new faces

A truck full of WW Falcons and Sport 2's




Had the pleasure of heading out to the "Big A" (Alberton) with a truck full of recent and past students for a late evening fly down. Alberton is a launch located 45 miles west of Missoula and overlooks the Alberton Gorge, our local kayakers play zone. It's almost twice as high as the other beginner launches close to town and provides up to a 20 minute fly down. Two of the "boys" had only 3 altitude flights to this point and were both excited and nervous about their first flight from this site. It's a bit of a slot in the trees and a little intimidating in comparison to the open launches they were used to but with good conditions, it's straight forward and offers a chance for the new pilots to overcome their fears and doubts.



Here are some shots that were taken by our driver. The wind was a little strong when we arrived on top but it worked out well because flying down at sunset was both beautiful and memorable.



It's really cool to see new faces in the flying community. The smiles and energy in the LZ while breaking down reminded me of my early days in this sport. Life is good and continues to be so.

Ian's first flight

We have several great flying sites surrounding Missoula but Mt Sentinel is our "local" site. It's distinctively different from the others (and from most other sites around the country) because of the fact that it overlooks town with the designated LZ right in the middle of town. You can arrive on top of Mt Sentinel from most anywhere in Missoula in a matter of 25 minutes. This makes it one of the main reasons why most of the HG and PG pilots live here. There's something great about being able to see the wind sock from your deck.



We have the luxury of breaking down after a good flight in perfectly mowed and manicured grass and can (after loading the gliders up) be home or anywhere else in town in a matter of minutes. The only issue is that the LZ is surrounded by homes, businesses and a tree lined golf course which makes it "sporty" on windy days. It has been decided for years that it is a designated H-4 site because of the restricted nature and high visibility of the LZ. H-3s can fly there accompanied by H-4s or above but we have until recently not allowed H-2s to fly from Sentinel because of the LZ and tenuous nature of the site.



Thankfully, we have recently voted as a club to allow our H-2's to fly on appropriate days accompanied by some of the H-4s or H-5s in town. I think it's great because it increases the newer pilots ability to gain airtime and experience exponentially. One of my students from last year, Ian, got to take his first flight from Mt Sentinel a couple of days ago and I was lucky enough to get to be there with him to watch and fly with him. Ian is a really cool guy and brings a lot of positive energy to the club and to hang gliding in general. Luckily, here in Missoula, most of my students have been college age. Ian is 23 and along with a few others here is the future of our sport. Pretty cool. His smile in the LZ was beaming.

coming soon to a dealer near you

Our second prototype is showing great promise. I'm intent on designing a "first generation" race/xc harness that outperforms the instant you hook in. Soon, Wills WIng will be able to offer a harness that, combined with the T2C, will provide a "top of the stack system" to help you meet all of your hang gliding goals. Stay tuned;-)
Cheers

as clean as it gets

Anyone that has been following my blog is aware of a project that has been occupying my thoughts and dreams over the last 8-12 months. Steven Pearson and I, along with helpful brainstorm sessions between myself, O'Brien and Dustin, have designed an advanced harness for the competition and cross country minded pilot looking for the cleanest, most aerodynamic design to achieve the best polar results and reduction of parasitic drag.

I am what most would refer to as a "Drag Nazi". I love nothing more than cutting all zipper tangs off my new gliders, creating custom carbon components to clean up areas of drag and having all of my flying gear be as efficient and as "sexy" as possible. Rob Kells used to say "non of the little things matter by themselves but when you do it all, by the time you are on final glide at 70+ mph the advantage is, for sure, there".

I believe that the single most important thing to having a "clean" and aerodynamic system, aside from your wing, is your harness and harness position. When we started talking about collaborating on this project, Steve and I decided that we really wanted to achieve 3 things. First we wanted to make an advanced level harness that someone with intermediate skills could land in safely and easily. Second, we wanted it to be safe, comfortable and at the same time, as aerodynamically pleasing as is possible and third, we wanted it to be easily accessible (fast and reliable delivery time for your custom built WW harness).

