Mia and I decided to sit out a day to accommodate some guests. Fiona Katay, a Canadian pilot visiting Chelan came out with our old friend Jeff Kohler (who live in McNeil Canyon near Chelan) By rights, it would be completely unethical for us to tow Fiona as she had once flown for the enemy… the dreaded Alberta Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding League (nemesis of the West Coast Soaring Club)… she seemed nice enough… (besides Mia told me to be nice, so I did what I was told). Right away, like a typical Albertan, she pushed her way to the front of the line and took the first tow (just kidding… the men where too fat to stay up in the light air… so they made her go first).
With plenty of dust devils and a light north wind, Fiona and her Light Speed S where up and away (she dug out a nice save near the start point on L-Road)
Jeff soon followed on his 160 U2, by this time winds had shifted south so from the mid point setup we did a quick back track and set up for a south tow. Jeff got smacked a bit right on the end of the tow with good old flat land turbulence, but after a bit wandering about, caught a core and headed out.
Last, Mike yanked up south for a longer then normal and poor climbs just so he could perfect his low save technique (always the show off). Three tows, three away and the towline and chute recovered perfectly back to the rig each time = a good start to the day!
There didn’t seem to be any real set plan as our adventures head out into the wilds of central Washington. Nobody was really getting that high but a light westerly pushed everybody in the direction of Banks Lake , so Mike charged off with his VR in the direction of Wilson Creek. Fiona (with a vague understanding of the local landmarks) headed east with Jeff. Jeff landed near Hartline,(30kms out) Fiona made it to Creston but turn back to land near Wilbur (90km). With Mike still in the air after turning short of Wilson Creek and everybody else loaded in the Suzi we began to follow Mike slowly west. He was doing well after turning at Wilbur, but frankly I surprised he managed to stay up after 5pm! The little show off managed to not only make it back to the tow site he pushed on for a bit of tour and ended up Flying a 151km triangle. We arrived back in Mansfield (after picking up groceries in Coulee City) Just a few moments after he landed. Unbelievably late for this time of year (near 7pm) leaving the boy breaking down in the dark on the front lawn. He later hurt himself trying to fit his big fat head into the glider hanger (too big to get through the door?). Dinner feast and smiles all around.
"later hurt himself trying to fit his big fat head into the glider hanger"
ReplyDelete:-) excellent writing!
So sad the encampment it coming to an end :- (
Thanks for the epic season. My best ever.
Wait till next year!!