Friday, February 12, 2010
Yea mon
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Lookout! Snow and Ice
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Getting cold feet

What an awesome flight! The air was so smooth which made for nice, predictable maneuvering. I love days like this. Check out the short video of the landing.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Flight on 1-19-10 (cows and pigs)

I got over the ridge after a bit then Lucas launched joining me. After working 15-20 minutes we had gained about 700 ft over launch and I went out in the valley. I guess the excitement of working that thermal overtook me and I found myself flying towards Trenton with the intention of going for a little XC flight. (from 700 over :)) After hitting a thin, useless piece of lift over the high school I picked the field across the highway to land in.
After landing, 3 or 4 police cars started whizzing around getting ready to intercept me as I walked toward the fence. The excitement built as more people stopped to ask if I was OK and if I had crashed. I assured them that I was fine as I began breaking down my glider.The landowner was really friendly and told me the cattle and 1 bull in the field might be curious about me; soon they were sniffing my glider and harness looking for my snack bar inside. After a while Bob and Scott showed up to get my glider and me out of the mud and back home.
It's funny how sometimes a 3 mile XC flight can be one of those that will stick in your head forever. Hang gliding life is incredible!

Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone. John C, Scott, James(staples) and I decided to brave the below freezing temps for a good old New Years Day flight. Scott, James and I took off towards the point in Chattanooga. Solid ridge lift made getting there and back a breeze. It was a lot of fun and I can't think if any better way to bring in a new decade than by a cold, scenic cross-county flight with my buds. Check out the flight in the video below. The LZ got a little switchy on us while landing, but everyone pulled it off with style.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
More from the vault
My "anonymous" buddy Scott complained a bit about the fact that I don't post enough on the ole' blog. So, I decided to put up some more pics from the vault. The first one is of Scott and was taken just after his first successful paraglider tree landing. Be sure and check out his new blog at http://paint2fly.blogspot.com/
Having fun with the shutter speed and a keychain light.
The hard part is over...
This is probably the grossest tatt I've ever seen (not mine)
A shot from the new bird.
Lift-off of a new rocket with my oldest son.
Running under low, thick clouds on my way to the point in Chattanooga.
Poor feller....




Sunday, December 20, 2009
Come to a Comp!
I have posted a link to the U.S. competitions and dates to the right of this posts, check it out. To me, a hang gliding comp is the ultimate adventure. Flying XC over beautiful, foreign landscapes and then getting a ride back to your hotel is something else. Meeting the best pilots in the country/world and getting to fly with them is invaluable and can teach you more in one week than in a whole year of regular flying. I was very intimidated by comps before I attended my first one but if you are a decent spot lander, can aerotow well, and can keep your wits about you, you will do fine and fly safe. Most places I have flown in competition have more/larger cross-country LZ's than my local sites do. If you like XC flying, this is for you.
Let me know if you are interested in going with me, the more the merrier. Most of them are adding a sport class category. Here are a few shots I have taken during some competitions.
Lake in west Texas
Let me know if you are interested in going with me, the more the merrier. Most of them are adding a sport class category. Here are a few shots I have taken during some competitions.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Latest Scultpures
Sunday, November 22, 2009
New Wing

Thursday I went back to the top around 1:30pm for another flight. There were light winds and a nice crowd on launch, maybe 8 - 10 gliders. I launched first and found a decent wintertime thermal that, once above the ridge, turned on quite nicely and took me 2,400 over launch. Then I cruised out into the valley to play with the VG and test the speed range of the new beast.

After playing a while I went back to find Lucas, Carl, Scott, and others in the air. Twirling around low in a thermal with Scott sure was fun. It reminded me of other "good ole days". After about an hour I was ready to land and headed down to the LZ. Landing the T2C was just as predictable as flying it. Again, the roll response stays good all the way through the stall.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
T2 144 For Sale
This is a GREAT flying glider! Previously owned and well cared for by Terry Presley, it is now on loan to me while I wait on my new wing to arrive from Wills Wing. It is in excellent shape with 50-75 hours on it. The sail is still "crispy" when you roll it up. Asking price is $4,000 o.b.o. Leave a comment if you are interested. Thanks.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Flying 10-28-2009
I have been working on a new airplane lately and just finished it the other night. With no wind yesterday morning I decided to have the test flight. It flew great. The only adjustment needed was to dial down the expo on the elevator as it was way too touchy in the middle. It was designed for a 125 sized engine but I squeezed in a Saito 150 so the vertical performance is endless. I was able to hover it at about 1/3 throttle. Thanks to Scott for helping out. Here he is trying to cut his finger off.
After wiping down the plane and getting it back home, I ate some lunch and went to set up Terry's glider for a flight. I am flying this wing as a loner until my new T2C arrives from Wills Wing. It should get here in about 2 more weeks and I can't wait.

I mounted my Nikon camera to a boom on my downtube and tried to capture the beauty of the fall leaves here at the flightpark. On the first flight I set up the camera, tested it, then took off for a 30+ minute flight taking a lot of pictures only to land and realize that the camera had turned itself off and I had NONE. I messed with the settings until I figured out the problem and then towed back up. This time the flight was quite a bit shorter but at least the camera worked.
It's hard to tell but I don't think the leaves have peaked here yet. I plan on flying again today and I want to try a mount on the wing where the side-wire goes in.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Back to Work
Monday, October 5, 2009
Team Challenge 2009
When I pulled in the drive at launch, there was a group of 10-15 pilots walking around with their GPS's simulating a route. Terrific mentors like Dennis Pagen, Mike Barber, Ollie Gregory, Tom Lanning, and more shared their knowledge and filled the heads of the hungry pilots. Aside from the GPS course, there were seminars on weather, thermaling, XC flying, launching, landing, and much more.
I missed the first couple of days but understand pilots had great flights on Sunday with many "C" pilots in goal. Tuesday was blown out but then Wednesday was launchable. Light lift made things difficult. I found a climb over the 111 overlook that took me to 1,500ft over launch. I was a "free flyer" during the week and found it a nice change of pace from my previous week's racing in AZ.
Thursday the wind was forecast S to SW so we decided to go to Whitwell to launch. I wanted to launch early because I was afraid of the winds going more SW later; not good for Whitwell. Soon after launch and heading north, I found an ugly, broken climb that finally turned on over the ridge. This took me up to about 2,000ft over launch where I could cruise around. Turns out that thermal stayed there all day. Anytime I got low from searching around, I would run back there and get up again. It's fun when it's predictable. Some competitors made it down the valley and some went to land at the church. Overall, everyone had great landings. Nice job Fly-n-Bryon for making goal!
The next two days were called for weather. Friday it rained a bit and Saturday was blown out. Saturday night we had a party with DJ, karaoke, BBQ dinner, beer, awards, and tons of fun. Ricker came through with amazing help from sponsers and had many prizes to give out. Nobody left empty handed.
So, another good Team Challenge went down. It's hard to believe that these work so well, especially with no meet director. It takes many people and a lot of time to get things ready for the week, but I really appreciate Ollie Gregory and the tremendous amount of volunteer work he does for the comp. He is clearly the grease in the works.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)