Daniels Wednesday

[Marcel Dettling]

Daniels was sweet today. Arrived at around 1.30pm with my parents, to show them one of the places where I fly here in the US. The winds were light, around 6mph straight in. Waited for a good cycle and launched my PG around 2pm. I was happy because I picked a good moment to launch and soon got around 350ft over. It was the first time my mom saw me flying and I could even wave at her from above. After a while of boating around I got low but saved my ass over the house and climbed out again. I landed after the next flush cycle, close to 1 hour total air time.

I also hoped for a glass-off and a good evening flight. However, there was not enough flow. The air was buoyant, mostly only 50fpm sink, but no lift. Also the winds had switched to a noticeable, light west cross. A nice 10 minute flight was the result.

Some general information: the road to launch doesn't seem to be in worse condition than it was all summer long (no further damage from the rain last week). Good clearance 4WD is necessary, but we walked anyway, my car is poor clearance 2WD. I also think today it would have been to light for HGs, especially because the shallow slot does need some trimming (it was no problem for a PG, though).

Cheers & happy landings,

Marcel