US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

RobinHastings wrote:Monday, March 18, 2019:
Juan Mira and I got to fly Dry Canyon today, thanks to the selflessness of one William Cummings, ace driver. (Yeah, I know - in the last post he was an ace pilot. The man plays many roles...) I launched in my U2-160 at 2:42 pm into a good thermal. Conditions were sort of high pressure, but the clouds to the east of launch were turning dark, and the lift was there, if you were lucky. I was not - at least, until I had plummeted to the "Wonder if I can clear the power lines?" level at the West Face. Then I caught the good one, and went in 200 fpm from 5800 ft MSL to 9000. (That's because I am a GOOD PILOT. Up to then, it was all about BAD CONDITIONS.) When I could peek over the peak, I could see that Juan was on the launch; I made one more 360, and he was NOT on the launch. Juan found some lift near the launch, then cruised down the ridge to where I was getting up, and found some good stuff at the West Face. He was at 7000 MSL (launch height) and just took it like a pro. (See previous comment about Bill Cummings.) He got up pretty well, then when that disappeared he got flushed, and had to take whatever he could find by Plateau Espresso. (I was watching this from above, and taking shameless advantage of it - any time Juan started thermalling, I went over to get some of it.) He finally made a fine approach to the Cox Field, got a little low, and landed on the Big Wheels in his Vision Mark 4. Nice flight! Juan had 30 minutes of airtime, his first since Thanksgiving time. He landed right where he wanted to be, near the west end of the field. Me, I had the altitude - and then squandered it, and wound up coming down vertically onto the fence, at the north edge of the field. If you're going to hit a fence - yeah, hit it that way. (Juan was thinking, "Oh, he's not going to make it!" Oddly, there were two people thinking the very same thought right then...) But all was well - wind was blowing about 15 mph when I set down. Sure, I had a long hike to where Juan was relaxing, and Bill was pulling up in the truck - but I needed the exercise. (Yeah, that's why I landed there. Needed the exercise. Good, good.) We got some hamburgers to celebrate my 53-minute aerial exploit, and headed back to Cruces. Warm temps, nice skies (dark clouds cleared up) and great company. Not a bad day in the desert Southwest. (And meanwhile, Nebraska is washing down to the sea...) Looks like a day for Mag Rim tomorrow! Any takers?
-Robin
575-541-5744

RobinHastings wrote:Saturday, March 23, 2019:
This was a good day for our visiting pilots, Jim MacNutt and Juan Mira. We got to the Cox Field LZ about 11:00 am today, and found winds from the north-northwest. So, we drove to the La Luz landing zone, planted a flag, and drove up to the La Luz NW launch - only to find it was coming in southwest. OK, on to Dry Canyon! There, both pilots had exemplary launches - Jim took off at 2:30 pm MDT, Juan at 2:50 pm. Skies had some high cirrus, but were clearing; winds were coming in at 10 to 15 mph from the west and southwest. Both pilots immediately went up. Jim made a low save after a few minutes in his Falcon 4, and later on watched Juan do the same, but both of them climbed out well above launch. Jim ultimately reached 10,700 ft MSL, and Juan got his highest ever, getting to 9,000. Jim went to La Luz and back to Cox Field, landing at 1 hour, 15 minutes. Juan logged exactly the same amount of time in the air. And, to go with the great launches, they both had great landings, in almost zero wind. By then the skies were cloudless, the temperature was 75 degrees, and the smiles were huge. Juan got his glider loaded onto the Corolla he had borrowed for Spring Break, and headed back to Southwestern University in Hobbs; Jim and I made it back to Las Cruces about 6:30 pm. If this was not a perfect day to be alive and flying, I don't know what is!
-Robin