It seemed like an ordinary Sunday, I drove to Makapuu to find Nick assymetric spiralling down to a landing, he saw me off Crazy's and headed off. The conditions were moderate and I was just feeling like a relaxing flight, so I buzzed around hoping the clouds would lift so I might venture downrange.
I could hear on the radio Don, Russell and the gang down in Hauula and Reaper back at Kahana. I was thinking it might be fun to fly there, but cloudbase only went from 1800' to 2200' in the hour or so I was airborne, hardly enough for a downranger in fairly strong conditions. I got cold and went in and landed.
Once warmed up at the LZ, I got to thinking that my flying was getting a bit stale, with nothing too new lately. So I decided that I would work on my stalls and spins in order to progress ultimately to helicopters. I also realized that I had never actually stalled the G-Force, which at 18m2 is quite dynamic.
So I fly out over Black Island and stall the glider at about 1200', it stalls easily enough but everytime I attempt an exit it shoots out diagnally and starts to spin, so about on my fourth attempted exit, and about 600' were are flying normally again. Not pretty but I didn't get wet either.
I fly back to the hill to lick my wounds, or count my blessings, and ponder what I was doing wrong, I decide that I am over controlling such a sensitive little glider. Out I go again to put the demons to rest. At 1400' and even further out I stall the glider and get it out on the first try, so I stall it again and do it right again, let out a shout and even do a little victory SAT.
I figure I got them out first crack, but more on luck than on a sense of control, so even though it is getting late I figure I will go one more time. I have to admit that I actually enjoy flailing around up there, though slightly frustrated that I haven't got the exit to feel right.
So at 1100' and not so far out I stall it again, I try to exit and the glider shoots out diagnally and starts to spin, I stall it again to keep it from really getting bad and exit again. Needless to say at least two times when it shoots it looks like I will fly off only to collapse and send me spinning the other way. So after six or seven attempts and no exit I start to seriously consider the parachute as the water is now a lot closer.
I think I try two more spinning exits until I can't ignore the water much longer. I actually contemplate going into the water like this, but decide against it. I pass my right brake to my left hand and reach down and yank the handle, I look down and there is that bright yellow parachute hanging below me, up it goes on my right side, I pull in my right arm so it doesn't snag on the bridle, and "poof" we have a nice parachute. I look back at my glider and it a going around in kind of a low pressure SAT, except for the fact that is flying backwards. I yank on some back lines and the glider arcs down underneath me fully inflated, but before it climbs back up it collapses and I am blasted with colored spaghetti from below. The lines trying to cinch up around my feet bother me most since I will be swimming momentarily.
Into the water I splash down, forty yards from the edge of the rocks in front of the tide pools by the LZ. The parachute is still inflated and pulling me gently up the rocks, the problem is the glider behind me is starting to snag the coral heads. I climb my bridle and pull down the apex to kill the parachute for good. I unzip my chect pocket to see if my cellphone is still working to call of the fire guys, I stand up on a coral head and pump two fists in the air to cheers from the thirty or so people on the beach, and to get the message across that I am okay and don't need Fire.
Being in the surf now I figure I should probably get out of the harness, and now the glider is really starting to snag so I disconnect the risers. I start hauling that wet mess up onto the rocks and Nightshift's buddy Darrell walks out on the reef to give me a hand. Shortly after Billy, from Kaneohe, strolls out with three beers and insists I must drink to my good fortune. Thanks Billy. We get the mess back to the parking lot and I fetch my van from Crazy's and take it all to the pool.
I have a rip in the glider and snapped a few lines. Ruined another cellphone. As for myself, not a scratch. The thing is I never felt any panic, just perfect focus, I almost enjoyed the ride.
Someone let me know who to go for for quality glider repairs as the G-force needs some TLC.
I was talking to my friend Tracy, a fireman, tonight. He reminded me that I told him yesterday that that if they get a call for a paraglider in the water at Makapuu than it is probably me. I guess my sense of humor gets the best of me sometimes. Enjoy.
To celebrate the final passing of the high pressure and howling winds, scores of pilots took to the skies and flew between showers over the last four days at Kahana and Makapuu. I was shuttling the kids around on all four days, but somehow I still managed to join the Kahana crew for some great flights on all four days. Here is my brief account of each day, along with lots of fun pictures (courtesy of Jim, Nick, Scrappy and Russell).
On Thursday I flew early with Don, and as a wide band of squalls marched into the bay, I fled downrange to Hauula while Don landed at Kahana to grab his truck and retrieve me. Thanks, Don! I picked the kids up from school and on the way home we stopped by to see One-eye, Christine, and Portland Paul flying the late shift.
