Looking north and breezy on Sunday. I'm up for the SAC. Anybody else?
Bacil
Sacramento Sunday 5/13
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Well, I changed my mind because Glen was pushing hard to go flying, so we went. 180 miles, 3.5 hours and 2 waivers later we arrived at a site that was quite different from what we expected. Joe and Karen did a great job at explaining the site to us, many thanks for that. We learned that you can't go #2 in the woods, easy to say if you haven't driven for hours. Joe also showed us the 2 landing fields, hmmm, perhaps little crooked uphill patches among barb wire fences, orchards, crops and a road that you have to cross right before you flare is more appropriate a description. Launch didn't seem to be any easier. A narrow, shallow and long slot with an artificial knob on top that you have to launch from. Brrrrr. Long story short, we had to wait hours for things to become friendly, they did, I went first in a light cycle at maybe 6 pm. Sure enough I was headed for the trees at the bottom of the slot. Had to push out to fly over them, yes, I think it's possible to hit them. Pulled in again and landed 5 min later, great fun. No need to say I missed the patch I was supposed to land on. Glen went second, and, of course, straight up. Soared for 30 min or so until everything shut down. So did Joe on his U2. Karen was too tired from garden work to fly. I heard that Bacil had a 1h flight earlier in quite rowdy stuff.
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Yep, I flew the SAC early Sunday morning. Had to be back for a Mother's Day event so I got up at 3:45A and hit the road by 4:45A. Got to launch around 7:45A. Set up to breezy conditions in the slot and a clear sky. Flight plan was to run to the river and dive OTB and head towards Halifax and get on the ground before it got too out of hand. Joe Gorrie came up to help me launch just before 9A. Picked a good cycle and had a nice launch. Turned right and struggled to get above the ridge since as I stair-stepped my way up the conditions were more cross the higher you rose. At ridge level the conditions were from NE to ENE. Finally surfed the rotor enough to get some needed clearance and found some organized lift out away from the ridge. Got to 1K' over in sporty spring air. Drift aloft almost due east! With the fact that the ridge curves more towards NW as you go towards the river, I had no driver, and I had to get back by 4PM, I decided to land in the "west" field after a half hour of time. Went out over the field and it took 15 minutes to descend at 9:30 in the morning! The plowed fields were lifting off big time already. Had a nice landing to the east in a plowed cornfield. Joe gave me a ride back up to launch to get my truck. As I broke down the glider the streamer in the "west" field showed straighter conditions as time went on, but it was also getting stronger. Leisurely drove home down to the river paralleling the mountain. Saw two potential new launches on Mahantango Mt. just west of the Klingerstown Gap. The first one is a clear cut all the way to the top shaped like a cone with a dirt road to the top just west of the Gap. Looks like you could launch off of the road easily with plenty of clearance on either side. There also is a house with a huge clear cut area way down the mountain about a mile to the west of the first clear cut. Made it home with time to spare 
Bacil
Bacil