September and October 2004 Soaring Logbook To go back to main 2004 logs page click here. September 1, 2004 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my Phoebus, 2,500 ft tow, 4.2 hours. To view a map and pictures of this flight, click here. This was one of those days that happen only a half dozen times per year.  Winds aloft were mild in the low to mid teens from the southwest.  The thermal index for the day said the top of the lift was 18,800'.  The temperature was going to reach the mid 90's.  And to top it off, the humidity would stay low enough to not overdevelop everywhere. There was a pretty strong crosswind on takeoff but it was one of my best to date.  I took a medium tow and released after feeling a few strong bumps first.  The thermals were really ragged down low.  It really tossed me around until I got over to Lewiston Mountain and rode the eastern ridge up to the top.  Once over the peak, I circled straight up to 17,000' in 800+ feet per minute lift! I was anxious to get going so I left the lift and headed straight towards Mount Nebo 44 miles to the south.  There were plenty of clouds along the way to give me all the lift I needed.  My average ground speed on this leg was 82 knots (95 mph).  The lift was incredible and the clouds continued down south as far as I could see so I dedided to go for broke and try going to Richfield again.  The last time I went there, I couldn't make it back and landed in Nephi.  It was an incredibly relaxing flight given that Richfield is 113 miles from Cedar Valley airport. Once I turned the Richfield turnpoint and started heading back north, I was amazed to see my groundspeed tracking at about 125 mph!  The wind from the south was really helping.  Again, the clouds continued to hold true that there was lift under each of them and I made it back without a sweat.  What an incredible flight!  My Seeyou software said I flew a total of 265.7 miles (427 km).  If you look at the distance between Cedar Valley and Richfield in a straight line it was a 226 mile (364 km) flight with an average speed of 77 knots (89 mph).  Landing was great and I got home in time for the wife to not be mad.  :) September 11, 2004 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my Phoebus, 3,000 ft tow, 3.3 hours. I filmed this flight so I don't have any pictures.  I am having a real hard time getting my flight footage to compress well for the web.  I still plan on getting at least a half dozen additional movies up on the site but it may not be until this fall/winter. The day was beautiful.  There were perfect little cumulous clouds everywhere and there was no chance of overdeveloping during flying hours.  I had a 9.9 out of 10 takeoff, which made me happy.  Must have been the wing runner!  :)  The lift was surprisingly choppy over Lewiston Peak.  I tried riding the western ridge like I have done many times and it just wasn't working.  I finally caught a thermal in the middle of the valley in-between Lewiston's ridgelines and got up to 11,000.  There was some kind of inversion because it took me 15 minutes to gain the next 200 feet altitude.  Once I broke through I got to 12,000 feet and had enough of the ragged thermals over the mountain and headed south. As soon as I got away from the mountains, the lift (once encountered) was smooth and strong at the higher elevations.  I rode the next thermal up to 16,000 feet where the lift topped out for the day.  I was hoping to meet up with Dale over by the ski resorts but he ended up having radio problems and made it a short flight.  Utah Lake to Mount Timpanogos was a little nerve racking since I started at only 14,000 and was not sure how the ridge lift would be working once I got there.  It was fun to fly over Provo airport at 12,800' and see the 20 airplanes in the pattern down below. When I got close to Timp I started seeing Para gliders and felt comfortable that if they were up then the lift must be pretty smooth unlike Lewiston Mountain the hour before.  There were about 25 hikers on the mountain and it was fun to fly past them.  I hope the pictures they were taking were not to send in to complain!  :)  I flew circles around and just below one para glider for a few revolutions.  I couldn't tell if he was waving or mad.  I staid below him so my wing vortices should not have bothered him.  Again, I got all this on video so it will be fun to watch. I flew up to the ski resorts, Lone Peak, and then up to I-80.  From there, I could easily see Morgan and will definitely fly from Morgan to Cedar Valley next year instead of tailoring.  I needed to get back to the family so I called it early and went home.  A very fun flight with beautiful scenery with all the leaves changing colors. September 25, 2004 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my Phoebus, 3,800 ft tow, 1.8 hours. To view pictures of this flight, click here. This was a fun planned local flight to take some photos of the fall leaves in the mountains.  The weather was beautiful and the winds were smooth and steady across the ridges.  I had a great time riding the ridge lines north up to the copper pit a few times and saw a few big herds of elk.  There were some big bulls!  At the end of the flight I also had some of the other guys fly in formation to try to get some ridge soaring pics.  They turned out ok but nothing special.  Great flight all the way around. October 15, 2004 - Cedar Valley, Utah in SGS 2-33, 4,300 ft tow, 1.6 hours. I took Russ, a recent friend, flying in a glider for his first time.  I met Russ at the gym because he was reading a Plane & Pilot magazine.  He mentioned that he was very interested in learning how to fly.  I thought he needed to try soaring to consider that option over power as well. The winds aloft were very strong and the temperature topped out at about 74 degrees.  We took a very high tow over to the gold mine in the Oquirrs and had  a great time in the ridge lift.  We saw 5 or 6 hawks/eagles and had a great time ridge soaring.  Russ informed me after the flight that he wants to start soaring lessons next season!  Wonderful yet challenging Fall flight.  Thanks Russ for going with me. October 15, 2004 - Cedar Valley, Utah in SGS 2-33, two 2,000 ft tows, .5 hour. I went out to Cedar Valley this morning to take my sailplane out of the hanger and put it into the trailer.  Brent, Cedar Valley airport's manager is leaving for Mexico Monday and needed me to clear out so he could load up the hanger for winter.  It is kinda sad knowing that I won't fly a glider again until next April. I was lucky enough to have two good friends come with me to help take the glider apart.  You can pretty easily take a Phoebus apart with 2 people but having an extra set of hands is always helpful.  After getting everything into the trailer I took both Brett and Darrin up for quick glider rides.  Neither had ever flown in one.  The morning air was cold and flat with rain threatening any moment but we had a great time.  Both of them really liked doing 0 G's and watch things float in front of them.  I let each take the stick and try to fly for a little while.  After, they both said that they now know why I am into this sport.  Brent even gave me a nice break on the price of the last two tows so the day turned out great. I don't plan on sleeping for the winter.  I will start flying power again next week and try to get in 20-30 hours over the next 5 months.  Please feel free to contact me over the winter with questions or just to say hello.  I love to hear from other pilots and aviation fans.  Have a great winter!  -Bruno Think something is of enough value to take from this site? Please email me to let me know. Copyright © 2003-2008 Bruno Vassel IV. All rights reserved.