2.5 hrs/ 2 flights at Bremer & Dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F__zJGI1Qw

More good flying at Bremer today (Sept 23nd Wednesday) .  There were two bags (Dave A, Dave Little)  / five hangs (Stas, Tim C, Jeff B, Tim and myself)  launched around 1:00pm and it was pretty easy to find lifts along Bremer ridge.  Some good thermals reached up to 1300ft above launch.  I flew for one hour and 20 minutes. Then, four hangs went back to Dog for the 2nd flight , it was really light with overcast skies. I launched around 5:15pm and surprisingly I was able to found enough lifts below launch boated around for over an hour. Shawn , Jeff and Tim C launched after me also got some good soarable air time. 

6 hours air time / 5 flight on Sept 11 to 13 weekend

Sept 11, 2015 Tiger Mountain (Issaquah ,Wash)

Only two hangs (Travis and myself) flew Tiger today. We and most of the paras had an extended sledder. It was almost zero wind conditions at launch and also no wind at the landing. Nice to flight Tiger again and I ran up to launch in a hot humid weather.
Anyway, I'm here for the Tiger party tomorrow so I will fly Tiger again even a sledder conditions. Not sure about where to go on Sunday yet. Maybe Dog, Rampart , Tiger again.... Etc.

Sept 12, 2015 Tiger Mountain Fantastic Fly-In Festival

The 2015 Fantastic costumes festival turned out really good. There were about 50 paragliders flying at one time and only 9 hang gliders including myself, Tim Cayward, Travis, Glenn, Steve Alford, Rob, Kerie, Aaron and Bryan. The soarable condition turned on around 3:00pm and we all soared. I flew for 2 hrs on the second flight and hooked up with a few thermals that topped out 1000 ft above launch. I had two flights and total of almost 3 hrs of air time. As you can see from the video the whole sky was filled with paragliders.

Sept 13, 2015 Dog Mountain (Glenoma, Wash)

It was really windy and gusty (20-25mph) at launch the whole day. I had two flight that combine 3 hrs of air time. Aaron R, Eric O and myself flew till sunset.

On Sept 12

I captured this incident on Sat (Tiger Mt Fantastic Fly In) around 3:30pm. It looked as if two paragliders were launching at the same time ; one got tangled with another glider and was dragged down to the bottom of the launch. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I heard that the pilot was okay, however his glider got toasted.

2 flights 6 hours at Dog on Aug 1st 2015

I went down to Area 151 on Saturday morning after 3 epic days at Rampart, and then headed out to Dog with Travis and Paige.  First flight I launched at 1:00pm and flew for 3 hrs.   I went up again after lunch and launched at 6:00pm when wind turned north . The thermals just keep getting better, got 1000ft over the north ridge and went over to Elk and got really high  (4000ft AGL) until 9:00pm. The last group when up to launch around 7:00 and winds turn more NE so they didn't launch.

3 flights 9 hrs On July 17th & 18th, 2015

July 17th ,2015 (Friday)

4 hrs

Max altitude: 6,400 FT AGL (above ground level) 7,250 FT MSL

I arrived launch around 4:15pm (thanks Kim for the ride) saw Peter and Naomi were setting up. Looked up and found Eric O skyout. The conditions just about to turn epic. By the time we ready to launch the wind became stronger and more crossed from the east. There were couple harmless baby dust devils appeared at launch. I took off first at 4:50pm and went straight up to 1000ft above immediately and it was still going up. Then Naomi , Peter and Timmy punched off shortly. It was too gusty and cross for the PGs so they decided not to fly. It was an excellent height gain , especially over Elk and radio tower. I reached 6,400ft AGL (about 7,250ft MSL) over the west end of Elk Mt. I can see the Riffe lake dam. It was one of the best thermals day at Dog. Unfortunately, the epic conditions didn't last all the way till sunset. It was kind of shut down around 7:30pm. The last group who launch around 7:30pm were struggling stay up. I had few low save and managed to climbed back to 50ft above launch. The winds switched more east when I ready to landed which around 9pm. Over 4 hours of air time for one flight. What an incredible north wind day at Dog!

