I flew Soboba on Labor Day along with about 6 other PG pilots. I got over an hour and 1,500 or so above the launch point in a combination of ridge and relatively modest late afternoon thermals. This was the 5th site I'm managed to fly so far on this road trip. The others were Vail Co., Crestline, Marshall, and Torrey Pines.
I hope you all have a great fly in. I know it's sometimes difficult to decide whether to hold or postpone given the weather forecasts. I also know that we've missed a lot of good flying because we decided to stay home only to find that the weather forecasters were wrong once again.
Dan
Soboba and other flights along the way
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Andy Jackson Airpark (Crestline) Fly in
On Saturday I flew the Marshall Peak site at the annual Andy Jackson Airpark Fly In. The organizers catered a BBQ for 150 people. There appeared to be at least that many there. HGs and PGs were split about evenly. I bumped into Dan Tuck who was flying the second sweetest little brand new borrowed T2C I ever saw. The sweetest one was prototype flown by another pilot. Bun, save your nickels cause my bet is you're gonna wanna take her to the dance!
Anyway I scratched for about an hour including a low save from about 300 feet above the LZ. One of the pilots came up to me at dinner and said he was watching me from above and he would check back every 15 minutes to see if I'd landed and the responses from the other pilots on launch were "nope, he's still in the air." It was a pretty good flight for an extendo.
Dan
Anyway I scratched for about an hour including a low save from about 300 feet above the LZ. One of the pilots came up to me at dinner and said he was watching me from above and he would check back every 15 minutes to see if I'd landed and the responses from the other pilots on launch were "nope, he's still in the air." It was a pretty good flight for an extendo.
Dan
Re: AJX fly-in
Good to see you out there also, Dan! It's always fun to see a familiar face when you're on the other coast.
I flew out Saturday morning and was at the LZ before 11:00. As always, the Crestline club put on a great fly-in. Andy Jackson Airpark has got to be the best landing field ever. Let alone the purpose built, 2% upslope, irrigated grass LZ with shaded clubhouse, the club has added another shipping container with racks for glider storage, the campground has been revamped and cleaned up, and best of all they built a new spring-fed pond up the hill a little ways in which you can relax, stay cool and watch landings all day long. You can rent gear from High Adventure, the list goes on and on. It is a very happy place that everyone really needs to visit at least once!
For an East coaster, Saturday was really great even though by Southern California standards it was pretty marginal. There was over development with some rain about 15 miles to the East that threatened all day. Gust fronts area a serious concern with any rain out there, especially because of the canyons, gotta keep your eyes open. Anyhow, it never actually got close to Crestline. Steve Pearson was nice enough to let me fly the T2C 136 demo that WW just built last week and oh. my. god! That little glider is unbelievable!!! This glider weighs the same as my U2 145 and handles almost identically. Yet it flies so fast like a little rocket ship, and somehow it can still climb like a bat out of hell! I was climbing through good pilots on their T2C 144s like you wouldn't believe! The handling is so good, it makes it so easy to stay in the core. My buddy Matt who also works at WW let me borrow his WW Cocoon prototype, which was really nice. I launched from Marshall, and hooked the Cloud Peak thermal which took me high enough to jump back to the Crestline ridge with Matt, who was flying the T2C 144 prototype that Dan mentioned. (basically the proto is the same as a regular T2C but with a lighter sail material for better handling and another special sail application that is really cool!) We jumped a few canyons before I went back to the fishbowl - I promised Steve I wouldn't go XC! Topped out around 7K though others got higher further to the East - nearer to the storms, no thank you. I flew back out front, shared a thermal with Steve and eventually went for the field. Ended up nailing the spot but I hadn't signed up for the contest. Bummer! Oh, and it landed like a dream! I think it has a much larger flare window than the 144. I am so impressed with the 136. I've now flown all sizes of the T2C, and the 136 is so, so sweet. I weigh about 165 lbs, and it carries the weight really well. The party was great with a catered BBQ dinner, a ton of people, and even a HG vs. PG tug-of-war. It was awesome, 25 HG pilots vs 25 PG pilots out on the field with a 150' rope. Guess who won - the HGs!! lol!