To start, we built a form study with no place for chutes, no pockets, no frills at all. The purpose was to test shape only. After getting the form study done and making needed adjustments to the patterns, back plate and boot shape, I started on the first "mock up" prototype harness. This version would be used to test the refined shape, to try what I had in mind for a distinctly Wills Wing graphic, to try the functionality of my parachute deployment system and to try out a newly designed slider mechanism which will hopefully make for easier landing.

It wasn't until I got into the "meat" of the project that I realized how many components go into a harness of this type. I've gained respect for the harness designers from around the world because before designing one myself, I had no idea how thoughtful some of the solutions on other harnesses were. I have tried very hard to come up with my own solutions and have gained perspective on how difficult (yet rewarding) it is to attempt to live up to our 3 major goals.

As you can see, this is the first flyable prototype of the Wills Wing "Covert". I want to call it the "Covert" because the feathers on falcons and hawks that help to blend in the legs and wings to the body of the bird are called "covert feathers". If we are trying to blend into our wings in the most aerodynamically advantageous way possible, I figured it was a fitting name for a harness that does just that.

We still have a few things to work out and refine before going to production but I wanted to share with those of you that are interested how our prototype looks and will follow up with a flight report (hopefully) sooner than later. If you are interested in a custom built harness and can wait for the solutions necessary for a production level product, I will be happy to work with you and/or your local Wills Wing dealer to take measurements and ensure a good fit. I'm REALLY motivated because, more than anything else, I can't wait to race in one myself;-)


Coming soon. Please comment on the blog if your interested and I will get back to you with more details. Soon you will be able to purchase the proven T2C and the Wills Wing Covert and have the most efficient flying system offered in hang gliding today!

Last Day

When the forecast for the last day called for a greater chance of overdevelopment and higher winds, I knew that day 6 was going to be important. I blew my final glide and landed a couple of k's short and thought my comp was over. Luckily, when we woke for the last day, the sky looked a bit more promising and by the time the spot landing contest was over, it was blue and looking as though we would indeed get to race one last task. I knew O'Brien wanted a "real" task for the last day and was psyched when he told me that they came up with a 90+ mile dog leg (shaped like a "7") that would hopefully keep us away from overdevelopment.

Jeff O'Brien getting "race ready"


The group gaggled up over the airport with most of the field trying to gain height to work toward the edge of the start circle. I felt most were thinking that we should go earlier than later because of the chance that the sky would blow up and stop the task. The clouds were getting thick and the lift was getting stronger. The first 110 k's of the course were almost directly down wind and with a stiff tail wind, would prove to be fast.

Me and Zippy getting yanked out of the cart- photos by Karen Johnson



My team was a bit quicker to get to the best cloud at the edge of the start cylinder and were much higher than myself along with Derrik Turner and Chris Zimmerman. They called over the radio that they were going when the first clock turned over but we (Derrik, Chris and I) were still 800-1000' below them and were forced to take a few more turns, leaving after them by over a minute.

Luckily for me, by the time we got to the next cloud, Jeff, Zippy, Glen, Davis and others were climbing in 350 fpm on the far side of the cloud, still 1000' higher but I found 800 that turned into 1000+ fpm which allowed me to catch up quickly. We were getting higher than previous days, topping out at over 10,000' MSL.