July 18th 2015 Saturday Report: 

1st flight: 2hrs and 15 mins (12:45 to 3:00pm)

Max altitude: 2,000 ft AGL over south bowl

2nd flight: 2.5 hrs (6:00 to 8:45pm)

Max altitude: 5,000ft AGL 

The flying was spectacular again at Dog on Saturday. I didn't expect the conditions to turn out so good since it was pretty dead calm when arriving launch around 12 pm. I'd planned on taking a sled ride down and return later for evening glass off;  however, amazingly, as I got ready to launch during a light cycle it

started coming up stronger and turned soarable for the rest of the day. I ended up getting 2+hours airtime and topped out 2,00ft AGL over South bowl on the first flight.  

I walked up to launch after lunch and looked forward to another enjoyable evening flight. When arriving launch around 5 pm, the wind direction had switched north east. It was similar to yesterday's conditions (gusty & cross from East).  The launch conditions were challenging sometimes due to the gusty cycles and cross winds.  But once I punched off, the strong lifts just kept elevating. It was quite turbulent and sometimes my hang strap goes slack. Naomi launched after me and I think she flew for 1.5 hrs. The air and thermal at 1000 ft above launch was relatively smooth.  Since I had 3 incredible flights at Dog (2 days in a roll), I decided to skip flying on Sunday. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI0ZZXs6v4k

 Got high over Elk Mt.

2 flights 5 hours air time at Dog (July 15)

2 flights that = 5 hours of air time at Dog on July 15, 2015

I flew for 3 hrs on the 1st flight with 6 hangs and than another 2 hrs in the evening with Peter. It was honking 25+mph gusty wind at launch all evening till sunset, I landed at 9:15pm on the 2nd flight.

4 flights 9+ hours air time over the weekend at Dog (July 11-12)

Not much to report for the pass weekend (July 11-12 , 2015).  Nothing epic,  just another good weekend flying at Dog Mt with friends.  Those consistent thermals and ridge lifts allow all of us effortlessly soar for hours till sunset.  I had two flight per day and approx 2+ hours on each flight.

2 flights 5 hrs air time at July 9th 2015 /Dog Mt flights log

As usual, I had two flights and hiked up two times at Dog Mt yesterday. The wind at launch were quite strong (15 to 20 mph) in some periods of the time however it was smooth in the air. Had total of 5 hours air times. Nice day and nice flights.

2 flights 4.5 hrs air time / July 5th 2015 Dog Mt. flights

1st flight 3.5 hrs

2nd flight 1 hours

Topped 2000 ft AGL over the South Bowl

Glass off wasn't good last night. The winds were kind of shut down so everyone else decided to go home early. I was the only one scratching for light lifts at couple hundred feet above launch from 7:30 to 8:30pm. It was kind of "boring lonely soaring" all by-myself. Thanks for JJ, Scott and Mikey kept me company at the LZ. The afternoon flight was much more fun. I flew for 3.5 hours from 12:30 to 4:00pm with about 6-8 more hangs and 1 bag.

2 flights 5+ hrs on July 3rd at Dog Mt flights

About 15 hangs flew Dog yesterday.  The winds were quite strong at launch most of the time (approx 15+ mph).  I had two flights with almost 5 hours of flying time.  My 1st flight launched around 1:00pm with Enrique and Mark R and we all got up soared as long as we want. I made few trips to Elk and found nothing there , flew for a bit over 2 hrs. Then went back up for glass off flight at 6:30pm for round two.  Launched around 7:00pm and got up between 1000 to 1500 feet over launch immediately. The magic moment was happening again around 7:45pm.   Staz, Mike , Alfredo and myself went to Elk and found some great thermals that took us to 3500 to 4000 feet AGL. It was absolutely incredible flight.

