Dreaming Awake

David Aldrich is producing a movie about hang gliding. Here's the URL for the teaser. http://vimeo.com/20775072

Flying Whale at Villa Grove

We've had spectacular flights all though July at Villa Grove. I finally got my first ride at Whale, an east facing launch at 12,200 ft agl. Larry and I both launched in the morning as this was his last flight prior to his neck surgery. The road up is rough to say the least but the scenery is spectacular.

First Flight in my New CG-1000

Nice harness. I laid in it at Mark Windsheimer's Airtime Above Hang Gliding sail loft and found it to be really comfortable. My first flight, I launched off Villa, zipped up and climbed up through smooth lift to 12,400ft agl. The harness was comfortable and the back plate slider mechanism was very smooth and easy to use. All is good. I turned NW to head toward Whale Mtn and felt some cold air making it's way into my legs at the top of the harness boot. I pulled the zipper cord again and the zipper slider split into two pieces and opened up completely. I climbed above and away from the Sangre De Cristos, let go of the glider and started fumbling with the zipper to see if I could fix it, but after several minutes it was clear the boot zipper experienced a total failure and the harness would remain open with no support for my legs for the rest of my flight. I turnd back toward Villa Grove and decided to prepare to land.

After landing it was clear the zipper slider broke in two at the junction of the upper and lower pieces. Mark examined the broken slider and will replace it and make a small modification to pull cord that will make the whole mechanism smoother. These changes will be incorporated into new CG-1000 harness as they are developed.

The failed zipper slider was frustrating, but much like a broken zipper on a winter jacket, was easily replaced and not indicative of the harness itself. The workmanship, attention to detail, fit and finish of the CG-1000 is top notch and I highly recommend this harness to any recreational XC pilot wanting a single dangle harness.

Catching Up

This year has been great at Villa. There have been a few times I've driven up to launch and didn't fly. But everytime I ran off that rock this year I've soared. It's been a great spring and early summer and Villa has delivered BIG!

Did a short XC almost to Crestone but couldn't get around the corner at MT Gibson to the Crestone Bowl. After flying back several miles it was clear I wasn't going to make it back to Villa and comitted to landing out. I came out over the San Luis Valley to what looked like a road from above but turned out to be two tire tracks through the desert. Landing conditions were good and I landed and parked my glider on a nice flat spot near the "road." The sun had set and I couldn't raise anyone on the radio and started to prepare a camp site under my glider when Grant F. saved the day. He responded to my radio transmissions and relayed my landing position to Larry at Villa who came and saved me from a long night in the desert. Sweeeeet!!

Villa Opener March 18 2011

First flights of 2011 at Villa - Matt, Dean and myself. The road was mostly dry with a short section of snow near the top. Launch was dry. Perfect! Especially for March. Conditions were good although it got pretty strong after we were up. Wind velocity picked up and large areas of moderate lift made for a fun but sometimes "exciting" day. Two F-16 fighters flew by us. Don't know who was more surprised, us or them. Dean took some video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niJA5MXN7bc

My Time Is My Own - NOT

After 30 years with NOAA I finally left and moved to So Central Colorado. Larry Smith (Villa Grove - http://www.rmhpa.org/site_guide/villa.htm) is keeping me busy. We gotta get his rigid back together so he can get back into flying... and get ME back into flying ;-)

Benching Up at Williams

Catching up on video editing. Here's one from Williams last summer.
http://vimeo.com/13140207