Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Sometimes I get low in front of Trash, and get a good look at the Christmas tree farm. It burned some too. Could it possible blow in tomorrow and be mostly cloudy? Sounds like a perfect day to sink out and land out.

Doug

Heather and I will join for the walking the sites portion tomorrow. Can't say I'll partake in the semi-xc flying as I'm still just a H2.

I'd say the first day was a success. Lots of people showed up to walk the LZs. 3 of 4 of us who flew the task, landed at the base of the Pacoima Dam which we had walked earlier in the day, along with Hungary Joe's and the Beehives. Prior to Saturday, I'd never walked any of the bailout LZs. Next time we meet, we'll walk the hospital LZ. It's funny, but I could not spot the Beehives of Hungary Joe's from the air. I forgot to load Ken's waypoints into my GPS. I better do that and run it in Google Earth.

During my 85-minute flight I managed to get enough usable video footage and interval photos during flight to compile the following 6 1/2 minute video of my first bail-out landing at Sylmar.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZEtPm2oTP0[/youtube]Use the Link to open the video in another window and select High Quality for a clearer version.

Here are a few photo highlights from the flight...........

Downtown L.A. behind Griffith Park from 4,700' MSL


Pacific Palisades to Catalina Island to Palos Verdes Peninsula

I'll be out of town and won't be able to coordinate the Falcon league on Saturday, December 20. Of course, Falcons could still be flown that day if weather permits, especially if someone (like Jay Devorak) cared to lead the way. Failing that, the next Falcon league event will be Saturday, January 3. Merry Christmas!

It's a go! Let's aim for 10:00 on Saturday, January 3. The weather looks a little discouraging, but the forecast is as good or better than that for Sunday. We will get to walk a couple more emergency LZs, and we'll pick a flying challenge commensurate with the weather.

Cool. I'm seeing north winds all day but if you think it'll work, I'm in.