Had some nice flying at Jacks. Ric, Chris, Dave (spoons) and I all got to fly. The slot has been opened up slightly and is in much better condition than last year. The LZ was suitable for use with recently mowed alfalfa and low winter wheat. Conditions at launch looked very promising when Dave launched his sacrificial helium balloon.
Ric elected to go first. He had a good launch but got spit out the other side of a narrow lift area. He proceeded down the ridge and didn't appear for some time. The ridge didn't seem to be working well at this point and the thermals were edgy and small. He had a nice extendo and good landing. After seeing that I found a good excuse to launch Chris next, who was more familiar with the site. He also had a good launch but also didn't get up. Dave was next and proceeded to work a very small thermal right in front of launch, much to the delight of the spectators. He had a nice soaring flight and landed early so he could make his way to Hyner.
I had to wait for the crew to get back up to launch me, which was very fortuitous. After a bit of nervous shuffling over the guard rail and getting acquainted with the restricted launch area I finally got a cycle I liked. Thankfully the ridge was working fairly well with some late day thermals to play with. Ric saw how much fun I was having and joined me for some magic flying. We gave each other an air "high five" once he got up and proceeded to carve around. Didn't get much more than 500 over, but it was great air with a lot of birds to play with. One Red Tail was especially receptive and let me fly very close to him which was unusual. Very high on the fun meter. Headed out after an hour with some mild stalls in different configurations, wangs, zoomies to lose altitude. Might as well get some air work in on the way down. Had a nice two stepper in calm conditions and felt a great sense of relief. Nothing worse than a wanker landing after a beautiful flight.
Jacks is obviously a great place to fly, so thanks to Chris, Ric, Dave and the Hyner crew for their stewardship.
CF
Saturday at Jacks
Moderator: CHGPA BOD