Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Short version:
Ronaldo went 47.6 miles to Rancho Cuc in 3:09hrs. 1:13 PM launch time.
NMERider went 37.1 miles to San Dimas in 2:26hrs. 1:26 PM launch time
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/314051


What an adventure! I had a client meeting w/ the IRS all morning in my office in Westwood and the forecast was epic. I had loaded all my gear in and on my car and prayed we'd get done in time for me to catch a ride up to launch. Got done at 12:10 and made a mad dash to my vehicle as I was calling BudRob on the cell. I called the LZ while en route and Loren suggested I call Vrezh since the trucks were already full and about to leave. I left VMs for Vrezh to rendez vous w/ me at the gate. No reply from Vrezh so I drove myself to launch and left my car on top. I figured I'd go out and back and top land unless I could really go XC.

I was early on the launch pad after BudRob but there was confusion over the radio frequency which ultimately delayed me by 15 minutes and cost me a much better cycle. We had a guest pilot from New Mexico who I met via my YouTube videos, John ‘Ole’ Olsen. I only had time for a quick hello before it was show time.

BudRob was already high and heading down range while the rest of us were trying to get out of Dodge. I spent a lot of time working back and forth w/ Phill, either at the third bowl or at Lances. I finally climbed to 3800 at Lances w/ Phill and made the crossing. Ronaldo was getting up along Big T but Wingnutz was soon on final at the Big T Wash. I finally got high enough at Big T to cross to Lukens and Mallory was right there under me and crossing on his Sport 2 155. While we were at Lukens, I heard somebody mention “beach� on the radio and realized we were listening to the Santa Barbara pilots. Ronaldo chatted w/ Zippy and gave him a brief report.

Ronaldo was already getting stinking high at Lukens while Mallory and me worked together to pull each other up. We finally had three Matzoh Bothers and at least one partial Matzoh Bro at Lukens all together. BudRob made a preliminary run to East Lukens then headed back and joined Mallory. Ronaldo hit 9K then went for Brown Mountain. I finally clawed my way to 7800' and headed East. Ronaldo got drilled going from Lukens to Brown and I figured his flush cycle would be over when I went.

I got to Brown with decent altitude and from there it was just Ronaldo and me w/ Wingnutz and Dana in the chase truck. Mallory did some message relay so we stayed in contact w/ our vehicle. Ronaldo stayed ahead of me and we took vastly different routes w/ Ronlado flying the front range and me in back. Ronaldo's radio relays of flying conditions were invaluable to keeping me in the game early on but as we went on different lines I got a big confused about what was what.

In the end I pulled up even w/ Ronaldo but was a few miles North and 500' lower. I came up from behind the San Dimas ridge over the golf course and even though I found some workable thermals I didn't feel it was worth pushing it and wanted to save my strength for a safe landing. I passed about 500' over the San Dimas Canyon Golf Course and advised Dana and Wingnutz that I'd be putting it down there. Meanwhile Ronaldo had crossed the gap to the next front range East and was doing well.

The air over the golf course was very rowdy and I had to rotate from landing posture all the way back to full prone in order to control my T2C. I picked the center fairway because there were no carts rolling down it and the golfers on the tee-off had seen that I was going to set up my approach. I also motioned with my arm that I would be landing on that fairway. I din my downwind leg long and over the trees with the idea of skimming the pond and rounding out over the fairway. I worked well and I ate up a lot of runway since I had to burn it in with all the turbulence. Did a nice no-step full flare that Greblo would have wrinkled his nose over.

Actually at the ground level the air was smooth and calm. Above the tree tops it was as bad as your worst day landing at Sylmar. Do you still want to fly XC? I called in my safe landing on radio then walked ASAP to a spot next to the 15th tee that would not disturb the players. I talked to Ronaldo on radio briefly then let him focus on reaching for Cuc. Ronaldo gave me a few reports that he was not very high and there were no LZs so we kept quiet after that. I talked to Dana in the truck and they were by Miller Brewing and slowed by traffic. Ronaldo landed near the top of haven Ave in Rancho Cuc.