On Friday, I spent most of the day at Amelia's May Day celebration, but after bringing the kids home from school I dropped them off with Dorothy's parents and scrambled out to join the north ridge crew at Kahana: McStalker, One-eye, Christine, Steve, Bill. I had to work very hard to get up and get high enough in the lightest of north conditions, but I was rewarded with a lucky bay crossing to Kaaawa. I heard Maui Paul flew with the guys out at Makapuu, and Dave demoed the M2 with a flight out and back to Lanikai. Jimmy entertained the guys out there with a demonstration of speed-riding from Cactus in a 10 square meter Ozone Bullet.
On Saturday, Scrappy started the flying day early with a sweet sunrise flight at Makapuu. I spent the morning ice skating with the kids at a birthday party for Amelia's classmate, and after that Amelia and I hiked up to watch Peter, Portland Paul and One-eye launch the north ridge at Kahana. We saw Peter make it across the bay to Kaaawa in the demo M2 from Chris. Nice! I threw Amelia onto my back for a quick piggyback ride down to the trailhead where Dorothy picked her up, and I ran back up with my wing for a flight. I tried several times to follow Peter across the bay, but the window of opportunity seemed to be firmly closed. Great flight Peter!
Over a dozen pilots flew over the course of the day. Nick took some great pictures and video. We met Berendt, a local pilot who learned to fly in the old days (1990) but hasn't flown in quite a while. He enjoyed a very nice first flight at Kahana. Pete's new student Nicky also enjoyed her first tandem flight there. Bob treated Peter's friend Kat to a brief tandem flight as well. Nightshift closed down the day flying just ahead of a hurricane-sized squall - we named it Amelia.
Sunday started with squalls up and down the windward coast. You didn't fly Sunday morning if you weren't dodging squalls. Over twenty pilots flew at Kahana over the course of the day (and I'm told at least five flew at Makapuu too). Rich got his first high flight (on his second attempt - the first was foiled by a rubber tree). Thom was there for a while and kited Don's old relic at the LZ. Reaper showed up and flew a tandem with his new student Diamond Head Doug. It was nice to see Eric and Cliff out there too! I heard Skydive Chris came out to fly but somehow I totally missed him - maybe he showed up for quickie while we were downrange: Russell was kind enough to lead me and Don to Pounders. But once again Russell turned back and landed just short on the Hauula side of the rock -- he must have unpaid parking tickets in Laie or something.
I also see that Dave posted a cryptic comment about excitement at Makapuu on Sunday - I'm always interested to hear another exciting story from Dave - let's hear the story!
I’d always hoped my first article here would have been about some epic day of flying, but things don’t always go as you’d like them to. Believe me, I would really have rather just forgotten about my Easter Sunday flight and pushed forward, but Alex and Ray prodded me a bit, and of course they’re right . . . if others might benefit from my near disaster then that’s a good thing. I know I appreciated Christine's and Alex’s earlier articles, so . . . here goes.
It was a typical day at Kahana. I hiked up with Scot, One-Eye Jim, and Deutsch Marc (Nickname credit: Scot), followed shortly by Alex and Ray. I had a solid flight. It was one of those where you kind of feel like all the pieces are finally coming together. I was really happy with the launch, flight, and landing. After landing the rain clouds moved in, so we took lunch at Uncle Bobo’s to wait it out.
Afterward Alex rallied the troops for another flight. I had never done two flights in a day and was feeling pretty good about things. I felt another flight like the first would really be confidence boost. So I eagerly hit the trail again. I set up on high launch with Scot set up just below me. Alex launched lower and was scratching around in light conditions, eventually top landing at low launch. The wind conditions had definitely dropped off since our earlier flights. I was eager and feeling confident though. I thought I had a decent chance of getting up from high launch.
Since I was ready and chomping at the bit Scott offered to let me go first. I popped the wing up partially and then aborted. The right side rolled over on the left. I climbed up and spread it out again. Ray had arrived by this time. I pulled up again and as I turned I heard Ray yell. But it was too late . . . I was on my way. Ray immediately came on the radio and was telling me “Go right, go right”, “Right? . . . the lift is left”. I felt the wing start to turn left. Ray was saying “Just fly the wing”. Something is wrong here. I looked up right. Nothing wrong there. I looked up left. Ah . . . there’s the problem.
I didn’t know exactly what the problem was, but the wing didn’t look right . . . and . . . well . . . I was heading for the beach. I weight shifted right and the wing steered right. As I aimed for the beach, I thought to myself, “Well I’m on my way there I should at least somewhat attempt to try and fix whatever was wrong.” I once saw Jimmy clear some branches from his wing over the beach at Crazy’s by pumping the brake several times. So I tried that. I pumped a few times. About this time I noticed that I probably wasn’t going to make the beach. But that’s okay, I’ve seen people go down in the trees before, that’s not so bad . . . there are worse things between launch and the beach, powerlines, highway, rocks, water . . . yeah, trees are okay.
