Crestline Soaring Society

Yeah, that sure was a different day. It was pretty warm with the South wind, even if it was blowing over 15 the whole time at Marshall. I launched a Falcon 3 Tandem (solo) at 12:35 and shot up 200 feet without turning. I rode one core from Cloud Peak that was >600 FPM the whole time to 5400 MSL. Then I more less made a bee-line for the LZ so I could go back up and fly a different glider. I found some sink over the LZ and circled down from 3800 MSL in 400-700 FPM down. Smooth South at 10 in the LZ.

My second launch was also from Marshall at 14:22 on a Sport 2 155. I had a 3-point wire crew at the top of the PG layout area, and when a lull finally came (only 18 MPH or so) I took a step or two, then pulled in and skimmed down the slope, easing the bar out as I passed the 'regular' launch. At 14:29 I was at 7800 MSL (3800 foot gain in 7 minutes). I wasn't very far North of the peak, surprisingly, and my vario had shown 1200 FPM a number of times during the climb.Marshall Climb to 7800: Cloudbase was 1k-2k higher. There was a large cloud above me, maybe 1k-2k feet overhead. It was really cold and the lift felt too good, so I headed SW and had a look around. It was really a beautiful sky to be up in, what with the lenticulars stacked up over the ridges, cumies coming from the South and a low-wing single-engine plane passing 100-200 feet directly below me when I was at 7100 MSL. The plane flew sort of NW, along the fault line toward the Cajon Pass. I didn't hear or see him until he was passing right under me, and he was really close. The plane was flying arrow-straight and level, and I hadn't turned for a while, so I don't think the pilot saw me at all.

I spent about 20 minutes flying straight upwind from above Regionals out to the East end of Little Mountain, starting at 7k and turning back at 5500. I just flew at best glide and let my mind wander as I looked at all the buildings and streets I know so well. I did a 180 and it took me 3 minutes to get back over the bluffs by the 750. I flew VG tight full-stuff for about half of the way, and my GPS shows 70 MPH ground speed at that point, and I was going about 42 IAS. I lost a total of 300 feet over the 2.75 miles, flying fast the whole way. :)

Then I flew over to Highway 18 along the bluffs about the same distance, still zero-sinking or climbing everywhere, and then back to LZ vicinity. That was a fun crab angle exercise. There was a line of cumies from the LZ to Bloomington at about 8k, and I found I was climbing 200 FPM at any speed less than a few MPH over trim speed, so at 5300 MSL over the LZ at 15:03 I decided to land while the landin' was good.

I had to stuff and spin for quite a few turns to get near the LZ, but I found some sink and managed a lot of 700 FPM down, even hitting 1200 FPM a few times. When I leveled out and slowed down to get my bearings, I just started climbing again. Landed heading straight S after at 15:11, for a 49 minute flight that felt longer. Conditions didn't change much as I broke down and hung out, except it got a little more westerly.

A handful of happy if a bit addled HG pilots were in the LZ. Owen had flown his new Atos all along the back ridge, climbing at speed. Sorry for the PGs who stood around all day. One PG who did fly had a really scary approach onto Marshall, descending with Big Ears then popping up when he went to his brakes (at least three times). There was some good kiting in the LZ, and one pilot, Marcello DeBarros, was soaring the S end quite skillfully for a while. He popped up to 150-200 over and the crowd went silent - we all thought he might actually thermal out of there, but alas, it wasn't quite enough. Still, impressive and inspiring.

I'm bummed that I didn't see Mark's landing, even though I was right there in the LZ. For what it's worth, I saw a couple of normally smooth-as-silk HG pilots have rodeo landings in the time before that.

Good Flying,
Ken Howells

20070218 - Groundspeed and Altitude Depictions: SeeYou overhead depictions of the flight on a very windy day. Kind of looks like a figure, almost, if you squint.