Crestline Soaring Society

At the LZ at 15:30 a pilot on base leg got lifted more than 50 feet by a thermal. I was there between groups, so I opted for the 750; Alan Crouse offered to drive my truck down, since he was waiting for the 16:30 McBus. Thanks Alan!

I launched a U2 160 from the 750 at 16:15 and slowly worked up off the bluffs, 100 FPM slowly becoming 300 FPM. At 16:30 I was above Marshall. Just north and east of Marshall was a lot of small 200-300 FPM lift that fizzled quickly - I hunted around in it for a good 15 minutes. Finally went to Cloud and got 600 FPM to 4800 feet before losing it and bailing toward Regionals. Marcus skied out in the next thermal from Cloud and I arrived to get the next thermal, just above Gene Embry. I left it at 5250 for Crestline. Slowed down through some large lift along the way (Marcus' thermal remnants) and only lost 300 feet overall, getting to Crestline at 16:55. Was above launch on my second pass.

Next time you drive past the Andy Jackson sign take a close look at the blue lettering. It used to need scraping and repainting because it wore out frequently, but Dusty sand blasted it clean and inserted blue tile this time. Many of the pieces required time consuming curved cuts. It's meticulously crafted, he even grouted between the tiles.

Mike Z

Launched an F3 195 from the 750 at 10:30 into 5 MPH SSE. Scratched the bluffs for a few minutes, probably could have done it longer, but we were on a schedule. Another 195 at 11:15 actually got me above the 750 according to my altimeter, but it was hard to tell by eye. Even gained a little at 250 AGL right over the LZ setting up my approach.

At Marshall at 12:25 it was SSE 5-7, so I launched from the freshly cleared SSSE launch down below. GOOD JOB GUYS! It'll be real handy for the mid-morning flights from Marshall. I started right at the top of the steeper part and ran hard into a cycle. The really cool thing was that I basically flew directly into the house thermal - a 400 FPM elevator to about 600 over. It was soarable there and at Cloud; I got to 4700 and 4800 a couple of times. That first thermal topped out in a very gentle silent and weightless moment with no pitch or roll change, BTW.

Got off my but and Vimmeo'd some Mingus!
http://vimeo.com/5484504