendly enough, but must have strayed from one of the hunting parties scattered about on the mountain.

By 5:00 pm it had mellowed to a steady 24-26. I was comfortable with that speed because there was almost no gust factor, and with Landon on board I would be near the top of my glider's weight range. With my wing loading I knew that I would have adequate control and penetration, so we hooked in, hang-checked, and carefully walked out to launch...

wings level, clear, lean forward, three steps, going UP!

We quickly climbed to about 600' over launch, with a ground speed of about 5 mph! I soon recognized that the wind was much more westerly than usual, creating more of a lift band along the small launch ridge, but making it difficult to "bench up".

We cautiously crabbed sideways, being careful to avoid the venturi which forms in the gap over the cattle guard, until we arrived half way up the lower face of Clarkston Peak, facing due west and parallel to that ridge. We inched along, carefully contouring every little bump & gully, in zero to 100 fpm lift along the way, with the bar pulled in just past my waist in about the 35 mph position. The horizontal wind was mostly "sliding" across the face, but we found some lift on each little spine.

We continued to "beat" upwind and slowly climb for about 20 minutes, until we finally made it around the corner. On the west face the lift suddenly took on a much more vertical component, allowing me to ease the bar out and relax in the smooooooooth lift as we quickly climbed over the top,

revealing the beautiful 360 degree view! We then headed over to Gunsight Peak and boated around at just over 9 grand, where the air was noticeably at least 20 degrees cooler. The rusty fall colors which blanketed the mountains were nice, but a bit muted compared to some years, due to the hot, dry summer. We took some pictures, noticed different "objects" in the irregular shapes of the big plowed fields below, watched a farmer feeding cows from his truck out on the range, and just enjoyed the view. All of this as people were furiously driving from point "A" to point "B" on interstate-15, encased in their cocoons of steel and plastic, oblivious to our flight, nearly a vertical mile below and to the west.

I let Landon "drive" a bit, as this was his 4th flight with me, and he is a great co-pilot! We started back toward the Divide which gave me an opportunity to teach Landon about the difference between ground speed vs. air speed. When we were going into the stiff wind, the GPS showed a ground speed of 5-9 mph. When we turned-tail and stuffed the bar, we got up to 61 before I eased the bar back out! I explained how, with the higher wind, we had to be very aware of our ground/mountain clearance, and not 360 until we were well out front and/or over the top. I pointed out how if you watch a distant point beyond a ridgeline, you could, without the help of a vario or altimeter, determine whether you are going up or sinking. I told him how, as a pilot he needs to imagine and learn to visualize how the air moves around the land formations - not only to maximize the lift, but also to stay safe! I also reminded him (and myself) that an "old" (ie: not bold) pilot always flies so that an LZ is within a reasonable glide - a lesson which I had to learn the hard way on a shoulder of Oxford Peak a couple of months ago :-}

With the shadows getting long, we shot through the gap at about 8,000', rode out some mild lee-side rotor on the Clarkston-side descent, and felt the air warm our faces as the ground came up to meet us. We came in for a "safe" belly & wheel landing, and then broke down "Ol' Sport" in the shadows of Clarkston Peak. We got back to launch to retrieve the pick-up just as the sun was setting,

and it was still blowing about 18!

On the ride home we recounted our exciting flight - which was a good review and reminder of some hang gliding basics for me, and a fun time for both of us! Much better than our last tandem flight (riding the storm out)! What a nice day, Learning to Fly!

Airtime: 1 hour 10 minutes (x 2!)