Saturday, September 09, 2006

Reeder Mesa, Colorado


Escaped the bad weather in Rifle and flew Reeder Mesa, near Grand Junction today. Great little ridge soaring bowl. Would have liked to have consistent winds, as we all sunk out at least once and I was only able to top-land after getting a half a turn in a thermal. The hike up is not fun, as the slope is covered with large rocks and boulders.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Easy Big Ears Mod


Here's an easy mod for those of you that are flying with PG risers and higher attachment points. I've been using this on my gliders with split-A's for years with no issues. The concept is simple, you are just adding an extension to the split-a's to make them easier to reach in flight.

First get a length of stiff, brightly colored nylon cord, about a 18 inches longer than your risers. Tie your favorite looping knot (figure 8 loops, or butterfly knots work well) in the middle to get a loop big enought to get a couple fingers into. Position this loop somewhere near the middle of your risers - make sure its in a place you can easily reach, but not so low as to restrict the distance you can pull the loop. I like mine just below the speed bar pulley.


Now take up the slack and affix one end to the outside of your outside-A mallion and the other end to your hook-in loop. Don't make it too tight, you want some slack when you are flying. Also, don't make the knot on the riser attachment point too tight as to stress or rub your riser material. I use bowline knots on each end.

Now you are ready to fly. The loop should be easy to access in flight, just remember that since your hands are in a lower than normal position, you may need to let of your brakes to pull really big ears.
more pictures

(Note that the photos are from an Ozone Vibe, which is a 3 riser glider, the cord really is attached to the outside A riser, not the B riser).

If you don't have split A's, you can do the same mod, by attaching a small brass pulley to your outside A line, and tying the cord to the pulley. Gin has used this in their production gliders for years.

Monday, July 03, 2006

New Fresh Breeze Suspension


Gerald got a new motor this week. Another Fresh Breeze Simonini, but with the new suspension. Since I missed the Convention this year, this was the first time I have seen it in person. Wow. That's all I can saw. Wow. This thing rocks.


Good (not great) weight shift, and ZERO torque. Now they need to get this suspension on the titanium framed Sim, and I'm in heaven.

Here's a review by Mike Brown.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Bay Area PG

So Stinky and I had to be in the San Fran area for business (both our companies are based there) so we extended the business trips and did some flying, as you can tell from the camera phone pics posted below.

On Friday, we flew the Stables but it was strong and cross, so we headed south to San Jose and got signed off to fly from Ed Levin park in Milpitas. This is a nice 1800ft vertical mountain with 3 launches and a huge LZ. Of course, we also found out why the locals call it "Sled Levin".

On Saturday the bay area was socked in so we headed down the coast to Big Sur. After a 2+ hour drive, we found the entire central coast was socked in to. So, we then drove 3 more hours inland to Dunlap, CA, near Fresno. Here we were treated to 2 days of ok thermal flying from a really big mountain. I think it is 2400ft agl. Also got to meet a bunch of super nice pilots from all over NorCal.

We both worked on Monday, but managed to sneak out for a 2 hour late session at the Stables. It was really nice - managed to transistion up the Westlake cliffs and make it to the Dumps and back. Then, at 4:20 exactly, the wind stopped. I ended up on the beach, landing next to a couple of lesbian lovers that really would have liked more privacy. Good times!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

More Ed Levin Flying


More Ed Levin Flying
Originally uploaded by GliderRob.
This shot is from last Friday's sled ride at Ed Levin Park.

Rob C at the Stables


Rob C at the Stables
Originally uploaded by GliderRob.
Rob C and I soared the sables in San Fran on Friday.

Ed Levin Park



Originally uploaded by GliderRob.
Stinky Rob launching at Ed Levin Park.

San Fran


San Fran
Originally uploaded by GliderRob.
According to the NeverLost, I'm in San Francisco.

Ed Levin Park


Ed Levin Park
Originally uploaded by GliderRob.
Ed Levin Park in Milpitas (near San Jose) is a very nice place to fly...even if it's a sled ride.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Baja 2006

Team Merrycone (less Skyking, who's wife won't let him out of the house due to the new baby) headed to Baja again for their annual Mexican throw down. Pilots attending were Stinky, Scooter, Skybrake, and G-Rob). Stinky got hooked up with a bad ass ride by the Hertz crew - a jet black Ford Expedition, so we rode around Mexico Jack Bauer style.

We flew our asses off for 4 days at San Antonio del Mar, stayed in the local roach motel, got the truck stuck, stranded GRob in the desert, and then had an awesome 2 hour sunset session at Torrey on the way back to the airport. We flew so much, no one really had time for pictures, but Stinky and Skybrake got tons of video. Here's a sample: