Ultra Low Level Flying

Today was a hard choice; it looked as though several places could work but, equally, they could all be too wet or too weak. In the end Dan and I headed to the north Oregon coast, partly because the forecast looked best there but also because Brad and Maren (local instructors) are based there. It was time for the spring-time reserve repacking ritual! My hope is that this is a bit like carrying an umbrella; by having a well packed reserve and practicing throwing it, you’ll avoid having to use it.

Reserves suitably repacked, we all headed to Area B to fly. This is a 30-40 ft high sand dune ridge at the mouth of the Columbia that can be soared when conditions are right. It’s a pretty specialized place to fly - strong winds and low altitudes are the order of the day. I’d never flown there, but there are pilots that do almost all their flying there.

We got there just as some precipitation was moving on. Launching from the top of the dune normally doesn’t work - you get dragged back before you know it. So the general approach is to inflate the wing from the beach or low on the dune and kite it up before launching. Needless to say, this all puts a premium on ground handling in strong winds. I’d like to say I passed this with flying colors, but that would be an overstatement.

The wind was quite cross from the North. The slow leg felt pretty relaxing but zipping along at 30+ mph on the fast leg, just 5 feet from the ground, felt a little spooky. Passing another wing was a little tricky; if the ridge is to your left, you needed to fly ‘around’ the other wing. If the ridge is to your right, things are easier - except (due to the very close wing tips) you got strongly waked by the other wing.

The flying looks pretty constant - just fly along the perfectly straight ridge. But you need to make lots of little adjustments - things change a lot with the height or steepness of the ridge. You want one foot on the speedbar but also to be ready to land at a moments notice. Turning on the downwind leg feels spooky compared with the upwind leg.

Later in the day more pilots arrived and it really became too busy to be fun. The flying feels non-serious, but it’s still easy to get hurt. Dan and I packed it in around 6 pm and headed home.

Some pics -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/AreaB27FebSample#

Cliffside Weekend

Spring is slowly arriving in the Pacific NW; the last few days have been cold but clear, warm during the day but cold at night. The flying forecasts have been ‘suspiciously good’ as well. Best of all, it was all predicted to last through the weekend.

Cliffside was the obvious place for these conditions but it‘s a long drive. I seldom fly it both days of a weekend, but I couldn‘t persuade anyone to try the closer but more fickle sites.

Saturday turned out to be slightly disappointing. It was weak and everyone struggled. I had a number of small flights, getting above launch in wimpy thermals several times before top-landing. I couldn't put together a sustained flight until the winds picked up late in the day and several pilots enjoyed soaring flights.

Sunday looked very like Saturday. The wind was much more from the S than on Saturday but still seemed weak. I went up with Jim Baldo and Jan Kubic to the E (or N) launch - it looked a better bet in the conditions, with the possibility of hiking higher if things were light. There were other pilots over on the ‘standard’ launch, including Noah and KC.

When we arrived, conditions seemed promising and we didn't hike up higher. But as soon as we get our gear out conditions weakened. We didn't want to sink out and waited for promising conditions before committing to the air.

Jim started the vigil but gave up after maybe 20 minutes. I took over, tried a cycle but side-hilled when it didn't deliver. Jim took over and did the same thing. I launched and struggled but got just enough with weak thermals to stay up and had a nice flight, getting maybe 350 ft over launch before top-landing after a 30 minutes flight. The others weren't so lucky and ended up sinking out.

As almost everyone headed home, conditions improved slightly and I had almost an hour of soaring in light conditions, interrupted by a top landing to warm my fingers. KC, who was over on the other launch, joined me for part of the flight.

Maybe not the greatest of flying but it was really nice working weak thermals both days. I'd forgotten how much fun it is!

Some photos -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Cliffside21Feb#

Winter Flights

I've been getting out and staying active, but mostly it has been hiking. Sometimes I've managed a hike and fly (e.g. http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Bingen16Jan#) but usually the wing has stayed in the car or at home.

Today I had a couple of soaring flights at Eagle Caves. For the first flight, I flew with Todd, Jason, Jim and CB in strong conditions on my normal wing; easy to stay up but just ridge soaring, carefully monitoring penetration - not really my thing.