My interview from the July's issue of the Hang Gliding Magazine

I’m thrilled to be sharing my interview from the July's issue of the Hang Gliding Magazine. Thanks to C.J. Sturtevant who wrote a great article on me and pilot Owen. It can be viewed here (Page 46-53) http://issuu.com/us_hang_gliding_paragliding/docs/hgpg1507_issuu

Or my blog at :
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B99GLXHjAJaTfkhoWmJMTng4SGhpU0xya2RMRFFwM01TcTM2Uks5emUxSWhNOURSY3lfbkU&usp=sharing

Two Guys Tearing Up the Skies in the Pacific Northwest
By C.J. Sturtevant


I'm an active pilot in the Northwest hang gliding and paragliding communities; I go to the fly-ins, get around to many of our sites, count hang and para pilots as my best friends. So I've known both these guys—hang glider pilot Rick Lai and paraglider pilot Owen Shoemaker—for at least a couple of years. On the surface they're "just folks" in search of airtime like the rest of us, but both these guys have an extra "something" that makes them stand out, giving them just a hint of super-hero status among their fellow pilots. Having lucrative jobs that allow them to work from home on a flexible schedule is a huge bonus, but that's only the beginning. Rick considers himself a recreational pilot, who loves to get out and fly at every opportunity. Owen is an adventure-sports nut whose SPOT track on the xcfind.paraglide.us website shows us he's out over tiger country more often than not. What they have in common is this: They both, intentionally or not, put their passion for flying to use to the benefit of their fellow pilots. I wanted to find out what makes these guys tick. Here's what I learned.

On getting started flying, and keeping going:

Owen was introduced to paragliding over a decade ago: A friend was celebrating his birthday with a tandem flight from Tiger Mountain, and knowing Owen was into "extreme" sports, he asked him to join the party. After that first taste of airtime with tandem instructor Mike Eberle, Owen admits he "was hooked" on paragliding but, unfortunately, circumstances prevented him from pursuing the sport until 2012. He tried to connect again with Mike to take lessons, but by then Mike was no longer flying. After interviewing many of the instructors at Tiger, Owen ultimately chose Bob Hannah, who, he says, "had a slow, safety-first approach, and a teaching style that I felt would be complimentary to my more aggressive pursuit of the sport."

Rick saw his first hang glider in 1989, when he purchased a home in Sylmar, California, within sight of the Kagel LZ. He and his wife bought a tandem package from Windsports, and for the next four years Rick flew his Delta Wings Dream 185 and, later, a WW EuroSport, several times a week at Kagel. But then work took him to Hong Kong, where a lack of flying sites put his hang gliding on hold for several years. Even after returning to the US in 2001 he was unable to pursue flying at his previous level, "due to family, work and skateboarding accidents..." It wasn't until 2010, when his kids were grown and he'd moved to the Pacific Northwest, that Rick was once again able to immerse himself totally in the hang gliding scene.

Which wing, and why:

Rick currently flies a single-surface North Wing Freedom 170, "bought brand-new in 2010 from North Wing" he says, adding, "The Freedom is perfect for me since I consider myself a recreational pilot and I don't do aerobatics or cross country."

Owen's wings of choice are an Ozone M6 and a Gradient Freestyle. When he decided he wanted something with a bit more performance than his Delta 2, but more stable and less of a handful than his Icepeak6, his friend Matty Senior let him demo his M6. "Honestly, I was not very impressed with the M6 at first," Owen recalls. "It seemed like a tweaked Delta 2. With only modest performance specs I wasn’t expecting very much." But his first XC flights on it, at a comp in Valle De Bravo, changed his perspective. He found himself "more efficient in climbs, and I had more speed and reach. I was hooked." When he had what he describes as a "bad entrance" to a maneuver in an SIV clinic with Matty in Thailand that resulted in some broken lines on his M6, Matty lent him a Gradient Freestyle to finish out the clinic, and "that is now my go-to wing for acro/SIV," Owen says.

On being in the right place at the right time:

Read and weep, all you 9-to-5'ers: Both Rick and Owen have jobs that, in Owen's words, allow them the "luxury of working from home"—or anywhere they have an Internet connection and a computer. That's why you'll find them in the air on just about any day where the odds are in favor of it of being soarable.

