Coyote Howl 2010

I am very lucky to go to so many flying events every year. The McClure Coyote Howl and Oktoberfest are two I always look forward to. The casual atmosphere, good food and an emphasis on fun. This year was no exception, and no matter what the flying conditions are, great flights are always pulled off.
On arriving I heard the previous few days were spectacular - there is quite a bit more snow this year than previous years and the lift went high. I had high expectations. The weather had other plans however, top of lift was 4400ft msl and not 6500 like the previous day. No matter, we'll give it the old college try. In the above picture the south route goes to the top left, not much in the way of bail outs... Scott Huber followed, alas I didn't see him until over in Hunters Valley. Here is the GPS tracklog. From the same vantage point there are landing options upwind, so just stick in that thermal and dribble downwind while hopefully climbing. This was pretty much the strategy in the Florida Flytec Rally too. From Hunter ridge you could see Yosemite Valley highlighted with snow through the haze (just right of centre). Click on the picture to make it bigger.
From there I hopped back over Hunter ridge into Bear valley, only finding sink and light lift. I figured a reasonable goal was Mariposa airport, and I probably would have made it, but the consequences of the last glide look a bit dire.
Instead I opted for this field, which worked out well if a little tight.
My Girlfriend Tracey was there 2 minutes after I landed. I was pleased to see her fly Saturday. Somehow she launched after me, flew, packed up, and retrieved me all in the space of 2 hours! And after a bit of a pounding, she did not feel up to flying Sunday. Now I owe her big time.

Sunday I went up and had another go at the Speed Gliding, and did quite a bit better. The Coyote Howl event has a number of fun events like the Horseshoe Dash (Horseshoe out and returns) won by Brian Horgan with no less than 9 roundtrips! Also the Pylon course (specific points to fly over), won by Bruce Bousfield, Cross Country won by me with a 16.3mile flight, duration won by Steve G. And Speed gliding, also won by me with a 1:01 min time. Here I am being goofy for CRV.

The Mother Load Sky Riders really go all out to welcome pilots, it is a fun time, thanks guys! One day Noman I will take your record! (shortly before you take it back, I am sure)

Flying Torrey

Another stop on the way home was a place I've always wanted to fly, Torrey Pines.At the south end of the bluff you have La Jolla, a northern suburb of San Diego.
The northern end is currently off limits. The farthest one should fly is bath tub rock. I don't know why or what the jurisdiction is, seems a little strange to me since it is a state park. One can look at it from ground level. There is no airspace over it... No airport, missile range or nuclear facility... Oh well, this is the way america is going. I was once told by a girlfriend of a friend "If you don't like it you could leave" Hmmmm. Food for thought. I was told this is just a party house, no-one actually lives there. Guards are posted there and monitor airspace infringements. There are flags on the property walls that in theory, provided one was over 500feet there is no airspace, but to keep the peace most humor the request to stay away. I flew with Joe Spinney, the present owner of UP (Ultralight Products) maker of the predator. Someone I'd not seen for many years, always a pleasure to catch up :)
We flew a number of passes trying to get that perfect shot, I got a few OK ones, but being in the right place at the right time with the right lighting and a steady hand is actually quite tricky.

Joe is actually flying John Heiney's Glider, you may recognise it...John flew a little later,
and turned a couple of circles in the vertical plane just for fun.
A fun afternoon, hanging with the Torrey Hawks and a wake up to California.

Seguaro National Park in the Spring

On the return journey from Florida I stopped amongst other places Seguaro National park. I hadn't planned to be there at the best time of year but I had happened upon spring.
The park is actually split into 2 halfs, one east and one west of Tuscon. I've flown over the western half in the Arizona meet. The East side seems quite a bit bigger and was in flower!

I think this is the pencil cholla.
Brittle Bush in amongst the Mesquite trees.
Barrel, Seguaro, Prickly Pear and Cholla Cactus
Octillo
Prickly pear
Big Seguaro !

The park was just off the Interstate - I was happy for a couple of hour out of the truck. The flowers were amazing.