Yesterday, my buddy Mike insisted I fly his personal T2C 136 so I could get a little more of a taste. We went up to the Crestline launch this time and had to wait for quite a while. The weather was again pretty unstable with OD to the East and out front, pretty unusual for this time of year. A couple hours later it stopped OD'ing because of the solid cloud layer. I launched into about 20 mph and elevatored up about 500'. I cruised the ridge once but I didn't really like the sky so I decided to land. Put the hammer down to get out front and was still going up at 400fpm at full stuff. Once I was beyond the canyon, out over Marshall, it was really light so I went in for another solid landing at AJX. Good god those T2C 136's are awesome!
A short trip but totally worth it. Glad to hear there was some great flying at the Pulpit yesterday! Sorry I missed it!
I flew out Saturday morning and was at the LZ before 11:00. As always, the Crestline club put on a great fly-in. Andy Jackson Airpark has got to be the best landing field ever. Let alone the purpose built, 2% upslope, irrigated grass LZ with shaded clubhouse, the club has added another shipping container with racks for glider storage, the campground has been revamped and cleaned up, and best of all they built a new spring-fed pond up the hill a little ways in which you can relax, stay cool and watch landings all day long. You can rent gear from High Adventure, the list goes on and on. It is a very happy place that everyone really needs to visit at least once!
For an East coaster, Saturday was really great even though by Southern California standards it was pretty marginal. There was over development with some rain about 15 miles to the East that threatened all day. Gust fronts area a serious concern with any rain out there, especially because of the canyons, gotta keep your eyes open. Anyhow, it never actually got close to Crestline. Steve Pearson was nice enough to let me fly the T2C 136 demo that WW just built last week and oh. my. god! That little glider is unbelievable!!! This glider weighs the same as my U2 145 and handles almost identically. Yet it flies so fast like a little rocket ship, and somehow it can still climb like a bat out of hell! I was climbing through good pilots on their T2C 144s like you wouldn't believe! The handling is so good, it makes it so easy to stay in the core. My buddy Matt who also works at WW let me borrow his WW Cocoon prototype, which was really nice. I launched from Marshall, and hooked the Cloud Peak thermal which took me high enough to jump back to the Crestline ridge with Matt, who was flying the T2C 144 prototype that Dan mentioned. (basically the proto is the same as a regular T2C but with a lighter sail material for better handling and another special sail application that is really cool!) We jumped a few canyons before I went back to the fishbowl - I promised Steve I wouldn't go XC! Topped out around 7K though others got higher further to the East - nearer to the storms, no thank you. I flew back out front, shared a thermal with Steve and eventually went for the field. Ended up nailing the spot but I hadn't signed up for the contest. Bummer! Oh, and it landed like a dream! I think it has a much larger flare window than the 144. I am so impressed with the 136. I've now flown all sizes of the T2C, and the 136 is so, so sweet. I weigh about 165 lbs, and it carries the weight really well. The party was great with a catered BBQ dinner, a ton of people, and even a HG vs. PG tug-of-war. It was awesome, 25 HG pilots vs 25 PG pilots out on the field with a 150' rope. Guess who won - the HGs!! lol!
Yesterday, my buddy Mike insisted I fly his personal T2C 136 so I could get a little more of a taste. We went up to the Crestline launch this time and had to wait for quite a while. The weather was again pretty unstable with OD to the East and out front, pretty unusual for this time of year. A couple hours later it stopped OD'ing because of the solid cloud layer. I launched into about 20 mph and elevatored up about 500'. I cruised the ridge once but I didn't really like the sky so I decided to land. Put the hammer down to get out front and was still going up at 400fpm at full stuff. Once I was beyond the canyon, out over Marshall, it was really light so I went in for another solid landing at AJX. Good god those T2C 136's are awesome!
A short trip but totally worth it. Glad to hear there was some great flying at the Pulpit yesterday! Sorry I missed it!
Dan Tuckwiller
My HG Videos - sorted by site
My HG Videos - sorted by site