James Stinnet proving that he can still fly a flex wing very well


Mark Stump- one of the nicest and most helpful guys on the circuit


The group was gliding with airspeeds between 55-60 mph and climbs of 7-900 fpm. It was classic Texas racing. As we approached the Turn point however, the ground was getting darker caused by the shade from quickly growing cu nims. We got social and grouped up with OB coming in higher from the left and Davis, Glen, Terry, Zippy and I finding a climb just before the t-point. It was only 200 fpm (which at this point, we were thankful for) and we gained just enough altitude while drifting away from the turn point to dive in and tag it. Most kept going but I flew through 50 up and Glen, Terry and I stopped, thermalling at 3/4 VG trying to squeeze the max lift out of every turn. I could see Davis and Zippy trying to dig themselves out from low a half glide ahead and watched OB and several others land. The red dust form the gust fronts were approaching and there was lightning on 3 sides of our position. It was quite surreal to be climbing in smooth, light lift with three guys while surrounded by what felt like a group of hungry lions. I left our climb right after Davis decked and flew toward Zippy who was in zero to 50 up. I came in 100' over his head and Glen followed (I think Terry had just landed behind us). We were the last ones in the air at this point and I got the feeling that Glen wasn't going to go unless Zippy did, to hold onto his position in the comp (which was winning;-). In the end, the potential danger proved too great a motivator and we left on glide to the ground. Because of altitude, the placing for the day was where we were in the last thermal. Glen was first, I finished second for the day with Zippy just a couple hundred meters behind me.

Up and coming pilot, Eric Donaldson.


Ben Dunn, smiling as usual


Luckily, it was enough to make up a little for the previous day's final glide mishap and to slip past Larry Bunner (who flew really good this comp) for 5th overall. OB finished 4th, Derrik (who landed just short of the turn point) held onto 3rd. Zippy was 2nd and Glen Volk won the comp showing that his experience and skill is a benchmark for the rest of the US pilots to try to beat. It was a great comp with 7 tasks over 7 days and brilliant task selection by Davis, Jeff and Glen which kept us mostly away from overdevelopment and allowed for long, challenging tasks each day. We raced hard and in the end it was how a good comp should be. The best pilot for that particular race was on top of the podium. Well done, Glen.

Glen Volk, Winner of the Big Spring US Hang Gliding Championship


After landing, ZIppy and I broke down as quickly as possible to beat the gust front that was quickly approaching. I knelt down to unzip my sprog door and put my hand in the grass and onto what felt like a spider web. I felt something move and looked down. Under my palm was a black shiny spider with a red hour glass. Sometimes the most dangerous point of a flight is just after landing;-) I pulled out my camera to take a photo and some more video (I had my camera out for several memorable moments during the flight) only to realize that my SD card was still in my card reader from the night before;-( Bummer!
Who says that all lessons learned during a comp are flying related;-)
Cheers

Bit of a heart breaker

Jeff under the building cu nim at the start


The task committee called for a 160+ kilometer dog leg today, made interesting by the fact that there was significant wind and cloud development at the start of the day. Russell Brown rolled in front of me as I laid in the launch cart dreaming of having a good fly with my friends. It got a bit sporty out of the cart as a thermal ripped off to my right and kicked me way out of wack. I am psyched to have the guys that are towing us up here (Russell Brown, Johnny Thompson and Whiley) because they really know how to use the airplane to straighten us out and keep us in line when turbulence gets the best of us. I saw him turn around in his seat to make sure all was good. I gave him the thumbs up and off we went to a cloud. He dropped me off in lift and up I went right to base. It feels a little like I would imagine a big wave surfer feels when a jet ski pulls him into a big wave. I pulled the release when Russell waved me off and banked it up in 600 fpm. Good times!

I played the start game a bit but in the end, decided to take the first clock with the rest of my team. We were having a little trouble staying out of the cloud we were under as it was towering and approaching cu nim status. I figured overdevelopment was immanent and if we got on course, we would have a good shot at making it furthest toward goal before the day was stopped.

We had a few good glides straight down wind, finding 600 fpm up at each cloud. I saw 71 mph on the ground speed and was stoked that the course seemed to be literally flying by. After one long glide, the cloud cover took over and shade dominated. We all shifted down from high gear to scratching, taking anything over 250 fpm. Our group was strong with Glen, OB, Zippy and Terry Reynnolds. We had managed to get pretty far off course line by staying under clouds and now had to grovel our way back to the turn point.

