Crestline Soaring Society - Theory & Practice

Majestic King Mt Soaring - Day 1 - Video

NMERider — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:48:23 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsgrILjbu-k

This is the extended and narrated version of the video I shot during my first flight ever at King Mountain on July 19, 2010. I launched second while my 'Epic Spuds' team mate Mike was landing in the upper LZ. Mike quickly broke down then re-launched for a good flight score later in the day.

I launched from the steel NW facing ramp. Later, I was told there were only 3 flights from this "cheese grater of death" as I fondly refer to it. This video touches briefly upon most of the phases of the flight from launch through landing. At the end I add a 3D animation of my flight tracks using Naviter SeeYou software, captured w/ Fraps.

Friday's Unique Landing Approach - Video

NMERider — Sat, 22 May 2010 18:22:47 -0500

I was pretty burned out by the time I spiraled down after following the bike race. Then the whole frigging LZ began lifting off as I began my normal DBF and the wind did a 180. I decided to land from the opposite side and there was so much lift coming off the deck I knew I'd overshoot the entire LZ from 20'. So I did a 3rd setup from over the parking lot and aimed for the lip of the berm and as I hit the LZ I got yet another big boost as I did my hand transition. I've been through this drill enough that I did not panic and just pulled it in for a quick round out and skim to a short step full flare. Even after all this I STILL overshot the cone by 40 or 50'.

Friday May 21st Air Traffic Caution

NMERider — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:34:47 -0500

Friday will be the Amgen Tour of California bike race Stage 6 which is expected to reach Crestline between 2 and 2:45 PM and continue on to Big Bear. http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages/stage6.html
I was told by a helicopter pilot in Modesto that there were between 6 and 8 aircraft following the race on Wednesday. He suggested flying with an aviation band transceiver set to 123.45MHz if flying near the air traffic.

Blackhawk Fire Road Landing - A Narrow Escape - Literally!

NMERider — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:14:33 -0500

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LCJAbvNGXSg

On Sunday I launched from Blackhawk 30 minutes too early and was unable to work my way back up as I sank out. I lingered too long near the hillside and started to run out of landing options. There were Joshua trees and large rocks everywhere so the only remaining option was to pick a fire road and land on it. I did back-to-back 180 degree S-turns to set up my approach to land on a level portion of road. As I was mid-way through my second turn the wind switched to downhill and it pushed me down the road which has a 4-5 % down grade and is bordered by Joshua trees and a slope on each side.

Flying over the back from Garlock - Video

NMERider — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:45:49 -0500

In case anyone was wondering what it's like going over the back from Garlock to Boomer Ridge, here is a short video with an upbeat soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4vhNgXjGv8

This is the route you take in a SE wind to get on the Sierra Nevada range and fly into the Owens Valley without the hassle of driving to Walt's Point. Unfortunately the soaring weather was pretty spotty on this

Blackhawk - Why I love soaring the desert

NMERider — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:25:49 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrCsoT8atI

Some video highlights of 2-1/2 hours of soaring from Blackhawk to Daggett yesterday. Thanks to an invite from Rebardan who flew ~4 hours to a dry lake a few miles North of Dunn. O.k. it's not for everyone but enjoy the show. Somewhere I have video of Dan and I meeting up in the air mid-way but I did a QAD edit in the wee hours or I'll never get it done.

Cloud Dodging at Sylmar on Thursday

NMERider — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:51:45 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70DnenHLF-0

I was planning on flying from Kagel to AJX yesterday at the same time that Zippy was trying to fly from Santa Barbara to Kagel. I'm not sure if Zippy got stopped at Magic Mountain by the lowering cloud base but I sure did! Watch the video and see the big air I had to myself yesterday.

4-Part Video of a Sunday's 69-Mile Flight from Marshall Peak

NMERider — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:14:35 -0500

http://www.youtube.com/user/NMERider#grid/user/201A25D0DB73055D

On Sunday I flew a 69-Mile triangle from Marshall Peak, 33.9 miles end-to-end and 5 miles deep. The video shows launching from Marshall Peak then Owen joins me for a few turns until he goes off on a different XC league route. I climb out over the Crestline cut-off then head for Pine Flats. From there I head straight across the Cajon pass with modest altitude. I arrive at the East end of the Cucamonga Peak/Mt. Baldy spine and spend a considerable amount of time and energy scratching my way up along many different bowls, knobs and spines until I nearly climb even with 8,800' Cucamonga but not quite.

Wednesday Local XC Racing Report

NMERider — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:23:40 -0500

On Wednesday, Dan, Bruce and me did some local XC racing for the Crestline XC challenge. It was more or less and open format race to Keller then do whatever. I kept in touch w/ Bruce by radio while Dan snuck off on his clandestine mission to show us both who's boss around here. I'm still waiting for Dan's track log but yours truly did a 45.7-mile triangle and Bruce did about 50 while Dan did an estimated 50-mile out and back. I have 2-1/2 hours of video that I may eventually edit into a tour of Crestline to Keller across the Cajon Pass, etc.

collision warning device FLARM (Flight Alarm) for hang- and para gliders

Rich Regal — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:52:29 -0500

Here is an interesting news release from Brauniger Electronics (Flytec) about the development of a FLARM (Flight Alarm) for hang- and para gliders integrated into your flight computer. Essentially it a Passive beacon sending out a proximity alarm to motorized aircraft. Could be an important option for all pilots moving in heavily frequented air space

http://www.brauniger.com/english/news.ht