I'm observing the auspicious one year anniversary of the lock out,
high impact, very near death and extensive severe trauma. I have just begun to
walk using a walker. Cast is on the left leg from the most recent surgeries, an
ankle/foot orthotic on the right leg. Where's launch?? Ok maybe we'll wait a
little longer, get the cast off at least.
A heartfelt thanks to all the friends from near and as far as South Africa and
Europe who have made this difficult journey a little easier. I look forward to
seeing you all in the sky.
The German news channel n-tv is (at least for now) scheduled to
show a program this coming week end about Corinna Schwiegershausen at the world
championship in Florida. This will be broadcast several times, see schedule at
http://www.n-tv.de/442.html.
samstags um 04.35, 08.25 und 17.20 Uhr,
sonntags um 05.10 Uhr,
dienstags um 16.30 Uhr
und donnerstags um 14.30 Uhr und 23.30 Uhr
If you go hang gliding on Lake Conroe, north of Houston, Texas you will
appreciate the "rope" that keeps you in tow with the speed boat in front of you.
It's our quality rope that enable a safe tow to incredible heights with ease.
This is certainly an interesting recreational use for this product and a
significant improvement over heavy, bulky ropes used not too long ago.
Plasma rope, a product of Southwest Wire Rope's Synthetic division has many
applications. The "highest" of its applications is using the rope on a payout
winch on the tow boat that speeds hang gliders and para gliders soaring into the
sky from 2000 to 4000 feet up in the air!
Gregg Ludwig, a USHPA Tandem Instructor and authorized dealer of Willis Wing and
High Energy Sports uses thousands of feet of our plasma rope on his specially
fitted Malibu tow boats. Why is our plasma rope used on these tow boats? Gregg
says, "The rope doesn't stretch, it's light…offers very little drag… it floats,
it's easy to splice and is even available in various colors."
Once again, a product of Southwest Wire Rope takes off.
I wake up at 7 AM to see the over running but David Glover was up even earlier
to see the cu's forming and whipping by at sunrise. Of course these cu's are not
supposed to be there, but there they are, and only here in Zapata, which is why
we are here. In fact, the FSL chart shows a strong inversion, making cu's
impossible at these temperatures, but there they are below the inversion. I
guess the models don't know everything.
It's not that we don't believe the FSL, it's just that we believe are eyes more,
at least for now. But it appears to be very likely that the over running does
not fore shadow cloud streets given the forecasted inversion and the forecasted
dry air above that inversion. We actually expect a blue day with a good (15-20
mph) south southeast wind, a wind which we are already experiencing.
The little cu's are really just a psychological crutch for us to get us going
early knowing that we are more likely to stay up long enough to at least make it
to the first public road. The same light lift from low should be there in the
blue, just a little harder to find perhaps.
I'm the first to get going at 9:40 AM as Russell Brown takes me up behind the
Quest Air Dragonfly in smooth air to 1000' over the clouds at 2,300' MSL (we
take off from 400'). Russell takes me due east and after I pin off I head north
as Russell goes back to get Manfred. We all stated our takeoff time preferences
before we started, so there was no conflict over who went when.
I go for a seven mile glide to get back under the clouds at 2,100'. I get under
a cu that is about 100 feet wide and twenty feet thick. Most are smaller. The
lift is 100 fpm and it sure feels good to have some lift, as I've got another
six miles to go to get to the first public road.
There is nothing like circling around in light lift in the morning in Zapata
while drifting north northwest at 20 mph. Because the roads below are behind
locked gates you want to do anything to stay up, so you hang on in light lift
and climb back up to 2,300 at cloud base. The air feels great and you are moving
so fast with the least effort. In these conditions I'm really attuned to looking
for any lift possible.
The clouds have already thinned out considerably, as we thought they would. I'm
finding lift in the blue as I have to as I cross the San Ygnacio road. I'm
keeping a close eye out for possible landing areas between the Mesquite trees as
I'm not getting that high and making sure that I keep far enough to the east to
stay away from the Laredo airspace.
At twenty miles out Manfred comes in a thousand feet below as I hear Pete
Lehmann on the radio saying that he hasn't hit anything and will soon be
landing. He must have hit something as he made it eleven miles out to the San
Ygnacio road. Bo will follow after him landing with out hitting a bump in the
blue and requiring a six hour retrieve seven miles from the Zapata airport.
Manfred and I fly together for about six miles and then he heads to the north as
I continue downwind to the north northwest. We are way to the east of the
airspace so it is no concern getting around Laredo.
The clouds disappeared at twenty five miles out and they were gone around Zapata
when Pete and Bo launched. Manfred warned them that the lift was too light for
flex wings. I kept them all appraised of my location and climb rates so they had
a pretty good idea of what was in store for them.
I get low (800' AGL) just before the second east west road coming out of Laredo,
but find a solid 230 fpm to 3,500', the highest I've been since the tow. It
makes it easy to take the fourteen mile jump over to Interstate 35. As I
approach the interstate I'm back down to 700' having skipped a little patch of
light lift (the first time I do this during the flight) at 2,800' (thinking I
was plenty high enough to find more lift). This time the lift is only 50 fpm,
and then I lose it. I'm too low to continue across a treed area and go to the
west and land next to the freeway at 55 miles out.
Manfred a few miles ahead continues on in the blue. We track him on the radio
until he's 110 miles out. There is a small bank of cirrus to the north northwest
and Manfred, talking on the cell phone to Gary Osoba, decides to go around to
the east. This puts him along Interstate 35 instead of along highway 83.
At 140 miles out and thirty five miles southwest of San Antonio airspace he
circles a small airport and decides to land. He talks a pilot into flying him
back to the Zapata airport. Manfred is on his own without a driver. He gets in
his car at Zapata with his Swift Light box on the top of the rental car and
heads back to the airport to retrieve his glider.
Not a record day, but a great day in the air or Manfred and me.
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The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.
