Nanakuli Teaser

Having missed out on what I thought was an "epic" looking day on Sunday, I committed to going to Nanakuli on Monday if the light winds persisted. So, when I woke up Monday, I immediately knew where I was flying that afternoon. I could hardly believe my eyes... The entire Waianae side was crystal clear, dry, and warming up quickly. Cloud development was slower than the day before, with cumulus just barely starting to appear at 10:30am. This told me that there was no chance of over development and, if it in fact wasn't TOO stable, the thermals shouldn't kick my butt too bad. I was convinced it was going to be good.

I feverishly went about getting my work done and kept an eye on it until about 1:30, when I left the house. There had been a nice sea breeze all day that wasn't too strong, and I could see the streamers on low launch blowing pretty good from the dump-side. My only concern was the lazy, northerly drift of the clouds above; some of which were clearly coming from over the back. But, I theorized that the drift wasn't strong enough to cause rotor or anything like that, but rather some nice convergence lift at the peaks. I was ready to hike. I got a call from Doug moments later who concurred (which erased any reservations I had, knowing that Doug is the Zen Master of west-side flying). I also figured that as the day progressed and the sun moved more westward, the sea breeze would further overtake that northerly flow.

Let me pause here for a moment and stress something to you guys...and I think Doug would tell you this too... There are A LOT of days like this out here at Nanakuli - it's flyable over here a lot more days than you'd think. I've seen conditions like yesterday even when Kahana was flyable in the sea breeze, and certainly when Makapuu was a guarantee. When the trades are light enough (say, under 10-12), the speed is buffered significantly by the Koolau and again by the Waianae ranges. The hot terrain of the west-side causes a sea-breeze to develop, and suddenly you've got a potentially epic XC day out here. I've driven by Nanakuli on my way to Kahana or Makapuu numerous times just staring at those McDonald's flags blowing straight at launch...and wondering... "Why don't I just give it a try?" It's something I've given a lot of thought to lately, and something I hope to do a lot more... Giving Nanakuli a shot even when it's a no-brainer Makapuu day, where I know there's plenty of good company and beverages to be had.

Anyways... My flight....

I started my hike alone, knowing that Jim was about 30 minutes behind me. As slow as I hike, the sooner I got started the better. I got to low launch and passed out (just kidding - helluva hike in the hot sun). The cycles were coming in consistently but very cross - right up the spine. I continued my hike up to mid launch, which actually faces that direction. The cycles up there were switchy at times, but much better, even a little on the strong side. In fact, I warned Jim about the strength as he was just arriving at low launch by this time.

Jim and I started laying out about the same time. And, in true Nanakuli fashion, just as we're hooking in, we both notice the cycles start petering out - perhaps, not as bad for me as for Jim who was lower. I decided I'd go in the first even remotely launchable cycle and take my chances. I knew it would still be working if I could just get in the air. I took one light cycle to fluff out my wing, and a minute later took the next one into the air. I immediately starting going up - not an inch of sink. And it was PLEASANT. No sharp edges, no wild pitching and diving, no tip collapses, just lift...and more lift....and some more lift.... until I started getting COLD :) I look down at the vario - 4,206 and beeping. Hell yeah!

The lift was abundant and easy to stay in. I probably flew in 4 or 5 distinct thermals in all, but the distance between them was small. On the way up to cloud base, it felt like they were drifting me slowly toward the back. At cloud base, there was no discernible drift, but the air felt a little "swirly" - perhaps where the northerly flow was meeting the thermal tops (?) I felt one turn "slip" a bit like an incipient spin but it immediately "bit" back into it. Even in straight flight, my wing was yawing around on me a bit. Nothing serious, by any means - just about the only turbulence worth noting.

At that height I just looked around and realized - WOW - I could go anywhere right now. But, without a companion, I just couldn't muster up the guts to go it alone even with having Scrappy as my chase car. I deeply regret that decision, but had a great flight nonetheless - which is why I thought of it as a "Nanakuli Teaser" - just a tease, just a taste, of what can be done out here.

Unfortunately, Jim was stuck at low launch with nary a puff of wind and decided to pack it in while I was setting up to land after my all-too-short flight. I think if I had an airborne companion, I would have been more inclined to explore more and certainly to stay up longer. Next time! (today?!)

Unreal Potential

That was Scot's assessment of the day after he got his first glimpse of the vista downrange from Makapuu. Jorge and Scot led the cross country charge, with Don, Aaron and me in close pursuit.

But the north wind in advance of the cold front was a bit too brisk and a bit too northerly to make it worth fighting much past Greenwalls. It was easy to get high along the entire route though, and we spent a lot of time playing in the thermals over Waimanalo. Maui Aaron got to cloudbase at around three grand over Puu O Kona, and flew out to the beach at Sherwoods to land in front of his mom. As the rest of us landed at the Makapuu LZ, we heard that Jeff and Jim were realizing the truly unreal potential out at Nanakuli, with Jeff scoring a personal best altitude of 4,200 feet. Way to go, westsiders!


Nanakuli Teaser 9.28.2008 from KahanaEarl on Vimeo.

Maui Pilots No Ka Oi

Oahu pilots enjoyed a surprise visit from an enthusiastic foursome of our nearest flying neighbors this weekend, and we all shared an unusually spectacular day at Makapuu on Saturday. We launched on the far side of the lighthouse, and soared there for over an hour in the steady easterly flow, as Mike and Brandt and Leo ran a speed-slalom course around us in their hang gliders. As the light tradewinds slackened and gave way to a more northeasterly sea breeze flow, we all migrated to the main ridge where we passed quite a few more very pleasant hours in the sky with our neighbors from across the channel.

We launched from almost every conceivable spot throughout the day. Jim pulled off his first ever lighthouse ridge launch, and it could have been Scrappy's first time there as well, I'm not sure. Reaper pulled off a dramatic toplanding on the lighthouse ridge, relaunched, and then flew over to topland at Cactus where he waited for his students Marc and Ray to hike up for some training flights. Frank launched out of Cactus, as did Chopper Dave and student Ray, before the airflow up there grew too strong. Later on, Maui Rich relaunched from Manics, and Fireman Dave launched there too, in a tandem with his dad, who is here visiting. Jared showed up a bit later and launched there as well. Earlier in the day, McStalker had not been sold on the sketchy lighthouse launch mission, opting instead to check out the conditions at Makapuu's most alternate launch: the one at Kahana! At the end of the day, Maui Aaron took a quixotic stand against power lines, hiking up to the old abandoned Tomato Patch launch to make several heroic efforts to get airborne from there. Finally, Steve, Ginny and Berndt joined us to launch the party at the LZ, as did McStalker after he'd returned from Kahana a bit later.

While Maui Jon worked on his aerobatic routines for most of the afternoon, Frank, Abhay and I concentrated on getting high in the gentle thermals at the Waimanalo end of the ridge. We staged some hesitant forays into the back, but I guess none of us had enough fire in the belly to take the full plunge. The clouds had started out the day tantalizingly high above the range, but they gradually sank lower, settling onto the top of many of the downrange peaks by midafternoon. I finally gave up on the hope of growing a pair to lead the way downrange, and I landed just before my bladder exploded, after well over three hours in the air. Around that time Maui Rich and Abhay must have realized that if they wanted a downrange trip, they'd have to go without the locals: as I was landing, they plunged deep into Waimanalo to begin an epic downrange mission to Kaneohe and Kahaluu.

To excuse our lack of participation in the downrange mission, the locals volunteered a veritable host of rationalizions: I was waiting for someone else to go first! I bombed out and ran out of time! I wasn't ready to try it for the first time! I had a bad case of cooleritis! I had my 84-year-old dad strapped to me! I had students to train! I'm just a student! Oh, What-Ever. The Maui pilots showed us today that they are made of some bold stuff indeed. I talked to Abhay later (just to torture myself) and he described a fantastic and surreal experience: dodging clouds, navigating around cloud-soaked summits, and finally landing out at Windward Community College in Kaneohe, slightly behind Rich who had made it into Temple Valley. Not only was it Abhay's first time downrange from Makapuu, but he ended up with his longest and furthest flight ever. Great job, guys! I hope next time we can muster some local troops to join you.

After a long seven hours at Makapuu, with at least half that time spent in the air, I headed home with my empty cooler to dream of the next time. I would love to see some pictures and read some stories from anyone else who might be inclined to share, especially Rich or Abhay. Or if anyone has a report from Sunday, I'd love to hear what kind of day it was out there on day two of the Maui Field Trip.

Washed Up

I took a calculated risk this afternoon, but I came out on the wrong end of the equation: rather than follow Jim to the LZ, I opted to fly out over the ocean through a narrow gap in a line of incoming squalls, but the gap closed behind me as the squall line stalled over the bay. I finally had to dive back into the soup to try and stay up, but I found nothing but rainy sink near the ridge. In a final desperate miscalculation, I tried to topland at the low north launch, but I underestimated the sink and crashed into a bramble patch below the cliff at the bottom. At least I'm not injured, but once again the price of this lesson is a drizzly couple of hours picking my lines out of the brambles and a soaking wet bundle of muddy gear. Can I stop learning this one now, please?

Perfect as a Picture

After missing the fun at Makapuu on Saturday, I savored a very satisfying Sunday at Kahana: a long leisurely day spent with friends and family, punctuated by two separate downrange flights in the sweetest of conditions, with light wind, abundant thermic lift, high clouds, and beautiful lighting. There were more than a dozen pilots at Kahana over the course of the day.

The kids had slept over with their grandparents, so I enjoyed a nice quiet weekend breakfast with Dorothy, before meeting Jim and Ginny at Kahana for the early shift. The air was inexplicably still despite the sensor reading of 13, but we were relieved to find it filling back in as we hiked up. I got up quickly and dodged a potential incoming squall by heading downrange right away, flying over Dorothy as she picked the kids up from Punaluu, stopping to venture into the back of Punaluu Valley before drifting on to Pounders. The morning light on the terrain lent a refreshingly different perpective to the flight.

After I landed, Dorothy kindly picked me up, and made a nice lunch, which Logan and I ate in the car as I drove him to his bass lesson. As we passed Kahana we saw that Rich, Alan and Wayne were just arriving for the midday shift, and Jim was helping Ginny wrap up an inadvertent north ridge top-landing adventure. And visiting pilot John from Vancouver was there just to say hello and scope out the scene.

I returned from Logan's lesson and staggered back up the hill for the afternoon session, as Jim and Ginny were enjoying a cool dip in the ocean. After assisting Reaper with his couchsurfing tandem, I patiently worked my way up in light thermic conditions, and finally followed Chandler and Mad Dog downrange, again just as a squall was approaching. I worked my way high into the back of Punaluu Valley once again, and also did the same at the back of Sacred Falls Valley on the next ridge. The afternoon lighting was exquisite, as usual, with the shadows growing longer as the sun dappled the valleys through breaks in the clouds.

New pilot Larry, who has just moved into a place located around the corner from Pounders, had come out to watch us land, and he kindly returned us to Kahana. Mad Dog sprung for some delicious refreshments, and a nice party ensued at the LZ as people packed up and shared their fish tales. Brazilian Ray had arrived just as I was launching, to fly tandem with a friend of Mark's, but after they had been airborne a while, and well after the little squall had passed into Punaluu, the wind had inexplicably died, and they were forced to set down early. His buddy was still stoked though. I was also happy to see that Berndt had come out to join the party.

Finally, Dorothy brought Logan and Amelia and our old dog Jack out to the beach for some exercise and water play in the late afternoon shade. Later on, as dark fell and the party began to break up, she brought us food from Bobo's for a twilight picnic dinner at beachside.

Sign waving this Friday

Thanks to all of you who have made time to come out and wave signs already. Quentin needs his friends to rally together once more this coming Friday, to make a big showing for Saturday's primary election. Please join us at the intersection of Pali Hwy and Auloa Rd at 4 pm! The campaign is going great, and with our help, Quentin is definitely going to win the House seat for Kailua-Lanikai-Waimanalo.

The sign waving starts at 4 pm on Friday, September 19th, although Quentin is usually there by 3:30, if you want to start early. The intersection is located at the bottom of the Pali Highway, between Kapaa Quarry Road and Castle Hospital. After the sign waving there will be a party at the house of a supporter nearby, close to triangle park.

For anyone who is free, Quentin will also be out there this Wednesday at the same time. But if you can only make one day this week, please come Friday, since they need a big turnout for that one. Thanks again to everyone who has already helped out! You guys are making a big difference to the campaign.

Latest campaign news: Quentin was named the likely winner of this contest in a recent analysis segment on KGMB news.

XC Dreams

Brazilian Ray was dreaming of a cross country trip from Makapuu today - we met at Hygienic to leave his truck, but the clouds were so low we had to cancel that plan. Nevertheless, we were still vaguely optimistic as we headed out there to meet Scot.

We launched Crazies and got up easily in strong northeast conditions. It seemed a bit strong for an XC trip, but Ray jumped back to Puu O Kona and Greenwalls without hesitation. I followed him, but the wind strength was definitely a bit spicy for my comfort level, and I bailed back to Makapuu as soon as I got high enough back there. Ray returned soon after, disappointed not to have gone further. Next time!

Scot and Ray frolicked up and down the ridge in their matching SOL wings, and Reaper showed up to do a tandem with his new student Larry from Arkansas who has a son in Kaaawa. We all landed to enjoy some cold refreshments before I had to leave to pick the kids up from school.

Just before I left, Jim, Jeff and Steve showed up to launch Crazies. (Thanks to Jeff for the coconut iced coffee. That stuff really wakes me up!) I watched Jeff launch, then gasped as I watched Jim plunge off of Crazies and proceed towards Manics on a ridiculously low tack - but he found some lift below Manics and benched up for the lowest save I've seen there. Wow!

I had to leave at that point, but I heard that Steve had an exciting bomb-out landing on the beach soon afterwards, and later on Jetflap showed up for his very last Makapuu flight as a Hawaii resident - he and Lana leave tomorrow for Oregon. But I trust we will see them again soon as visitors!

Lonely as a Cloud

What the heck! Wednesday was the most perfect day ever at Kahana, and NO ONE was available to fly it with me. There was a time when I would have stayed home to get work done, comforted by the fact that no one else would be getting any. But not this time. It would have been criminal to let this one go. I flew to Pounders all my myself, in the nicest thermal conditions, and then I was lucky to hitch a ride back with a couple from my home town in Virginia. To make things even more interesting, I shot shaky little video clips at my highest altitude over each peak.

High and Dry

After laying low and allowing the volcanic haze and clouds to build up for the last few days, the tradewinds returned today and blew it all back out to sea. All that sulfuric acid must have scrubbed the atmosphere clean, because the air was stunningly clear. The clouds were very high and sparse, and there was a pronounced northerly component to the wind direction. I thought we might have a bay crossing in the bag. Or at least half in the bag!

Five of us enjoyed a great afternoon of flying at Kahana today in brisk north conditions. We flew all around the north face of the ridge, and many bay crossings were attempted with various levels of success: Scot made it across on his first try in his spanky new Synergizer, but I needed a few attempts before I could follow him under my tired old nag. I finally joined him over there for an extended high altitude tour of Ka'a'awa and Kualoa. The clouds were super high and sparse, and the brisk northerly flow pushed us higher than usual without much effort on our parts. We were treated to a clear tantalizing vista of the whole Ko'olau range - on a lighter day we would have been obligated to shoot for Makapuu.

Brazilian Ray made it across to the Crouching Lion while we were over there, and worked hard to get up, but he got spooked by some strong sinky airflow in the bowl over there and bailed back to Kahana. Mad Dog (fresh off the plane from his 6 week mainland motorbike tour) and One-eye Jim also flew for quite a while over there. Poor McStalker had intended to join us but got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the west side and decided to turn back. Next time! Thanks to Scot for the tasty cold refreshments.

I forgot the memory card for my camera so I guess the images of that crystal clear landscape and sky will have to remain imprinted on my brain - unless I can convince Scot to share any of the shots I saw him taking up there, in which case I'll post them here.

2008 US Paragliding National Championship

Doug and Dave are in California this week to compete with the big boys in the very big air of the Owens Valley. It sounds like the weather is cooperating to deliver some really epic conditions.

I don't think our boys are planning to document their daily adventures in detail, but we can follow along with the results posted at the official site, and with blogs by other pilots who are posting daily reports. If anyone hears any interesting news or finds any other links, please make a comment here. Go Team Hawaii!

Official websites:

Website of the 2008 PG Nationals
Daily and Cumulative Results

Some pilots who are posting to blogs:

Tim O'Neill
Andy MacRae

Chatterbox updates from Team Hawaii:

13 Sep 08, 06:01
firedave: over here in owens valley with doug. I Get a practice day before the comp starts for real tomorrow. Giddy up!

13 Sep 08, 16:05
firedave: todays practice day, super epic conditions. Not too punchy but insane climbs tn 14 for me 17 plus for doug and 19 if you had o2 or didnt care

13 Sep 08, 16:06
firedave: a thermal disneyland

13 Sep 08, 17:17
firedave: half a dozen guys made a 100 miles

14 Sep 08, 17:50
firedave: nats task 1 110k many made goal. I sunk out after launch conditions went bad. Damn it was another great day. Doug had the same fate.

15 Sep 08, 14:09
firedave: nats task 2 112k two point downwind run. Launch early, going good. Task cancelled because of supposed approaching gust front that never comes.

15 Sep 08, 13:53
doug: Dave and I both ended up launching late yesterday and did not get up. Today we both climbed out and the day was canceled due to high wind.

16 Sep 08, 12:09
firedave: Nats day 3. Only a couple out of 50 pilots climb out. Task called off because of some serious od on the sierras

17 Sep 08, 16:29
firedave: day 4 task 2 110k doug in goal early. I Only made it halfway to nevada

18 Sep 08, 12:01
firedave: nats day 5 task called on account of high. The wind techs probably got a bit spicier flight than they signed up for

19 Sep 08, 18:09
firedave: Nats day 6, blowing strong up high, day cancelled. A Whole gang heads to mammoth for some lift serviced downhill mountainbiking, loads of fun

20 Sep 08, 19:59
firedave: nats day 7 called on strong wind aloft. A Bunch of us boogie to marshall for the glass off. I damage dougs rental off roading. Nice BDay gift.

L&V Weekend

The season's first weekend of light and variable conditions drew many of us out to Koko Crater and Nanakuli - and some lucky pilots actually got to fly! The light convective winds spread volcanic haze and well developed rain clouds all around the island, but we managed to enjoy plenty of sun and fun on both days.

Saturday: Koko Crater

Early signs of overdevelopment nixed our hopes for thermal flying at Nanakuli, Tantalus or Mariner's Ridge, and a hint of moderate SE winds convinced us to check out Koko Crater. Eighteen pilots were out there, variously involved in tow training, ground handling, house building, etc. The early birds hiked to high launch but soon realized it was totally cross from the south: we were dealing with more of a sea breeze than any actual wind, and the sea breeze always sucks in from the south over there.

I convinced the three most enthusiastic pilots (suckers) to make the epic hike up the blowhole face to launch into the southerly sea breeze flow, while the rest of the crew supported us by dining at Kona Brewing Company and toasting to our success. Despite their good wishes, we didn't manage to stay up in the light conditions. At the end of the day, as the eastern tip of the island barely managed to remain clear of the haze and rain blanketing the rest of it, Jetflap and Frank soared on the lighthouse side at Makapuu in the most westerly conditions I've ever seen out there.

Sunday: Nanakuli

Finally Nanakuli looked like a good bet. Eleven pilots headed out to play in the steamy soup bubbling up from our island's best thermal cauldron. Jeff and Jim hiked up first, and reported gusts of up to 23 miles an hour ripping through mid launch. Jorge, Chandler, Scrappy and I hiked to low launch, and Jim and Jeff descended to join us. Everyone else decided to wait down below for a mellower day (Reaper and students) or a more epic day (Nikki "King of the Rat Race" Johnson).

Jorge launched first, and rocketed straight up into the stew of hazy clouds swirling over the summit. Chandler was so inspired he jumped off next with only half a wing, sorting the other half out once he was off the hill. I followed soon after, and tried my best to navigate the strong narrow cores punching me towards the hill. Scrappy hucked off to join us shortly afterwards, and Jeff followed him off to be the last pilot for the day, while Jim opted to hike down and wait for a gentler day. While we were launching, Jorge got stinking high and blazed out towards Ko Olina.

After what seemed like an eternity trying to keep my wing over my head and open in the strong and punchy conditions, which turned out to be about 5 minutes or so, I decided to beat a hasty retreat to the beach where I knew the air would be nice and gentle. Chandler raced me over there, and Scrappy followed a bit later. Jeff made a good attempt to join us but didn't quite have the glide and turned back to land near the dump instead. While we folded up, Nick dashed over to pick Jorge up from Ko Olina, and Reaper and his students headed up the coast to look for alternative flying sites.

After we had regrouped and slaked our mighty thirsts, we discuss the day's flying: Jorge said a strong day like this at Nanakuli reminded him of flying the Andes mountains at home in Venezuela. For the rest of us it was mostly about working on our thermal comfort levels and bump tolerance.

While we were talking, we got word from Reaper that his students were soaring the dunes at Yokohama Beach. Wow! The frosty refreshments we had consumed must have addled our brains, because we actually half believed his fish story. Or maybe we just wanted it to be true. In any case we couldn't resist zooming up there to see it for ourselves. Naturally the big one had got away by the time we got there: the dune turned out to be a small rise in the sand, and the light sea breeze was barely enough to inflate a wing, let alone soar a gently sloping beach. Good one, Reaper! But we weren't sorry to find ourselves enjoying a gorgeous day on one of the most beautiful hidden corners of the island.

Thanks to Jeff and Nick for driving today, and to Jeff for the delicious frosty cans of iced coffee. Yum!

Please note: a resident of the neighborhood in Nanakuli warned Chandler that we are not allowed to be there, citing the signs posted along the street - and he said he'd have to call it in. I wanted to talk to the guy myself, but he seemed to have left by the time I arrived. If anyone gets a chance to talk to any of the folks who live out there, please spread some good will: thank them for the rare and wonderful privilege of continuing to fly the best thermal site on the island under the terms of our official new permit. Please refer any questions or concerns directly to me, or to the DHHL land manager, Kaipo Duncan. Let's do everything we can to make this permit work: by minimizing our parking presence on the street, driving slow back there, hiking up right away without milling around or making a big commotion, and treating everyone we meet out there with aloha and respect. Thanks for your help!

Sunset on the Beach

Thanks to Jim for his excellent summary of yesterday's unlikely adventure - I am adding a few pictures I took of his flight here. All week I had been dreaming of flying over the festival, and despite an ominous forecast for light southeast winds, the conditions gave us a very sweet little cross country flight in smooth buoyant air.

Near Sunset

No two ways about it - Alex and I got lucky today. First I got lucky when my boss let me off early. The sensors still looked promising enough to venture out toward Kahana to join Alex in his quest to fly over the "Sunset on the Beach" festival out in La'ie.

We both launched within minutes of each other from high launch, and slowly made our way up to ridge height. There was plenty of lift and no fear of bombing out. I pretty much stayed out front, once again getting used to my P44 after flying my Lambada much more these days.

Alex wasted no time heading toward the back lower than I can remember seeing him go anytime recently. I eventually made my way back there, but didn't seem to like it as much as he did, so headed out front again for a lame attempt at crossing the bay since the wind was light. As I made my way back from that failed attempt, the wind picked up ever so slightly, as a huge mass of clouds started moving in. I could tell that Alex would be making his move soon.

Sure enough, after some chatter about whether the clouds were bringing rain with them, Alex made the jump toward Punalu'u. I followed not too long after, from my lowest departure altitude yet (1800 ft). But somehow the stars all lined up - what seemed to be a surreal dream was becoming reality, as we worked our way downrange, eventually landing at Pounders after scoring an overflight of the aforementioned "Sunset on the Beach" event. Finally, a big "Mahalo" to Joe from NY for giving Alex and me a ride back to Kahana from there - now that's a lot of luck.

Squall Runners

Scot and I launched at Kahana in front of a monster squall and pulled off a desperate escape to Hauula - thanks to Reaper and Harris for the retrieve! That was a fun adventure. The Earls enjoyed some sweet flights later in the smoothe evening aire, and said they could hear the Makapuu boys on the radio as well.

Cake

Another day, another round trip to Kualoa. It was tough to get high enough to start, but I finally left with just under 2,000 feet, and the bay crossing was a piece of cake from there. This is just too much dessert for one lonely pilot! I was hoping Stalker would follow me but he struggled to tank up enough to make it work. Next time!

Ice Cream

Sometimes I wish it were easier to cross the bay and savor the mouth-watering vistas over Kaaawa and Kualoa. Wouldn't it be great if we could just launch over there? But I think it would be like eating ice cream for every meal - you'd get pretty sick of such a rich diet after a while. Maybe it's better that we save it for dessert.

JetFlap's 1st Annual Low In The Bowl Flying Classic

UPDATE: The showcase low-flying event is CANCELLED as of this morning, but that doesn't mean people won't be flying and partying all afternoon as usual. Fireman Dave is the unfortunate victim of a severe tonsil inflammation and won't be available to run the event as he had hoped.

Just in case you haven't heard, "JetFlap" Jeff Forrest and his wife Lana are leaving Hawaii for the soggy pastures of Oregon. So, as a sort of personalized sendoff, we have created a flying event in the spirit of how he flies.

(At this point I know you are thinking: into the ocean, hanging from a tree, hanging off a sheer cliff, hanging from a helicopter or just plain bouncing off the road at the Makapu'u LZ.) Well, you are wrong, this is the new and improved Jeff, and he is the master of flying low in the bowl in front of Crazy Man's.

This Friday, September 5th at 4pm, is the first Jetflap Jeff Low In The Bowl Flying Classic.

The format is a precision low flying event, in which the contestant has to knock an empty beer can off of various tall thin bamboo poles loosely erected on the hill side. There are points associated with each can based on difficulty, and if it proves too easy we might have to go for time.

It is a solo event, but anyone who wants to can be flying above, and each contestant will be called in for their solo run.

I would like to get everyone in the air by 4:30, and hitting the course by 5pm. I will brief and dose the lifeguards beforehand in case of any early bombouts.

Everyone is welcome to compete, fun fly or join me "redcupping" and heckling from the guardrail!

It should be a lot of fun, and we are potlucking afterwards, so bring some type of food if you can.

If you are interested in competing, post a comment below.

Fun: lots, prizes: maybe, bragging rights: sure.

Friday, September 5th, 4pm. Pau Hana Potluck to follow!

More info, updates later.

See you there!

Crazy Man Tag Team

Another day, another spectacular aerial vista. Today's task: launching out of Crazies for some tag team flying. First Jorge flew a tandem, then just as he was ready to land, I launched and benched up over the hang ridge to soak up the mellow vibe at cloudbase, all alone up there for a couple of hours. Just as I was getting ready to land, Scot showed up and launched to take my place.

Jetflap and Nightshift showed up soon after that, and there was a rumor Scrappy might make it out as well. Nightshift posted a comment about Jetflap bowling them over - and he doesn't make accidental double entendres like that. I hope someone is willing to elaborate on the flying escapades from later in the day...

Jorge talked to the hang glider pilots before he flew - they said they had flown to Kahana and back in an hour and a half. That's impressive, but then you've gotta land those things! I tiptoed back into Waimanalo just a little ways, and found the headwind pretty strong coming back - I'll guess I'll leave these stronger days to the hang gliders. Another deterrent: the clouds were boating in from the ocean at just over 2 grand, which was strange considering how high they looked downrange most of the time. I also had a limited window before I had to pick up the kids. Thanks to Jorge for the heads up about the downrange potential. Next time!

Happy Birthday to P3!

Welcome to the world, Peter J. Arroyo III. A few of your uncles flew at Kahana today, the day after Labor Day, in a small celebration of life in general, but now that we know your mom actually went into labor today, and delivered you, with the encouragement of your Dad and Nikki - we truly have a reason to celebrate.

Labor Day Weekend Wrapup

Local pilots enjoyed an extended weekend of paragliding excitement leading up to a breezy Labor Day, complete with squall dodging, goalposting, face planting, sand rolling, sign waving, barbecuing, tandem sharing, greenwall exploring, first-time flying, top landing and ridge hopping, not to mention a whole lot of cooler depleting and general celebrating.

On Friday, Jim, Don, Scot and I flew several crazy flights between and during the numerous squalls blowing into Kahana, while Jeff and Frank evaded the showers drifting into Makapuu.

The Kahana conditions were shifty and light, and often quite northerly. After coring what I swear was a lee-side thermal in dead wind straight up from the north ridge, I encountered nothing up high but turbulence and sink, and I soon headed into the LZ to show off a new and scary variation on my famous two-tree landing: I snagged a high branch on the tall dead tree that leans over the LZ as I tried to correct an ill-conceived approach in an unexpected tailwind. But as it spun me slowly around, somehow I was able to pull free of the high branch and mush the wing down to a pretty hard landing on the beach below, only to see it snag on the much lower branch of a live tree as I pounded in next to Yolie, who met my sheepish smile with an expression of barely relieved horror. Jim tried to raise the ante with a face plant landing in the keyhole, but then Scot took the prize by sending the sand flying during his dramatic high-speed downwind roll at the surf's edge.

After all that excitement, we ran off to help Q with some signwaving. Reaper, Ginny, Dave, Ken, Don, Yolie, Frank, Linda, Jetflap, Jim, Steve, Berndt, Rich, and I joined Q and Roger for a squall-saoked two hours of signwaving on the Pali highway. Q said it was the largest signwaving event they've had to date. Not only that, but signwaving in the rain is apparently worth more votes than dry signwaving. Afterwards we retreated to Lanikai park for a party and BBQ at the mobile HQ trailer, where we met John and Leslie. Thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and support Q in his campaign efforts. You guys rock.

On Saturday, a bunch of folks flew Makapuu starting early in the morning. Jim, Jeff, Steve, Scrappy, and Dave (on a tandem) flew the first session. After lunch at Kona Brewing Company, the second session got underway: Reaper flew tandem with "Jefe" Ray, joined by Jeff, Jim and Dave for second flights, and Jared and I flew as well. Jeff and Jared ventured down towards Puu O Kona for the first time in the nice northerly conditions, and Dave made it as far as the reservoir along Greenwalls before turning back. Marc and Sharky were also on hand to help us celebrate a great day of flying.

On Sunday, we saw another big day at Kahana: first Kahana flights for new pilots Marc and "Jefe" Ray, plus great flying for veterans Jim and Ginny and Reaper. Hillbilly toplanded to borrow a radio and joined me above Puu Piei, from where we hatched a plan to hop the ridges downrange and land in front of the beach-going crowds at Pounders. After Jim graciously retrieved us, we found Rich in the air enjoying a lonely but sweet flight, coming in to land moments before a line of squalls arrived to shut down the long day's party. We heard later that Fireman also had a lonely flight, out at Makapuu.

On Labor Day Monday, Jim and Jeff camped out on low launch at Kahana, waiting in vain for the stiff breeze to abate, before throwing in the towel and heading home. Reaper called for a sandbar party - and I bet there was some kite-surfing happening today too. Maybe even some low in the bowl flying at Makapuu? If anyone else has good stories or pictures to share from this weekend, please post them here.