But how to determine those odds? We pilots seem to spend a lot of time checking the weather, trying to figure out where the best flying is going to be on any given day. "Too little information and you get skunked," quips Owen, "but too much information and you end up in analysis paralysis." His go-to resources for NW weather are UW MM5 (http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/gfsinit.html) and TJ Olney’s Windgrams website (http://home.comcast.net/~wxtofly/windgrams.html) although, he says, he's been trying to use only the MM5 "just to simplify things." He describes his forecasting strategy as "constantly evolving," adding that it has taken him some time to be able to accurately interpret the skew-t. "I am getting better the more I use them," he concludes.

Rick recalls not needing to consult the weather gurus during his early days of hang gliding in southern California—all his flying was at Kagel, and the SoCal weather is almost boringly consistent. But flying in the Pacific Northwest, he says, "is a totally different ballgame. We have many more flying sites that face all directions and it is important to understand the wind speed and wind directions before heading out to fly." Rick doesn't use MM5 or skew-t, but Weatherunderground, Windfinder, Iwindsurf, NOAA, and weather.com seem to work really well for him.

On motivations and challenges:

For Owen, exploring is what it's all about. "Paragliding is a great sport for the adventurous traveler!" he enthuses, and elaborates: "I hope to make it to six countries by the end of this year and get a number of vol-biv trips in as well. As my skills have improved, that has opened up a lot of new terrain and bigger routes at some of our local flying sites."

At his stage in his flying career, Owen finds his biggest challenge is "mental overload. After about three hours in the air I feel so overwhelmed with all of the mental stimulation that I sometimes land earlier than I should, missing out on hours of good flying because I chose to end my flight. I am working on staying hydrated, snacking in the air, and relaxing to help push forward to maximize the day."

Rick, on the other hand, considers landing to be the highlight of each flight. "I always love the landing part," he says, adding, "I get excited when I land safely." Which makes for a lot of positive excitement in any LZ when Rick arrives with his typically perfect touchdown! As for personal challenges, Rick's ongoing goal is to keep improving as a pilot, and to accomplish that he figures he needs to just get out and fly. "I feel that the more I fly, the safer I am as a pilot." In other words, practice makes perfect, a good mantra for all of us regardless of skill level.

The bigger picture:

Both Rick and Owen are stand-outs in the NW hang gliding and paragliding communities this season, not just because of their personal accomplishments, but because of the impact of their personal philosophies on the rest of us. Rick brushes off my suggestions that he's an influential force within the hang gliding community, but the truth is that he is an inspiration to many of us, newbies and experienced pilots alike. "I do just the same as other pilots, which is post my plan on the public forum before heading out to fly," he says, but there's much more to it than that. Post he does, prolifically, and since he's out at the flying sites so often and has so many great flights (of which he also posts in-depth descriptions along with photos and videos), he often inspires others to join him. He mentors pilots flying new-to-them sites, and offers to help transport hang gliders to walk-in launches, making those sites accessible to anyone who wants to fly there. That's going far above and beyond "just the same as other pilots"!

Owen is taking his personal skills-stretching program to the masses. After attending his first XC clinic in Pemberton, BC (last year? When?), he asked clinic guide Matty Senior for suggestions on the best way to improve his skills. Matty's response: Go fly a comp. "The next scheduled comp was a pre-PWC in Bir, India," Owen recalls. "I registered, got my visa, bought my plane tickets. I had no idea what to expect."

Fortunately for him, Jugdeep's Northern California XC League had an event scheduled a month before Bir, providing Owen with his first exposure to competition flying. "Everyone there was happy to help, answer questions, show me how to use my new flight instrument, and make goal," he recalls, adding, "Having access to mentors really improved my flying skills, and I had such a fantastic experience I knew we needed something similar in the NW."

And so, this summer Owen is the main organizer of the first NW XC League, which is already (as of the May 9 event at BJ) proving popular with the NW parapilots. "Starting out as a beginner XC pilot can be very daunting," Owen acknowledges, but points out that flying a task removes some of the uncertainties. "There are more thermal indicators and if you really aren’t sure the of best route you can hang back and watch. That, coupled with having your retrieve taken care of, frees up some mental energy. It creates a good transition into XC flight and eases the stress of making that first jump away from the hill and primary LZ."

