Crestline Soaring Society

Wow! That was some rowdy air mid-day compared to the milquetoast overcast we've had for the last month. The big thermals had big sink at the edges. Niagra-like. If the PG pilots weren't getting skidmarks then they just aint facin' reality.

I launched a U2 160, bright green top and bottom, from Marshall at 13:30 and had to scratch a bit below the windsock. Lots of sudden bank angle changes in close to the hill. I was in T-shirt and shorts and my bare hands greased the aluminum speedbar up a bit right away. I was below some PGs so I bailed for Cloud Peak rather than try to monitor them, the slope, and bank all at once. At Cloud it was similar and soon I had a 700-1000 FPM core to 5600 MSL.

I decided to go to Pine instead of back to Crestline, just for something different. Plus the thermal had gone straight up. Scratched around at Pine at 4300 MSL for 5-10 minutes in confusing turbulence masquerading as thermals. Some PGs had followed me over (starting higher) and were up higher, climbing over the peak. I worked up to a bit under them and had that bumpy/dumpy thermal thing until above the peak, when it mellowed out. Got to 6K and my hands were chilled. Followed the west spine a little, but what with the chill and all I was only pretending to want to go toward the Pass. Mostly I wanted to get lower and warmer.

On the way to Regionals I found a 700 FPM core while VG tight. I banked and let the VG off but the cord wrapped around my two fingers like Hoss Cartwright hitching his horse at the saloon. Actually, it only made the first circle awkward, but dang! That thermal, from the west side of Devil Canyon, was another 700-1000 FPM bronco to 5700, so I dove for Billboard.

A pass or two at Crestline and I did a speed run to Regionals. Ready to land and do the turnaround. Got in sight of the LZ and saw the flags all limp. Didn't want to do a no-winder, so I worked the bluffs. Just some SE puffs for 5 minutes, so I grabbed a thermal. I went from 3k to 6k in 2.5 minutes! This was about 14:25. Burn some altitude, lah-di-dah. Now steady SE to E suddenly becoming zero at the LZ. 'Nother thermal, back to the chill zone. Got above Dusty on his PG and got to 6k, went out over CalState, back to LZ. Still dead and/or ESE. Worked the bluffs, decided a steady SE cycle would be OK, then a PG went over the LZ. I didn't want to do a right-hand approach and mix it up with him, so I worked a tight little core across the mouth of Sweetwater Canyon until he landed.

The flags inexplicably showed SW, so I dove for the LZ. At the south end of the LZ my vario beeped, but the flags were still solid. I stuffed and banked, slowing down on the turn to base leg and coming close to ground level back at the training hill area. Heading for the spot I got popped and like seriously thought I was going to overshoot the LZ for sure, but it mellowed and only required a turn to a south heading to handle, while pulling in hard on the downtubes. I landed smoothly at 14:50 about where a ground-handling PG student would lose it in a strongish SW wind. That was about 25 minutes of ready-to-land-but-unwilling-to action.

Fun! Lot's of animated babbling between pilots and glare from all the shiny teeth. Previously landing pilots told of 'proaches from many different points on final. I've heard it stayed interesting until much later in the day.

Summer's Here!