Oregon Ridge Tuesday recap

[Richard Hays]

Fun "mini" outing late Tuesday. Winds were anything from calm to light cross
out of the North. I got two flights in and Glen Hardy got two flights in.
Glen was having some harness issues, leading to some less than perfect
flights but...otherwise he survived. LOL. Had to run our butts off to get
airborn. Can't say this fat boys' run so fast in a long time. Seems like all
my launches lately have been with lots of wind. So....these dead-air
launches are both a surprise and a workout. Definately had lost my skills in
that department so...the practice was worthy.

Kevin Carter stopped by and grabbed a flight on my new Falcon2 225. Hung
out for about an hour and then left. It was cool seeing him fly from where I
gave him his first lesson. This time however; from the top. LOL. And
damn..can he ever get a glider back up the hill fast ! NOTE: He's off to
Europe to compete. Good luck and best wishes to KC !!! Kevin also informed
me of some interesting personal news, but I'm not sure he wants to share
that info yet, so...look for him to announce some good stuff regarding
gliders' and such.

Winds switched fast the the SE, shutting us down. That, or it went
catabatic.

Regarding the 225; what a joy it is FINALLY being on a glider suited for my
fat-ass. Great handling too. I am really surprised at how good the roll
rate is. I was expecting a "BIG" sluggy glider feel and its' not at all. At
least for my hook-in weight. One nice feature is that they have kept the
control bar the same size as the Falcon 195 so...you don't feel like you're
holding a monster bar. Very easy to groundhandle. BIG difference from the
original Falcon 225.

Rich Hays
MSHG, Inc.

[heaviek]

Like Richard said, that 225 flew great. I had to run a little more then I
expected without wind but she floated away nice. Roll was light for the
relatively flat turns as well as a 90 for final. I felt light flairing it
but it finished beautifully. Winds were 0 and I weigh about 180-185 now.

It was great flying Oregon Ridge again with Richard. Brings back the
memories. I don't remember hiking hurting that much. All the flying is
making me soft.

Kev C