Today is Oct 23rd and I have completely slacked off recording my flights on this site. Below is a summary of each flight up till now.July 15, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in SGS 2-33, One 2,000 ft tow, .5 hour flight.
This was the first time taking my 6 year old daughter Alexis flying. She did incredibly well. She wasn't scared at all the the lift was weak so we circled a lot and it didn't faze her in the least. She was mad we landed so soon. :)
July 22, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my ASW20BL, One 1,600 ft tow, 5.8 hour flight.
The winds were light from the west so I decided to fly eastbound over the High Uintah mountains. I only do this once or twice a year since the way back is usually battling western head winds. The flight was fabulous. The scenery terrific. I got low right over Kings Peak which is the highest peak in Utah. I was basically ridge soaring the thing while a cloud system passed the lift thermals cut out for 15-20 minutes. I was sweating it hard core. I was in the middle of the mountains and there was not a good landing spot for 40 miles in any direction. Once the sun came out I high tailed it back to the Heber Valley area and was greatly relieved to be out of the mountains. Note to self, don't cut it so close.
July 29, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in SGS 2-33, One 1,600 ft tow, .8 hour flight.
This time both Bruno and Lexi were in the back seat of the glider. They both had a great time but wanted it to be longer. The 3 flights I have taken my children on have all been really weak lift days.
August 18, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my ASW20BL, One 2,500 ft tow, 1.2 hour flight.
My log book states, "Bad takeoff, flew south of Fairfield VOR (about 25 miles south of airport), barely got back riding ridge lift 400 agl the whole way and flew straight in." I cut it WAY too close this flight. I had maybe 5 feet of altitude to spare flying straight in. I was smart enough at least to leave the ridge when things got too low since there wasn't a landable field by it. I was sure this was going to be a field landing but somehow I squeaked home. I cannot fly too many flights like this or I will dent my glider and my body! I hope lesson learned.
August 18, 2006 (second tow of the day) - Cedar Valley, Utah in my ASW20BL, One 2,200 ft tow, 1.9 hour flight.
I didn't want my first flight scare to make its mark so I jumped back on to the horse. This was just a fun local flight with Dale and Kirk in their gliders.
August 19, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my ASW20BL, One 2,100 ft tow, 4.3 hour flight.
My log book states, "1st time using a SeeYou Mobile task. Big blue areas but there was lift under the clouds. I ended up making my furthest turnpoint the Salina Gunnison airport which is about 100 miles from Cedar Valley so it was a decent distance flight. Lots of fun!
August 22, 2006 - Cedar Valley, Utah in my ASW20BL, One 2,000 ft tow, 4.8 hour flight.
My log book states, "Fun local flight with Gill and Dale. I had a low save a the beginning :)" This ended up being my last gliding flight of the year because I soon after went into back surgery for my 2 herniated disks. It has now been about 4 weeks after the surgery and I am doing better every day. I still have a ways to go but I am very glad I had the surgery done. Gliding won't start again in Utah until next April but I plan on flying power planes over the winter and spring. I checked out the flying club out at Salt Lake #2 airport and it seems like a great deal and really nice equipment. I am currently planning on using their Diamond DA-40 4 place glass aircraft with Garmin 1000 displays. It should be a great way to get back into flying power since it is much more like a glider than a Cessna 172. I hope to take that family on trips to Vegas, Phoenix, Boise and other semi-local places of interest. Please feel free to email me as always and see you next spring! --Bruno
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