Horseshoe in a Falcon - July 4, 2009

[stebbins]

This isn't an amazing story, but it does point out the fact that you can fly the Owens without the latest and greatest and still have fun.

My family and I went to the Owens for the Fourth of July weekend. The plan was to go up Friday afternoon, Fly Saturday while the family played at Lake Diaz, then watch the fireworks in the town of Independence. (They generally have a very nice show at the airport there.) We then planned on getting up late on Sunday, doing a bit of hiking/sight-seeing then leaving in time to get home by dinner.

After a nice breakfast in Lone Pine, we drove to Walt's Point launch and found that three flex-wings had launched already. The fourth was getting ready to go. It was 10 am. Two of the four got up (sort of) and the other two gradually melted. I think they made it to the Lone Pine Airport.

I set up the Falcon slowly and got my gear together. (My Litespeed is having a new sail installed.) I had some recent harness work, and had a new O2 cylinder, so I was careful to check all my stuff. Between that, my sloth, advancing years and my children, I ended up getting suited pretty late. Then I disovered that my radio wasn't working. So, I unsuited and tried to fix it quickly. No luck. OK, I told my wife I was just going to land near a road. She would go play at Lake Diaz with the kids, and I'd call on the phone when I landed.

By then yet another HG pilot (a woman) had set up and launched. She groveled for a while and then I lost track of her. I think (but don't know) that she also went to LP Airport.

I had a nice launch at 12:10, give or take 5 minutes (Yes, that's late) and went directly to the saddle right of launch. I immediately hooked one and started climbing. I got to about 10,200 feet and hit a ceiling. So I moved N a bit and found another one. I hit the ceiling at 10,500. I really wanted more than that to make the first gap on a Falcon. The first one is the largest for quite a ways. But it wasn't going to happen. I tried a few more times, drifting in zero a bit toward the North to shorten the glide.

Finally, I turned for the next ridge. Only losing 1000', I made it with ease. Then I took each thermal, stopping at each ridge for a while. Each one was a bit higher, finally getting me to 11,500'.

Every time I got within 500' of the top, it got pretty nasty. Then the ceiling started dropping. And my glide from one finger to the next indicated a drift to the East. Yes, the thermals were drifting up the spines to the West, but the prevailing wind was SW.

SW is not a good thing along the Sierras. So discretion being the better part of valor I left the mountains at 9,500' just South of Whitney Portal. I flew straight East towards the highway. Keeping my ground track close to Whitney Portal road meant that I was essentially doing a crossing headwind. Perhaps going with it and cutting across the no-road area would have been better, but I really didn't want to get a retrieve from there, and I was flying a Falcon, after all. There were plenty of places to land along the road, so no problem. (Looking on Google Earth today, it appears that there are roads in what looked like the no-road area. But I haven't driven them, and we had the mini-van, not a 4wd.)

I made it out to the Western side of the Alabamas and found a very light thermal after ridge-soaring the hills for a few minutes. I took it up another 800-1000', hitting the ceiling (7500'?). I turned downwind, thinking maybe one more would get me to Manzanar. Two might get me to Independence - Hey, it's the 4th, right? That's a good goal.

Sadly, there was nothing. And my ground track showed that the wind really had picked up to 15+ mph. Not scary windy, but it clearly wasn't going to get lighter. So, I picked a nice spot on Movie Road at the North end of the Alabamas and set it down. The surface wind was 5-15, despite the 15+ at 200' agl.

About 17 miles (if you include the dog-leg) and a bit over an hour in the air. Clearly if I'd stayed on the mountains I could have gotten farther, but might have had to land somewhere inconvenient. I didn't want that. And given the wind direction and speed, I might have gotten flushed pretty soon anyway. I've learned to be very careful of the Sierras when the wind is Westerly (NW, W, SW, whatever. I sometimes think SW is the worst, but I might be wrong.)

However, until I got pushed down by the SW wind, I was doing just fine, even though it was a low day for the Owens. (The forecast was just so wrong. The previous day had been good, of course - just as forecast.)

If one was to fly on a good non-SW day, it would be fairly easy for an experienced XC pilot to take a Falcon at least as far as Big Pine. If one could manage the crossing, I suspect a 100 miler (or more) wouldn't be that difficult. The only real issue (other than picking a good day without W winds) would be crossing the valley.

In any case, it was a lot of fun trying to do this. And I while I was more concerned about getting out from the mountains in a Falcon, I was far far less concerned about landing. The spot I landed on would have been doable, but high-stress on a topless. On the Falcon, it was as low-stress as an out-landing in the high desert on uneven terrain can be.

I expect that while most of my flying up there will be on my Litespeed, I intend to take the Falcon back from time to time just to see what it can do.

[JD]

Nice report George. I don't see why not. I was the US Moyes factory test pilot of the Mega 2 that George Worthington flew ~121 miles in the Owens shortly thereafter. The Falcon 3 flies a bit better overall than the Mega 2 and our instruments and forecasting tools have improved somewhat over the last 29 years too. So, why not talk to Ken Andrews about moving the Falcon League to Walt's Point?

[stebbins]

I hadn't thought of that. It's quite a good idea. We'd have to limit the participants some, though. And maybe have a briefing about the key issues (weather being the main one) for those unfamiliar with the area. There are a few issues that at first glance appear simple, but aren't.

I'm for it though. It would be a hoot. Either way, I intend to take the Falcon back there. I wish I had an attack Falcon, though.

[stebbins]

... I don't see why not. I was the US Moyes factory test pilot of the Mega 2 that George Worthington flew ~121 miles in the Owens shortly thereafter. ....

An additional thought. I clearly didn't quite say what I meant very well. Yes, I already knew it was possible. What I meant was that any reasonably competent XC pilot on a fairly good, but not stellar day could do it. Not that they'd be guaranteed, of course, but they'd have a decent shot at it.

Obviously, such a flight is possible, since it has been done. All I meant was that given the quality of pilots nowadays and the quality of the Falcon, it shouldn't be all that hard to do, with the right prep, the right weather, and a bit of luck. Not easy, mind you, but reasonably possible.

Sorry I wasn't clear. My goal was to encourage others to think of it as possible for them, not just for Phill, or George Worthington, Jonny Durand or (insert your favorite hot-shot here).

[JD]

...........given the quality of pilots nowadays and the quality of the Falcon, it shouldn't be all that hard to do, with the right prep, the right weather, and a bit of luck. Not easy, mind you, but reasonably possible...............

After the excellent results of Greblo's annual Garlock trip w/ H-2s going long distances on Falcons--why not? As long as the weather points to safe conditions and the prospective pilots are prepped.

Getting back to Ken's Falcon league--I like his postulate which emphasizes that Falcons can go long distances in non-epic conditions with low ceilings due to their ability to work in close and land almost anywhere. I don't see why wouldn't apply to the Owens.

[stebbins]

I see one issue with the "low against the hills" technique there.

There are a bunch of places where you could easily land a Falcon. Then spend hours walking out to the nearest road. That might be the biggest issue on a weak day with light to medium winds. There's also the sloping alluvial fan issue, but with simple training for those who need it, that is easily solvable.

But that said, I agree. I think this could be a bunch of fun with the right safeguards and training. Especially in September or May, which can still be good but have more "mellow" days.