I pumped again. The wing started turning left slow but strong. It turned 180 degrees, I weight shifted hard right. Ray called on the radio “Hands up!!! No brakes!!!” I put my hands up. It was too late. As I heard him say “Your going to stall” I went into a negative spin, as I was going around and around I remember thinking “Well buddy, you’re definitely going in the trees now . . . but that’s alright . . . the trees are alright”. Then I went into a full stall. As I dropped horizontally I only had time for one more thought, “Oh boy . . . this is going to hurt” Crack!!! I was still totally surprised with the violence in which I hit the tree with the back of my head . . . it broke the branch and broke my fall to the ground . . . and then it was over.
I was okay and on the radio before I could even tell if I was really completely okay. With the exception of my neck everything seemed fine, and even the neck, well . . . thankfully it wasn’t broken . . . I could turn it left and right. It was just very sore, especially looking down. Alex was at low launch and his radio wasn’t working. He had only witnessed the last dramatic part so he came bombing through the bushes to help within less than a minute of my plunge into the trees. He helped me get my wing out and back up to low launch and we even discussed a sledder to the beach, but it was killing my neck to just trying shut off my “friggin beeping friggin vario”. I still wasn’t sure if I might be needing a doctor or not and I could just see me trying to explain to him why after falling out of the sky I decided to fly again. Sometimes when things go wrong the keep going wrong, so there would be other days to “get back on the horse”.
Obviously there were a number of mistakes I made. Things I would have done differently?
Number 1: Avoid the compression knot. I was too eager setting up and didn’t check the lines again after it rolled over. I also focused too much on bringing the wing up stable and controlled and didn’t notice the knot. No compression knot. No problem.
Number 2: I shouldn’t have used the brake. I should have just weight shifted to the beach. I may have actually made it. My glide judgement isn’t perfect. Perhaps another right turn to a top landing might have been and option, but I’ve been advised the beach is the better choice.
Number 3: I should have been checked out by a doctor. Like Russell mentioned to me, sometimes you have swelling or internal bleeding that doesn’t show up right away. Better safe than sorry.
So I had two weeks of rehab and high winds to dwell on it all. Finally it was time to get back on the horse (no, not heroin). First flight was a quick turn and back to the beach. I gave up way too easy, maybe I was still a little spooked. Second flight, scratched, almost got up, but bombed out. Finally after the third hike I got up and thus avoiding bombing out from all three launches all in the same day. The next day followed with another solid flight.
Thanks very much to Alex and Ray for their help on the hill and Scot and Jim for their advice back on the beach. Any other comments and criticisms are welcome. I can take. If it’s going to help make me a better pilot, bring it on. I was lucky and I know it. Giddyup!!!
The interminable howling tradewinds abated for a brief weekend of lovely weather. Over twenty of Oahu's finest pilots flew in nice light conditions at Kahana over the course of both days. Five fantastic cross country trips originated there (including Russell's first trip to Kualoa - hooray!). We all enjoyed hours of heroic hiking, loads of launches and landings, scads of stellar scratching, and several super spirals (and possibly other more exotic maneuvers).
Ray took a bunch of nice pictures on our cross country flight on Saturday. It was fun flying alongside him in my newly repaired M4 - Ray's new comp wing is a great performer, but I have a little better chance to keep up with him on my new wing, compared to how he had been stomping me the last few weeks while I was flying my old clunker.
At Makapuu on Sunday, the gale force gurus got an unsuspecting visitor in over his head - or at least over the back, and Quentin followed him over in his brand new M4 to lend moral support. Dave said that when Juan first saw the launch at Crazies, without even knowing what we call the place, his first comment was: CRAZY. Dave assumed he meant the launch, but I suspect he meant to describe the pilots that use it. Welcome to the loony bin!
The daily schedule has now been posted at the Rat Race website here. This is probably a good time to get our travel plans finalized. The Britt Festivals will be happening at the same time this year and things will get booked up between the paragliders and the festival attendees.
Here are the plans I'm aware of so far:
Ray is planning to fly into Oakland and drive up from there, and will be arriving Thursday or Friday sometime, I think. I am arriving with Bob and Quentin on Friday night at the Medford airport. Don will be doing his usual standby flying into Medford. It would be great if we get the time (and nice weather) to go for a warm-up flight on Saturday before registering and taking the GPS class and going to the dinner.
As for vehicles, Ray will have a car to drive up from Oakland, and Bob and I will probably rent one from Medford to share. RVC will probably have one as well, and Reaper might have his Bronco again.
