Well done, Ken! Today was the real proof of concept of the Falcon League and a whole lot of fun. Max and I went head-to-head several times this afternoon. In fact we nearly even had a head-on in from of Towers when our paths converged as we were thermalling in different cores. The scene where I ball up in my cocoon harness should look pretty cool on Max's GoPro camera mounted on his keel. Sadly, my trusty Canon SD870 shut itself off 30 seconds into my flight and so I don't the side view of the same scene. I was reluctant to fly today due to a lingering illness but didn't want to miss the league.Ken Andrews wrote:Well done, Falcon League pilots!...........
Anyhow, Max and I duked it out above Kagel and while I got side-tracked doing a real low buzz over launch, Max got up and away in a nice bubble that carried him back a ways behind the Kagel spine. By the time I located another core Max was already climbing back up from Locals. As I climbed to about 3700' at Kagel I spotted Max making an attempt to head West from Towers and wasn't going to let him go without a good chase. So I gave up the climb and just aimed for the little ridge above Locals and went on glide. Eventually, Max and I were battling it out at Towers for enough altitude to go on glide for the 1500. Earlier in the while we were briefing each other on Kagel launch, while waiting for the cycles to start, I suggested that it could take as long as 2 hours to work our ways to West Towers and to be patient.
Max and I got to about 3800 or so in front of Towers and we both decided to go on glide for the 1500 at the same time. My radio wasn’t working due to my headset plug being slightly out at the transceiver so I had to keep and eye on Max as we glided out together, getting ever lower and lower. Max was on a Falcon 2 195 and me on a Falcon 3 195. As we made our way out to the 1500 I kept turning my head and looking back and Max kept creeping lower and farther behind, inch by inch. I kept waiting for him to 180 and head back to Locals but he was relentless. The race was on! I got to the 1500 about even and immediately found lift bubbling off the bend in front. I think I got out about two climbing turns as Max arrived below the 1500 and came pretty close to his shadow as he began to scratch his way up.
Eventually he out-thermalled me for the third or forth time for the afternoon and drifted back, above the 2200 to about 4100’ then went on glide for West Towers. I made some tactical errors and needed to glide back out front to the 1500 to get back into the good lift. As I rose up to 4200 above the 2200 I watched in amazement as Max arrived in front of West Towers what seemed to be 200’ below the knoll. I tried to key my mic to let someone know that we may need a retrieve at the Olive View dirt lot but it was to no avail. I went on glide towards West Towers to join Max but after a quarter mile or so I realized I was too under the weather to do it safely and aborted the attempt. As I returned to the 1500 there was Jay on his Falcon and Chip on his Litespeed thermalling over me. I eventually made some good moves and got high but again I didn’t feel well enough to proceed safely downrange and threw in the towel and head back to Towers for some easy flying.
Before I turned around, I’d already seen Max soaring above the actual Towers on the West end of the ridge and was thrilled to know he’d likely make it back. I also watched as Jay went on glide to West Towers from a slightly lower starting point than Max. Jay showed up today sporting his sexy, Wills Wing Litestream control frame and was out to get his money’s worth from the drag reduction. I got high at Towers and decided to give the 1500 another shot and if the air was buoyant I might try for West Towers if it wouldn’t be any work. As I pulled in above the 1500, there was Max skimming the 2200 and just looking like he had command of the entire ridge. It was some of the best looking Falcon soaring I think I’ve ever seen. Shortly after that I spotted Jay coming back from West Towers to the 1500 as I was climbing toward the 2200. I didn’t get as high this time and was getting more fatigued and tossed in the towel for the second and last time.
I goofed around and relaxed in the air before finally heading for the LZ and doing a low-speed Falcon spin to get down before I was all spent. Jay was already in the LZ and Max on his way back from Lances. Ken excitedly approached me and asked me how far I’d made it. Naturally, I told his that I crossed both the 14 and the 5 then tagged Oat Mounatin, where I top landed and waited for a strong enough cycle to carry me back as I ate the picnic lunch I had packed inside my cocoon harness. After admonishing Ken that his eyes might stick if he rolled them too hard, I broke down and sobbed that I didn’t have the juice to make it a three-some at W-Towers. Shortly afterward, Max came in for a textbook perfect landing. Then he headed for his truck where he broke out his cooler full of treats. What a guy!
Later we debriefed and I learned that Max has no way of downloading his data from his 5030. Next time, I have to remember to bring my laptop and a cable. We have reached the point where it will be helpful to other prospective Falconeers to be able to look at each others tracks to locate thermal triggers and see just how low we can make these XC treks. At some point, we’ll get Max’s flight track posted. Meanwhile, I uploaded mine to Leonardo on PG Forums here: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/230234
My personal best Falcon league effort to date was on May 9th when Greblo me and Max launched the 1500 while Ken, Jay and Eric hiked to the 2200 as Greblo and Max prepared to top land. Because I sank out and headed for Locals on that flight I decided to just fly as far East as I could and landed in La Crescenta: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/194244 This was the day that four of the remaining Falcons flew past Kagel in formation and got stuck at Lances. But it was the beginning of the proof of concept. Today’s out and return by two and almost a third of four pilots was the real proof that this works. Eventually, we may see some very impressive downwind flights on non-epic days. In the meantime I still need to get me and Ken’s article for the USHPA Magazine finished. After today, I think we have the missing material that will tie it all together and sell the concept to other clubs.
