Sacramento 9/16

[XCanytime]

Headed to the SAC today since Harrisburg had the strongest wind forecast of all. Got there at 12:30P finding a sky full of many cloud types, particularly wave, stratocumulus, and cumulus. Set up all alone waiting for Karen Gorrie to arrive after errand running. Conditions on launch were pretty light, with launchable smooth cycles flowing through periodically. The sky looked nasty in some spots. Karen arrived around 2:30P and we continued to watch the sky. Around 3P the whole sky got scuzzed over with stratocumulus, and a group of cumulus on the horizon under the stratocumulus layer actually looked like a supercell thunderstorm (snail foot). It also picked up on launch so I gave it a go around 3:20P. Got up easily and flew around for an hour getting 1K' over under the stratocumulus scuzz layer. Ended up landing out at a new field that Joe Gorrie has secured landing rights to. It is very steep uphill. My landing was not the best. The approach was fine over 2 cornfields, but I transitioned a little earlier than normal on final and lost a few MPH of airspeed. I pulled in for all it was worth but could not hear any increase in airspeed with my ears. The ground rushed up and I executed a vigorous flare. I bellied in not too hard, but not too soft either. The chest mounted chute doubles as a good airbag. After Karen retrieved me, she set up as conditions lightened on launch. Joe showed up after work to fly his Zagi and help launch Karen. She launched after 6P in very light air and got an extendo. I hit the road and headed down the back side of the mountain. About halfway down I came upon a dead redtail hawk in the middle of the road. I pulled over and picked it up by a wingtip and carried it over to the edge of the road. It was probably hit by a car. Then it hit me. Karen had mentioned that while I was flying a redtail was flying above the mountain near the launch screaming the piercing scream that redtails do. I suspect that the dead redtail in the road was the mate and that the surviving mate was expressing its grief. I have heard a similar story from the late Bill Bennett, where he often flew in the company of a mating pair of bald eagles in WV for a few years. When one of the pair was found shot on a nearby farm, the surviving mate would scream its displeasure whenever Bill would encounter it in the air. Bacil