As for lodging, Quentin and RVC will be staying at the Stage Lodge in Jacksonville. Bob, Ray, Don and I will be accepting the hospitality of a gracious local pilot, Paul, and staying in his basement. Paul says there is also room to camp in his yard if people are interested. Of course there will be folks camping at the park: Reaper and Motorhead and lots of other pilots too. For the nationals in Lakeview, I have booked a place for me and Bob at the Budget Inn. Don stayed there last year and says it's nice - and the price is certainly right. Quentin and Ray are staying at the Best Western.
So far the list of Hawaii participants includes me, Jetflap, Bob, Greg, Ray, Sandy, Quentin, RVC, Suicide, Frank, Scrappy, Nick, Reaper, Motorhead, Don, and maybe Scot and Jiah. We also have three guys from Maui joining us: Dexter, Paul and Marty. And we have John Ivey and Scott Amy, two former neighbor island pilots. And I guess we should count Tom Chestnut in that list as well. That's over 20 Hawaii pilots if you include the expats!
Feel free to add comments to this post to help finalize and coordinate your travel plans.
I am creating this post so we can upload and discuss our ideas for a T-shirt to help celebrate our participation in this year's Rat Race. Last year's shirt was a big hit with a lot of folks, and it would be fun to try and do another one. If anyone can take the time to sketch out a design and e-mail it to me, I'll attach it here for discussion (either use a graphics program or scan/photograph your sketch). Let's give it a week or two and see what we can come up with. I'll start by sharing my first couple of ideas:
From Alex: This is a very rough hack of a certain familiar logo that I did using the lamest possible tool, MS Paint. If it's worth developing further I will have to install some real graphics tools, but this works for a quick sketch. This design would be for the back, and I would re-use the flying monkey logo from last year on the front pocket. I would probably want to simplify it to work in one color. From Alex: My second t-shirt idea is another familiar logo (to me anyway), similarly hacked up with my lame graphics tools, but hopefully this is good enough to convey the idea. And again, for the front pocket design I would be inclined to re-use the flying monkey logo from last year. Also I would probably want to simplify this design a bit so that it works in one color.
From Peter: OK . . . this is a ROUGH DRAFT. My thoughts were . . . 1. We create some new motto to replace the UAW motto around the circle . . . of course written in the Hawaiian language. 2. Change the stick figure with linked hands to something more paraglider-ish (e.g., add glider to the stick figures, seat them in harnesses, put a beer in their hand, etc. 3. Sprinkle the shirt, liberally, with hawaiiana (e.g., flowers, surf boards, outrigger canoes, etc.) 4.serve with mac salad and two-scoop rice. From Hilo Ken: Ken sends this suggestion - it was in three separate parts so I put them together into a single image to post here. Let me know if this is close to what you had in mind, Ken. Some of us had actually already discussed the possibility of using images from the Chinese zodiac, but I think it would be cool if we could wait to use them until next year's Rat Race, since 2008 will be the Year of the Rat. But it's still a great suggestion, and if we can't wait, I'm sure we'll think of something for next year anyway. From Frank: my daughter come up with this pic as an idea. I told her Diamond Head below would make a better icon below the flying Rat. She said she could change it and color if it got any kind of consideration. I also told her she may have to make it a more menacing rat vice a cute mouse - TBD.
Like most of you, I was totally confused when looking at Skew-T charts, not knowing what the lines were or what they were trying to tell me. Over the course of several weeks, I dribbled pastrami and rye over my keyboard, trying to find meaning in the charts on the web. I learned a lot, and thought I would pass along what it took to develop the thermal tool that I now download on every day I think it will be flyable on the west side, and even on some days I think it will be light and thermally at Makapuu.
I’ll start with the basics. The thick blue line is the line that shows the temperature of the atmosphere as you leave from sea level. A balloon is released from Kauai twice a day, once at 2am and then again at 2pm. As you can see the temperature of the atmosphere changes quite a lot and even increases in some places. The light blue line is just a line drawn 3 degrees higher than the atmospheric sounding. I put this on the chart because I read somewhere that sailplane pilots predict the top of the usable lift when the temperature of lifted air gets within 3 degrees of the actual temperature. Our sink rate is about twice that of a sailplane, but I figured it was close enough, and I’ll cover the lifted portion more later.
The vertical lines represent the dew point based on different observations. The thick red one is the dew point from the weather bug station at Nanakuli. Since I am most interested in the west side I figured I’d make that one stand out. The thin red line is the sea level dew point based on the atmospheric sounding (it is hidden behind the thick one on this chart); the light blue line is based on a Kailua weather bug station and should represent the windward side; and the thin orange line is the Nanakuli dew point on the last epic west side day.
The slanted lines are adiabatic cooling lines of lifted air (I’ll call them thermal lines). All that means is if you take a parcel of air at sea level and lift it, that line will represent that parcel's temperature at any given height. The rate at which it cools is based on some thermodynamic laws, and roughly represents how a thermal cools when it travels upward. All these lines are parallel because a thermal that starts at 80 degrees cools at the same rate as one that starts off at 90 or 100 degrees. You will notice that the rate of cooling slows, i.e. the line gets steeper just after it crosses the thick red line. This is because wet air cools at a slower rate than dry air, another thermo thing we don’t really have to worry about - it just does. It roughly represents how a thermal will cool once it has reached cloud base. Again more to follow on cloud base. I chose to put the slanted lines 5 degrees apart for ease, and it seems to me that our thermals during the winter follow the 85 degree line. The thin green line is taken from the current temperature at Nanakuli just as a reference. As you look at the tool as the day progresses, you will see that line move to the right as the day heats up, and then to the left as the day cools in the evening. I put this line on there to see if I could learn which of the other lines would best represent the temperature of a thermal, hence the 85 remark earlier. I think as summer comes around we will see that temperature rise.
So what does all this mean? Its simple: hot air rises and cools. This chart is a representation of how it will happen in our atmosphere. Here are the basics from the chart. A thermal will stop rising when the slanted line it travels on crosses the sounding line (thick blue one). A thermal that starts off hotter will rise further. On this chart, thermals less than 90 degrees will stop just above 9000 feet, but thermals hotter than 95 degrees will continue to rise. The normal inversion here is between 5000 and 7000 feet, so air stops rising at that altitude.
Now is the time to talk about cloud base. For that we will be using the vertical lines, and each represents a different dew point. The day/time this chart was generated there was a 4 degree difference between the windward and leeward dew points. If you follow the yellow line (85 degrees) it results in about an 800 foot difference in cloud base between the windward and leeward side of the island. Another thing to note is how much lower the dew point was on the epic day. Just the dew point difference results in base being several thousand feet higher on the epic day. How does surface dew point determine cloud base, you ask? Think about it this way. If the air at the surface was cooled in the same way as in the evening, at the dew point at which it starts to drop dew, when that happens to rising air it creates a cloud. So how do we use these vertical lines to predict cloud base? The air that rises is air from the surface, so it should create a cloud when it reaches the dew point. As air heats it moves from left to right on the X axis. When it finally breaks away from the ground, it takes with it air that has the dew point of air at the surface, so as it cools (shown by one of the thermal lines) it will make a cloud when it has cooled to the dew point. Thermals that get hotter before they leave the ground have to rise higher before they reach the dew point, so therefore cloud base is higher for a hotter thermal. Again it seems like the yellow (85 degree) line seems to correspond with Nanakuli the best.
So now that we know where the cloud forms and where the thermal stops rising, we can predict clouds. If the thermal lines cross the dew point line and then the sounding line, we can predict the cloud base and top. If the thermal line crosses the sounding line before the dewpoint line, we will have no clouds, because the thermals will stop rising before they cool enough to create a cloud: these are known as blue days. We can also guess that if there is a large gap between cloud base and the top of the thermals (cloud tops), the day may overdevelop and rain.
What else can the chart tell us? I think it can predict the strength of the day. I haven’t been observing for long enough to be sure, but it seems the strength of the day will be determined by the difference between the sounding line (thick blue) and the actual thermal lines. This chart is a good example of the difference in days. On the epic day (orange) you can see how much further to the left (colder) the atmosphere was than on the one represented by the blue line. I would expect that the orange day would have been a day with higher climb rates than the one shown. So what makes an epic day? Its simple: low dew point, a good inversion just above the height the thermal lines cross the dew point line, and good separation between the sounding line and the thermal lines. The reason I say a good inversion is because that is the key to preventing overdevelopment.
It took me 10 years to figure this stuff out. I hope this helps you guys accelerate that a bit. Feel free to ask me about the tool any time. It will be easier if you have a copy of it with you.
You are all welcome to my humble beach shack this Saturday, April 14th to celebrate my entry into official middle-agedom. Hopefully the wind gods will smile on us and allow a few flights before everyone shows up at 574A Kawailoa Rd. (back house) Kailua, 96734. It's easy to find. Drive past Buzz's Restaurant by the Kailua Beach Park towards Lanikai. At the four way stop sign - go straight up the little hill. Go past the laneways on the right and left and our house is the beige and brown ugly one just past the nice California white house on the left. If you reach the T at the top - you've gone too far. We're in the back house through the car port. Starts at 1800 or whenever you land. Actually, you can land near my house at the park, if the wind is not too east. Bring your favorite libation and date (libation mandatory, date optional!). We have food for all.
Today, April 9th brought back a lot of memories from December 2000 - when, as a newbie in Hawaii, I looked up from my lawn chair in Lanikai to see crazy people with turtle shells on their backs crawl up the ridge then throw themselves backwards off the edge tied to bags of laundry! I ran to get my binoculars and watched, spell bound for two hours as they soared above my neighbourhood. Within two months I was drinking the Kool Ade - I was certifiably insane (I must have been - I took lessons from Reaper!)
But, I digress...today after a four year absence, I flew Lanikai with a few friends - Reaper, Nick, Scott, and Don. After some parawaiting caused by launch-site rustiness and high winds, I launched last (they don't call me nightshift for nothing...except the sun was still up). I was thrilled to come home. I hope to throw my bag of purple and turquoise laundry off this hill more often. Sideshow Bob - we really missed you today...
How do you put a rating on the day? Do you rate it by the success of the group, altitude gained, max climb, low saves, highest altitude reached, total distance flown, distance flown from launch, route, duration, personal bests or just the potential that existed versus what was achieved? On this day it didn’t matter which you chose it was a TEN!!! YES TEN, 10, DIEZ, JU, DEIS.
The first phone call came at about 0800 that’s 8:00 am for you non military types. It was Alex inquiring about the status of the thermal clinic and wondering if it was ok to start rallying the troops. I was just cooking the last crepe and finishing up with feeding the kids breakfast, and after having been blown out on several of the days earlier in the week the crew was chomping at the bit to get out there early to get off the hill before the wind kicked in. Though I was feeling a bit guilty about not preparing or being prepared to provide much of a thermal clinic I was on the road much with a little optimism and the hope that we would be early enough to get the gang off the hill before the day blew out.
When I turned the corner at Kapolei I noticed there was almost no wind on the water and there were large glassy spots off shore. In the Nanakuli hand book, which I will be publishing soon for a small fee, this is a GREAT sign. Though most of us were brought up as ridge pilots and no wind usually means a short flight this is not the case on the west side. It may mean a long hot hike and having to pick a cycle to launch in but it is a good sign. Arriving at the hike Jeff, Jim, Sandy were already at the power poles and Pete and Greg had just started the hike. I parked in the usual spot, pulled on the Hanwags and unloaded the wing. There was some breeze but it was light and the day seemed to be developing nicely with an early cloud base likely formed by the dew of the morning. Sandy had kindly downloaded the thermal tool and it was showing a high cloudbase with a nice inversion about 7500 feet and with good separation between both the 80 and 85 degree lines and the Lihue balloon sounding (I’ll cover that at the next thermal clinic ;)). As I started the hike the air seemed to be moving down the ridge but slightly from the school side. I joined Pete and Greg about the power poles and got the first good glimpse of the range.
It was just after 10 and clouds were already bubbling nicely over Makaha valley and Kaala, but there was still about a few hundred feet between base and the mountain tops. As we hiked the breeze continued to be down the ridge but from the school side. At the low launch Jim, Jeff and Sandy were tying ribbons but it was not soarable so (lets all say it together now) we kept hiking! At the middle launch it was still from the school side but cycling up the dump side occasionally and since Pete and Sandy were both with me I thought we would spend some time clearing the old launch but it wasn’t to be. I brought no saw and Pete and Sandy had no gloves and we all were a bit short on motivation so we all wandered around the middle launch conducting random acts of violence against unsuspecting foliage with little combined vision. By the time we agreed we had no desire to continue Greg, Jeff and Jim had arrived and I did my best to condense a couple of hours of clinic into look right, pull right and not much more. Really guys I’m happy to do a REAL clinic any time.
Following the brief talk it is still coming in the school side and several of us decide to continue up the my favorite launch. Nanakuli high launch. As we arrived on the high launch Alex, Claude, Don and Bob arrived at the Middle launch making for quite the nice group of pilots. At this time the cycles were rolling nicely up the dump side and there was a short discussion of who to throw off first. Alex was volunteered and Claude was volunteered to follow. What ensued was nothing short of amazing. Alex, Claude, Pete, Sandy, Greg, Don, Bob and I all off the high launch with Jeff and Jim launching from middles with no blown launches and all going up. As Will Gadd once said some times you are a rock star and some times you are just a rock. Well today the Kahana Marching Band was looking like KISS in full leather BORN TO ROCK! Reports of wadding, flapping, collapsing, bombing, skying, coring and crying for mama filled the radio. This is where the real story begins.
An epic cross country day often starts in unexpected ways. I had planned to do a thermal/comp clinic for some of the guys that were going to be attending the Rat Race and Lakeview Nationals which I am likely to miss. I totally blew the planning and though people were interested it never really jelled the way I had hoped, but we did manage to salvage an epic day out of it. Standing on launch with ten gliders in the air all of which had launched from one of the toughest launches on the island on there first try were circling at various heights, and several had already headed for the back of the valley. When I launched I flew almost directly into a 1100 up core that I was sure was going to take me to the top of the stack in no time but the low stuff was not super organized and I only got a few turns in it before it disappeared. There was plenty going up and it was not long before I was in another core working higher above the main Haleakala peak. At this point Sandy, Claude and Greg had ventured back in the valley and looked to be turning in strong lift. Below me Don, Bob and Alex were working the same bubble which started petering out at about 2500 feet. Feeling the tug of the house thermal I continued to turn drifting just behind the peak. Don followed and we separated from Alex and Bob.
