Returning pilot looking for sites

[rickdavids]

Hey All,

Just googled and signed up for this site.

It's been better that 6 or 7 years as a guess since I've been airborne. I'm looking to get back in the air and I'm thinking Santa Barbara has one of the few bunny hills to get my chops back.

Here's a little background about myself...

I received my initial training in Simi Valley from Bob England - RIP ( http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7031 )

I pioneered a 'new' ridge soaring site in Simi in the Woodranch development area before the houses actually went up, which was good for a couple summers of fun (right near the Reagan Presidential Library).

I've flown Kagel, Crestline, Took the tram up to the the top of San Jacinto in Palm Springs and flew down. Lived in Pacifica for a year and flew the cliffs on weekends many times and ramped up to the big-boys Daily City cliffs and never got blown back into the powerlines nor drowned in the surf at Pacifica. I've soared the cliffs near San Pedro before it became the Trump Golf Course. I've soared the cliffs at the end of free Zuma (Pt. Dume) for a half an hour and walked away with only a warning from the Ranger.

I had an early paramotor business called Parapower International. I organised and appeared on an early Discovery channel show and soared above/near La Conchita with Bob England and another cool pilot whose name escapes me but I believe he was from the SB area and had just set a new distance record in the Owens valley at the time.

I was early active on the internet and some of my videos still survive to this date. If you view, you will see that they were designed for dialup...

http://www.ultralighthomepage.com/VIDS/pwrdpara.mpg
http://www.ultralighthomepage.com/VIDS/rocks.mpg
http://www.ultralighthomepage.com/VIDS/wingovrs.mpg

Having said all that, I ain't shit and I don't know shit. It's been years since my feet have left the ground. Can someone direct me to and accept my entrance to the bunny hill?

[Robb]

Hi Rick, Welcome back.

I live in Moorpark, and those places you describe look like great flying spots, except for all the houses, strip malls, etc. that have been put in over the years.

The training hill in Santa Barbara is at Elings Park. I suggest you hook up with Chad Bastian and his crew at Fly Above All, or Rob Sporer and his team at Eagle Paragliding. They are at the hill most days of the week and can set you up with the rules of the park. Maybe they can organize a "refresher" session and a safety check of your gear.

Feel free to give me a call as well,
Robb

[oj]

Hi Rick, I assume that your glider is vintage mid-to-late 90's, so I would suggest you take advantage of the equipment available through the schools Robb mentioned. Improvements in design and DHV testing have increased the level of safety dramatically since you last flew. Welcome back and I look forward to meeting you in person. Ojai John.

[rickdavids]

Thanks for the replies.

A few more questions...

Is the Elings Park site ridge soarable? Or more a short sled-ride training site? I live in Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley, so I'm wondering what sort of weather conditions (forecasts) I should be looking for to get some extended rides on the training hill. I see there's tons of Weather Info resources on this site, just wondering what to look for. It's a long ride up there just for a few sled-rides.

Are there any other sites closer to the San Fernando Valley other than Kagel? Before I took my extended vacation from the sport I remember flying a small ridge soaring site in Camarillo at San Lewis Rd. and W. Potrero Road a few times. At the time, the procedure was to call the Pt. Mugu Military Base tower and let them know you'd be up there. Looking at a current map it appears the property is owned by Channel Islands State University, which I don't think was the case back when I flew it. Is this site still open? (no worries, I will be headed back to the training hill before I try to hit a site like that....)

[Dizzy]

Hi Rick,
We're neighbors, I live in Northridge. We can share a ride sometimes if you are interesting. My email address is _dizzy at mail dot ru
Except SB I also fly Kagel, Marshal, Lake Elsinore, Torrey Pines and some other sites.

You can review list of available site here (regarding Point Mugu):
http://www.paraglidingearth.com

Thanks,
Alex

[rickdavids]

Thanks for the reply Dizzy,

Your link to paraglidingearth was exactly what I was looking for, thanks for that. I'm not sure at this point how much I'm gonna go back into the sport. For sure I'm not ready to go to any of the big established sites at this point. Still, I'm wondering how many hoops $$ I'd have to jump through to get whatever required/heavily-suggested ratings for the various big-air sites?.

P.S.

If there's any young-guns cruising this site that read my previous comment about riding the tram from Palm Springs and flying down, I will just say that it's a really bad idea. I made it though ok, but only by the skin of my ballsack over the crown of a 50 ft. tree shortly after launch. There's plenty of safe sites to fly and there's no glory, since it's already been done ;-). Just my way of saying it was stupid, and barely successful...