The strangest part of the day was early on, when Woody and I were the only two pilots up. I wasn't sure what planet I was on! Even after we'd been joined by a handful of other pilots, it was hard to tell who anyone was up there, since everyone was trying out demo wings. For the longest time I thought I was flying downrange with Christopher, until he got close enough for me to see that it was Jorge under his wing.
Thanks to Jorge for taking the cover shot for this story. It looks like Dave's glider but he swears it's mine! Either way it's a classic shot - thanks man!
I forgot to take photos since I was focused on video, but I did get one shot of the overdevelopment that was growing out from Olomana. Dave says that's Kahana sunshine. Or maybe Woody is Kahana sunshine, I'm not sure. Either way it was fun making the most of a marginal day. I was playing with a new instrument that connects to flying apps on my phone using bluetooth, and I'm looking forward to more accurate and better detailed track logs like this one.I think we got at least eight pilots up: me, Woody, Thom, Ike, Jorge, Dave, TommyRD, and Christopher. It was also great to see Joey, Mad Dog, Nova, Allegra and FireJack out there.
2 comments:
Wow was not expecting this read, JJ Jameson has not had to bitch in awhile....unfortunatley.
I personally like glider near the end in the video. The green and black Delta 2 demo that I was under.
I should have never tried that glider, it was awesome, just wished I could have taken it down range to see it's true potential.
I still have it and hopefully we'll get better weather....but not looking too good till next weekish.
Thanks for the log Alex and thanks to Chris 'Paraguide' for the demo's, you really got a winner with the Delta2.
I have to admit the Delta2 was fun to fly, but i already have an Ozone bend anyway.
We definitely had hopes of going far that morning, and with the critical mass of pilots in the air I hoped it would happen.
By the time we were in the air it looked like a different day, with low cloudbase and rain from Maunawili onward. I wasn't even going to go but Jorge and Alex headed that way. It was pretty grim at Puu'okona, but after hanging around for a while, I got popped to 2400' between the clouds. I glided off toward Olomana along the cloud edges. At Thom's favorite place and possibly new house thermal, Rebar City, I caught a nice thermal back to the clouds. With the rain everywhere to my left, I flew over Enchanted Lake. I tanked up again at the water tank behind Leo's place, and headed off on what I thought was an easy glide to Lanikai.
I figured I would try a line on the Bellows side right into the back of the valley at Lanipo. As I approached the ridge I was sinking fast and slowing down. I was looking at arriving low in the back at Lanikai or possibly a ridgetop landing. Not feeling up to it I turned left, I tried to climb in a thermal deep in the lee of Lanikai, but it was too broken up. I glided over the crowded golf course and flew over to friendlier digs at E. Lake Elementary.
As I sat on the bus stop, Steve Phillips passed on his way to lunch and drove back to the now rainy Makapuu.
The way I have been looking at it lately, it is hard to hit it on the perfect days, so I am interested in seeing what can be done on an okay-ish day. The Kahana guys have been going XC on almost any day, I want to see what can be done on the east side. I already have a mental map of where to find good climbs and I am basically running between them trying to extend my game. So get out there and tell me what you find.
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