What's on their flying-related wishlists for this summer:

Owen doesn't hold back—"I really want to take a crack at the Washington state record this year," he declares. "The combination of in-flight endurance, the logistical challenges, and beating my personal best really appeals to me. My stretch goal is to fly the Pakistan Himalayas. After seeing pictures and hearing the stories I really want to do some vol-biv there."

Rick is less goal-oriented. "I'm pretty spontaneous," he muses, "and don't have any dream list for this summer." His main focus remains on having safe launches and landings for every flight in the future. The rest of us would urge him to add to that the goal of continuing his in-depth postings before and after each flying day, and perhaps enticing others to follow his example, thus expanding the flying-related database of forecasts vs. realities for various weather sources.


What super-heroes really look forward to when returning to Earth after a long, satisfying flight:

Both Rick and Owen told me essentially the same thing: What they really enjoy after an awesome flight is sharing the experience with friends. Owen prefers to de-brief over an ice-cold beer, "discussing with my fly buddies the highlights and what we could have done differently." Almost as an aside, he adds, "Sometimes I get weird food cravings in flight, typically for something that is incredibly difficult or impossible to find. Like an ice cream bar in the middle of the desert. Recently I had a craving for an ice cream sandwich so badly I had to cut my flight short just so I could stop by a gas station and pick one up. It was worth it…"

Rick, of course, shares his flight stories via the Internet in his post-flight posts. "I'm always looking forward to another good day with more pilots to share the great flying with me."

No flying article would be complete without some flying stories! I'll close with Owen's and Rick's accounts of a few of their most memorable flights.

Owen especially enjoys flying "the aesthetic line—big mountains, glaciers, alpine lakes, all really appeal to me. The Cascades provide unbelievable vistas and are very accessible from Seattle. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest backpacking in a lot of these areas so being able to fly over the same area close to terrain is really special to me." He's laid down some truly impressive flights in eastern Washington, crossing miles and miles of mountainous, roadless wilderness areas. You can see the tracklogs from some of his favorite excursions here: (links?)

When he first learned about flying cross-country, Owen immediately asked if it was possible to fly a paraglider over Snoqualmie Pass from Tiger Mt. The answer he got was, “Yes, you can get BLOWN over the pass, but people rarely do it.” Owen took that as a challenge, and one day (date?) this past spring conditions came together and he set out from Tiger with friends Brian Franklin and Sabrina Krewin; Sabrina landed just short of the summit, but Brian and Owen crossed the pass and landed at Kecheelus Lake, below Rampart Ridge and just east of Snoqualmie Summit. It was, they all agree, "a really special trip!"

In the last couple years, Owen has flown in both the Indian and Nepali Himalayas. "Both Pokhara (Nepal) and Bir (India) offer great flying, easy vol-biv, and comfortable lodging," he says. "While it is a long trip to get to either of these places, it is worth it. World-class flying and the terrain make the Himalayas an area I will visit again." Track logs, or online vids?

Although Rick told me that he doesn't go XC, two of the flights he chose as his most memorable include some elements of cross-country flying. Last April, at the annual Frostbite Festival, he launched his Freedom from Bremer Mountain, and with several other pilots found good lift in leeside thermals that got them high enough to hook into the stronger thermals coming up from the back side of Bremer. "My altimeter ran out of battery when I reached 5000' above launch," Rick recalls, "but my vario just kept screaming so I think I got over 10,000' AGL or more." From that altitude he could see the Morton airport about eight miles away to the east as the glider flies, and another four miles beyond the airport, Dog Mt. He'd lost track of his flying buddies, and he doesn't consider himself an XC pilot, but even so he couldn't resist going for it. He was so high when he reached the airport that the hang rigs parked there offering an easy retrieve didn't even tempt him to go down to land. He flew on, getting about halfway to Dog before finally turning back to the airport, where retrieve driver Mike was still waiting to return him to Area 151, the site of the evening's Frostbite Festivities. Rick received a trophy for this XC venture at the Frostbite award ceremony the next day.

