Chelan Training Day for Nats

Well today was for my first flight in Chelan, Washington 2010. Also my big first flight on the Aircross U4.

Conditions were very typical Chelan, with light winds on launch, dust devils pinging off the top, and super hot temperatures. But, as always, a great flight, longer then anticipated and almost a full triangle.

Once launched it took a long time to climb out above butte, and had a low crossing over the Columbia river into the flats. Once there we had an awesome gaggle that enabled everyone to climb out again. Winds were from the southwest, so my friend Jan, Casey, and myself headed to a small town called Withrow. I was slower then the boys, as I was trying to dial in this new ship, not pushing much speed. However, I was happy with the stability of the glider and surprised with this high aspect ratio wing. Not one collapse today. Once at Withrow we decided to go east toward Mansfield which was an easy glide since we had a nice tailwind. Awesome climbs to 12,000 msl with thermals pumping at 1400 fpm. What was amazing were the size of some of the dust devils in the flats. I saw a couple that were 30 yards in diameter or bigger. Cloudbase was 12,500 msl and reached it 3 times today.

From Mansfield the goal was to make it back to the butte, with a 15mph head wind it wasn't in the cards. So landed about 10 miles from Chelan Butte for a total distance of 30 miles. 4 hours in the air. Great training day.

Stay tuned for more blogs, and pics. I am hoping to blog daily.

Cheers, Greg

Update Finally

Here is a quick update for the last month we have been flying. I can't believe that it has been a month. The weather has gotten a little better, but for a good part of June, we had wind. When the wind finally quit, we had thunderstorms. So, short flying windows have been the norm this month. We have had some afternoon flying, but minimal.

Soon, I will be leaving for the competitions in Washington state. Lake Chelan is one of the best thermal and cross country flying sites in the world. On the eastern slope of the cascades, on the bank of the Columbia river, Chelan butte will be the start for the US Nationals from JUuly 10th to the 15th, and after that the Paragliding World Cup will be taking over. Some of the best pilots who fly the World Cup regularly will be there. It will be exciting to fly with these guys.

The dates are from the 17th to the 24th. I think there are a couple of practice days and then the 6 day event. I will be blogging. Hold me to it, as long as I have a computer connection. So, please check daily starting on the 8th of July.

Here are a few pics from the last month of flying.

Cheers

June 1st update

So, finally we have been having warmer weather up here, but the jet stream, the troughs, the pressure gradient winds are still buffeting us daily. The forecast from the National Weather Service, and the actual weather has been off quite dramatically. We have to take it one day at a time. We did have a couple of evening flights off Wolcott now, but generally we get blown out. Even our mornings have been short lived with wind blowing over the back by 9:30 am. That is 2 to 3 hours too early.

We have a nice evening at Wolcott on the 3oth of May. It was a late launch with strong winds steady at 18 to 25 mph. We got off about 7 pm and flew for about 45 minutes or so. I guess you have to say, take what you can get.

Now that Paraglide Vail is the Aircross high performance paraglider importer, I had the chance to now fly the U-Sport which is it's LTF 2-3, EN-D performance glider. It was the large, so I had to load up with 25 pounds of ballast. The high end weight wise is 253 pounds. I flew the glider at about 235 pounds which was low middle for the range. I was amazed at the stability of the glider, even though I was on the light end. It lunched like a charm. I loved how it turned, and felt like it cut through turbulence like a knife. I do think this glider should be flown on the higher end of the weight range, but I was never concerned on it's handling being light. For a 2-3 the brake length seemed to have a londer travel then other gliders, but all you had to do is fly with an extra rap around the hands. I can't wait to have other pilots give this glider a try and get some awesome feedback.

The Teva Mountain Games are coming to town. Unfortunately, we have been taken off the roster since in three years we never got a task off to showcase our sport. This year the weather looks better then ever, so we will be attempt to fly as if the games are on. Keep your eyes to the sky in Vail for gliders flying in, and stay posted to the blog for the daily flights and weather conditions.

Cheers

May 27th,2010

So, with the weather and the wind being unfavorable for flying. myself and a student came down to Boulder, CO to get some work done. The weather was quite nice today with very stable conditions and light winds. Loren (student) got three flights in and then flew a tandem with Kris Husted.
Good news. Paraglide Vail is now the importer for Aircross Paragliders. Today I got the chance to fly the new entry level glider called the U-Fly. It was quite nice. Pilot weight is 87 to 110 kg. I hooked in at 98 kg all up weight so was in the middle of the weight range. The glider launched easily and seemed very pitch stable. Even though it was a short flight, the glider seemed to turn very easy and did not have a lot of roll reaction once releasing the turn. While flying it seemed to cut through the air nicely and was damp. Perfect for the beginner and safety conscious intermediate pilot. On the flare the glider retained nice energy and it was a very easy landing. I am hoping to get a soaring flight tomorrow, and I will have more info. I like the risers, they a thin and very easy to manage. Tune in for more info.

Local flying Update

Hi Everyone! Well, finally some good news. We had one day of great flying and Wolcott finally gave it up. Between weather systems we had a reprieve and last Thurday the winds turned out to be west at a reasonable rate. The flying turned out awesome, and we got an hour and a half flying window, with climbs to 2,000 feet over launch.

Unfortunately, we are in another stormy weather pattern with no precip, but high winds. It looks like this may move through by Tuesday of next week, and we can have a full 5 days of flying conditions. It looks dry and great direction for Wolcott again. Check out the pics.

Cheers!

Waiting

Here is an update. No real update, excpet the weather has been basically snow, rain, and wind. It looks like we may get some nice weather, but there is some wind forecast for the weekend. I may be down in Boulder for the next few days. Will update as needed.

Flying over the Weekend

We finally got some weather to fly over the weekend. Just one day. On Saturday several of us went up Bellyache, and got a couple of flights in, including tandem. Had my first two tandems of the year, and it felt great to get some airtime. Weather was cloudy, but it was unstable enough to get some soaring in. On my second tandem I was happy to get about 500 feet over launch. That was a surprise as the cloudiness was keeping most of the ground in shadow.
In the afternoon we went up to Wolcott as it seemed it was going to be a great day overall wind and weather wise. The afternoon cleared off and it was just partly cloudy skies. Right over Wolcott some nice lenticular and wave clouds formed, and of course the higher winds aloft reached the ground and we were getting gusts to about 30 mph at times. This was not at all what the forecast said. We waited at launch until about 6:45 pm with no diminishing wind. So we bagged the evening. It was funny, because there were no wave clouds to the north or to the south of us.
The road up to the Wolcott luanch is dry and in great shape. So when the weather finally decides to straighten out we will be flying in the afternoons and evenings.
I will be out of town until the 17th of May. I will be blogging daily after that. Blues skies everyone.