We had a great Festival weekend with many photos to share, but I broke the blog! Well, thanks to Gordon we are back up and running…
First things first. On Friday Lori and Jamie Grover had their first mountain flights. Congratulations!
The chalk talk with Diana
Some photos from Friday…
Left to right: Lauren and Roxie, Lauren’s Launch
Left to right: Roxie’s launch, Denny and Cindy
Left to right: Liz and some of the volunteers, Jesse’s Launch (she ended up third in the spot landing contest)
We could not have hosted such an amazing event if not for our awesome tow program, training hill instructors, and shop employees, the numerous volunteers, clinic instructors, Stacy and Liz (again you guys did such a great job), and Matt and Robin (as always thank you for creating such a wonderful playground). Also, thank you to the pilots and students from across the country who came together to celebrate hang gliding!
Eric Donaldson, Lucas Ridley, Trevor Childress, James Stinnett, and Ricker Goldsborough are all in Arizona competing in the 2009 Santa Cruz Flats Race. Yesterday was the first day of the comp. The task was a 112 km box with the finish line back at the starting line (a comfy looking place by the way). Here’s how they did:
9. James Stinnett 105.4 km
13. Ricker Goldsborough 76.8 km
18. Lucas Ridley 73.2 km
20. Eric Donaldson 71.3 km
26. Trevor Childress 45.3 km
Both Lucas (lucasridley.blogspot.com) and Eric (artandaviation.blogspot.com) are posting updates on the comp. Check out their blogs!
On Friday, September 4, after five hours in the air, Terry Presley in his T2C became the first person to ever fly from LMFP to Henson’s and back to LMFP.
Many have tried, some have gotten close, but only Terry has made it.Congratulations Terry!
I spent some time talking to Terry about his flight and his glider.
“I’ve tried about a dozen times and have almost made it twice.Truly this was not the day that I thought this would be done because of the low cloud base,” Terry said. “We’ve had many better days.”
It was a light wind day (preferred conditions for an out and back task), but cloud base was only 5000 msl, or only about 3000 agl over the plateau.Ideally, cloud base would have been higher, but Terry had already decided that his goal for the day was to make it to Henson’s and back.So, with Eric Donaldson and Greg Heckman marking an area of broken lift, he launched off the mountain at 1:45 with high hopes.
Terry had to take a more southerly route to cross Sand Mountain than he generally prefers and almost clipped the corner of the Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia border.His preferred route would have been to cross a more northerly section of Sand Mountain with a lot more potential LZ’s.
With cloud base at only 3000 agl, he kept working between 2000-3000 agl under good clouds and over nice LZ’s until he crossed Nickajack Lake and entered into Sequatchie Valley.He flew up the eastern side of the valley over the plateau.About ten miles before Henson’s he crossed paths with Ollie Gregory and David Giles.Ollie and David were trying to do the reverse route in their ATOS rigid wings.
“We all thermalled up together and headed in opposite directions in our common quest,” Terry said.“We were all on the same frequency and wished each other good luck because we knew we would need it on a day like this.”
Terry later heard that Ollie and David were landing in Lookout Valley.James Stinnett had also launched from Henson’s and was about 10 miles from Terry, encouraging him on the radio.
It took Terry 2 hours to get to Henson’s.
When he arrived at Henson’s, it was not working very well. “At Henson’s I got way, way below launch,” Terry said.
“How low?” I asked.
“I don’t know, maybe 600 feet off the deck.”
After a couple of low saves and an hour of fighting to stay up, Terry was finally able to leave Henson’s and then it turned on again.Turned on may be a bit of an exaggeration.Terry’s best climbs of the day were only 600 fpm and he averaged only 300 fpm.
“I had basically flown up towards Henson’s at the edge of the plateau because that’s where the clouds were; on the east side of the Sequatchie Valley,” explained Terry.“It was the same coming back until I got to Inman Point.Then I committed to a route I wouldn’t normally have chosen.”
The chosen path was a direct route from Inman to LMFP.Terry picked this particular route back because cloud base had risen a bit but was still only about 4000-4500 feet over the plateau.This line isn’t normally chosen because it covers a lot of bad terrain.But, prior to the flight, fellow pilot Rich Annis had pointed out a couple of adequate LZ’s on top of Etna giving Terry a crutch.
Terry was also comfortable with this route because the clouds had been so consistent on his return trip and he only needed one climb to make it safely into Lookout Valley.Well, the clouds looked great and he got his climb, made it into Lookout Valley, and landed at LMFP at around 6:45 local time.
How did it feel?“Probably 20 minutes before I landed I knew I had it,” Terryexplained. “But I hadn’t flown in a couple of months, so I was very tired after five hours.”
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Terry, he is a very humble, easy going man.One of the nicest people in hang gliding.Flying is just what he does.He has been an airline pilot for 26 years, has been flying hang gliders since 1972, and he is often seen in a Stearman, Fokker triplane or another light aircraft.In the hang gliding world, he is something of a legend (not that he would ever feel comfortable with that moniker).If you see Terry setting up, it’s a pretty good indication that you should do the same.When Terry launches, people follow.Terry started flying in competitions in 1994 and was on the World Team in 2001, but hung it up in 2006 because “the itch was scratched.”
Why had no one ever done this flight before?A 64-mile out and back is really nothing with today’s gliders.
“I just don’t know,” Terry said.“It’s really not that big of a deal.Now that it’s been done, I think its going to be done a lot more.People just aren’t geared for out and backs.We’re geared with straight line, down wind XC distance.Out and back is more challenging and is more difficult especially when you are going to a declared point.”