Rick's other unexpected XC flight was last August. Rick thermaled up to about 4500'AGL at Dog Mt., high enough to cross Riffe Lake and soar Elk Mt. Typically it's a bit of a push into the west wind to get to Elk, and then a quick downwind ride back to the reliable lift at Dog, or to Dogpatch LZ. But on this day, Rick "experienced a sudden wind switch due to an oncoming storm, with a strong east that I wasn't able to penetrate even at full speed. It was clear I couldn't make the crossing back to Dogpatch. So, I had to find a bailout spot below Elk to land in, or else I'd end up in the trees or the lake." All his landing practice served him well, and "I had a soft landing without getting wrecked, injured or wet." He adds, "A BIG thanks to Travis for taking quick action to get a boat and come to my rescue at this remote location." Without a radio or a cell phone, and with evening coming on, he'd figured his best option was to land somewhere visible from the Dog side of the lake, where he could signal he was OK, and then begin the long trek on foot around the lake, leaving his glider to be retrieved later. Luckily, Travis's commandeered boat made retrieval of Rick and glider relatively easy. "A guardian angel must've been looking out for me," Rick concludes. All's well that ends well…

A few weeks after his outlanding at the base of Elk, Rick experienced the magic of one of the NW's most spectacular soaring sites: Rampart Ridge. For more than two hours he and a group of hang gliding friends had "the privilege of being surrounded by the magnificent scenery, soaring above the lakes and summits at 8000' MSL." Everyone who's gotten high at Rampart would concur that looking down on those lakes nestled behind the vertical cliff of Rampart Ridge with snow-covered peaks in the distance is one of the "most stunning views in Washington State." Again, Rick's non-stop focus on perfect landing form served him well. Rampart's infamous LZ turbulence left him unscathed but resulted in downtube-crunching touchdowns for several others.

As I mentioned earlier, Rick posts videos of his flights so the rest of us can enjoy or learn from his experiences. His "totally unexpected" XC flight from Bremer to the Morton airport is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3giRI17uJA.

The flight at Rampart ("the most beautiful flying site in Pacific Northwest") is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIARNwu4NG8.

And his "escape from disaster" at Dog Mt., which he admits is "still kind of disturbing when I think about that landing, but the flight was just spectacular" is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nHRgfR-SiU

The takeaway for the rest of us:

It may not have occurred to you that just doing what you love, and doing it well, can be hugely inspirational to your fellow pilots. Rick's posting his flight plans so others can tag along if they wish, and then following up with reports on how the day went, has motivated more than one pilot to get out and join him. And while most of us have neither the skill nor the desire to venture as deep into the mountains as Owen has gone, nonetheless it keeps the "wonder" in this wonderful sport to see where our flimsy craft, in the hands of a skilled pilot, can go.

I've always felt that one of the coolest things about our flying "family" is how we celebrate each other's successes and personal bests, no matter where they fall on the continuum relative to what others have done. Back when email was a new phenomenon, sending out a so-called "gloat post" was a common practice among my flying friends; letting the rest of the gang know who went were and how well (or not) that site was working was just part of our post-flight routine. Rick's emails, and Owen's tracklogs on http://xcfind.paraglide.us/map.html?id=1, have somewhat resurrected that abandoned tradition. I surely am not the only one who enjoys knowing what's been going on in the wide world outside my own little circle of sites and flights. When you've had an interesting flight, or learned something new about a familiar or a new site, consider sharing the story! Some offhand comment or trivial-to-you detail might provide an ah-ha! moment to someone else, transforming you into their super hero, even if only for a few minutes. Who knows what unsuspected powers may lie within each of us?!

3 flights 4 hrs air time at Dog Mt / report on July 1st

3 flights/ 4hrs of air time

Dog Mt worked well all day. I had 3 soaring flights yesterday. Last flight was the best. I got some great glass off session with Mike , Andrey and Gabe last night. I launched at 7:15pm. The northish wind , super buoyant air and plenty thermals above the lake allowed us to have more than two hours air times.  Mike and I landed around 9:30pm. 

