 The
Point
by
Jeff Goin
May 25-26
See report from May
23-24
May 25 - South Side
Morning provided the perfect conditions of South Side
fame...a steady 7 mph breeze blowing right up the hill. It was easy to
kite the wing and many students took advantage of it.
As usual the winds slowly increased through the morning
until they were too strong for most pilots by about 10:00am. Only those
with a small or fast wing and the ability to handle them tried to tackle
those conditions.
A view of the south ridge from about 40' above
launch elevation. The slope is fairly shallow which limits the height
attainable even on the best days. My vantage is from a small bowl on the
west end. Behind me there is still another couple hundred yards of ridge.
Before that point the soarable conditions encouraged
many into the air. With such marginal conditions and so much variety in
wing speeds it was difficult to maintain a good pattern. Top landings were
easy however.
Being waked on a ridge is part and parcel to the
endeavor. Whenever the ridge is on your right there are gliders going by
on your left (upwind) side. Most fly with about half-brakes to minimize
the effect but it's still a pretty good bump sometimes.
As the winds picked up the numbers of pilots getting to
the lip for launch decreased. Cloud 9 students wind up being good
high-wind handlers owing to this consistent exposure.
This is "OJ" about to head out for some wild
aerobatics. He is one for whom the ridge is but an elevator ride to his
aero platform. It's taken from the west end of the north ridge. The LZ is
to my left and about 500' below.
I wound up with about 2 hours of wing-overhead time and
LOTs of kiting practice. Some of the regulars have some very interesting
kiting tricks. Steve, the owner of Cloud 9 would do a number of
interesting tasks both flying and kiting.
Another slick trick to watch was an instructor who was
helping a student get airborne. When the student didn't handle the wing
properly, he did FOR her! It was quite a dance of lines and legs and he
pulled it off eloquently.
By 4:00pm the wind had switched and the North side
became the point of attention. Several experienced pg'ers who launched
earlier in the mountains appeared high overhead the North ridge.
I launched around 5:00pm and flew for 3 hours with an
intermediate landing to get my radio (FRS and music). Conditions remained
easily soarable all the way til dark.
Before pilots started getting to the high ridge it was nearly pandemonium
on the small ridge.
The lower ridge shuts down much earlier then it's big
brother. So if you've "benched up" the flying is easy and
smooth.
Most of the locals bore of boating about the big ridge
and use it only for an elevator to either set out on cross countries or,
more commonly, perform aerobatics.
Salt Lake city rests under the blue sky to the North
while this pilot heads out for some thermal seeking.
A good view of the north side including the big ridge on
the left and the small one in the center. Just beyond all the houses are
where the pg and hg pilots stage from. Flying over the houses is a no-no
below 1000'.
Steve Mayer of Cloud 9 is giving the briefing on the first official day of
flying for Demo Days.
This is looking backwards from the tall ridge. This pilot
appeared here when I looked to turn (I KNEW there was a reason we're
supposed to clear the turn!) so I snapped a shot looking south.
There was another reserve toss when an aerobatic
manuever didn't go exactly as planned. The pilot was unhurt after a fast
landing under white round.
The People
Motorheads were well represented. There are likely some
I missed but they included Scott and Nancy of Paraborne, Check and Dawn,
Alan Chuculate, Don Jordon, Nick Scholtes, Mike Heatheman, Stu Caruk and
myself, Jeff Goin.
There were also many highly regarded pg folks there
including Steve Mayer of Cloud 9, Dixon White of Airplay, Chris
Santacroche and many others who I don't recognize.
Jeff innocently getting his picture taken while mischief befalls him from
the rear (by Check). Dawn (right) is enjoying herself it at my expense!
The evening finished after 1.5 hours of flying we stand around shooting
the now-diminishing breeze. PG-only pilot Brian (left) with Scott and Nancy
Alan middle and right.
During the briefing Nick (right) was listening intently.
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Ridge Risks
While ridge flying is generally fairly benign there are
some significant risks that must be managed. They include wake, thermal
turbulence, mis-judgement as to the proximity to terrain and blow-back.
The wake produced by another pilot is proportional to
his weight and distance from you. And it can be VERY strong! His speed
also plays a small factor. Suffice it to say that a tandem will produce a
far more attention-getting wake than the typical solo pilot. I received my
first-ever 40-50% collapse under this condition. A pilot can minimize but
not eliminate this. Flying with half to third brakes is helpful as any
deflations should come out fairly quickly on their own.
Breakfast
Below is a hungry spider enjoying his morning delicacy
at McDonalds. This fellow was making quite a commotion as I went to get
some fuel for travel home. And his large size made him hard to miss.
Unfortunately my trip ended early and duty called. The
following morning however had me flying the "trike" just South
of SLC on my way to Las Vegas (LAS). This was another view I enjoyed
albeit from a bit higher up!
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