Was it the pilot and the glider?Terry’s been flying topless gliders for many years and thinks that the T2C is the cleanest glider that Wills has ever made.“They’ve listened to their newest group of hot factory pilots and have produced as aerodynamically clean of a glider as they possible could,” Terry said.“By far their best effort.The performance is really showing up from their attention to detail.”
All five US World team members this year are flying T2C’s.
Compared to the T2, the T2C is lighter in weight and in handling.According to Terry, it is more well-balanced, has better spiral stability, handles better than any high performance glider he’s ever owned, and it lands easier.“For a topless glider it seems to land easier, seems to track straighter and has a bigger flare window,” he explained.
Superb performance and easier flying characteristics.A winning combination.And, with Terry as the pilot, it made for an excellent flight.
We’re only one week away from the 2009 Women’s Hang Gliding Festival and we’ve had a great response from pilots across the country.
If you are going to be a part of Friday’s Open Mic Night, please email Stacy Murdoch at stacy@pfsbham.com.
If you have something to enter in Saturday’s silent auction, please email Stacy Murdoch at stacy@pfsbham.com or you can drop it with Jen at the pro shop. We have some great stuff in the auction already, but are excited to see what else is out there.
Flying tasks/fun competitions will be determined on a daily basis. Please plan to be at the orientation/sign in session on Thursday. Sign in starts at 4pm with dinner and orientation to follow.
For those of you who have not yet registered, you can do so at http://www.hanglide.com/news/?page_id=109. There is an information form to fill out and then you can pay the registration fee on our online store. Registration is only $25 and includes the event tshirt, opening night meet and greet, seminars/clinics and fun flying competitions.
We’ve had quite a few new pilots lately, but not a whole lot of photos of them. I was lucky enough to get a few of our most recent new pilots before and after their first flights. For those pilots that I’m missing please feel free to send me any photos or videos and I’ll post it here. The best way to reach me is fly@hanglide.com.
First of all, let me start by saying that this was my mom’s and I first time having to do anything with hang gliding. My mom said this was something she had always wanted to do so this year for her 61st birthday, I surprised her with a trip to Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding.
I just wanted to tell you what a fantastic time my mom and I had this weekend with you guys. Everyone was so nice and helpful, even before we got there. Jen took our reservations over the phone back in July and was so nice to deal with.
We stayed at the Hummingbird House and absolutely loved it!! It was such a neat little house and just perfect for my mother and I. It was so amazing staying right there in the landing zone. We so enjoyed sitting out on the deck and watching everyone fly. Shawn was great about checking in on us and even helped us with the satellite after I hit the wong button.
Friday evening, we walked down to the clubhouse just to see what was down there and the gentleman who is the boss on the ground greeted us and took us down to where they were flying from that evening. We got to sit there and talk with the people flying.
On Saturday we took part in the ground school. Dan was such a patient and encouraging teacher. Our tandems were scheduled at 4. Again, Shawn was great to deal with regarding all of our paperwork and getting us ready to fly. My mom can’t remember her pilots name but he did a great job. She wanted a smooth and easy flight and that’s exactly what he gave her. I had the privilege to fly with Rex and he was great! He was so patient and laid back while we were in the air and while I was steering the glider. I loved all of the acrobatic moves he did. By far, this was the most coolest thing I’ve done in my life!!
We also enjoyed the pizza on Saturday night. It was so neat how you offer that. Once we were in that atmosphere, we didn’t want to leave. We had talked about going out to dinner on Saturday but decided to stay and have the pizza. It was so neat to get to talk to the other pilots and learn more about hang gliding.
Everyone we came in contact with was great. It was amazing on how encouraging everyone was, especially to us women. It was just a very positive atmosphere to be in.
We hated to leave there yesterday but we have already started talking about our next trip down there. I have told several people about you guys and what an amazing job you do all the way around. I’ve encouraged them that they need to come and check you guys out.
Looking forward to coming down to be with you again and once again….thank you for giving us such an amazing birthday weekend!
We have an update on Roger Tubbs, tugpilot, pilot, and member of our community. Roger is being treated for a blockage by his kidney/intestines/liver. At the moment, he is feeling better. Testing is underway to determine the nature of the blockage. Roger and Debbie thank everyone for their support, but have asked to not receive any phone calls at this time. If you would like to send well wishes, you can send him an email at rogertubbs@comcast.net.
Steve Pearson from Wills Wing will be joining us for Demo Days during the 2009 Women’s Hang Gliding Festival. Steve had such a great time last year, he had to come back!
Steve Pearson and Matt Taber
Here’s where you’ll find more information on Demo Days. Here’s your info on the Festival.
I apologize for the delay in updating everyone on this weekend’s FREE clinic. We just went through the process of updating our computer system. While this is a welcome change, it did leave us with limited computer access Thursday and Friday.
So…tomorrow at 1pm you can meet at the pro shop for “Standards to Topless: The Design and Development of our Wings” taught by Gordon Cayce.
Tonight, we are having a catered meal of roast beef, new potatoes, green beans, salad and a fabulous assortment of desserts. Your meal, beer, and entertainment provided by Dana Daniels (one of our students and a professional dj) all for only $10. Also, to raise money for the Santa Cruz Flats competition, Eric Donaldson (tandem pilot and comp pilot extraordinaire) will be raffling off some of his amazing artwork. $2 a ticket, 3 tickets for $5, or 7 tickets for $10. Let’s show him our support!