Everyone headed home after that, but I went back up with my speedwing. The wind was a little stronger (I wouldn't have flown my normal wing). But things were much more satisfying with a faster wing; I didn't get as high (around 200 ft over instead of 500ft over) but I could zip around and concentrate on my flying rather than look at my GPS.

Some photos -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/EagleCaves28Jan#

Flying a New Site in January

Eagle Caves is a little site just above the town of The Dalles. I must have driven past it 50 times on the way to Cliffside but I've never flown it.

Today's forecasts in the gorge were reasonable, but it wasn't clear if it was a hiking or a flying day. The west end of the gorge had decent hiking forecasts (somewhat clear but windy) and the east end seemed better for flying (gray, cold, damp but soarable). Forecast meet reality as I drove through the Gorge and the result was disappointing.

Even the west end of the gorge was gray and cloudy and the east end was even worse. Nowhere looked to be fun for hiking but Eagle Caves was out of the clouds and seemed to be soarable. So that's where I ended up with (thanks to cell phones) a handful of other pilots.

It was cold, damp, gray and grim. But it was easily soarable, and that's hard to turn down in January. You couldn't go anywhere except soar the ridge just above the town. Everything was a shade of gray - like watching television when I was young. After around an hour's soaring I stopped fighting my frozen fingers and headed out to land.

Not exactly classic flying, but it's always nice to fly a new site and to get some airtime in winter.

Some black and white photographs -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/EaglesCaves10Jan#

Stolen Coastal Flight

Today's forecasts weren't very encouraging but they weren't bad either - showery and strong, but with a decent direction and lapse rate. Things were a little complicated because several sites had encouraging forecasts and monster high tides were due for the coast around 1.15.

After some debate, Steve and I headed to Ecola - a beautiful coastal site, but where the beaches aren't usable at high tide (so top-landing is mandatory). Monster seas and threatening skies made the no-fly decision for me. Steve flew very briefly, but a shower curtailed his flight almost immediately.

Things got worse, so we headed South to Oceanside. There we had soaring flights of 20-30 minutes with a handful of pilots that had spent much of the afternoon waiting there. Conditions were more reasonable (less threatening weather, easy to land on the beach) but still not great. The wind was from the S, which allows you to stay aloft at Oceanside, but makes it hard to go anywhere. There were some threatening clouds out to sea that dissipated without causing problems. I flew my speedwing and kept my eyes on the weather, happy for some air-time.


Some pics at -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Oceanside02Jan#

Last Flight of the Year

For several days, today's forecast has looked promising for flying, at least in relative terms - a day of showers surrounded by days of rain. A bit of a crap-shoot, but at least a chance of some decent flying. But yesterday afternoon - contrary to the forecasts - it started snowing and there was still a lot of snow on the ground this morning.
But the roads didn't seem too bad and Steve and I headed to the coast in his trusty van, through rain, sleet and snow - to reach sun, blue skies and friendly winds. What a contrast!

The winds weren't terribly strong, but it was nicely unstable and very easily soarable. I launched first, Steve joined me and we flew around Oceanside for the next couple of hours. The wind was basically SW and we had a few trips S down to the Capes and back to launch before some rain clouds seemed to be heading our way. We headed S to the Capes, Steve went on to Netarts, I decided to head back as the clouds passed to the N to get the van.

Not too bad for the end of the year!

Some photos -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Oceanside30Dec#

Coping with Winter

One thing I've been pleased with this winter is not trying too hard to fly. When conditions have been half-reasonable, I've flown and enjoyed it - even if it has been a sled ride. I've had a few hike and flys and really enjoyed them - the flying tends to be unremarkable, but I enjoy the contrast of hiking and flying.

I have avoided trying to fly on gray, cold, damp days. Sometimes these days turn out to be perfectly soarable but even then it's not a lot of fun. And of course many times they aren't flyable or you wait around all day for a sled ride. So instead I've been doing quite a bit of hiking and enjoying that.

We've passed the winter solstice and the days are slowly getting longer - yippee!