Kagel

This past weekend Ben, Brian and I made a whirlwind run down to So Cal to pick up Ben's glider and check out one of the classic sites in the area. The locals down there showed us some great hospitality and Kraig in particular generously offered us up a place to stay and took us up to the mountain. Very inspiring to be around so many talented pilots. It really makes me assess the way I fly and how to go about honing my skills. The conditions were not optimal but the good pilots managed to make water into wine. We launched from the peak of the summit at left in the picture above.


There were also over a dozen Condors soaring above "Tower" launch when we got there. A couple of them tracked gliders within 10-15 feet for a minute or so. Ben managed to capture a couple great shots and I included them at the beginning of the video. An amazing site with lots of potential, climbs to 12k and xc options. The photo above looking out from the tower launch.

Marina / Diablo weekend

Got out to Marina on Friday after work and had a great couple hours with perfect conditions. Saturday Ben and I headed out to Diablo to make circles for the first time this spring (for me anyway). I couldn't seem to get any of my gadgets to work (no photos) but it was a beautiful day with a nice hour and a half flight up and over the summit. Take a look at Ben's blog for some great pictures and report. Sunday we headed back out to Marina for another full day of ideal conditions. I managed to get a photo or two and some video out this day (Ben above, lounging with a view). Great weekend, and spring is finally here!

Ed Levin

A bit of light ridge lift brought out a mass of desperadoes on Saturday. I made half a dozen passes over the top and then headed south to find my own session spot past the 1200, but unfortunately found a lot of broken lift there and headed down to the LZ before long. Nice to be out though and the wait up top gave plenty of opportunity to tell lies and plan future trips with the best of folk. Finally broke down and bought the wide angle video camera everybody is buying lately. The editing software that came with my computer was easy to figure out but pretty limited.

Mission

Mission is a great local ridge located in the hills above Milpitas. It offers both ridge and thermal soaring. I had my intro (thanks Ben) a few months back and managed to get out again last month for a flight in the afternoon. I showed up plenty late, but fortunately so did Brian Foster and he took me on up to the top where the cloud base had been hovering just over launch. Eventually it creeped up over the peak and I had a great long flight with unlimited lift to the clouds.
above: Chris V racing North along the ridge trying to get that old T2 to keep up with my tricked out and learned U2;)
below: Some random shots... too bad there's no sound in still shots, you'd hear me whoopin and hollerin'! What a great day.

Diablo

Mount Diablo, near Danville/Benicia, has been one of the Hang IV sites that I have most looked forward to, and been intimidated by. I had heard so little about it beyond the "really tight 1000' LZ and few pilots actually fly there with any regularity. Dave, John, Brian and I set out to hit this site on a sledder day a month ago to get a feel for the mountain and LZ's before the season really kicks in.

We put a call out to local pilot Robert Moore for a site intro and he obliged us with the full tour of the LZ's and pointed out some of the cross country routes they use. Matt (above on launch), took us up and showed us the two main launches and the 1,000' bailout LZ (it is pretty tight, and requires commitment). The light wind dictated the tower launch and we all had nice cruisers down to a large LZ. The photo below was taken in flight (not sure who that was in front of me). The LZ is down at the base of the quarry.I was busy trying to take in all the features and info that our guides were giving us, so few pictures this time out. I can't wait to fly here again when it is really on. Thanks Robert and Matt!
Dave making the proper approach at our LZ of the day on the North side. After being anxious about a tricky launch, flight, and landing (all of which were great) I sprained my ankle walking my glider past the water basin seen here in the parking lot (Doh!). Looking forward to flying the West side (Juniper launch) on our next trip out.

Point Reyes - Drakes Beach

Ben, Dave and I turned up at this site a couple months ago and missed the launch window (Ben's entry). The cliff launch can be pretty nasty and full of rotor as you approach the cliff's edge. Dave's glider is visible in the setup area above. This day was much better. Dave and I got off when conditions were just right and soared back and forth along the ridge (maybe a 2-3 mile section?). Scott and Kurt, skilled Sonoma area pilots, were out with their rigids as well. Wire crews are necessary on launch.
above: looking back toward launch from the West, Dave's Sport is visible above the ridge. (click on all photos to enlarge)
above: the view heading out toward the point, you can see that the cliffs begin to bend South. I wonder what a convergence would offer up here?
Nice beach LZ and well manicured breakdown area.. So nice to be in lift again, it's been a long winter.

Mount Tamalpais

Winter time has offered up few options lately so a group of us met up at Mount Tam. It was my first time out to this site (Just north of San Francisco) and when we arrived it looked dismal. By the time we were set up a window opened and I took off just as the clouds began to clear. Launch is a couple thousand feet over the landing zone at Stinson Beach. It was a sled ride down, but an incredible view (looking North and South toward SF respectively). This marked the 21st site that I have flown over the last year (my goal was 20 for the year!) Life is good.
Below Brian sets up his final approach.
Brian testing the hypothesis that people are like cattle (totally unreactive to hang-gliders flying 30 mph directly toward them). He made a nice landing just short of them.
Below Dave on his base leg approach over the water.
Dave pulling a G or 2 down low.
Chris' folks were in town from Florida and he showed them a flawless approach, while I stood gawking with them (camera in hand, sorry Chris..)