Crestline Soaring Society

Yep, I won the Whack award : (

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrXIsHfgh0Q

-Dave

The NAM model showed climbs to 7,500 and wind of 19 mph from 042. Doggone Bill and I both hit 7500 but the direction was North, so it was crossing pretty good from the left. Bill used a different approach to the forecast and took his floater (WW US) in error and was unable to ride the first big thermal as far behind launch as it went due to the strong drift. I foolishly chose to go straight while he circled and lost it while he kept climbing. 11 minutes later I caught another cycle and tagged the top about 1 mile behind launch.

The day actually had pretty good XC potential and there were some nice lines of cumis to the South that may have been in reach. Pretty amazing for so late in the year. The temp at the top was 40 degrees and I came dressed for it. I launched first at 12:13 and felt pretty hot for a while. I did today's flight in honor of fallen pilot Christopher Thale who died on launch at Henson's Gap on Friday. Chistopher was my guest back in March and had a great time at Crestline.

Initial climb-out was pretty slow and I began to worry that this was going to be a sweaty flight. I headed North, hoping to climb out and maybe tag Santiago then head back and watch everyone fly. I was only able to get a mile or so past Rad Dan's before it seemed like a better idea to head back. And as I returned I spotted Kevin, who had launched second climbing out really well. So I followed in his trail and was soon joined by Bill for some good climbs.

It was windy and gusty on launch but the air above was much nicer. Richard Shaw held my nose wires while Ken Howells was on my right wing and Max Wagner on my left. It was easy to see why no one else was in any hurry to approach the ramp first. All you had to do was walk up there and get discouraged. I had my T2C which penetrates very well so I was mainly concerned about keeping level and waiting for a good window with enough time for Richard to duck. Once I was aloft it was fairly smooth but it was obvious that I wasn't making much headway either.

I'm not sure how many Falcon pilots and others got skunked by the undying winds today but a lot of assembled gliders never left the ramp.

The turnout was great and our guest of honor, Bruce Carr was in excellent spirits. The weather in the LZ was pretty good too. I'll let others report on their experiences. I captured some bomb drops and landings as well as the awards on video. It's rendering right now and I'll post it when it's uploaded.

Tracks: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/290492

This is my third time getting skunked because I was flying a Falcon.

I think the Falcon is officially for sale.

I need some horsepower.

rC

3 wiremen on launch?

D by D wins the whack award on his sport 2?

Sheeeit, I made the right decision to stay home. I am way too far out of practice to be bringing my u2 into the Marina in my rotor... woulda flown my cocoon if I had.

I'm glad everyone had fun.

Saw somewhere SDHPA has a fly in at horse the second weekend of Dec. I have to work, but it should be a good chance to see a great site.

I did not make it up to the launch today, but the comments I heard were like: "It was Honking" "F..ing windy" "Crazy windy", and "I walked up to the launch once, and then packed it up"
I think that all of those folks who decided NOT to launch earned some sort award. What those folks did not see was the turbulence at treetop level..about the time to transition to the downtubes for landing...and that was right next to the lake...I imagine it was worse in the surrounding fields.

It was gnarly enough to knock D-byD's cape off..glad he didn't get hurt..and hope his glider is not damaged. One pilot landed behind the fence..another got caught in the willow tree suck. Amazingly, no tubage for the day...and Tom Swanson stuck a great landing 6ft from the cone.

Go ahead...try to quantify all that..try to put a number on the challenge of "pulling this one off"

There were many winners here at Elsinore today..those who flew..and those who did not. Those who ate pie with their fingers..or got a burger before the grill ran out of gas. And those who just got to drink beer and watch. Winners..all of them.D-by-d Turtle

The Whack award winner.

kg

Winner who brought the food.

Beer winner

Beer Winner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k65vz377NCo

Enjoy! Jonathan

Oscar also caught a bunch of wire launches and other scenes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg-_8JuctKY

For those of us unable to fly we thank everyone for the LZ entertainment. The event was dedicated to Bruce Carr who spent the day keeping us laughing. Thanks to everyone for their generosity.
Good job Greg,Flaky,Kevin and Everyday. Gorgeous day to be out
doing what we all love. Gall Darn Bill took 1st place HG award flying his Ultrasport. Doesn't matter what he flies he's a winner. I guess that's why he's National Champ. T2Tom came in second after making an awesome landing approach. The cone placement was
a bit precarious so some landings were a little off base.

The scores showed that Bill was 1st place (hg); however, we had an Overall winner: "Sick-O" Wayne from Las Vegas!

Tom Swanson earned a 2nd place.

And Max..from the Sylmar Club claimed the 3rd place award.

Good work gents!

We needed to have more awards..for the Wire Guys!

Greg

Oscar Well I have to say I had a great time .it was my first time at the site,And I got skunked by the high winds it was gusting to 35mph from the North.when I decided to Breakdown my F2-225.Oh well there will be other days.And I'll have to remember to bring some Forks next time, seems the folks down here Like to eat pie with there fingers .LOL

Thank you guys for the posts, pics and videos. Watching the high wind launches, my heart started pounding heavily. I felt I was there. I missed you guys. I wish I new the meet was postponed, I was leaving to a business trip on Sunday. Actually the plane from LAX made a South turn before heading to Europe. We crossed right above the Santa Ana Mountains, I thought about you, by that time you were already having beer. Enjoyed the videos.

Here is a party trick you can try. Tell your friends you can increase your heart rate on demand. While someone checking your pulse, close your eyes and think about launching your glider. Any launch for beginners, high wind launch for more advanced.

Tell me if you can do it, I am interested in finding out how many of you can do it. I could do this trick from early on, since my early days of hang gliding.

Cheers.

/,o,\