Saturday, May 31, 2008

Light & Variable

Today's flight, has been brought to you by the words "light" and "variable". That describes the conditions Cody & I found out at the Short Divide today.

We set up under mostly blue skies, about 80 degrees, with some nice cu-streets forming on the horizon. We did not have "high" expectations for the day, but we were hoping to get high enough to go XC. After setting up, we hang-waited for over an hour, as the wind cycled from 0 up to 10 mph, but never staying consistent.

The conditions never really improved much, so at 5 pm I finally "ran off the mountain" and started working every bit of lift I could find. I managed to climb about 250' over launch, but the thermals just didn't stay together. I was eventually flushed out to the lower LZ after a nice 20 minute flight. I watched Cody from below, as he waited for a better cycle. He had a nice little flight of about the same duration in similar "light and variable" conditions.

While breaking down, we talked about how our longer flights in the past few years might have slightly spoiled us. Even though we didn't get high, go far, or fly for hours, it was still one of the best ways to spend any afternoon - hands down! We are very fortunate to have many sites to choose from, less than an hour away, and to just have the opportunity to experience flight in it's purest form.

It's good to be alive! - Airtime: 20 Minutes!

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