Tip – I watch the gliders around me. If I see others are climbing in a better core in the same lift I will adjust my circle to join them. Often I will find a better core than the one they are in on my way to join them. This is why the gaggle flies faster than the lone pilot. Even in lift they use each other to identify the strongest part of the broader lift and exploit it.
Had Bob and Alex been watching I am sure they could have joined us. Don and I climbed to the mid 3000s and then headed to the back of the valley. The lift was strong and a bit ratty but considering the curves and the time of day it was to be expected. We joined up with Sandy and Claude in the back of the valley and tanked up, easily climbing to over 4000 feet. Earlier cloud base had only been a couple of hundred of feet over Kaala and I had thought that the flats were probable the way to go but with the dew having been burned off base was rapidly rising and kept looking at it thinking I couldn’t be seeing what I was seeing. The gap between Kaala and cloud base was astonishing and to make it even more irresistible it was streeting down the whole range!!!! At this point I was turning at 4200 feet and looking toward Makua with downrange base hundreds of feet above me. I was now making mental plans to triangle out to Makua and then fly for town. I radioed to Claude, Sandy, and Don that this was about as good as it was ever going to look. No kidding this was the best I have ever seen it. I leave Nanakuli valley and head across the first gap.
Note - This whole thing will make a lot more sense if you link to Google Earth or Leonardo here.
I don’t want to marginalize the commitment required to make this flight but I just kept pinching myself the whole flight. After the first crossing instead of having to grovel low on the ridge I immediately flew into strong lift and quickly tanked back up. I lingered for a moment watching Claude hook it and start climbing. I tried to encourage those still in the back of Nanakuli valley to come and join us while fighting my turn and burn urges. When I can no longer take it I head North. Over KoleKole pass I turn in the last thermal necessary to take me to Makua. If you are counting that’s two thermals between Nanakuli and Makua….CRAZY!!! Finally reaching cloud base at just over 5000feet I am still climbing strongly and leave to keep clear of the white room.
Gliding in the cloud street I shoot the above video and take one turn to take the photo on the right. Think about how high you have to be to get this view. At this point I have totally forgotten that I am not a powered aircraft. I remember taking it because Claude looked so small against the clouds it was blowing my mind. Turning my attention to the adventure ahead I glide past Kaala and focus on entering Makua valley. I have wanted to fly further but the valley never seemed to be very inviting. I had always pushed out on the north side of Makaha valley and I was about to regret not making that choice this time. As I entered Makua valley I encountered very strong sink and funky air. Pushing the bar a bit the glider is now behaving badly and I’m thinking not only am I not going to make it out of the valley but I may land WAY in the back of the valley. I finally fly out into smooth air and can smell the heat in the grass of the valley. I am focused on gliding right down the road in the center of the valley and it is looking like I will make the beach if I continue on this glide and don’t hit any more sink or a head wing. I am at 900 feet ASL and feeling low the valley floor is almost 250 feet this is roughtly comparable to being at the low launch and trying to glide out to the beach at Nanakuli. About the time I have settled into landing I fly into a solid 600 up. This is just enough to make the beach. Being this low I’m thinking if I can just hold onto this one for a few turns I’ll make the beach easily. Well knowing how the flight ended I did make the beach but not before climbing another 4000 feet and back to base.
From 5000 feet you look down on the glider field at Dillingham and a flight out to the tip of Kaena would have been academic (note to self). To avoid the white room I fly for the coast shooting the video below and the photo to the left. Incredible!!! This was phase one.
Begin phase 2 getting back to the car. Not sure you would call this car suck but I am now on a mission to get back and I mean fast. I fly for Makua Ranch and hit lift right where I expect it then cross Makaha valley skirting the south side of the valley my first time in that area. Pushing out to toward the coast I hit a nice core that quickly develops into the strongest climb of the day and my third strongest climb EVER! I watch as the needles start to be removed and try to remember the last time I heard this sound but can’t. My 20 second averager is reading 1560 feet per minute and if you check the Google earth trace the thermal stops looking like a circle and more like a straight line. With the cloud rapidly approaching I abandon my plan to go back to the Waianai’s and head directly for Nanakuli gliding over past the towers and back to the car. On my glide I can see and hear Nick talking to with Jeff about heading back and I encourage him to wait for me and I’ll go over the back with him. Thinking about it now we could have done the Makua route again. It was just after 1400, that’s 2:00 for you non military type, and the day was still on. After a few passes I was back in it and headed for the back of the valley again. The lift was still pumping and I tanked up to the high 4s and headed over the back chasing Nick. We ended up on the south side of the convergence and it seemed like fling a bit north and into the sun at the end of it made the most sense.
