End of Season? ooooops.....

Sorry, messed up some facts on my previous post. The stuff in the "beginning" and the stuff in the "end" was accurate but there was a little bit in the middle that was missing.

The September Long weekend was wonderful... for me (and its all about "me"?) Thing is, Mia got a raw deal. During the weekend she was out of commission with some bad back muscles.  She was a trooper and did some "crew" work but missed out on the spectacular end of season air.

I felt guilty (like only a husband can?).  I decided I could make up for her missed airtime. The great fall weather held and decided to crew for her on the following weekend, so the following weekend we blasted back over the Cascades for one more time.

With this second opportunity, Mia had two nice late in the season flights (a 75km out and return and a 70+km wandering flight in blue scratchy air). 

So... Technically... Mia had the last "end of the season flight" in Mansfield... but I did have the last flight to land back at home in Mansfield?

What ever.... Mia was happy... and that's good for me! 

Cheers

PS....the both of us are ready to do it all again next year!

That's it!... for this year :-)

The end of this seasons flying came with the September long weekend. Not always the best time of year to be aiming for a little airtime but this year... there was airtime to be had!

Here is a link to the WCSC "logbook" describing the weekend:

http://www.westcoastsoaringclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4655

A few weeks later Mia and I finished this season with a trip down to Mansfield to de-rig the tow rig and bring the beast back home for the season. It was fitting the skies were blue, it was hot and if you watched real carefully, you might have caught the twist of the last dust devils of the season.

On Saturday, we were worked on our projects , Mia putting a good coat of paint on some of the bedroom floors and I spent the morning pulling pieces off of the truck and taking photo's of the rig for a later posting.

At the end of a the day, I got a call from Jeff asking for a lift back to Chelan. Turns out our little air junky could not resist a late season effort from Chelan Butte where he managed to get away and land out on the flats at Mud Springs (part way out to Mansfield). Our plans put us on the way in to Chelan for dinner so we picked him up on the way.

The outstanding weather continued on Sunday. As summer continued to hang on mother nature was giving signs that the season was rolling to an end. Several groups of Sandhill Cranes past through heading south. They would be cruising along at around a 1000ft then stop to work some lift (and just like a vario they would start up loud series of squawks as if to indicate lift), then they moved on heading south for winter.

I did some aggressive pruning of some troublesome trees in our yard (damn things, you trim them once and they come back with a vengeance) at the same time Mia was putting another coat of paint on in the house.... finally we simply could not pass up such a beautiful day one more trip down to Park Lake.

We had just gotten out of town, when we got a call from Jeff, he had just arrive at Mansfield so we back tracked and dragged him down to the lakes with us. Park lake was heaven.

Going for a swim was perhaps a bit on invigorating side... but Mia made the plunge at least 3 times with the traditional 10o meter swim out to the shallow's off shore and back. I bravely got wet twice... but preferred sipping beers back on shore! Fitting end to a pretty good year.

We left Jeff at the lake with Vivian and family as they were off to do some tourist stuff in the area. We did our last cruise up the tow road and back into Mansfield to head home.

It was a pretty good trip through the Cascades. Just a little under 5 hours and I was sitting in the driveway back in Abbotsford. I looked down at the odometer.... from the start of the season to back home the tow rig had pulled 2300kms, at least a third of that had to back and forth and up and down L-Road! Even though I hate my Ford (in an affectionate sort of way).... She did a pretty fine job. Mind you, doing the "job" she did burn a feak'n pile of fuel, I swear this hunk of junk is "Fuel-Cooled".

As seasons go, we can't complain. Mia has sent off her record claims package to the FAI. If we did enough stuff right she should have established at least 5 world records for Female on a Class 05 !

I came close to claiming a 200km triangle speed.. but close only counts in Horse-Shoes and hand-grenades :-)... there is always next year (I did fly a personal best for triangle distance at 227km's and could have been much bigger but weather set down the rules).

On a sad note, A good flying friend of ours (Randy) had, for the last two years brought down his adopted "Rotty" named Shelby. She was a wonderful animal and made for great company (man if there is one thing a dog loves to do...It's ride in a pickup truck!). She took ill and passed away quickly.

This picture is of Shelby and Max (who past away of cancer last year). I think it shows the wonderful personalities that both of these two companions had....

