XC to Fort Payne, AL

Ok, ok, I didnt realize I had so many eager followers of the blog and I'm sorry I have let all of you down - all two of you.

I have been flying a lot the past few days since it's been sunny with warm temps. On Tuesday, I launched off of lookout with teh intentions of flying with James on a XC flight towards the south. I launched and found a good climb in front of the bandit launch. As I centered it and circled up James came under me. He either couldn't get it or gave up to look somewhere else as I climbed up to 6k by myself. After topping out behind launch, I had to decide if I should wait on him or go alone. He looked like he was struggling on the ridge with a few other gliders. Maybe I'm rude, maybe selfish, but I went on glide to the south by myself. Sorry James!

That glide took me over Cloudland Canyon and all the way over no-man's land to the Rising Fawn launch where I was back down to ridge level where I finally found another climb. After gaining a few hundred feet, I noticed a mature bald eagle climbing up from below. 7 or 8 turns later he was closing the gap and had almost caught up to me. As he reached my altitude I lost sight of him for a moment. Then I saw him off my left wing coming towards my nose. 50ft before impact he rolled inverted, stuck is huge yellow talons out at me, and dove away to the South. It was a beautiful interaction.

I found a couple more decent climbs on my way down the ridge and also spotted my bald headed friend again gliding out into the valley. I fell into an area of heavy sink and changed my line to try and avoid it. Soon I was picking places to land. I settled on a nice field with no cattle and had a soft landing just north of Fort Payne, AL.

So I flew about 28 miles. A good little XC flight and the first one for me this year. Sure was fun! Sorry, no pictures.

Work, Dream, Work

I am very fortunate to live where I can fly down a mountain, land in my yard, and continue on with my day. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I remember one day last summer I was working in the shop blowing glass all morning. Around 1:00pm I went to launch and set up. By 1:45 I was in the air and climbing fast towards a nice, flat bottomed cloud. I timed my climb perfectly so that I reached the edge of the cloud and popped out of the side just as I whited out. The temperature was a lot cooler up there than it was down in my shop and I made a point to appreciate it. The long glide back down gave me a chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery this valley has to offer. Finally, I had a great landing back at my house where I went back to work. - total flight time was about 30 minutes.

As I started back on the torch things seemed surreal. Did that really happen? Was I really playing with a cloud 10 minutes ago at 6,000ft? I had just experienced man's oldest dream in the purest form and then casually went back to where I left off. Like I said..... I had to pinch myself...

So I put the Gopro camera on my helmet the other day to see how it worked. Check out the video below. It's not of the flight mentioned above, but it is a sledder down to land at my house. Sorry if you(Ashley) think it's boring.

Recently I sat down and wasted time watching stuff on You Tube. I went through a bunch of videos and have selected a few to share on the blog here - to waste your time as well. Enjoy!

Here is a de Havilland Beaver on floats attempting a take-off.

And another attempt at a landing/take-off.

I strapped the go-pro camera on my RC again yesterday. The conditions were way better with more wind and a nice sunny sky. Everyone put up a good fight with some strong hits every now and then. Mike hit me into the trees once, I took Bob's wing down by slicing off his control horn, and Scott ended up flying himself into the trees halfway down the mountain. We are having way too much fun with pieces of foam and packing tape.

Check out this video. I like it better than the first one and the crashes/landings at the end are fun to watch.

Snowmanster

We had more snow here at Lookout again today. It started this morning and quit around 2:00 leaving 2-3 inches in the field. James, Scott, Ron, Roxy, Sara, and I started pushing around clumps of snow until they got huge. Then we piled them up and created this big, friendly monster. He even has a little mini-me friend on his shoulder. We are making bets as to how long he will last this week. I know that if it's warm and launchable, someone is gonna try to knock that top hat off during landing.

I call her "Woody"

I just got the little hero wide camera the other day and have been anxious to try it out. I hope the still pics it takes will be sharp enough. It has an auto feature that shoots a pic every 2 or 5 seconds. I think that will come in handy for shots like wingovers where timing is everything; and I won't have to push any buttons.

Anyway, yesterday I found a chance to use it on top of my Battlebeast- a 6ft wingspan terror in the sky. It has slain many o' wings, and is feared by all.

The lift was very light so Bob and I had to work for altitude to play with. Not wanting to lose the camera, we opted out of combat and tried some formation flying instead. The lift finally ended and we were both forced to either land on the ramp, or go for the walk of shame. Check it out.

Bored?

A couple of weeks ago it snowed a bit and we got out to play in it. For the first time ever, we mixed aviation and snowboarding here at the flightpark. Check out the short video of the fun.


Speaking of the snow, check out this weather man freaking out on TV while giving the weather report. It may be time for a vacation.

And while we are looking at videos, check out this illusion.

I thought this was a cool shot. and this one too.

Here is Alex Trebek laughing at a contestant on Jeopardy.

Thanks to Scott for turning me on to wimp.com. Good stuff! He is one cool dude.

High Speed Pass

Scott took this video of me landing the other day. Sure was fun!

Yea mon

Last week, Ashley and I dropped the kids with Grandma and headed down to Jamaica to visit with Jesse. It was great to see him, not to mention getting away from the cold and enjoying sunrise swims in the ocean. This was my first time out of the country so experiencing the culture was my favorite part. We stayed with a family near Treasure Beach on the south part of the island, away from all the tourist attractions. Most of the population in this area are rasta "bredren". Even though I don't consider myself a rastafarian, I do embrace their beliefs and had great connections with so many.
One day, I was sitting on the porch sketching on a pad and a guy called Kingcheck came by selling fruit. He saw my sketch and asked if I could draw him. I chuckled and told him that I could try, but I usually don't draw people. Our accents made conversation difficult so we mostly sat while I sketched. After about 1o minutes I showed him the picture and he requested that I draw in the shoulders and add his name. I think he liked it. He walked over to his cart and pulled out a bag of peanuts and handed them to me. We each said thanks and he went on his way. I remember a really good feeling over me, and then I realized that now I really do work for peanuts.

Lookout! Snow and Ice

We had a few inches of snow last week here in north Georgia. The clouds finally moved out on Sunday (my birthday) so I went for a nice sledder over the ice covered trees.

Getting cold feet

I flew again yesterday and was able to hold on to a thermal that took me 1,400 over launch. Dean is back and flying again and climbed up with me. After getting a little cold I decided to trade my hard earned altitude for a bit of high speed fun. Buzzing by launch and then zig zagging my way down the mountain just over the trees was exhilarating. Down near the LZ I decided to do a run across the puddle. Jesse and Pablo were down there inviting me with cameras.

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.

Flight on 1-19-10 (cows and pigs)

Tuesday was quite warm - 61 degrees -and I got excited about flying. Lucas and I went up to the Bandit launch setting up in a moderate SW cross but there were decent cycles. I launched first and found some lift just south of the ramp. The wind chopped it up but it was workable. I was excited as this was my first thermal in a long while; couple months maybe.

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!

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.

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....

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

Waiting for a tug in south Florida

Enjoying the view in southern Arizona

Chasing Jeff Obrien towards a nice storm in Texas.

Oil rigs in Texas