Free Flight Lab: Flight Report #1
I could feel it through the wall… it was a crisp morning as 6am rolled past. Of course my intention was to wake up earlier and get on the road by 5:30am. I found it difficult to rise, but the prospect of flying a task with the Northern California Sprint League provided motivation and a couple steps later I was in the car and leaving the smoke filled bay. My car has facilitated so many adventures in California. Hopefully many more to come. Sitting just around 335,000 miles the 1995 BMW 325is purrs along as the sun starts to rise.
The first major turn to the east is along California Highway 152. This is a unique road that brings me both joy and sadness. I was driving home on this road when I heard my phone ring indicating that my father had passed away.
The road has always provided time for reflection and in the case of 152 some of the most amazing variety of smells.
Even before the turn you could smell the Garlic of Gilroy. Each month provides a unique aroma and this month it is wonderful.
After a windy section past the reservoir its a traverse of the central valley.
Cow shit, canals, fruit trees, and grasses pour into the window as you pass through. This road is somehow special to me, and I look forward to it every trip to fly in the mountains near Fresno. I would like to elaborate about it more. Especially smelling water, but this is about the flight.
The site is called Tollhouse, a legendary location that when I first learned to fly was just folklore. I heard only rumors of how great it used to be. In the last 2 years it has reopened and is managed by a wonderful guy named Ron. I love this site a lot, there is a rock feature that looks like a mini halfdome.
Each flight is about taking in information and finding the signals in the noise. It starts days before with forecasts, and months and years before with training. I enjoy sailing and paragliding for this. Convergent decision making, it is a powerful practice that builds over a lifetime.
The morning of is important. So many things to look at on the drive, wind in flags, irrigation, fields, the early morning birds.
At the meeting spot (a cemetery) we arranged vehicles and headed up the mountain. At launch we could see it was still pretty hazy, and there was a clear inversion at about 4–5k feet.
A few birds were thermaling but very patiently. They were drifting slightly from the south. Winds overall were very light. The start time was set at 13:15 pst and as it approached 1pm only one pilot had taken off.
I normally launch first, but this time I wanted to wait. The first pilot was able to maintain, but it was up and down for awhile. On launch a pilot who flew the day before mentioned that the day had sort of shut down by 4pm.
I set up and waited for a good cycle. None of the other pilots were ready at this point, so I took my time and waited. I thought a couple times to ball up the glider and wait another 20 min.
I felt a good cycle start, and looked out to see some local birds getting up. Ok, it feels good.
I launched. The air was strange. Mixy. It makes sense because we were near to the inversion, and as was suggested later the other side of the mountain was in the sun earlier in the day and some cycles could have been coming over the back.
What this meant was that for the two and soon to be three pilots in the air despite there being a right hand turn direction for the day. We had enough separation that we could do what was needed to get up. After taking a couple short climbs to what seemed like the top. The pilot who launched first, Arthur went on glide towards the next waypoint, I started to follow, but went back to the ridge to watch how well it worked. He left low, and arrived at the next terrain also low. I took one more climb and decided to try a different line. I went to the valley.
I arrived just above the “Knob” turn point, but low enough to seriously consider bailing and going to land in the LZ. I was at low save level. I went over some hot rocks and some features that looked like they might trigger, and after some patience hooked a thermal. Sweet!
As the lift ended I looked to reconnect to the ridge and join Arthur, who was sneaking around features on the main ridge. As I went on glide to the ridge it was clear that I was not going to intersect it in a great spot, and that there was not many good open landing options if I spent a lot of time in by the terrain at that location. So I looked back to the “Knob” to see if I could sneak back and tank up for another try.
My perspective was that. I was at the same level or below the “knob” and gliding back to the LZ was not possible, and committing to the “knob” with the slight south was getting into the lee without good landings. I choose a field that looked like a great XC LZ and could potentially produce a low save. (I say this in hindsight, like some how I had a great plan)
I needed to gain a little more height as I hit a bubble to make sure I had margin on the field. I found some light lift, and began to work it patiently, knowing that yes, actually if this turned into more than mouse farts I could probably get back up and in the game.
I thought it would be cool to loose the main lz, then get back up and go back to it with two low saves.
As I topped out the climb which as it started drifting from the north now had shifted and had some south push. I looked to the LZ, then looked to the ridge. I spotted Arthur.