Hopefully I got this link working but it should lead you to some shots of flying from April till September of this year.

The 2008 Mansfield Season

Cheers....

Rob Kells, we are going to miss you.....

To say I knew Rob personally would be a lie. Or is it?

I got thinking about all the gliders that have hung in my basement and realized just how  much the man was involved with our lives..

As memory serves me, we (Mia and myself) have had....

177(?) Harrier, 147 Harrier, 180 Duck, 160 Duck, HP 1, HP 2, Sport 167, HPAT 158, HPAT 145, 155XC, 142 Ram Air (briefly) and last but not least Mia's favourite wing her U2. Hell I have hanging under the sundeck right now a prehistoric Raven 209 and a old Sport 167.  As I recall, If I think way back I believe I've done a few tandems on an old 229 Raven.

Funny thing is, every glider from Wills usually involved a bitch session with Rob. "How come your doing this, Why not do that, When are you guy's going to build a good glider, why can't I get a deal" ..... all in fun. Thing is, Rob always had time to talk, you could tell he loved the whole "game".

There was a stage in our flying loyalties when we drifted away from Wills. Mia and I both started flying Aeros. During that time Rob would never quit on us, knowing full well we would be back (and right he was... Mia bought a U2... and I had to bitch to get a "deal" :-)

(to be clear, one thing I respected with Rob and Wills Wing was the stead fast commitment to the WW dealers. Rob never gave up anything that would hurt his dealer network. You have to respect his business ethics).

Every visit to the West Coast Soaring Club for our annual parachute repack session was always a chance to meet face to face. No matter what you flew, Rob was always willing to help.

A few years back I found myself involved with a tragic accident investigation. Rob was one of those key people I was able to count on for experience and advice. He was key to piecing together the facts and theories and contributed immensely to the findings of the investigation.

Rob was a first class ambassador to the sport of Hang Gliding.  

Mia and I wish heartfelt condolences to your family and know your going to be missed in a community that you contributed so much of your life to.

Thanks for all the Gliders.....

Martin and Mia

The Spring that never was......

Odd season this year, or at least "strange" to say the least.

In the Fraser Valley there has been little in the way of dynamic spring soaring. We seem to struggle when it comes to establishing a typical spring season pattern. The jet stream has tended to park it's self to the south. Unseasonable cool weather, no real classic improving cycles (the ones that start with monster instability and gradually over a period of days "settle down" in to warm stable conditions).

The most recent in a continuance of bizarre weather was a very strong high pressure dumps its self into the lower mainland (May 16th) and the weather goes from cool and unsettled to completely stable.... in one day! So what's up with that? Global warming my ass....

We headed off to Mansfield in search of spring. Both Mia and I arrived on the evening of the 16th. There we found our old buddy Luc M. had moved in and was awaiting our arrival. Also out of the blue an Old time hang glider pilot (that now, sadly had turned to the way of the bag :-( ... ) Kevin Ferguson showed up (Lost on his trip across Canada?).

May 17th, Super hot, a few dusty's on the horrizon and we head off to L-Road to christen all of our new tow rig modifications. Luke and Mia were ready to tow and Kevin was tagging along for the show. Conditions at the tow site were blue and hot yet pretty dynamic looking and there were reservations from both pilots.

I should mention it was HOT. Given it was May 17th, hitting the lower 90's was a bit of a shock for everybody (lather up the sun screen children!)

We spent far to much time thinking about the conditions at L-13th and soon spirits began to run low (it was gusty and it did have a "blown out" look).

Mia suggested moving north to the highway. Sure enough, the south winds of 10-15 mph seemed to mellow as the ran over the green crops (last year were fallow) and Luke soon announced his interest in flying. Mia soon agreed.

Luke ran into some technical issues (VG screwed up on his Talon), so it was Mia who was to Christen the "Stairway to Heaven" with the first tow of the season. (I think a combination of heat and glider issues helped Luc in his decision not to fly)

There was the usual screw-ups for first tow of the season, Mia takes the Stairway to Heaven, but forgets to attach her towing release onto her harness? Can't figure out how to adjust the squelch on her Icom V85, but after a few minutes we had it sorted (and a few customary abusive comments from me....)

