Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Overview

Imagine three days of cross-country flying and camping in the Owens Valley over Labor Day Weekend! We depart from the Sylmar LZ on Friday afternoon, August 29 and return on Monday afternoon, September 1. Hungary Joe will be our instructor, guide, and one of our drivers. Cost will be about $300 per pilot.

Pilot Roster

We need eight qualified and enthusiastic pilots to make this happen. A couple spaces are still available, so please contact me ASAP if you're interested.

The current list is:

Definite:
- Don Banas
- Joe Petrosian
- Jay Devorak
- Ken Andrews
- Fernando Escobar
- Manuel Chaidez
Maybe:
- Katherine Yardley
- Markus Schaedler
- Dennis Johnson

Space is limited and the first eight pilots on the "definite" list get to go, so decide soon! Conversely, please don't be in the "definite" list and then drop out; that really screws up the planning.

Pilots must have at least high-hour Hang-3 skills, good cross-country judgement, and the approval of Hungary Joe.

Schedule Details

We will meet in the Sylmar LZ at 4:00 PM Friday afternoon, sort flying gear and camping gear, and pack ourselves into two vehicles. We head north, grab a fast food dinner on the road somewhere, and roll in to Tuttle Creek campground near Lone Pine late that evening. After that, plans are weather-dependent, but expect something like the following.

Saturday morning starts early, so we can break camp and drive to Walt's Point while the launch conditions are good. This is the day for big cross-country miles: land at the "postage stamp LZ" just a couple miles away if you must, or go 10 miles to the Lone Pine airport, or 60 miles to Klondike Lake, or 100 miles to Janie's Ranch! Our drivers will retrieve the scattered pilots, and we'll camp Saturday night in an empty field somewhere towards the north end of the valley. Depending on schedule, we'll probably buy food at a grocery store and cook dinner in camp.

Sunday morning is probably relaxed, since Gunter is an early-afternoon launch. The prime flight from Gunter is a 60-mile round trip to Boundary Peak (on the California/Nevada state line) and back. Depending on weather, we may drive back to the Tuttle Creek campground on Sunday evening, or stay where we are. Dinner could be at a restaurant or in camp as people choose.

Supposing we find ourselves in Tuttle Creek on Monday morning, then it's again an early start for another flight at Walt's Point. We can fly locally and land at the Lone Pine airport, or aim for a southbound cross-country flight, since that's the way home. We depart the Owens Valley mid afternoon and arrive back in Sylmar Monday evening.

Items to Bring

The Owens Valley is famous for its big air, so one must fly with plenty of water and enough gear to survive a night alone in the wilderness. A dependable ham radio is essential, and it's a really good idea to have a cell phone and a GPS. Many pilots fly with oxygen but it's not required. The campgrounds are also primitive, so be prepared. With those thoughts in mind, consider bringing:

- A glider
- Cross-country flying gear (radio, cell phone, GPS, water, first aid kit, oxygen, warm clothes)
- A spare downtube or two if you're of that disposition
- A tent
- A warm sleeping bag (it can be cold at night at altitude)
- Clothes
- Your food for breakfasts and lunch/snacks during the day. We'll make grocery store or restaurant stops for dinner.
- Anything else that seems useful. We can sort and leave duplicate items behind in the LZ.

Navigation

Cross-country flying goes much better if one is prepared for the required in-flight navigation. You will find Hungary Joe's famous Owens Valley maps on the website at http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=293, along with a list of waypoints. It's worth printing the maps and committing the landscape and landmarks to memory to the extent possible. It also helps to put the waypoints into one's GPS, and to study Google Maps or Google Earth.

Planning Meeting

While this is late notice, I hope we can have a brief planning meeting in the LZ after flying (say 5:00) this Saturday, August 23. This will be a chance to answer questions and work out remaining details. I will bring maps as well.

While I'm not officially on this trip, I will likely be up there with Jim Mercadante on the same weekend.

I hope to see all of you there!

Trip capacity is eight pilots maximum, but with fewer pilots, we'll tow a smaller U-Haul trailer behind the Suburban to save money and gas. The final list of participants must be figured out in time to manage the rental.

The pilot roster of the moment is:

Definite:
- Don Banas
- Joe Petrosian
- Jay Devorak
- Fernando Escobar
- Ken Andrews
- Max Wagner

Maybe:
- Dennis Johnson

Possibly:
- Katherine Yardley
- Greg Angsten

Manuel Chaidez, please contact me if you are still interested. Neither your phone number nor email address work, and your USHPA and SHGA memberships are expired, so I don't know how to reach you. Please note that current USHPA membership is required for this trip.

Australian pilot, thanks for your interest, but my home answering machine doesn't record phone numbers. Please contact me with your name and phone number or email address so I can reply.

Thanks.

We have a final pilot list:
- Don Banas
- Joe Petrosian
- Jay Devorak
- Ken Andrews
- Fernando Escobar
- Max Wagner
Driver, and font of all knowledge:
- Hungary Joe

The trip is a GO! See you at 4:00 Friday afternoon.

So how was it? I'm sure the accident at Sylmar took the fun out of it, but how was the flying?