Jeff and Zippy climbing on course


We did just that. After Glen took another route and Terry went closer to the turn point (he accidentally marked the t-point as a 400 meter cylinder as opposed to the designated 1 k), Jeff, Zippy and I hooked up and made pretty good time toward goal. We were finding 5-600 up and now had a tail wind that seemed to be getting stronger because of a quickly developing cu nim behind us. At 30 k's out we climbed to 9100'. As we were leaving, Jeff wrapped up in something that got him above 10,000'. I thought about staying as I was still in 450 fpm but pushed on with Zipp thinking that we would get the "one more climb that we needed" and that "over 9 grand was high". I flew toward a cloud and was starting to get a bad feeling as my glider began to fall out of the sky. I really hoped that it was just the leading edge of the lift I was to fly into but it wasn't there. The cloud fell apart and I was getting a 4-1 glide. Instincts took over and I was now switching from nervous to desperate. I couldn't believe that after 90 miles of going well, I was now struggling to stay off the ground 4-5 k's out from goal. Zippy was low with me and he said on the radio that he had zero's but that "it wasn't worth coming back for". He was right and I pressed on, hoping for a low save to drift me into goal. He did just that as I landed 2-3 k's short.

After the obligatory tantrum (lots of cussing and pulling my hair out;-), I broke down dissapointed but thrilled to be able to take part in this sport on a day like today. We had unbelievably fast moments, groveling in soft conditions, strategy and risk. I landed short and lost a place in the overall but I learned a lot and felt like we flew well as a team today. We are getting better, more consistent at staying together and becoming more efficient as a group. I said more than once today on the radio "man, I love flying with you guys". Tomorrow is another day.
Cheers

This is a video that I took right after landing short

day 5, Big Spring

Glen Volk gave advice at the pilots meeting before day 5 that as my flight began, rang in my ears. He had found himself very low within the start circle while the rest of us were grouped up. As we all left on course, he had to go all the way back to the airport to find lift, ending up low and alone again. When he did eventually get on course, he smoked it (finding much stronger conditions than the rest of us had) and won the day. During the pilots meeting, he reminded us all to never count yourself out. Just enjoy your flight, do the best you can and it's never over until it's over.

Today, we again launched in soft conditions with a few pilots having to take re-lights (when you sink out in the airport and have to take a second tow to try to stay up). I managed to find light lift low and was able to stay in the air with a few others, feeling lucky. When the conditions got a tad better, the group was climbing together and I went out a bit to search for something better. I didn't find anything and looked back to see the group still climbing well but when I got to them, the "rope had been pulled up" and there was nothing under them but sink. I made a long, lonely glide back to the airport where there were only 2 or three gliders left. I found something on the far side of the airport under a cloud and climbed to 6000'. When the lift died off, I committed to another long glide back to the only cloud (about 7 miles away) where I could see the gaggle at it's base. I was sweating it as I arrived about 1000' over the ground but found 700 fpm right to cloud base. Back in the game;-)
driving around base at the start


A group left for the second start time but Zippy, Jeff and I were keen to drive up wind and wait for a later start because the day was definitely turning on. It was a little bit of a challenge to stay out of the clouds and we all played the start game, tread milling under the clouds. We ended up taking the 4th (last) start with Jeff, Zipp and I on top of the stack. Derrik turner, Chris Zimmerman and several other good pilots were with us as we connected clouds and good climbs toward the t-point.
A few gliders climbing below on course


I was familiar with the course line because we had flown the same task the day before. Zippy and I ended up working together to get through the section between the 2 turn points that had become pretty blue (just like the day before). After getting the last before heading to goal, I looked down to see Derrik Turner really low and scratching. Turns out he had to land and broke his glider (putting a fence post through his sail) and rung his bell pretty good. I'm glad to know now that he is OK and has a spare glider to race on;-)

Zippy and I went on some smooth glides, both spreading out to look for lift to make good time on the last leg into goal. He stopped in 200' fpm and quickly left, thinking there was a better value to find. I searched a little and found 500 and decided to stay in it until I had an 11-1 L/d into goal. I was a little gun shy from my final glide on the day before. When I got the value that I wanted, I stood on it at 65-68 mph all the way in. Unfortunately, I was pretty conservative because I misjudged and ended up at goal with 500'. I guess that's what a lack of confidence will do.