We loaded up my gear and headed for the king of the day. Ronaldo found a very nice bailout LZ on the West side of Haven Ave near the top. We will add it to our XC database. We all stopped at Los Tios for some good Mex food on Haven Ave before heading back to Dana's. I transferred my gear to Danny's truck and we drove up to launch around 9PM in the dark. We took out time and had a safe drive. The city lights from on launch were gorgeous! There was no haze and it was all clear and bright.

After we got back to Little T Road Ronaldo called to make sure we were safe. What a mensch! I got home by 11:30 which made for and 11 hour day for a 2:25 37-mile flight. $80 in added transportation costs. All in all a good deal considering the adventure factor and addition to my flying skills.

Mallory gets my vote for the pilot of the day for his ballsy and successful attack on Lukens with his Sport 2. What Ron and I did was very difficult and demanding but we (especially me) have become accustomed to pushing the envelope. My impression was that Ron had pushed his envelope more than I had pushed mine. For me, it's an effort to rein it in and land early to save my strength. Ron won't fly way the heck back along the back range, which is something I really enjoy,e even though the pucker factor is pretty high.

Here are some graphics..................

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhJMYWoWQc
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JD

That's some flight report. Not to bum anyone's high, but thought I should pass along this story in case it proves relevant next time you or anyone else lands out there. Last Saturday, like you, I chased my buddy down range. We left from Henninger in our PGs, and I made it to Glendora and Aaron made it to Rancho Cucamonga. His driver friend and I chased him down and found him easily, under the circling helicopter, chatting up the nice Sheriff of RC above Saphire, around 2 miles west of where Ronaldo landed. (It sucks that PGs are mistaken for parachutes, but we do get to see some nice rotorcraft when we visit towns not used to us.)

As he was packing up, I talked with the nice lady who lived nearby and may have called the sheriff. She explained her concern about Aaron and recounted a 10 plus year old story of how she watched a hang glider pilot hit the power lines in her back yard. She was brought nearly to tears recalling that day. He didn't survive, apparently.

Again, not trying to be a buzz kill, and both your flights rocked, but figured I had a duty to share that this little piece of nice LZ near Rancho Cuc has a hazard. Perhaps you already knew that and maybe even knew the guy.

Looking forward to flying with you some time...maybe give a shout out as you fly over Mt. Wilson if you see a couple PGs. Aaron and I will be on the CSS frequency...a sign of our wish to end up making it to AJX some day!

Faiz wrote:............Again, not trying to be a buzz kill, and both your flights............

Ronaldo discovered (the hard way) the 3 sets of power lines at the Haven Ave bail out field. Even if they don't burn or electrocute you, they can stop you in mid-air and drop you to the Earth with no air speed and still ruin your day. Any suspended line can be a real buzz kill. e.g. supporting cables around radio towers. I have made 7 flights along the San Gabriels between Sylmar and Marshall in the past 13 months. Only one completion. I have seen my share of wires and other traps on every flight. I don't relax until after the flight is over. I hope others respect the risks.

Thanks for your kind comment NME but my vote for Pilots of the Day goes to you and Ron for boldly flying off to LZs unknown.
When the party over Lukins broke up I lost sight of you eastbound. Phill and Rob went on glide westbound, out front. That's when John and I had to face the headwind. He was higher when we reached Big T. I scratched around and landed at Big T Wash. He managed to make it back to SHGA LZ. His better skill and glide made the difference. Thanks for the encouragement.

Malury wrote:............John and I had to face the headwind. He was higher when we reached Big T. I scratched around and landed at Big T Wash. He managed to make it back to SHGA LZ. His better skill and glide made the difference. Thanks for the encouragement.

It was the glide that got John back. Your skills are there. It would have been pretty tough to beat upwind in a Sport 2 with the strong West push Thursday. I don't know about Ron but I do what I do because I love it and I'm driven. There's a great deal I still want to learn from experience.