2 flights 2.5 hrs/ Weekend flights report Jun 28, 2015

Had some great flights at Glenoma, WA Dog Mt yesterday. (One sled ride /two soarable flights/ total of 2.5 hrs air time).

I arrived at Morton around 9:30am and found the skies overcast with the wind already honking some nice cool temperature. Headed up to launch, I was hoping to get some AM soaring flight with Stas and Shah around 11:00am, however the stormy conditions completely shut down when we arrived launch. Then it turned into being VERY hot and muggy weather with zero wind. I hiked up to launch and still didn't see any improvement, so we took a smooth sled ride down at 1:00pm. Alfredo and Mark Rabe also took a sledders around 2:00pm. Then we took turns to mow Dog Patch (as you can see from photos/ video that our primary landing field is 100% back now). Due to the heat wave, humidity, and zero wind conditions, no one seemed to be in the mood to fly except Mark Rabe and myself. As we headed up to launch for another sled ride, the wind finally arrived producing unlimited soaring condition for us all till sunset..... Shah came up again to join us and three of us had great soaring flights. After 1.5 hrs of air time (topped 600 ft above launch) and being able to cross the lake a few times in a strong head wind, I was pretty satisfied with the outcome of my day. I landed at 6 pm and packed up my gear setting to go home, when approached by Mark about doing another flight. It was hard to resist since we had a driver and the wind was lighter ....so I flew another 45 mins with Mark to end the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1WQCJRGz0A

 

2 flights 4 hrs air tmes on Jun 26th 2015 at Dog Mt

Dog Friday report: 

The good news is lake water go down more and Dog patch is 80% dry now but the bad news is campers are starting to setup there tents at Dog Patch Mowed area that force us to land at the wet tall glass. 

I had two flights yesterday at Dog. The 1st flight was launched at 1pm with Tim and Robin and flew for 2 hrs. I landed at Dog Patch before campers show up.  The 2nd flight was launched at 6:15 and landed at 8:15pm. Flew with Mike, Robin, Kim and Jerry.  Off the tower and Elk again into the buoyant air. The windsock in the Dog Patch switching back and forth and also invaded by campers (tents was setup in the middle of mowed area) so I decided to land at the North field instead. I will return to Dog tomorrow and probably no more room for landing at Dog patch. 

2 flights 4.5 hrs air time/ An amazing glass off flight at Dog Mt 06-20-15

I was debating on going to either Tiger or Dog Mtn yesterday morning and at the last minute, decided to head to Dog instead. A good choice as it turns out, because I just found out Michael's brand new bus (Tiger shuttle) doesn't have a trailer or rack for hang gliders anymore. From now on, all hang pilots will probably need to buy their own gate key to fly Tiger??

Anyway, yesterday was really good at Dog. Firstly, thanks to Larry for mowing the tall grass at Dog Patch to provide the extra room for us all to ensure a safe landing even when there's a lot of campers /cars at the berm. As usual I had two flights; 4.5 hrs total of air time. The 1st flight was launched at 1:00 pm right after Dave L took off. We both got about 500 ft~ 800 ft over launch. Most of the time there was smooth ridge lifts and we landed in the strong west wind winds after 2+ hrs later. I hiked back up again after lunch for the evening glass off flight with about 6 hangs and 2 bags. I launched at 6 pm and flew for 2+ hours at glass off conditions. When the wind switched north around 6:45 pm, the real magic moment started happening. I was boaty between north ridge and radio tower for a while and then saw Larry and Tina got really high at Elk, so I went there to catch up with them. The thermals was much better at Elk than radio tower and the max altitude I got was about 3,000 ft AGL. Larry probably got 4k AGL earlier. You can't see Larry & Tina in my video because they were at least 500 to 800 ft above me. I should have gone to Elk earlier with them instead of Radio Tower. What an amazing day it was!