On my way in, I blazed past a glider turning in lift. I knew it was Zippy and wondered what he was doing. I was a little confused as to why he was not racing me in. Turns out that he had not heard that the task was changed (it was announced an hour before we flew) and thought there was another leg. He was topping out before what he thought was the turn point and made it to goal with 8000'! It sucks because he is flying lights out and would have made up some time and points if he knew about the change and had raced in to goal.
Goal feild


As we drove back to down load our instruments, there were a few massive cells developing around the town of BIg Spring. It was both massive and beautiful.

day 4

Today was one of those days. One of the days of racing that you remember for a long time. There are a few places in the world that the conditions allow for experiencing all of what good cross country racing has to offer and Texas is one of them.

Todays forecast was for a 20% chance of overdevelopment but after yesterday's gust front experience and having a lesser T-storm development forecasted, as well as how the sky looked, we were all pretty dubious that it would be good. The wind in the lift line was light and switchy. It seemed as though there was very little energy in the sky. Even still, the field quickly lined up to launch.

We indeed found the conditions to be soft and almost everyone became quite social. We all tried with intent to gain position at the edge of the start cylinder. Jeff, Zippy Davis and I were there and in decent position for the first start but the team came to the conclusion that conditions were improving and it would be faster to wait the 15 minutes for the next start. As the next clock ticked over we were topped up and led out under flat bottom cu's that were going up 5-700 fpm. We connected to a street that allowed us to dolphin fly for what felt like a long way and I thought for sure we were going to get to fly the course as fast as we could. Zippy, Jeff, Davis and I were spread out and when the street ended Zippy faded left to the west and hooked up with Derrik Turner with Larry Bunner just behind. I pushed off the end of the street with hopes that I would find a buoyant line across the blue hole (which turned out to be around 7 miles across). I think Jeff stayed behind to top out at the end of the street. I got hammered with sink (imagine that) and had to deviate 90 degrees to course line to a cloud that I hoped was working. I went from "going to groveling" in one glide;-)

I managed to hook up with a couple of Red Tails (hawks) and one very pissed off Prairie Teircel who helped me to climb back out to base. I made another critical error at this point. Zippy had been reporting strong climbs on his line so when I saw them off to my left (and from cloud base they were reachable), I fixated a bit and made the glide to them. When I was 1/3rd of the way across the blue hole, I could see that the line I was on by myself curved back around, flat bottomed and black all the way back to course line. I will never know what would have happened if I went that way but I remember yelling out loud at myself for being stupid. Oh well, another lesson.

When I got to those guys, the clouds had built. We were going up but the shade had taken over and the ground was dark. I noticed OB come in under us and he looked really low. I remember thinking that if anybody could dig themselves out, he would and we pushed on. In the next climb, he was even lower and at one point he glided toward the road. I looked for his shadow and honestly thought he might land. This will come into play later.

I flew a slightly different line to a cloud and hooked up with James Stinnet and Mark stump on a ATOS. After a soft climb (we had all switched gears at this point and slowed down a little to attempt to stay high) we went on a long glide toward the next cloud closer to the last turn point. When we got there it was obviously dying as it didn't yield any lift, so we kept driving ahead, getting lower and lower.

There is a point in a race when, to go fast, you sometimes have to keep pushing. Even if it means that you end up gliding until your low. I've seen Jonny and others do it and had done it a few times myself but every time I do, it creeps into my mind that we might drive it into the dirt (because I've done that too). We did find a climb, from low, one glide from the last turn point. It was here that I see OB's undersurface 1500' to 2000' above and going to the t-point. Unbelievable. Its still amazes me how dynamic this sport is. Everything changes so many times all in one flight. I was smiling and inspired.

