Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Paper Run

"Come on Parker, I need some content. We ain't gonna sell any papers if I don't get something that's worth reading about." J. J Jameson was spewing in his usual relentless, authoritative tone. Sorry to let your coffee get cold, boss. But, JJJ, I'm not much of a writer. Had a couple of nice and lucky paragliding flights over the past two days. Mostly just piggybacking on some other pilots' coattails.

Day 1, 26 March 2012: I arrived at Kahana late yesterday after Alex, Bill (Flystrong), Thom, Chris (Mad Dog), John, June and Laddie (Alaska) had already been up for some time. Bay crossings had been made and even a couple of 'chronic' runs, so I was hoping to be able to follow suit. I had guessed it must be good since there were no reports in the chatter box, other that Bonnie posting when she saw pilots up over Kualoa ranch.

Got off north launch nicely flying my Axis Venus 2 for a change of pace, and climbed up to see if I could catch the late run across the bay towards Kualoa. Caught a brief rain shower that almost dashed my hopes as John (Duck) headed across. I had to wait a bit longer, since I wasn't all that high when the moisture moved through. Brazilian Ray and Maui Doug had already pointed their wings toward the promised land too, and were exploring those verdant hills and valleys in the distance.

I saw Jeff Mc and Big Mike launch. Thanks to Nikki for waiting and helping out Big Mike. I wasn't able to keep track of Nikki, so missed his entire flight. Jeff Mc opted to land due to the incoming weather, which thankfully didn't end up being nearly as bad as it looked.

Once the wetness passed, I got a super lifty line across. I was on bar going up most of the way and easily made it. Then I finally caught a glimpse of another pilot, Jorge, coming back toward Kahana from Kaaawa valley above me. So I gave him a wave on the way by. Spotted John (Duck) off over the ranch and he was kind enough to wait for me to cross over and join him there.

Once there it wasn't long before we headed toward Maui Doug's kite spot on glide. The air was so buoyant out over the water, it soon became obvious we could go further on, and so we did. Eventually landed at the ball field near Hygienic store. Yeah, boss, a first for me, but an easy one thanks to John's (Duck's) leadership. That was fun, let's do it again soon!

Day 2, 27 March 2012: Well at least today I got a call from Chris (Mad Dog) around 2:15 pm saying he was at Kahana, and conditions were "perfect". I figured by the time I got there, he and Alex would be long gone. I wasn't far off. By the time I got to launch, they had crossed the bay (bastards!!). Woody and Laddie (Alaska) were still playing around locally. Scot was up in his mini hybrid wing too.

Once again, opted to fly my Axis Venus 2, since it had been so good to me just yesterday. Climbed up and was debating trying to cross the bay again, when Chris (Mad Dog) and Alex decided they were going to come back from there and try to do another 'chronic' run. So I decided to join them for the second half of their adventure.

I left Kahana after Mad Dog made it to Punalu'u, and arrived there just a tad higher than him. Alex soon ventured back from the far reaches of his realm to join us there. We were all doing fine over at Punalu'u, but none of us was going to go back up by Sacred Falls, since it was just too windy. Chris (Mad Dog) saw a cloud street off on the horizon that he was sure would be our ticket back to Kahana.

Lucky for us all he was right. We all made it back, with Chris (Mad Dog) pulling off a daring low return (coming in at 500 ft). I followed Alex's line since he seemed to have picked the better route back. We all made it though. Bonnie and Harvey got a late flight in as well, from north launch, while John (Duck) ended up hiking down from regular launch after having some issues with sticks and compression knots at that spot. Erich (Sharky) opted to fly the QLR. Thanks for the grape juice, John, and the beef jerky, Alex.

2 comments:

Thom said...

Jim you can write and better become one of the staff writers here for the "Presidents Log" surely enjoyed the intro and that picture was just too funny.

When I hit refresh this morning I lost half a cup of coffee. Felt like the traffic controller on Top Gun.

Congrats on all the flights you got me beat this week!! A couple of firsts and seems like you got the moth balls out of the Axis too!! She just needed some attention and she'll treat you write.

So you trying for non-jobber status or just second shift.

Thanks Again, my bitching works!!!!!

JJ Jameson

Stalker said...

Love the pics, Jim - and awesome flight - super jealous!

P.S. - Looks like JJJ has a HUGE bottle of pills on his desk - I'm guessing Xanax or Tums? ;)