Out of the ten or so pilots that were there, six of us soared in strong cross conditions that grew stronger and more westerly. Most us stayed low, especially me in my trusty old full sized Icepeak 6, but Maui Doug scratched the top of the ceiling in his little Freestyle later on. Jorge braved the top landing a few times in his acro wing, while the rest of us landed below at the beach. Two less fortunate souls splashed into the surf, distracted by the sight of a voluptuous siren sunbathing nude in her own roped off area of the beach. Sorry for the wet gear guys! But good job avoiding the object of your fixation! Diamond Head is a harsh mistress, notorious for her diabolical habit of exacting penance for the fun we have there.
It was great to see Drew out there flying Allegra's 17m Zero for his first Diamond Head flight, and to see Thom flying his new 19m Zero for the first time. We were also glad to confirm that Jeff's amazing waterproof phone really is waterproof. And we enjoyed the sight of Dave sporting his fire captain uniform, as his truck dropped him off briefly to check out the excitement.
After the wind cranked up too strong and too westerly, we all hung out way longer than necessary to take in the natural beauty of our surroundings, first at the park and later at the market and grill.
I invite my compatriots to elaborate or embroider more details in the comments. And if anyone else has pictures or videos please share them. Here’s to more fun Mondays like that, and to dry landings for all of us!
1 comment:
My first attempt at a launch, I was heavy in the brakes as observed by the gallery and ended up just above the railing, dropping my wing in some of those dastardly thorny trees.
My second launch went much better and my virgin flight on a 19 meter was interesting. After cruising the light house with a Coasty taking my picture from the Admirals grass and the lighthouse lanai, I decided to land.
Jeff had informed me how quick these buggers sink when turning so I made sure I left enough height for turns.
There was a monk seal hogging the first strip of land. Bathers lined the beach to the sidewalk. 2 cuties were smack dab in the middle of the next area, leaving me butt crack beach. Thankfully it was vacant. Until a famiy started trudging across, so I had to grab some more up to delay my landing.
I grabbed some alright, actually it grabbed me and took me across the road. With less eleveation than I like being over there I got on bar which didn't seem to do much. Made it back across and landed where no man should ever land...but today it was crack free, just say'n.
Long slog back to the trail head was eased by the air time and coming upon the two cuties made it seem less of a hardship.
Thanks for the rally, this flight may have to hold me for a few days.
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