Re: Flying with Jockey

From: bh
Activity_Date: 8/10/01
Remote Name: 207.71.212.250

Comments

My apologies to everyone for the late post. My landing on Friday, after 4 1/2 hours in the air, was rough, indeed. When I regained consciousness, Jocky, Sve and Benson had already bagged my gear and, I suspect, were looking for another kind of bag to stow my mortal remains. I recovered nicely, though, and because I remembered in detail the strange air I passed through on the way to touchdown, I presumed no harm was done or damage incurred.

The next day we arrived at Black Hawk. I finally launched after the Marshall pilots exited the area and were fast approaching cloud base at 14,000 or so. I cleared all of 4 feet on my way into a large pinyon tree just below launch. Wondering if I was reacting to the events of yesterday, I recovered my wing and returned to find the cycles were blowing down slope. By this time, Benson, Svi, Bruce and Jockey were sinking out near the LZ and only the Marshall pilots (on advanced wings) were still in the air. I managed a launch further down the hill on the way to the LZ for a late afternoon glass-off of but modest proportions but we now knew the way to launch and were ready for the day on Sunday morning. (This probably isn't the time or place to describe Benson's successful Saturday night search for the best restaurant in Big Bear and the last room in town, particularly since he and I were the only beneficiaries of his efforts, but it was clear the next morning that eating stale hamburgers and sleeping amid the rocks was not a highlight likely to be remembered fondly by many of our companions).

Sunday started with mixed results. Jockey and Benson launched early and sunk out. Svi flew to cloud base while Bill Bailey and I limped along the ridge crest to the west of launch looking for lift. We languished at 8000 to 9000 while Svi soared several thousand feet above us as a north trending convergence line developed along our course. I finally blundered into it and, at Jocky's suggestion, stayed hooked up for the next 4 hours or so by flying down wind. The convergence was like a giant clam shell, scalloped and rough along the edges but by following the downwind leg, I was able to fall in and out of it, staying above 10,000 feet for most of the flight. After Bill and Svi landed, I found myself alone until 3 hours or so into the flight when Jockey arrived after a second launch. For the next 2 hours, or so, I was given a lesson in cross country flying I won't soon forget (provided the swelling goes down). He found flat-land triggers that took us above 13,000, some of them obvious, several not so obvious and all within a glide from the convergence line. Finally, after 5 hours and 70+ kilometers, we landed near Calixo, a desert town better enjoyed from above than on the ground.

My sincere thanks to Jockey for the rich and detailed instruction, to Kristi for the forsite, planning and organization and, as always, to Eddie for being there at the end and hauling my tired ass home. We intermediate pilots who fly cross county have little opportunity for training in Santa Barbara these days. Believe me, as Bill Bailey told me after the end of the first weekend, this was the best $350+ I've spent in a long time. I'm looking forward to a repeat and, when the swelling subsides, I'm expecting a significant improvement in the distance and duration of my flights.