It wasn’t clear if he was still scratching his way to the first turnpoint. In that moment I thought “Keep Going” so I turned and surfed the valley over to the ridge. Taking buoyant lines I was seeing a glide ratio of 14 on my instrument. I fly a Skywalk Arriba3 mid B glider, so this is a good number.
On my way I saw that Arthur had tagged “4 Lane Turn” and was coming back for the next 2 turnpoints. The low save had taken too much time to be in phase with him for the rest of the task, as I was going up hill and he was going down hill. He was close in to the terrain and sneaking along. I choose to take another climb with minimal drift in the valley before I dove into the terrain. I tagged “4 lane turn” by surfing along the terrain. Little bits of lift along the slope driven by sun heated rocks. Surfed along back South to tag the next two turnpoints as Arthur went back up hill to tag “Sandym”
Again after tagging one of the the two southern turnpoints I took another climb to add additional margin to stay above the road and not force terrain flying. In the climb I rode the drift closer to the turnpoint, and finally tagged it with a small dogleg before heading back into the terrain.
Surfing back north I had to go past the “4 lane turn” and to the next feature. It is just past a bowl in the road where the terrain is all rocks. I was pointing slightly away from the terrain and crabbing up. Letting my self get sucked up along the features and hot rocks. Then I approached the shaded side of “Sandym” it was lee, but I could see on the ridge that stuck out if I could sneak around the corner there would be a good climb on the other side.
I had already tagged the waypoint, but Im confident if I went back south then I would have bombed out and landed.
Around the corner the Sun!!!! the sun!! thank you sun. Hooked a lovely climb, maybe the best of the day over sunny windward faces. It looked at this point all I had to do was fly back south and land in the LZ. sweet!
Other pilots had just connected to the ridge and were making there way up hill for the first time.
I surfed on along the terrain and took a couple climbs that were drifting into the right direction towards the GOAL. The climbs were not as consolidated as out in the valley and I was still maintaining a healthy margin with respect to terrain clearance.
I decided that I would go into the valley as I approached the area without great landings for both landing options and lift. I took a couple last turns, and actually in hindsight left a climb that I should have held onto like a life raft.
Now comes the sink… but but.. things were going so well. I was at a similar spot as earlier in the day, and thought well I could keep pushing, but my landings run out fast. At least the reasonable ones.
My field! with the low save. It was just on glide. Cool it worked earlier lets hope it works again. I made a direct path to the field managing bar through the sink. As I got to the field I searched but the quickly switched to landing pattern.
Damn. so close. I was about to make GOAL!
Landed safely and found a tree with shade. What a wonderful flight, flying on new terrain, and feeling good about landing zones and margins. Where am I? how close to the road. Are the other pilots behind me going to make it!! ?
As I packed up in the shade I looked up at the ridge tracking the 3–4 pilots that had made it past the start. It wasn’t clear, but it looked like most of them were down.
I walked along the field to find a gate, instead I found a spot in the barbed wire fence was large enough to fit under, so i put my glider and front pack over the fence and lay on my back. wriggling under the fence. I could feel the star thistle finding its way into my back, but this was a pretty luxurious barbed wire fence crossing all things considered. On the other side I looked for a path in the new field. Yellow wild flowers were abundant as I picked spikes out from my back and hands. The next fence was down and there was a small, dry creek that led into the woods. I could see a developed house to the right and a sort of run down barn to the left. I made it to the low trees. It was very clear and there were many cattle paths through the small forest along the dry creek. Cool shade was enjoyable as I traversed this cattle passage. I came out for a second thinking that I saw a driveway, but then went back in as it was a nice cover to not disturb anyone.
I made it to the driveway, then the road. With a bit of skip in my step I headed down the road to walk back to the LZ. So close! yet. too far.
I missed the chance to take a picture, but as I passed a field a couple miles later there was a group of kids/teens in a field 1 was on an ATV and the others were acting as bull fighters. The ATV was the bull. One bullfighter kid had a helmet on and that was it, but wait another bull is in the field it is a second kid on a 50cc dirtbike. The teens duck and weave the attacks from the motorized bulls. A scene that was almost familiar to my antics in fields at that same time. I really appreciated that and wondered what it would have been like to land in that field with these wild youth!
A mile or so later, I saw Arthur driving my way. A wave and driveway later. I was picked up.
Flying is such a unique experience. It requires being aware. Soaking up this day, this moment and considering the moments you would like in the future. It is powerful. I hope to try to capture a small piece of that through writing flight reports. In some way I would like to track or capture the head-space. What went into a great flight?