With great surprise and with only a few adjustments the new outriggers worked perfectly. The ramp was easy enough and the final lift up into to the cradles was a piece o cake! (looks like this years towing mods are a success)

Clipped in an going to cruise, Mia release off of the truck into a nice smooth tow of 800 fpm. At roughly 2000ft agl she released and was scratching up in nice mellow blue sky air.

Mia scratched a very respectable 1.5 hours and landed out near Banks lake.

After dropping off the tow rig, I ran retrieve with the Tracker. Mia said thing got real flat near the Lake (later Q's did form back toward Mansfield). A quick trip down to Sun Lakes and a cool dip to recharge from the sun and it was back to Mansfield for Pizza dinner prepared by Luc.

Saturday the 18th was warm but blown out. The whole day in Mansfield was spent watching the Wennatchee wave set up near Waterville. Luc headed back to Canada, Kevin into Chelan, Mia and I spent the rest of the day on maintenance around the shack.

For entertainment I tried to kill myself with a chain saw buy falling off a ladder (who says hang gliding is dangerous?) A simple miscalculation and an branch I was cutting hung up just enough to kick back under my ladder and the next thing I knew I was on my way to the ground with a running chainsaw! I survived with a gash on the head, bruised elbow, scratches on my legs and Mia clucking something about "I can't leave you alone for ....."

Forecast calls for less winds and some instability for tomorrow so we continue to wait for Spring......

Airport Ridge....

First trip down to the Mansfield Shack this year.  The past two years we have been met with a flooded basement. So with trepidation, I slowly opened the basement door..... DRY!  Winter has been kind. Turned on the water, nothing leaked. Turned on the power Nothing blew up. Two glasses of Scotch and The 2oo8 World record headquarters is open for business!  (of course we still need to bring down the tow rig and the rigid's but that will be during the May long weekend)

Saturday the 26th we checked out the alternate routes into Chelan to visit Jeff.

Because McNeil Canyon is closed (35kms) we went via "Brown Canyon" (81kms) . Its a substantial detour but other then the the much rougher road of Farnhem Canyon (45kms), the other available options are via Bridgport (91km) or Waterville (109kms).  For sure it sucks having to do the big detour but hopefully the re-grade of the McNeil canyon road will all be done by mid June.

In Chelan we met up with Jeff and took the PG's over to the "Airport Ridge" It was hot, sunny, a few dust devils were tracking around out on the flats. At launch it was 10-15kms, crossing from the west. Dave (a local) got a few passes in and sank out. Both Mia and I did the same.  Jeff flew his Talon and got the best flight of us all. Thing is, as quickly as it turned on.... it would turn off. (one thing I should say about this site... you need to keep an eye on the airport for traffic. Keep clear of the end of the runway when ever anybody is taking off. Also, there are some monster power lines right behind launch. Personally, if it gets too windy I would not fly, if something went wrong you will end up getting bug zapped big time!)

After the first flight, Mia hiked up the front to get the the car (5-600ft vertical). In the mean time, Dave's wife showed up and came down and picked us up, so we went up for a second try. Mia launched first, two short passes and she sunk out.  I got lucky and managed a nice 40 min workout with one low save from half way down the hill.  

(One of my brief passes above takeoff)

I got caught by a low and dropped out. Dave launched his tandem behemoth PG (solo) and hung in for 20 minutes.  Its a "SkyBike" (I think its a Swing product... looked more like a SkyTruck!) Its a brand new/old wing. I joked with him you could build 5 Nano gliders and still have enough "rope" left over to do the North Face of the Eiger.

(Daves Monster)

Jeff, Cameron (owner of North Wings, a Ultralite/Hang Glider manufacturer) Jorge (both Dave and Jorge are employees of North Wings) all logged some nice air time after Dave joined Mia and I in the LZ.

Cameron was testing out a prototype Freedom 190. It's  a big single surface floater that I must admit looked like a lot of fun to fly!

Well it was far from an epic day, it was nice to soak up some sun, meet some old friends and share some airtime in town.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to change and we will probably do some painting and some shack clean up....

It's been a Rotten Spring.....

Stir crazy? Looking back through the old log book I figure this has to be one of the worst starts to a flying season ever. I'm running out of winch projects and would really like to get a few km's of XC here in the Fraser Valley to warm up for some real flying down in Mansfield.

By this time last year I had logged nearly 500km xc in the Fraser Valley.  This year... .The VR has had one trip to the mountain, never bothered to take it out of the bag as the day was so stable  it hardly made it worth the effort.

