My first tandem flight in 1988 was on a mountain in Southern Calif called Kagel. I started flying hang glider solo in 1990. Since then hang gliding has been my primary interest.
Look closely of my landing at the end of the video. The beach is full of people and kites floating around.
It turned on around 2:30pm. I flew for 3.5 hours. Unlimited super smooth lifts that made eeryone soared for long hours and an easy trip to the end of the cape. My max altitude was 1,800ft MSL. 7 hang gliders (Ray, , Stas, Andy Frank, Neil Clark, Johnathon, myself) and a lot of paragliders sharing the roomy sky with no traffic issues.
Greg and I had met up today at the Church of Christ on Lobster Valley Road at 11am. We headed up to launch after checking out the primary and bailout LZ. It took 6.5 miles of pave road and another 6.5 miles of smooth gravel road, adding the total of 13 miles from primary LZ to launch, 40 mins turn around time.
The wind direction at launch was light (2-5mph) from the NW. Greg launched first at 12:50pm and caught a good thermal on the right side, getting above launch quickly. I launched at 1:00pm during a weak cycle period and sunked out immediately below launch. I managed to find a few light thermals and climbed back up above launch, but only 50ft over while Greg skyed out. I started exploring a bit and after a while I hit sink that took me down a few hundred feet below launch. I figured that the LZ is so far away,I better go farther down to the left side. The thermals seemed to be declining on the west ridge, so I decided to fly straight to the LZ and not goof around. I found another thermal when I was on top of the bailout LZ that took me almost back to the launch level. I cruised around for a bit before heading to the primary LZ. The wind at the LZ was light 0-5mph from west when we landed. So, I flew for 45 mins and Greg got 1.5 hrs. The grass at the LZ is about 5ft tall so I had to flare earlier. You can see from my video . All in all, it was great flying with Greg. Prairie Peak is a beautiful site with gorgeous scenery and I would definitely recommend it. Thanks again to Greg for the site intro.
1. 16895-16961 County Hwy 58190, Alsea, OR 97324
2. Head east on County Hwy 58190/Lobster Valley Rd toward Hazel Glen Rd
3. Turn left onto Alsea-Deadwood Hwy
4. Sharp right onto Prairie Mountain Rd
After the sharp right turn on Prairie Mountain Rd. Drive another 6 -7 miles on the gravel road get to launch.
Nothing really special. Just another flight from today at Cape Lookout: https://youtu.be/Efn4bnBdZr4
I arrived launch at 11:30am and it was calm with almost zero wind. It turned on around 1:30pm with winds were blowing WNW about 5mph when I ready to launch. I launched at 1:45pm right after Ray and soared for two hrs enjoyed a smooth, boaty lift with Ray and Reed (Pg). Topped out 1,900ft MSL. Ray got few hundred feet higher than me and I think he flew for 3 hours. It was blowing more west at the beach when we landed. Two visitor paras arrived late afternoon and took a sledder.
Three bags (Jim B , Mike C & Peter R) and two hangs (Ray B and myself) flew Cape Lookout today. It was sunny and warm with gentle light winds from the NNW without the "Thermal Block" effect, so everyone was able to get high and flew to the tip of the cape easily. I launched at 1:00pm (approx 3-8mph winds) right after Peter & Jim, with only smooth lifts (no sink) in the usual places. Just another amazing, really smooth friendly condition day for bags & hangs. I flew for over two hours with maximum altitude of 2,100 ft MSL. High tides at 4pm, however most beach from below launch all the way to the campsite was already under water around 2pm, so we had to land further north passed the campsite. I went back up to check out the launch at 4:45pm and condition was even better than earlier. I waited 30mins in hopes that someone would show up to fly with me. Unfortunately not, so I headed home. Otherwise, would've taken another flight. Great day!
1st flight.
I had almost 2 hrs flight (from 12 to 1:45pm) at Oceanside. It was really smooth with big lifts band. Topped almost 600ft above launch. High tides at 2pm and still have beach for landing. A lot of paras here. I'm the only hang so far.
2nd flight
I went back up around 2:30pm for my 2nd flight after lunch. The wind condition was good during my time of setting up. A few paras had a hard time launching due to the strong SSW winds (approx 10-13mph); however, by the time I was ready to launch, it got weaker and lighter (dropped to 5-8 mph). Although the condition was not as good as earlier, the paras and I was still able to climbed 300 ft above launch. The air was so buoyant with no sinky air along the ridge. I flew for 40 mins before the squall came, causing the wind to shut down and forcing everyone to land. There was zero wind at the beach when I landed. It stayed sledder conditions for about 45 mins and then the soarable conditions turned back on again around 6pm and 4-6 paras was above launch, as I was about to leave.
Peter (Pg from Eugene) had two sledders this afternoon. It was definitely "Thermal Block" kind of day at launch the entire time. All weather stations around Cape Lookout showed 15-20 NW, clouds were moving NW fast above launch and a lot of whitecaps out front...... etc. However, the straight cycles was doing the come & go game just teasing us. Every time when there was a launchable cycle, it last for 15-30 seconds and then winds would either be dead calm, too north, too south or blowing down again. I tried to launch around 6pm expecting a sled ride down. I waited a LONG time for a straight cycle and was prepared to go when suddenly it doesn't feel right so I stop right after my first step. Unfortunately, the glider kept dragging me down to the hill slowly on the right side and I ended up in the soft bushes. No damage on the glider, so I tried to launch again half an hour later and didn't hesitate the second time. I ran all the way down and my glider dropped like crazy once airborne. The wind at the beach was blowing 3 mph NNE. Everyone (Alex, Kory, Robin/ 3 hangs) at launch started to pack up after seeing me.
Another fantastic light winds day at CLO. The air was butter smooth with abundant lift all over. I arrived launch at 1:00pm and the winds were still really light (0-3mph) at launch and almost zero wind at the beach. There was plenty of beach for landing today due to the afternoon low tides. John K (PG) tested the condition for us around 2:00pm and sank out quickly. So, we continue para/hang waiting hope that it will get stronger. It turned on around 3:30pm. The wind direction was still from the NNW with light cycles at launch (5-8mph). I launched at 4pm right after Jim B (PG), Ray (hang), Robin (hang) and we all got up to 2000ft MSL quickly. The lifts got even better after 5:00pm and we climbed up to 2500ft MSL. So, it turned out 3 hangs and 1 bag had a really great flight and flew for more than 2 hrs. Too bad that John K has to leave early to Seattle and missed all that zero sink magical air. I had 2.5 hrs air times and few trips to the end of the cape. Ray flew to Happy Camp and almost made it to Tillamook. Robin almost jump over the back and fly to Kiwanda (Maybe tomorrow). We'll be a CLO again tomorrow for round two.