It got blue at the turn point and we struggled a little to get to goal. I stayed hooked up with Stinnet and this time Bill Soderquist was with us but lower. We went on glide and I watched from a little behind as both guys flew under a cloud and didn't get it, pushing on. We were pretty low in relation to final glide and as I searched where they hadn't and luckily found 400 up and stopped. Looking ahead I saw Soderquist search and get low (I think he had to land shortly after, drifting with zeros for a while). Stinnet found something and started turning a half a k ahead. I had altitude on him so I felt like if I left right then I would get to him at his altitude and we would climb for what most of us really like to do, race into goal at full speed;-) James is a really cool guy that spent some time living and flying in Missoula so I was stoked and knew we would have a good one. Unfortunately for both of us, his climb broke up and he left just as I was almost to him (I also found nothing). We were looking at almost 14 k's with a 13.9 to 1 to make it in to goal. It was going to be close and I honestly thought we needed another climb to have a chance. After all that, I really wanted goal.
We went on final glide anyways (without much of a choice). I had about 400' on him. We were getting closer and closer but not finding anything to turn in. The goal had a 1k radius and it was going to be close. I saw his shadow over the dirt and watched him as he turned to land less than a k from the edge of the goal cylinder. I was bummed for him but had to worry about myself as there was now nothing but small fields surrounded by power lines ahead. I stayed at full rope but unzipped just hoping that I would find a bubble to push out in. I ended up not finding a thing and pulled in to gain energy, pushed out to clear some power lines by 20', stuffed it into ground effect to have enough energy to clear the barb wire fence that split my "chosen" LZ so that I could land (down wind, full rope;-(. Luckily for me, Belinda had reported very light wind on the ground I as I went to my up-rights, I heard the tell tale song on my 6030 that I had crossed the goal cylinder. I flared for my life and landed in the middle of the field. The owner of the farm came right over, turned off his electric fence and kindly helped me get my glider out to his front yard, mowed grass and all;-) Don't know the results yet. I am quite obviously stoked to have had the opportunity to have an experience like today! I think Glen won the day with Zipp maybe in second. OB made it in 5th or 6th and I think I was 7th. What a day!!!!! LIFE IS GOOD

day 3

I should have, but didn't manage to take any in air photos from yesterday. Our friend, Karen Johnson, took some really nice photos from the launch line and of the cu nims that ended up stopping our task. She told me last night that she would be happy to send some to post which I will do soon. This photo was taken by Eric Donaldson. It's a great photo and shows the beginning of the end.

We launched yesterday shortly after the task was changed (in the launch line) to a straight line to goal of around 100 miles. The task committee had originally called a big triangle but the sky was very quickly filling in with tall cumulous clouds, with particularly imposing looking clouds toward the course line. We made the changes in our instruments and got tugged up into good lift. We climbed pretty quickly and ran to the edge of the start circle. I drove around a bit with Davis while watching Jeff and Zippy climb up to our height with the large majority of the field. It was the first time this comp that there was a bit of a gaggle and with interval starts, a real start game.

It was obvious that the chance of overdevelopment stopping the task was probable so we decided as a team that we would take the first and maximise our distance. We found ourselves in good position and left in front as a team. Zippy went right with Derrik Turner off to his right and a bit higher, Jeff faded left and I split the difference with Davis. We had the gaggle with us for a couple of climbs but it spread out a little as the choice of direction became more effected by the storms. There were two or three major cells to the East (left of course line) that were dropping virga and had horse shoe shaped red dust clouds pushing quickly toward the course. I stayed to the west feeling like we could sneak around before they got to us and was pleased to see Davis, flying well, under the same clouds. I had been eyeing the storm and the two or three cutains of virga were all coming out of the same monster with a shelf on it's west side that was flat and dark. It looked like the fastest line and if we were under it, we most likely could pull in and blaze without a turn. I thought about making the glide to it but rationalized my fears by thinking that if the gust front pushed, there would be a strong cross wind as opposed to the tail wind that we had on our current line. About the second or third climb on this line I looked over to see a speck of a glider up against the black wall of storm cloud. There was already talk on the radio about the safety of the day and as I said that I saw this glider, Zippy piped up and said "that would be me". I laughed a little and pushed on. Turned out he had climbed out from low and was now standing on it without turning. Jeff came into the climb I was in around 1000' below and although the lift was broken and my instincts were screaming to go, I wanted to wait a little so that we could go together. This was a stupid decision. First off, slowing down NEVER makes the group faster collectively and two, if I would have kept driving (especially knowing that the task would most likely be stopped) I would have placed better for the day as the guys that had better results were no more than a few k's in front. Stupid. Lesson learned.

