The Best Exercise in town: Running Laps up and down the Santa Ines Mountain Range in a Hang Glider.
My most ambitious day in the local mountains consisted of an exhilarating peak-to-peak type flight, on one of those westerly post-frontal days that we like so much. I managed to fly from the Eliminator west to the VOR, turned back east to the Romero Canyon Road Cut, then back to the VOR, only to streak back east to Montecito Peak before flying out to Parma. This was the first flight where I went to the VOR twice in one flight. The highlights of the flight:
1) Making a turn over EJ sitting on his bike at the top of Romero Canyon trail.
2) Pulling a Downwind glide from West Bowl to the Thermal Factory.
3) A Turn Point Style, Final Glide from the Thermal Factory to Montecito Peak out to Parma.
4) Flying with two Redtails in a thermal over No-Name Peak.
The two Redtail Hawks were perched on the ragged edge of the ridge, along the back of No-Name peak, when I came in searching for a thermal. The spotty lift kept me gliding back and forth, low, along the ridge. Maintaining altitude, but going nowhere, I started sightseeing. I looked closely at all the rocks passing by under me. Then I saw the pair of Redtails nestled together overlooking the edge. Upon passing over them a second time, I "cawed" at the birds as I soared over them. Just then my vario started singing, so I turned sharply and started to spiral skyward. When I completed the first 360, the Redtails leaped off the ridge without a flap into the same thermal ! I was jazzed to have coaxed them into the air. They slowly caught up to me as they flew tightly together. At my level, I chased them through their turns letting them show me where the core of the thermal was drifting. Between the two of them I didn't need my vario, I knew exactly where the lift was. I stayed with them as long as I could (about 1500' feet of climb out) until they separated and started flying opposite directions…I kept my bank, loosing sight of them. Before I knew it, one was flying straight at me, eye to eye. Ten feet from me the hawk pulled in his wings, rolled, threw up his talons, and dove out of sight under me ! I flew off to West Bowl wondering if I screwed up a romance.
Flying to Ojai: A great weekend excursion, if your nerves are up for it. The thought of goin' XC in Santa Barbara is always on our minds and the XC flight most made is to Ojai. I managed it twice this season, but neither flight was remotely similar to falling off a log. The flights were both scratchy at different points. A lot of faith goes into XC flying and faith you must have when heading to Ojai from SB…The first time I did it, I got low on West Divide, then later encountered no lift while coming in below White Ledge. Patience was everything, and unnerving it was, but fortunately perseverance pays off in XC flying.
Flying to Romero Canyon is quick from the Eliminator. After that things get more difficult. The lift spreads out as you fly further and further away from civilization. On this day, the strength of the thermals diminished fast after the Powerlines…Flying in low to a spine that slopes forever toward Cate School, I found the lower you got on that spine the less lift there was…this was scary seeing how the flight out was a long one ! I couldn't see where the bail out was, and I did not want to find out. The lift seemed to be scarce, and much lighter than earlier in the flight, where 600 fpm up was common. Here, it just seemed to be light & elusive. Losing out, I turned back up the spine to where the last patch of 50 fpm was. I would turn several circles and loose it as before, but this time I flew back farther into the mountains between spines, downwind. Sure enough there was more 50 fpm up. After several stair steps, it was clear the only way up was to stair step, along with the thermal bubbles breaking off the spine, in a slight diagonal pattern. It was win some, maintain, win some more, drift, and so on. The southwest wind drifted the elusive bubbles & glider back and upward toward the top of West Divide. A slow process but effective nonetheless. A spine back, Barry had left the same weak spot, and flew out the long and lonely spine, making his way to Cate School. And speaking of long and lonely spines, EJ had flushed from back in deep above Coyote Canyon. He flew out another long and lonely spine with the only road to consider in the area - Chismahoo Ridge road course, he landed on that ridge road behind a locked gate. Even though that is another story, I have to add EJ hiked out without his glider. He picked it up the next day, only after it had rained all night.
After drifting past East Divide, I only found light lift and could continue on course only just maintaining. Lower than the top of White Ledge by a 1000', the West side was buoyant, not at all booming. Fine, I thought the south westerly should be collecting on the wall, so I left the spine, flew in close, and headed east. I flew slowly ( yes, a little pushed out) letting the westerly push me along, under the Wall. Upon arrival to the East Side, I hadn't lost a thing ! All the lift in the area was getting scrubbed off all along White Ledge. Turning in it wasn't worth it, why do it if you can just sneak by?
The westerly picked up as it rounded the corner, taking me with it. I flew out toward a parallel ridge out front, down low I found spotty lift on every point. I couldn't get high, but I could make progress drifting and circling downwind, bringing me closer to a safe glide to the west side of Ojai. Sometime later, near the 33, I found a boomer, out of the foothills, back up to cloudbase, 5500'. Looking down at the clouds below the top of Nordoff Ridge, it didn't look particularly inviting. I headed to out front of Nordoff Ridge only to squander altitude looking for something solid. Giving up, I headed out to a horse pen next to the 33. Upon landing, the clouds around Nordoff lifted, and, a large cumulus cloud formed right where I had last found some light spotty lift…and left impatient.
The second time to Ojai, under the shadow of rapidly filling in high clouds, the urge to Geez It was hard to suppress, but suppress it we did, in order to remain patient, in order to max. Out every iota of thermal lift possible. The first slow spot: Castle Ridge. I bobbed above the ridge low to where Hammer & Little John were trying to hook an intermittent core near the end. As the skies were filling in with high dark cumulus from the West, it was getting dark and cold. We were racing against impending darkness. Could we make Ojai? Or would we get stuck between Carp & Ojai, back in deep? After rubbing elbows, Hammer got out, then I, then Little John.
The next few spots were happening. I held up at the Powerlines. The lift was coming through, but I had to pee so bad I couldn't fly another spine. While pulling it out, Hammer connected with the next spine high up on it. Little John, a bit lower, got stuck, got lower, and then lower. After zipping up, I spent an extra 10 minutes maxing out my altitude, before heading onto the next spine. I came in high enough, and I connected up with solid lift. Little John remained way down the spine, battling it out with weak lift. Topped out, I breezed into West Divide easily, connecting up with a boomer out of the upper saddle! At a higher altitude than previously attained, I made the top of White ledge, under Hammer not long later.
It was overcast and very cold at 6500'. We flew different routes toward the Valley, I stayed out front, Hammer along the back ridge. Out front, I came upon one broad patch of light lift, I flew slowly heading toward hwy. 33. Hoping I would end up finding more patches of lift, I flew on, only to discover I left it all behind. All the way to the High School, it was sink. Then I saw Hammer across the street, low over the nearby hillside neighborhood, twisting circles. I pulled it in, only to come in low over the palm trees and powerlines. I weighed the pros and cons, and then I called it a day. To the school I went, numb fingers and all. Sometime later, Little John flew overhead and down the street some, to the Golf Course. On the other side of town, Hammer found another Fairway to land on. Lou picked us up and we went for food and beer to celebrate our success.
Outside of town, we picked up EJ & Simon, who valiantly took up the rear and found a private residential neighborhood a good place to land, just west of the 150. EJ was singing, "…put your arms around me baby, 'cause I just wanna fly…" We gave the two a beer and a burrito each, loaded them up, and headed back to Santa Barbara happy as clams. "…|put your arms around me baby, 'cause I just wanna fly…" ¯ |