Crestline Soaring Society

I can take a couple of additional HG's or PG's up.

At the LZ now, 1:45 ride up on the McBus.

Already at least one glider in the air. Is that you?

-Dave

Good lift albeit scattered and a bit broken-up down low. Trash continued through 6K but became smooth as glass at 7.5K through 9.3 (top for the day). I'm thinking it must have been convergence lift. Very smooth 500fpm up. I drifed almost 1/2 way from Pine to Silverwood lake after tracking the thermal through (above) Devils Canyon. Thank God for birds. Again a either a hawk or crow showed me a thermal where I wouldn't have looked before. Way back behind the Pine firebreak ridge on the East facing slope, almost directly North of BB. Headed toward Cajon pass but had sink all the way to Sugarpine. After finding nothing, and blowing too much altitude I headed back to Pine which was working very well. Back up to 8.4K.

After landing, I thought that a better choice might have been to head East.

Dave- did you go East? How was it?

We arrived at Crestline to find it gusting to 30, but the average was launchable. I started setting up, but a gust knocked over my wing just as I removed the Velcro straps. My right leading edge hit the left wingtip of Rob's tandem glider. Inspection relieved ever the slightest dent in my right leading edge tube. Rob's recommendation was that it would be ok as it was a very minor dent and in a low stress area, so I continued to setup. Got everything together fine but noticed a kink and bend in one of my lower surface battens (I had the strait, lower surface battens rolled up in the sail. It must have gotten damaged in the fall.) Normally I would just have bent it back, but decided that too many things had already gone wrong and broke down.

I spent the afternoon giving my glider a much needed bath and through inspection. My sail is looking mighty clean now! :) The batten is bent back and the glider is good to go for tomorrow.

We were too late to get up to launch to take advantage of the big air today. It got real windy and reports were thermals to 7000.

-Dave

With all the good days you have had including your last flight in the Owen's, better to let one go from time to time, if for no other reason than an exercise in good judgement.

Tomorrow looks good as well.