I told Jeff I was going and he came with me around 500' lower and it was then that the day was stopped. We decided that we would land in Lamesa and I saw that James Stinnet, Ben Dunn and Zippy had flown over to us to all land in the same place. Just as we were spiraling down, we al noticed that the gust front was moving extremely fast and was pushing across town. By the time I was dropping into final, the red, airborn dirt was blowing hard over the tree line at the edge of our chosen LZ. I landed in gusty and switchy winds with OB and Ben right behind. We all managed to turn our gliders around just as the "meat" of it hit us. Zippy and James both made the wise decision to turn down wind and run a few fields away to land, hoping to squeak in. In the end, all made it down with no dramas.

I was a little twisted about the results because if I would have listened to my instincts, my point value would have been higher for the day but it's all about learning. This one is one I will remember to not make again. Today is another day.

day 2

The Taskl committee called a 86 mile lightning bolt with a long, cross wind component on the second leg. The wind was still a concern in relation to being able to stay within the start circle so it was decided that we would have another open start after 2 pm. With this type of start, there is the opportunity for games to be played with the winner the one who leaves last in the group instead of first, like an interval start. The advantage to leaving last is that you can still easily catch up to the pilots that left a minute or two ahead but because your time starts as soon as you cross the cylinder, you have gained a minute or two instantly. Yesterday the games at the edge of the cylinder were in full swing.

We suited up in the hanger and walked into the wind and into the launch line. The tows went well and soon we were climbing in 500 fpm to cloud base which was only about 7000-7200'. Jeff, Zippy and I hooked up with Glen, Bill Soderquist, Alex Cuddy and a few others. We heard on the radio that Davis and a few others (Zimmerman and Derrik Turner) had left and Davis was reporting good lift on course. I pushed our group to the east and we were all soon driving around base. It was a bit of a challenge to stay out of the cloud and at one point, I left the edge of the cloud pointed on course with the intention of leaving. Jeff and Zippy, closely watching Bill and Glen, saw that they wee hanging back so I turned around and drove back up wind

day 2

The Taskl committee called a 86 mile lightning bolt with a long, cross wind component on the second leg. We

big spring day 1

Today, the first task of the Big Spring Us National comp, was a special day for most of us. We, all in our own ways, quietly remembered our friend, Rob Kells. A year ago today was his last day on this planet and I felt like he was watching us all with that big smile that was so infectious. Rob always inspired me with his kindness, generosity and belief in the power of positive attitude which he displayed until the end. He was on my mind all day and kept me smiling and feeling lucky.

We woke up this morning to the wind nuking through the trees at camp and I wondered in my sleepy haze whether or not we would be able to get a task flown today. My concerns started to fade and the excitement began to build when I heard that the task committee called a 103 mile dog leg down wind. There was supposed to be clouds and wind and although the morning was blue, the general consensus was that we would most likely have the conditions to race and I was hopeful the WW boys would have a fast run.

The start was to be different than the usual interval type. We would all have an hour to launch and to get into position before an "open" start which meant that after 2pm, we were able to cross the cylinder to begin the task whenever we wanted. It was decided to begin the task this way today because we were dealing with a 20-25 mph cross tail to the first turn point and it would be extremely easy to get pushed out of the cylinder. It actually worked out well with many of the fast pilots semi grouped up starting together.