The coastal mountains have had epic snow packs (the ski hill up at Hemlock recorded over 5 meters of snow.... well above the norm).  The road into launch at Woodside was buried up until two weeks ago. For most of the spring, you could just make it to the spur road turnoff, then pack it in from there. We are now able to drive into launch. But still the weather has been far from inviting. Mia and I have both managed a few flights on the Bag's but good old Woodside has been far from inspirational.

Yesterday, there looked like an opportunity to get the VR into the air, but the weather Gods were angry and the Valley was hit with 20mph out flow conditions..... oh well the VR stayed in the bag (no doubt some deranged bag pilot hucked off someplace?)

Mia and I are going to head to Mansfield this weekend to try and get our summer shack opened up. We normally take a weekend to clean up the lawns, collect up all the fallen tree branches and patch up what ever may have been damaged through the winter storms. Hopefully the trip down last fall to fix a leaking water line will have cured the problems we have had with the flooded basement. Always a treat to discover the sump pump failed and 4 feet of water has "moved" in to form a indoor swimming pool!

I don't think the winter on the east side of the Cascades has been that harsh so I'm hoping there will only be a small amount of clean up (weather looks like its going be cool but sunny for the trip). It's still too early for towing so we will just take the bags down for some kiting or the airport ridge in Chelan.

Of course, there may be a catch to heading into Chelan from Mansfield... McNeil Canyon road is likely to be closed and under construction (for the next 9 weeks!).  The reverse of this is pilots flying Chelan Butte will not have access to the flats. There are ways around the work but they will add at least an hour to the drive. The closure will last well into June. I guess we will just have to wait and see if its going to completely cut off access (there is some hope they may find a way to allow limited access).

So for now, its waiting for spring.....

Been working on my "Stairway to Heaven"!

Kind of hard to believe you could get to heaven in a Ford but its been getting me to cloud-base for more then 10 years.... knock on wood!

The essence of this modification was to increase the height and size of the final platform and be able to lower "steps" to get me there. Making that last lift into the cradles easier should add up to and easier loading....with less stress. Making it easier on everybody. (crew and pilot)

Getting everything to fold up was a bit of a trick. Further getting it all to just plug into the trailer hitch was even harder. As it turned out I ended up having to modify and add hardware to the cradle brackets. As it turned out, it did end up working pretty slick.

Well it looks like a lot of stuff (weight) to have added to the truck it turns out to be less then 60 pounds given I removed the stock tail gate and the old ramp. Still working on some tricks for the outriggers, again to make things easier.

Man spring is sooooo far away.

Funny... in my "About Me" I talk about being a rigid wing pilot, yet I end up posting stuff about flying my bag?

http://www.westcoastsoaringclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4009

I made a big mistake that day. I trusted some one else to be doing the right thing. I was ascending up through another pilot at our local site. Unfortunately right of way meant nothing (the other pilot had very little experience), I gave myself no way out.

To be very honest I was totally amazed how things went from "a nice fall day in late season thermals" to all hell letting loose. My lack of skill on the bag and the chain reaction of surges left me with no other reasonable option but to chuck the chute.

I was lucky, through the trees, landing on my feet on the forest floor. Nearly all of my gear joined me on the ground (no messy, up a tree BS.... except for the deployment bag:-)

Can't tell you how many times somebody has asked me, "when are you going to do your advanced maneuvers clinic?". I have no idea... I'm having second thoughts about these PG's. I'm still shaking my head when it comes to the other pilot. She was a student, low time and NO RESERVE! This could have ended very badly for both of us. I could not believe her instructor/boy friend would let her fly a fly site without one. Fortunate for her, she flew away, safe and sound.

The bill for repairs on my Zulu, $800. Good deal given that Chris at SuperFly carried my ripped wing back to the Gin factory to do voodoo factory repair. I have yet to check out the work (as I just got my wing back), If I get a chance I Will try to do a little kitting but from I've heard they do good top notch work.

For now my winter project is a new ramp set up for our trusty tow vehicle. A real contraption but the modification should really make loading the glider up onto the cradles a breeze. (Photo's to follow.....) Man, after this adventure on the bag I'm REALLY looking forward to Spring and some more airtime on my VR.

Cheers

Martin