Flying sites in Pacific NorthWest:
Where to learn Hang Gliding in Pacific Northwest:
Video
Day 1 & 2
Day 3
8/31/18 Day 1
We had a record of 10 HG pilots who showed up to fly Rampart today. Alfredo, Darren ,David Best, Glenn, James F, Jimmy C, Mark Andrew, Robin, Stas, and myself.
Everyone was able to easily elevate to 6,000+ ft (cloud ceiling level) and reach both cliff walls. The low ceiling cloudbase produced plenty of strong lifts (and clouds surf) which allowed us to fly as long as we were able to tolerate the cold air. . I launched second after Robin and flew for 3 hrs from 2:40 to 6 pm. Everyone landed well on the carrier deck. Also, congrats to Mark Andrew who drove 5 hrs to get his first Rampart flight.
Half a dozen of pilots will be camping at the LZ tonight and planning to flying Rampart again tomorrow.
We had a record of 10 HG pilots who showed up to fly Rampart today. Alfredo, Darren ,David Best, Glenn, James F, Jimmy C, Mark Andrew, Robin, Stas, and myself.
Everyone was able to easily elevate to 6,000+ ft (cloud ceiling level) and reach both cliff walls. The low ceiling cloudbase produced plenty of strong lifts (and clouds surf) which allowed us to fly as long as we were able to tolerate the cold air. . I launched second after Robin and flew for 3 hrs from 2:40 to 6 pm. Everyone landed well on the carrier deck. Also, congrats to Mark Andrew who drove 5 hrs to get his first Rampart flight.
Half a dozen of pilots will be camping at the LZ tonight and planning to flying Rampart again tomorrow.
===================================
9/1/18 Day day 2 (Saturday) report :
8 hang gliders went up in 3 trucks around 1:30pm. (Cliff, Darren ,David Best, Gary B, James, Jeff Beck (Seattle Jeff), Stas, and myself). Thanks again to Jeff for a ride and Stas for the retrieved. I launched second after Stas and flew for 3 hrs from 3 to 6 pm (last one to landed). The thermals was stronger (quite turbulence ) than yesterday with more sunshine and blue skies so the view was spectacular. Everyone was able to easily climbed up from launch to the 2nd wall. Altitude gains to 6,800ft for me. I think some reached 7K. There were abundant thermals that goes up averaged 500-1,000 fpm. Some said it was a best day ever at Rampart. Landing was kind of tricky due to the 90 degree cross west winds (video enclosed) . Since I had two good flights (total of 6 hrs) in last couple of day. I decided to go home tonight.
8 hang gliders went up in 3 trucks around 1:30pm. (Cliff, Darren ,David Best, Gary B, James, Jeff Beck (Seattle Jeff), Stas, and myself). Thanks again to Jeff for a ride and Stas for the retrieved. I launched second after Stas and flew for 3 hrs from 3 to 6 pm (last one to landed). The thermals was stronger (quite turbulence ) than yesterday with more sunshine and blue skies so the view was spectacular. Everyone was able to easily climbed up from launch to the 2nd wall. Altitude gains to 6,800ft for me. I think some reached 7K. There were abundant thermals that goes up averaged 500-1,000 fpm. Some said it was a best day ever at Rampart. Landing was kind of tricky due to the 90 degree cross west winds (video enclosed) . Since I had two good flights (total of 6 hrs) in last couple of day. I decided to go home tonight.
===================================
9/2/18 Day 3 (Sunday) report :I'm vitamin "R" overdose
Had a change of heart last night and decided to stay an extra day at Rampart, and it turned out that today was the best day. Long story short, I flew for over 3 hours and made it to Alta Mt a couple of times; the highest altitude was 7,200 ft. Eric with his Rigid wing had reached 8,000 ft. 12 HGs and 2 PGs shared the friendly thermic conditions. Thanks to Kate for coming out to drive for us. Hopefully someone else can fill in more on the details from today, as I'm tired after 3 days of flying.
Report from Tim Cayward:
Sunday turned out to be a veritable Rampart Fly In. I counted 13 pilots, Marty, Eric O., Rick, Glenn, Chris, Kurt, Stas, Darren, Andrey, Dave Best, Travis, me, and another pilot that punched off early. Plus a couple of paras. I missed the mass exodus to launch, and I didn't have a driver. But in the LZ I found two lovely people that were curious about all the crazy guys driving up the mountain with what appeared to be rolls of carpet on their trucks, so up the hill we went.
Gliders were virtually stacked on top of each other at the cramped launch area. Travis launched around 1430 and got a hundred feet above launch, but it wasn't turned on yet. Slowly people launched and started getting higher. Stas and I were the last to launch just before 1600. Lift was really strong and it was a nice straight trip to the first wall, then Rampart, then Alta. There I found lift to 7000' but it got really choppy and confused so I didn't stay long. Guys were all spread out by this time. Big Eric became Little Eric cause he was so high. Marty, Kurt and maybe some other guys pushed farther back behind Alta. As it was Labor Day weekend, there were a bunch of tents set up around the Rampart Lakes, and some hikers climbing up to Alta. No clouds to be seen or surfed, and the visibility was more than enough to discredit any flat-earthers. Super nice day. I spent a couple of hours scoping out campsites at Rampart and looking at the vast expanse of wilderness to the North, then headed back. The LZ was a little bumpy coming in but smoothed out down low.
Thanks to Katie and the other drivers. Maybe Katie can join us next time!
Tomorrow Monday looks like another great day at Rampart, and it sounds like there will be another group flying.
-Tim
No comments:
Post a Comment