On Friday Bruce and I had the opportunity to join Cody for a fun "Fly day for reading" at his elementary school.
We set up our gliders and put on a 10 minute demonstration for each class as they rotated through a number of static displays and activities - all related to flying!
With an emphasis on fun and safety, Cody talked about: 1) Hang gliders can go up - not just down, 2) We hang from the glider - not hang on to them, and 3) the airfoil shape of the glider allows it to fly (the wing is the thing!) At the end of each class one of us did a ground run with my big Falcon to show actual "flight".
It was great to share with the kids and to see Cody at home "in his element" (as Bruce said) relating to the kids on their level. Altogether we talked to over 300 kids from grades K-5, planting the seeds, no doubt, for a number of future pilots!
On Saturday Cody and I went out to Short Divide to try to catch some air, even though the forecast was not all that great. On launch we found the wind cycling straight in from 5 mph up to about 13. There were scattered towering cu-nim's that we were keeping an eye on. We finally launched, each of us picking a good cycle. We worked the weak thermals in earnest, but they just fell apart too quickly to get above launch. We each had a short but nice 20 minute flight. It was great just to get out and hone our thermalling skills for the approaching XC season!
Airtime: 20 minutes!
With the holiday weekend upon us, we decided to take a family hike on the moderately strenuous and historic Crimson Trail.
The streams were running high with snowmelt, and the hillsides were all bright green.
It was a warm, partly cloudy day with a nice breeze to make the steep climb not too hot.
Clover had no problem keeping up, and enjoyed being out on the trail.
We paused along the way so Tanner could show everyone his rock "slinging" technique.
Then Landon,
and Josh had a turn. 
The trail climbs a couple of miles,
until it tops out along the rim of a geologic formation know as the China Wall.
The view from on top is breathtaking, 
and a bit scary in places
just ask Keri! 
From on top we could see across the canyon to the "Wind Caves",
formed by the forces of wind and water on the limestone rock.
We continued on the 4.3 mile trail loop as it descended back to the canyon floor,
and then followed the cool river back to our starting point,
where Tanner and Landon could not resist dipping their heads in the icy water!
Launching felt different than my U2, but still a piece of cake. I immediately climbed about 300' over launch in a gentle thermal. I soon found the thermals to be weak and fragmented, not allowing for more than one or two circles in lift.
I scooted back and forth along the launch ridge, as Cody launched and proceded to show me where the good thermals were hiding. It ended up being a light, up and down day, making it difficult to gain enough altitude to safely bench up onto the upper mountains. After over an hour of scratchin', I finally found a thermal I could drift with back to the upper face, but it was not producing, so I quickly headed back out front, and boated around in some lower level glass-off.
The new glider flew straight, true, trim and sweet. The bar pressures are surprisingly light for a single-surfaced glider. It responded quickly to all of my control input, even with such a light wing loading. I did notice the decrease in glide compared to my U2, but I know that will improve when I add a co-pilot! Although we didn't sky-out, it was still some very nice, much needed airtime.
Airtime: 1.5 hours! "Yeeee-Haaaaw!" 
