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.
There was a total of 11 hangs that flew Rampart yesterday. Never was there a dull moment with the gorgeous view and so grateful to be flying once again in such wonderful conditions.
PS. A special thanks to Alfredo for coming out to shuttle for us. Hope you'll get to fly Rampart soon.
David Norwood memorial Fly-In 2014
Baldy Butte, located between Ellensburg and Yakima, Washington. I had three flights at Baldy on Fri and Sat (Sept 26-27-2014). A few photos captured from my cam here to sharing and I'll post videos later when I have time. Just another fantastic flying weekend again!
Day 1 (09-26-14 Friday)
I arrived Baldy LZ at 2pm and took a ride up to launch with Peter, Daniel (the hang pilot from Israel) and Dave (PG pilot) around 3pm and found SW wind coming from the back about 0-3 mph. PG pilot Dave launched in the south side and he was able to made it around to the north side and landed at the campsite LZ. While I was setting up, the wind shifted to NW so I launched at the north side lower ridge with light breeze cycles. I expected a sled ride down to the LZ however I flew in to few bumps that let me to soared the ridge a little bit to extended my sledder. Peter flew his paraglide after me, while Daniel decided to drive down, so I ended up being the only hang in the air for the day.
Day 2 (09-27-14 Saturday)
Woke up to beautiful blue sky and sunshine. Light north breeze about 0-3mph at the LZ campsite. Travis and I, along with a few groups of paragliders headed up to launch (around 10am) in hopes to take an early sledder. When we arrived at launch, the winds were blowing 15-20mph straight up. By the time we were ready to launch (11am) the wind calm down a bit (15mph). We managed to launch ourselves without wire assistance and easily climbed straight up a few hundred ft above launch. The conditions allowed us to boat from the front to the back of the entire ridge. We also caught some thermals and rode up to 1200' ft above launch enjoying the scenery. An hour later Peter (tandem) and Jim S join us in the air. It was supposedly a sledder but turned out being a 2 hr long flight for both Travis and I. Just a great start to the day!
I saw Tim C loading up with 2 other hangs right after I landed. Later in the day, most paragliders decided to not fly, as the wind's velocity at launch seemed to be increasing. Travis and I took a lunch break and headed up again around 3:30pm. Conditions still remained strong at launch and I didn't see anyone flying in the sky. A lot of paragliders were still waiting at the lower launch. Travis and I punched off at 5pm in similar strong wind condition as earlier. After 45 mins boating around the ridge, things mellowed out and many paragliders started to join us. I flew for one hour plus than headed to the LZ to avoid air traffic. The conditions began to die down by 6:30pm with some sinking out while others PGs struggled to stay up.
I went to Mt Baldy (15 miles south of Ellensburg Washington) on Sept 26-27,2014 for the annual Fly-In. I had three flights at Baldy on Fri and Sat and one great flight at Rampart on Sunday. This is a day 3 video at Rampart.
Day 3 (09-28-14 Sunday) Travis and l met up the hangs group at Rampart around 11:00am. We arrived launch approx 12:30pm and found the conditions not so nice, mostly dead or light breeze blowing from the back. Therefore, most of us decided to launch from the higher spot which is the paraglider launch instead. There have a lot of PGs at the higher launch sharing the setup area with us, all workout fine. Launching from the new spot it seems like flying a new site to me. I found a nice thermal on the right side of the launch that took me straight up to 1000 ft above launch. It since like there have a lot of small lifts and sinks in between so I didn’t go too far north this time. I flew for almost an hour and began to sink out. The air in the LZ mostly smooth and clam this time so we all landed without incident or whack.
The below link is Mt baldy Fly-in video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpz60dwaCJM
Five of us (Ray, Kory, Jeff H, Neil) had a great flight at Cliffside on Saturday (9/20/14). I managed to stay up for over 3 hours and it was fun cruising above the windmills. The higher altitude topped out at about 4800ft AGL.
On Sunday (9/21/14), I went back to Dog and flew with about a dozen pilot. Everyone had no problem getting above launch and staying up as long as desired. I landed 3 hrs later right on the target to end this awesome weekend.
On Sunday (9/21/14), I went back to Dog and flew with about a dozen pilot. Everyone had no problem getting above launch and staying up as long as desired. I landed 3 hrs later right on the target to end this awesome weekend.
Over the weekend(Sept 7,2014), I visited an incredible site known as Rampart Ridge which is near the city of Snoqualmie Pass, WA (1.5 hours drive east of Seattle). I joined a group of hang gliding friends and there I was able to experience yet another memorable flight. In my 2+hrs of soaring, I had the privilege of being surrounded by the magnificent scenery and cascades above the summits at 8,000 ft (2,500 meter) sea level. This place has got the most stunning view in Washington States. Getting an epic view and flight makes it all the worthwhile of the extra hrs of driving.
I ended it with a good landing, but it was not the case for a few pilots who had a bad whack due to the rotor turbulence from Mount Hyak on the west side of the landing field.
Some scary moment at Dog Mountain (Aug 24,2014 report) :
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I 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, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
The 1 of 2 video http://youtu.be/8ACT6IXXwoQ is another video from the same flight (Aug 24th 2014) before wind switch 180" from east. It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
This is 1 of 2 video from yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) before wind switch 180" from east. You can go to 2 of 2 video link http://youtu.be/-nHRgfR-SiU to watch how I escape from disaster
So sorry for causing everyone to worry about me yesterday (Aug 24th 2014) at Dog Mtn (Glenoma, Washington). To keep the story short, I got up high (approx 4500FT AGL) at Dog Mt. and went across the lake over to Elk Mtn tried to stay away from the storm and got even higher when I reached Elk. At some point I 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, while trying to return back to the Dogpatch landing field. So, I decided to pick a very unfriendly BAILOUT spot to land rather than end up in the trees or water. Luckily, I had a soft landing without getting wrack, injured and wet.
A BIG thanks to Travis again in taking quick action retrieving a boat that came to my rescue at this remote location.
It was smooth air during the whole flight and one thermal took me, Lenny and Marty straight up to cloud base. I should have followed Tina and Larry landing before the gust front rolled in from east.
Some people have asked if this was my best option, or if I should've gone tailwind and fly further out east? Well, when I was still around 4000ft AGL I did realize that flying in strong headwind will possibly lead to not making it back to Dog LZ . At that time, I did consider going downwind too, but didn't feel conformable heading inside the gust front clouds with zero visibility. Also, I didn't have a cell phone or radio on me and it was getting late (around 6:30pm at that time). If I had gone further down, it's possible that I might end up in some unreachable area setting me in deeper trouble. I also tried heading north flying in cross winds to the other side, but it was a long way crossing the lake from where I was.
So, I pretty much made up my mind that my best option would be to land at the shoreline. At least people at Dog patch would be able to see me and increase my chance of rescue. It did cross my mind whether anyone took notice to where I land. If I wasn't noticed, I had the plans of looking for the road on top of the shoreline during my descension period and taking that old road to walk back to Dog if I made a successful landing. That was my plan if I didn't get rescued, to be able to walk back to Dog and retrieve the glider the next day.
Anyways, I'm not sure if it was my best option, but certainly one that I felt most comfortable with and probably will do the same thing again should this event be repeated in my "DREAM". I hope no one would need to go through what I did yesterday. The outcome could've been much worse. I'm sure a guardian angel was looking after me.
