Post your flying stories and flight reports here. Make sure to attach pictures if you got em!

Moderators: sg, mods

User avatar
By mbadley
#351637
Well, had some work in Monterey - so I threw the glider on top of the truck for some afternoon flying at Marina (OF COURSE). Winds were light, up to 15 mph - but way too south. Another old dog was there and we chatted a bit - it was PHIL GODWIN, of the old Western Hang Gliding School that had a trailer on site and conducted training for the newbies at the dunes there back in the late 80's early 90's. He's living on Oahu now and flies Makapuu, and took a week to fly the beach here on a 11M Pulse he stores at a friend's house.

We stuffed battens and watched the gulls and pelicans flap across the gap for hours, neither of us venturing down the sand apron to the south dunes fearing that long hike back. Anyway, it never did come around westerly, so we pulled battens and left it around 6:00 - apparently it's been soarable all week, just when it's MY day - the wind gods don't give it up. Curses!

Off to McClure for Coyote Howl - crap, it's gonna be 100F in that LZ this weekend.
User avatar
By mlbco
#352366
I have felt your pain this year also. I took a chance at Marina on an iffy day (May 17) and couldn't get up despite 3 attempts. Hiking back along the beach with a 100lb glider isn't fun. If I had followed my criteria for minimum thresholds ( at least 15 mph average wind and preferably straight in or north of straight in) I wouldn't have wasted my time but that's how Marina suckers you in to trying something stupid.

I gave it another try on May 24 and managed to get a 1 hour window of soaring when the wind was strong enough and not too far south. Eventually it became too south to be fun so I landed, but I got my Marina fix for the year. I spent this weekend cleaning the sand out of everything, the stuff is nasty!

The pictures are from the soarable day, I was able to run the whole ridge and had the place mostly to myself.

Steve
Attachments
Marina_6.jpg
Marina_6.jpg (374.98 KiB) Viewed 2099 times
Marina_5.jpg
Marina_5.jpg (366.76 KiB) Viewed 2099 times
Marina_4.jpg
Marina_4.jpg (410.76 KiB) Viewed 2099 times
Marina_3.jpg
Marina_3.jpg (367.8 KiB) Viewed 2099 times
Marina_1.jpg
Marina_1.jpg (389.5 KiB) Viewed 2099 times
By Comet
#352370
mlbco wrote: The pictures are from the soarable day, I was able to run the whole ridge and had the place mostly to myself.

Steve
Nice pics, awesome wing.
User avatar
By RyanB
#352372
Was there all weekend. Sorry to have missed you.

The wind never seemed to straighten enough. Didn't even see any PG's up. :surrender:
User avatar
By Avnav8r
#352379
mbadley wrote:Well, had some work in Monterey - so I threw the glider on top of the truck for some afternoon flying at Marina (OF COURSE). Winds were light, up to 15 mph - but way too south. Another old dog was there and we chatted a bit - it was PHIL GODWIN, of the old Western Hang Gliding School that had a trailer on site and conducted training for the newbies at the dunes there back in the late 80's early 90's. He's living on Oahu now and flies Makapuu, and took a week to fly the beach here on a 11M Pulse he stores at a friend's house.

We stuffed battens and watched the gulls and pelicans flap across the gap for hours, neither of us venturing down the sand apron to the south dunes fearing that long hike back. Anyway, it never did come around westerly, so we pulled battens and left it around 6:00 - apparently it's been soarable all week, just when it's MY day - the wind gods don't give it up. Curses!

Off to McClure for Coyote Howl - crap, it's gonna be 100F in that LZ this weekend.
Hey,

If Yoda (George Reeves) is there and is setting up his glider, you can almost bet it is going to be soarable! :mosh: With this said, I've tried (there is no try, only do or do not) to get up in the same conditions George has only to find myself walking a half mile down the beach to launch off the higher dunes :oops:

John Stokes
User avatar
By mbadley
#352426
Went by on our way down to Big Sur last weekend. It was straight in (W) and doing about 12 to 15 (according to the anemometer at the restroom). Nobody there on Friday - but I think it might have been early. Big Sur didn't work out for us - it is summer and the coast was pretty fogged in early. Last time I was there we had the Plaskett Ridge launch, now it is just Wild Cattle - man, that is a much longer drive out to that launch.

Plaskett Creek (and Limekiln) campground is now on a reservation system (even though the official web-site said they weren't going to do that until mid-June 2014) and we couldn't get a spot. Camped out along Nacimiento Rd, which would have been OK except the flies were terrible (that time of year, I guess). I was glad to get away from the coast and go back to the mountains. 2 days at Dunlap made up for all that B.S.