Oz Report

The 2008 US "nationals," overview

Such a romantic location. (Hunter Hot Springs Resort, Lakeview, Oregon, USA)

Results here.

http://hang6.blogspot.com
http://westcoastbrit.blogspot.com/

Lakeview is situated in the high western desert with a nice little mountain range to its east and north northwest.  It's kind of a poor man's Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Isolated, small, dry, hot, wide open, beautiful.  Full of unspoiled small town charm.  The Safeway has San Pelilegrino Limonata in cans, as well as Clementines, so you know it is sophisticated (or close to California).

It is a great place to fly and to hold a top flight hang gliding competition.  It's got at least two very useable and friendly launches.  It's got landing fields galore.  It's got unstable conditions in August.  It's got home town enthusiasm and support from the Chamber of Commerce.

It's "western." The air is dry so it is clear (when there isn't a forest fire.).  You can see 50 to 100 miles.  The high desert makes for hot days and cool nights.  It is extremely pleasant to be outdoors at any time of the day.  The air is crisp with pine scent.

The mountain vistas are romantic, in the cowboy sense of the word.  Creeks, palisades, open meadows, pine covered hills, rock outcroppings, buttes, lakes, streams, and endless ranch lands.  I saw plenty of prong horn antelopes.

For those of us born and raised in the intermountain west, it evokes strong feelings of home and land.  Every where else is a bit foreign.

Gale and Mike put on a great competition.  What a team.  Gale was the workhorse in the headquarters, getting everything set up in advance, and with her niece, making sure that we had plenty to eat and drink each night in the Hunter's Hot Springs Resort.  (Did I mention how great it was to have the hot springs pool?)

Jeff O'Brien, who was camping in his tent, never had to go out to eat or cook for himself.  There was always enough food to make a meal.  $3 hamburgers you cook yourself on the grill or $2 hot dogs.  Plenty of extras.  Margaritas, lemonade, water, cobbler, apple pie and ice cream, biscuits.  It went on and on.  Food in the morning and at night.

I am not used to the meet organizers providing the food, so this was an unexpected bonus and much appreciated, by Belinda also.  It really brought people together.

The facilities were great with lots of tables and booths for folks to sit at, talk and use the wireless internet.  Plenty of room for the pilot meetings.  Just so convenient and easy on every one.  Most pilots were camping in their tents just outside.  We had an electric hookup which was just enough for us.

Did I mention that Mike drove the task everyday to make sure that conditions were safe?

There was plenty of flying to be had with one day that got some pilots to almost 18,000'.  This is not the norm, but we always got to over 10,000'.  That was often plenty.  The conditions were technical, and sometimes it was difficult to complete the task.  I'd say an excellent flying site with a few caveats.

For me I found two problems, which are somewhat idiosyncratic, but others may share my afflictions.  First, I don't like cold air (I'd much rather be hot than cold).  I bundle up when it gets cold.  I love flying where I don't have to put a lot of clothes on as I feel that I have a much more direct connection to the glider and to the conditions, if I'm not inside a snow suit.

Starting high (the valley floor is 4,800') and then launching high (at 7,200' at Sugar Hill) and then getting high (one day over 15,000') meant that I had to put on long pants, an extra under garment layer, and warm gloves.  I like to fly without any gloves, or just my fingerless bicycle gloves.  So this was a problem for me.

When I get this dressed up I lose contact with the flight.  I have to fight to focus and gain awareness of my circumstances.  I am just not nearly as tuned into the external forces.  This is a real problem for me.

The second item is the "turbulence." Now I don't think that  there is any (or not much) life threatened turbulence at Lakeview.  So that is not the issue.  Maybe it is for others.

For me it is the fact that many of the thermals have sharp edges that toss and turn the glider a bit, that make it so I feel that I have a little less control, that wears on me.  I've grown so used to the bigger, fatter, smoother, less hard edged thermals in Texas, Florida, etc., that I just have a lot less tolerance for many of the thermals here (not so much on the first day).

I would like it to be the case that this "turbulent" air never bothered me, but it does.  I do encounter it in other locations at times (a few times in Laragne, for example).  It's not as though I can't "brave" it out, I can, but subconsciously it takes its toll and after a while I have no mental space left.

The pilots reported the turbulence to be the worst on the last day and near the second turnpoint on the next to last day on the lee side of some cliffs.  You know if pilots mention it, it has be bad.

I would be more than willing to come back again to a competition here and give it a try.  Try to make it so I can absorb the many shocks and not have them get to me.  I don't know what it takes to me able to do that.  Obviously others are not as afflicted as I.  Some local pilots seem to feel that this air is normal.

Maybe they just haven't tucked and tumbled yet.

I have well over 4000 flights and as many hours in the air.  I fly eight months out of the year.  I've flown in all kinds of conditions and lived to tell the tale.  That doesn't seem to allow me to overcome these feelings.

I relate my feelings and circumstances here to try to make a connection to you and your feelings and circumstances.  You may or may not share similar feelings.  I don't know.  I also don't know if I have expressed my feelings in a manner that can be understood as applying to others.

I do wonder why only thirty two pilots showed up for the "nationals." Was it the price of diesel?  Was it the lack of competition experience in minor competitions?  Lack of a driver.  Too costly?  Or was it similar feelings to mine?

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Wright Flyer

Flying the Wright Brothers Flyer at Kitty Hawk (Jockey Ridge State Park, OB, North Carolina)

Nova video here.  Thanks to Jim Rooney.

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We're in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

I'll be reporting on the flying here. (Moose Wilson Road, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA)

Arrived late on Monday night.  We'll be here for almost a month.

http://www.cuhanggliding.com

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Rob Kells remembered

A gathering of the tribe (Wills Wing Factory, California, USA)

http://ozreport.com/12.163#2

Mike Meier <Mike> writes:

Trish has arranged for a special "Kells Rate" at a hotel near the location of the memorial service, and Rob McKenzie has given me a motel recommendation for the vicinity of the fly-in.

Accommodations for the Rob Kells Memorial Service and Fly-In

Ayres Suites Yorba Linda is offering a special 'Kells' rate of $109 per night for a King or two Queen beds for 1-2 guests; or $119 per night for 3-4 guests per room.  This includes a full hot breakfast buffet each morning from 6:00-9:00 am; and a complimentary guest reception with wine/beer and hors d'oeuvres each evening from 5:00-7:00 pm.  The rate includes free wireless internet, and Pool and Spa.  It's a very nice hotel and is convenient to Orange County Airport, LAX, Kindred Church, and Andy Jackson Flight Park in San Bernardino.

Ayres Suites Yorba Linda
22677 Oakcrest Circle
Yorba Linda, CA 92887
(714) 921-8688
* Please ask for the special 'Kells' rate when making a reservation!

See their website for a map, more information and photo's of the hotel: http://www.ayreshotels.com/.  For those who prefer to stay near the flying site: Days Inn - San Bernardino

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