Strange things said and done…..

The Columbia basin produces big air. You need to respect the place or it can kick your ass big time. Why just the other day while flying near Withrow and monitoring 146.415 (our local op frequency) we had some familiar “no call sign” Russian PG’ers (and others) talking their way onto the flats from the Butte when there was a brief strange transmission ……. “Throw your Chute ! “ ….. (brief silence)…. “Nice save!”.

Not sure what the whole storey was but undeniably somebody just got schooled.

Over the last few days, there has been a local Chelan Butte PG comp underway, they have done well with reasonably good comp conditions with some very respectable performances. In the last two days, tasks where pushed with very high chances of thunderstorms. I’m not chastising anybody ( I’m sure they are all big boys and girls) but the second of these two days did “blow up” and had some serious potential . The task was called and it rained PG’s in Mansfield, later even a tandem sailplane from Twisp was forced to seek shelter at the Mansfield airport. I guess all I’m saying is you can “poke the bear” but remember…. the “bear does bite”.

Mia and I tend to seldom want to challenge the place when the forecast includes overdevelopment. Something about dragging 4000ft of towlines through statically charge atmosphere with a “kite” on the end of the line?

If I were to offer some advice to PG pilots who want to fly the Columbia Basin (Chelan and surrounding area), Unless stable, you should have at least 500+hours of experience. You should try to team up with pilots who know the area. Expect to encounter air far beyond anything you have ever experienced (even in an SIV). This is not a place to fly for the timid. Pilots who do not have a masterful grasp of controlling and recovering their wings should not be out here. I fully admit, as a PG pilot this place is way beyond my skills and comfort zone. I have close to 150 hours on the PG and would never dream of flying this place on anything but the quietest of days, preferably well into the calmer days of August and September.

Todays morning weather (11am) with severe thunderstorms in the forecast….

(Think we will go bird watching… Fly safe)