The first leg was a bit of a slog. It was apparent that 400 fpm on the averager was something to be stoked on and that staying high was going to be a good strategy. The lift, when encountered low, lacked cohesion. I hooked up with Zippy and Glen Volk, Bill Soderquist and Chris Zimmerman. Jeff and a couple of other pilots were a glide ahead and Davis was a few k's to our west. My radio was allowing me to hear but not transmil. It turned out that I had inadvertently pulled the plug apart to my finger switch in the launch line so it was a little frustrating to not be able to contribute to our team flying but Zippy and I communicated with the obligatory "point" and some whistling. We made the turn point with Zimmerman and Soderquist about 1200' below which left Zipp and I to keep a close eye on Glen. Davis hooked up with us a bit lower and we all worked well together through the second leg which was now VERY blue. Only a couple of spots caused us to grovel and we made progress trying to catch OB who was with a rigid wing and Derrik Turner just ahead. Close to the last thermal of the day, Zippy made a circle in some lift on our way to OB and I stopped and stayed with it as it turned into 400 fpm. I watched Jeff and Zach closely thinking that I was climbing with a better value. If they groveled and I climbed well, I would fly over them to final glide. It turned out that what they were in was good and by the time I got there, they were a grand over my head. Bad decision. Glen joined me around 300 over and Davis about 800 below. Glen went first and I had to remain patient, leaving with a 12.5 to 1. Turned out that there was lift on the way in and I made goal with 600'. Not sure what the results are for the day because no one really has a grip on when they left the start circle. I think we all left pretty close together with Zippy in just in front of OB, followed by Glen and then me about 5 mins later. We shall see tomorrow what the results are.
Lots of happy faces in goal. Around a dozed I think

Glen Volk

Ben Dunn

"Dangerous" Dave Gibson

We're obviously stoked to be here;-)

next adventure

Well, I worked on the harness project until the last minute to hopefully be able to take a fairly finished proto with me to Texas but, in the end, I was a few hours of work short of being able to complete it so it will have to lay on the table and wait for my return. Stay tuned.

I woke early to the smell of brewing coffee at around 5:30 am, knowing that if I got moving early, I would make it to meet O'brien in Denver with enough time to blaze farther South into New Mexico, at least. As I tied my glider on the truck I felt a few rain drops. It was just light enough to see that I was going to be driving out of Montana in some weather. The sky was full of heavy looking clouds that were forming nice mammatas. I love the drive out of the western half of the state. It is so beautiful and usually filled with wild life of all types to see walking around early in the morning. Montana is a rich state indeed.



By the time I got to the eastern (flat) side of Montana, the sun was out and cu's were popping. Spacing out while rolling away the miles I couldn't help but to smile as I watched raptors climbing out knowing that this was the beginning of a trip that would provide the opportunity to hopefully fly far and fast with my friends. I was really looking forward to racing with the boys again and continuing to improve and evolve my skills. I am hungry and I know others who are as well. The racing in Texas is always pretty full on.




I love how dynamic the sky ends up being on a long road trip. I had driven through rain, sun, seen dust devils ripping and drove through driving thunder storms that had 50 mph gust fronts, lightning and hail. The storms encountered while dropping into Colorado were quite impressive and had all of the motorcycle riders huddled under nearly every overpass to wait out the cu nims torrent.

This rainbow dropped out of a cloud that drove hail across the road in sheets at 30+mph



I made it to where Jeff was waiting 5 minutes after he himself arrived there and we quickly loaded his gear and got back to it. He took over the driving and we had fast conversation and productive brainstorming sessions until we could go no further. At around 1 am, we pulled over for a much needed crash.

5 hours of easy road time this morning and we pulled past the fairly familiar site of the "Welcome to Big Spring '09 US Hang Gliding Championships" sign. It was great to finally get here after looking forward to it for the past month. We set up Jeff's "home" for the next week and went to the hanger to set up our T-2 Cs. It's been cool to see some faces already starting to show up. Should be a party.