February Flyin!

Cody texted me this morning to point out the fortuitous forecast today: Sunny, 45 degrees, and moderate pre-frontal winds! After getting the afternoon off, we quickly hatched a plan to meet at the LZ and head for launch.


It's been a mild winter, but there have been a couple of storms since our January flights making launch less accessible. After evaluating the conditions, we decided it was worth the extra work to get us and our gliders to launch.


On launch, we were greeted with strong but steady 20+ mph winds, straight into launch, with a slight Westerly component. Cody "threw me off" first, and soon joined me in the narrow lift band, where some nice off-season thermals quickly lifted us 300-400' over launch.


We both looked for the right opportunity to bench up to the upper mountains. After about 20 minutes, Cody found the thermal that allowed him to drift back to the face and climb the mountain!


I made 7 or 8 attempts, but my lower performance single-surfaced wing yielding less of a glide range, combined with my conservative nature, always sent me back out front over launch. Eventually I found myself 100' off the deck over the LZ considering my landing approach. I found a nice elevator over the lower PG launch, and was able to climb out back over launch.


I found another thermal that took me high enough to drift back to the lower flanks of the upper peak, but the lift was not there. Attempting the glide back out from there appeared a bit dicey, so after an hour and a half of fun, I flew over the back with about 30' clearance and landed nicely on the lee side.


This choice resulted in a longer walk back to our vehicles, but the beautiful February airtime was all worth it! Good flyin' with ya, Cody!

The friendly skies of Cache Valley

Today's forecast was not good for hang gliding, but I still got just over an hour of airtime!


My neighbor, Greg has a homebuilt 2000 Kitfox. It has a 100 hp two-stroke engine, allowing it to climb easily and cruise nicely at about 80-90 knots.


We buzzed Short Divide launch, then flew past Gunsight Peak. The stick/flaperons & elevator and footpedal/rudder controls are quite responsive, requiring minimal control input.


We flew around the valley for about an hour, spotted two young bald eagles, cruised low over numerous waterways, then banked it up over our neighborhood, before heading back to the airport.