Epic flight at Rampart 6/30/17

 Video link: 

https://youtu.be/16PPmsVSHB8

 

Or Vimeo

https://vimeo.com/224013128

 A great day at Rampart for us three lucky hangs (Colin, Robin and myself) to be able to fly when it's usually no LZ until mid August or September. Thanks to Alfredo for driving us, and Robin providing info on safe field for landing.  Winds were blowing at 5-10mph straight in at launch with occasional strong cycles. l launched after Robin and Collin at around 3pm and all of us climbed steadily to 1,000ft above launch quickly.  Thermals were strong and can reach up to 9,000 ft. My maximum altitude was 7,500ft, l think Robin hit 8,500ft (3-4k above launch ). Colin was above me most of the time too.  The view was spectacular with so much snow still on the mountains. 

Since our primary "Carrier Deck" LZ was still under water, we had to land at the Summit Tubing center parking lot. (Huge field next to I-90), thanks for Robin introduce this LZ to us. Landing was interesting with the mid-day strong switchy conditions from West ,  NNW, rotors, the gradient... etc. but all of us did fine. l think Colin had the best landing. 

My next destination will be Black Mtn.  Alfredo and l will be meeting in the morning at Maple Falls, WA market parking lot. Text or email us if you can join.

Enclosed is the video of Friday's epic flight at Rampart.

I used the GoPro two days in a roll at Dog Mtn before this Rampart flight and forgot to recharge the battery, so with only one bar before I launched, it kept shutting off during the landing.   I was doing normal aircraft DBF approach and turned on my final approx 500 ft above I-90 southbound lane. It sanked a lot right after I turned on my final and was having a hard time penetrating to where I wanted to land and ended up landing short (it was a soft landing). Since this was a huge field, if the wind came from west or NW the next time, I'll be turning on top of the the LZ's edge to avoid landing short.  I've added my landing approach pattern at the end of this video in hopes that the info will help other pilots have a safe landing for the next time.