Sure enough there was good lift and I was back to base flying with the trimmers out shooting the video above and taking the picture on the right of Nick below me. I followed the convergence and tried to force it toward town but it was not to be. I flew a bit past H-2 toward Pacific Palisades before turning back for an easy retrieve and food. The sun was on the north side of the convergence and I’ll bet if I had tried there instead other options would have been possible. Landing in a field across the street from Costco after almost 3 hours, 30 or so miles of flying, epic lift, huge cloudbase and good friends coming to get me truly made this day my best flight ever.
After 10 years of flying I feel like I am starting to scratch the surface for what is possible for me in a paraglider. What a great feeling.
The new windsock is up and operational at Makapuu! I took pictures of it just in case it was stolen before anyone saw it. The pole is pretty nice looking (unfortunately) and very sturdy. It's still bendy at the top and should be fairly glider friendly.
I've included pictures of it stowed, half mast, and full up. At the suggestion of Peter, I drilled out the screw heads to prevent people from taking the pole with just a screwdriver.
They will need to drill the screws out if they want this sucker. The pole is also easily collapsible, which will come in handy for our long overdue typhoon.
Doug called for a thermal clinic at Nanakuli today, and our fickle West Side gave it up for him and the ten pilots who heeded his call. I've never seen a day quite like it: even with such a big group, no one sank out, and by the end of the day almost every one of us had achieved our best West Side flights ever. By all accounts it was a rough day in the air, but as Doug said later, if every day at Nanakuli was this good, there would be no reason to travel beyond our humble shores.
Our newest thermal pilots, One-Eye, McStalker and Suicide, made it look easy. Jim and Jeff were cranking in the cores like old hands, and Peter cranked it up like a champ and made it to the back of the valley before calling it a day. Doug offered some great tips before the launches, and also helped the guys in the air get tuned into their turns.
Bob struggled mightily to get up above the peak, and once there he worked the peak for as long as he could bear it, before finally throwing in the towel. Greg also made it to the back of the valley for the first time ever, but on his return he found himself flushed into a field on the dump side. Like Bob, I also struggled mightily for most of my flight, bobbling around just above ridge height at Haleakala, while everyone else seemed to be dialing into the invisible elevators and heading off to exotic destinations.
Scrappy and Sandy were the true heroes today, leading the way to the back of the valley and waiting there for Doug, who led them on their first ever tour of Kolekole Pass and the missile silos in Lualualei, and then over the tallest peak on our island, Mt. Kaala. After that, Sandy landed out in Waianae Valley and Scrappy landed out in Makaha Valley. Doug continued on to Makua Valley where he scored a low save before flying all the way back to Nanakuli.
Don also followed Doug to the back of Nanakuli Valley, and as I was still trying to figure out the house thermal at Haleakala, he started the journey along the back range towards Kaala behind the testosterone triplets. I finally got a lucky break and squeaked into the back of Nanakuli Valley myself, rising up to my highest ever altitude there just as Don turned back from Kolekole pass to join me back behind Nanakuli.
The two of us just weren't very excited about the prospect of touring the missile silos (or "bombing" out there). So instead of following the cojones crew to Kaala, we hopped over the back for our first ever taste of thermalling the flatlands of Central Oahu. It was awesome - there was lots of lift over there and it seemed like we could have gone anywhere. The only problem was, we really had no idea where we should be going. So we decided to land at Waikele where I'd left my car, but instead we got confused about our bearings and backtracked to Kunia by mistake. Thanks to Bob and Greg for the retrieve!
Nick came late and hiked up to launch last, and met Doug over Haleakala as he was returning from Makua. Doug then led Nick on his first ever hop over the back, dropping him off at Kunia Road on his way to a landing at the Waipio Costco. After rounding up all of our wayward clinic participants, we met up at Waipio for a debriefing over burgers and cold refreshments.
Thanks to Doug for the motivation and information, and thanks to everyone else for making it such a fun day. I was proud to see so many pilots flying so well at our most challenging site. And I would love to hear other perspectives on the day - post a comment here or write your own article if you like.
I am creating this post so we can upload and discuss our ideas for a T-shirt to help celebrate our participation in this year's Rat Race. Last year's shirt was a big hit with a lot of folks, and it would be fun to try and do another one. If anyone can take the time to sketch out a design and e-mail it to me, I'll attach it here for discussion (either use a graphics program or scan/photograph your sketch). Let's give it a week or two and see what we can come up with. I'll start by sharing my first couple of ideas:
