Spring wildflowers

Took a walk at Al's cabin in central NY and found a few wild flowers in the swamps and woods. There was also a few very ambitious red squirrels that had created some huge piles of pine cone leftovers from extracting the pine nuts.

Check it Out

Saturday the Rochester Area Flyers held their Check it Out program an introductory program for potential students. There was an incredible turnout with 22 registered and attending the program. The weather was cool, make that cold, due to the brisk winds but sunny so we found a sheltered area beside the Quonset hut out of the wind and Moritz did a most excellent presentation about the club, the school and hang gliding in general. After we broke up into groups and started first on the flats ground handling and running with the glider. As the students progressed we went over to the gentle slope at the base of the training hill and did some man tows with people on the wires and keel as the student ran down the slope. The final result was everyone got air, the lighter ones much more than others, and everyone went away with big smiles.
At the start I thought it would be blown out but the wind velocity turned out to be a blessing making launch speeds very achievable with the 10-15mph headwind. I ran to much and came away fatigued and showing my winters inactivity has put me out of shape but spring is here and many hill climbs to come will increase my conditioning. Here's to a good training season.
Afterwards Ron and I met at the Victor High School and pulled out the kite buggy and 5M kite to spend the rest of the evening till sunset zipping around the athletic fields.
The pic I gleaned off the RAF group from Lon is of an attentive class with Moritz doing his presentation and Linda and I modeling the latest in hang glide harness fashion.

Juvenile Behavior

I know he his my younger brother but I didn't think he was SOOOOO immature!!!!!! And to think it was Eammon taking the picture, shame, shame, shame.

Howling at the moon

I received my new (to me) lens yesterday, a 300mm telephoto and although I have yet to scratch the surface of it's possibilities I did get a couple pictures of the moon this morning before leaving for work. I like the texture and subtle pinks and blue of the sunrise behind the camera.

Kite flyin and ice racing

With all the extreme cold this winter my flying time and heating bill have been suffering. But because of the extended cold Honeoye Lake has 13-15" of ice on it so the cold has presented a few alternate activities. We were out Saturday in balmy 45 degree weather enjoying the frozen playground.
Here are a few pictures of the Central New York Ice Racing Association out on a plowed mile and a half road course slinging some slush and ice chips. It looks like a blast and they do occasionally have rental cars so you can go out and try it. I now know what to do with the Subaru Baja when it is time to retire it from the road.
The other pic is of John Cimbalo zipping away across the ice with his kite buggy fitted with ski/skates. What it failed to show was shortly after him tipping over and being dragged through a puddle. The conditions were strong and variable, we all suffered similar fates and went home wet and smiling.

Indian Cliffs 10/18/08

I blew off bow hunting because the forecast looked sooo good. I got there a little late and expected to see gliders everywhere but there was only one PG in the air a couple hundred over. A quick call up top to SkyQueen told me why, it was a little strong and crossed so everyone was setting up and watching the conditions. After hightailing it up top and setting up quickly I watched a couple gliders launch and hit the wall out front, the conditions were still strong and after running off in the shadow you would hit the up draft and shoot skyward. I finally stepped up and watched everyone slowly sink to ridge level as I got there so I waited till it picked up again and they were going back up then could not get the glider to feel level for launch so I stepped out of the slot and let Don? go and was heartened by a nice launch.

When I finally did launch it was no problem and the ridge was working and I got up quickly but soon there was a lull and everyone was down on the ridge and scratching but it was short lived and soon we were back over launch by a few hundred and got to spread out and work the hill. The air had some texture to it and you had to hang on tight at times but as you got higher it smoothed out a lot and was not too bad.

The hawks were out in profusion and it was fun flying with them and watching their antics. At one point I looked down and one was inverted about 30 feet below me and looking up at me I thought at first it was an owl, white with brown spots, but then it flipped back over and I realized it was a red tail. I was following another and it would tuck its wings and become football shaped, plummet 30-40 feet then open its wings and soar back up to the level it had started. I thought it was diving at prey but as we flew down the ridge it kept doing it over and over again and I realized it was just plain having fun.

The Cliffs were working well and they remain one of the most postcard perfect places to fly. The colors were exceptional, HG, PG and sailplanes all flying together and the river below make for a great place to fly. The only problem was I forgot my camera and did not get any pictures for the postcard.

Flights: 1

Airtime: 3:04

Fun Factor: 7-8

Bristol and Hammondsport this weekend

Saturday was the day to fly at Bristol with lots of pilots coming out. Jeff got his first soaring flight. I did a bunch more mowing in the LZ and never did make it up top to fly. Sat. night the party was a great success thanks to Moritz and all his hard work. I slept out under the stars and moon and it was warm but cool enough to keep the mosquitoes away. Sunday there was breakfast at Bears then some light ridge buffing for Moritz and the PGers. Jeff got a sledder and an other high site under his belt.