Race and Rally Wrap-Up

Jonny does it again, with Dustin very close behind, some say 750 extra meters on the last day would have been enough, alas that would have put him landing in forest... Zac was 3rd. Well done guys. Results Link.

Ollie took rigid 1st place. There is Jamie who headed up the organisation of the whole event. And is currently recooperating from it and preparing for the womens world championships in Germany.
I think there were 8 or so people at the award ceremony, enjoying the food and atmosphere. Russell one of the talented tug pilots from quest is having a good time :)
Jonny spent hours putting together this video of pilot interviews. It is great. I had a reaaly good time at this dispite the slightly disappointing weather. I learned a great deal about "switching gears" (how agressively one should fly - due to conditions) I am not going to say I was getting it right... but at least I am getting closer. The conditions also put me wing tip to wingtip with some of the worlds best, and that was a priceless experience.

falling down

I've been pretty lucky recently. Today I went down in the start circle. This is a bit like falling off the sprint blocks. Still the day didn't seem to hold much promise... it gave me time to walk around and take some pictures.

I've been finding myself flying with Larry Bunner a bunch the last two weeks. I love how you can make friends in the air in this sport :)
And this is where I ended up, 8km from launch. I could have done better if had flown a falcon downwind straight off tow. But It was raining at launch...
Davis, J.D. and Alex found ourselves in the same field. Seemed appropriate to take some goofy pictures.

Race and Rally

results after task4
Well, after a hiatus from Rallying or Racing, we are rallying again northward.Today we flew from Quest to Williston. The start was a game of survival (staying in the air).I had long since stopped paying attention to time, but somehow managed to luck into getting a good start.
This start turned out to be important in the end. Here we are on glide.

Plenty of water here in Florida. After a few pretty good glides, I got a little cocky toward goal, and left on an 18:1 glide, thinking I should easily find another climb on the way in, in air that had less of a side wind. This decision very almost put me on the ground, and certainly cost my 10 places. However I made it in, and only lost out on 100 points or so. Sometimes you've got to take a chance. Tomorrow looks like a good race day, I am looking forward to it. I'm stoked to have Brian here too who is having some good flights and seeing so new scenery. He very almost made goal today at 109km. His blog is here

Also a good read is Jeff's account of wading through a Swamp

Jonny has also been making Video logs of the flights, it is still amazing to me how he flys better than most pilots while only using one hand !!

Race and Rally 2010

The weather looked pretty iffy this morning, but we set a task anyway making the best of an optimistic forecast. Only Jonny and Dustin made it in to goal. I was surprized, while it was a struggle the wind was blowing us toward goal and slow climbs would have got us there eventually.I raced off with Zac and Daniel landing with James 4.5km short. There were some pretty swampy crossings near lake Okeechobee. Rumours are some landed in this shiney grass...
As I came in on final I flew over what looked like some pretty exotic birds. I've never seen Sandhill Cranes before, but apparently there are not uncommon. You can see the chicks in the nest if you look closely. (Click on the picture to largen).
It is pouring rain, hail and lightning at the moment. Tomorrow looks iffy too. We will see what happens.

Rob Kells Memorial Competition Conclusion

We had 3 pretty good days and one great day in the end, good compared to the forecast. Here are the overall open class winners. Jonny 1st, Dustin 2nd and Jeff O.B. 3rd.This year had a very strong sport class meet, 19 competitors overall - the biggest ever.
Campbell took the Rigid wing class.
I managed an 8th. I think that would be my best result in this caliber meet.
Very fun meet. Thanks to all the tug pilots and crew that make the meet possible.

Out and Return Task

Today was a very fun task. The weather yielded awesome racing conditions. There 5 turnpoints for a zig zag and and return. 125km all around and about 4 & 1/2 hours in the air. I am a little sore today. Results are here

The start gaggle was way fun. Bobby was spinning the dragon fly, Alex looped, Jonny was videoing (see the embedded below).

I got t fly with this golden eagle for a while too.
Here is Jonny's video of the day.

Day 4 is a good watch too.