A beautiful day for rides!

Mother Nature brought us a passing cold front to clear out all the old dirty air!  The marine layer was clearing and marvelous lennies formed over the Diablos.
    Monterey peninsula and bay from 8000'

Santa Cruz in the distance and Watsonville in the foreground

lenticular clouds over the Diablo Range

First to enjoy the cool, clean air and good visibility were Jagdip and his daughter Olivia.  They were on their way to southern CA where Olivia is a senior in college.  Jack said as a young man he had flown open-cockpit side-by-side two-place Slingsby gliders from a winch tow in his native India.  "Life got in the way" of his training but he wanted to expose Olivia to the thrill he once new.  Good family values Jagdip!

  Christina & Segyu came in a group of 6 for 3 2-person rides.  Christina liked the "roller coaster" action and Segyu exercised his camera.

Terry and Pam squeezed in the back seat and we towed behind the Cherokee while another couple in another 2-32 flown by Quest followed towing behind the Pawnee.

After we all separated, the Pawnee came up on our left(pic taken on different day) like this!

We followed the other glider for a while and then just went our own way managing to extend our time in the air and landing after the parachute-jumping plane other glider had cleared the runway.

A gorgeous day to be in the air!

Accessible Events rides

We had a nice day for rides although it got windy later.  Curtis is an aerobatic power pilot and showed me his "right-stuff" was just as good in the glider, adapting to the long wings and no engine with ease.  He flew it on tow smoothly, a problem for most power pilots initially.  A spin and loop after release started us off and the next 30 minutes were just play time.  He should get his glider rating and then take others for rides!

Nancy had the big camera and was recording the event.  She wanted an acro ride too!

Ligia enjoyed her loop so much that she just laid her head back to soak it all up!

After the last acro ride with Richard, I was ready for a break as the look on my face, covered with sunscreen, shows.  Richard on the other hand appears fresh and ready to go again!

The Swank Farm Corn Maze is starting to look good now:

Molly's birthday ride

Steve brought his wife Molly in for a Monterey Bay Adventure birthday ride on a day when the fog wasn't in evidence as it usually is this time of year.  Here's the view we had from 8000' over the shoreline:

And here is the happy couple:

We flew back over the Flint Hills and out to the Diablo foothills looking for lift.  Got a few turns in weak thermal/convergance so they could experience a little soaring.  A few turns with some birds over the airport was followed by a fun landing.

Saturday

Courtney and Jeff were excited to be flying on a nice summer day even though most of the Monterey Bay was obscured by fog.  We could see the peninsula and Moss Landing/Elkhorn Slough under the fog on our way up but later we decided to just play around over Aromas and Gilroy.

While the folks at Pebble Beach were looking at cars, owner/pilots were looking at each other's Stearmans on the ramp in front of Ernie's hangar!

That T-28 in the Navy colors reminds me of my first chance to hold the stick in an airplane when I was a 4th class Midshipman in Navy ROTC in the spring of '64.  I didn't fly again until I was 40!

Friday the 13th rides!

The date didn't bother Gene, he just wanted to get in the air.  He said he remembered seeing airplanes as a boy on the farm in MN.  74 is still young enough to get out and play!

After releasing from tow at 6250' over the Quien Sabe Valley we looked for lift and eagles 

He wanted to see his house from the air so back to Hollister we went:

Somewhere down there is his house on Hummingbird Lane and he said he could see it!

Ah, there it is just to the left of the white reflective line, the one with the circular pavement and the pickup/trailer combo.  These cheap, little zoomable cameras a great!

Joe, also 74, was brought in by the whole family for his Monterey Bay Adventure ride:

The grandson didn't want to go so Joe got in the front seat and up we went only to find the bay covered in fog!

  Joe said he'd like to see where the family lives in Tres Pinos, south of Hollister.  No problem, just head over to Fremont Peak and spend the hour of gliding time after release cruising around and seeing the sights!

Maybe next time the grandson will go now that he sees how excited his grandfather is!

Thermal flys off!

Remember the fledgling red-tailed hawk that walked into the office awhile back?

The rest of the story:

On Monday morning, August 9th, 2010, at 8AM, "Thermal" the hawk, previously 
injured but now all recovered, was released back into the wild by Meredith from 
the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Paicines, CA. There were a total of four 
juveniles released this morning from the parking lot of the Catholic church in 
Tres Pinos, across the street from the skydive drop zone. "Thermal" was 
recognizable as she was the largest female of the group. As soon as the lid of 
the transportation box was raised, "Thermal" flew out and up into one of the 
trees near the church parking lot. She sat up there looking around for about a 
half hour, and then all of a sudden took off and circled overhead for a few 
minutes, alternating between gliding, flapping and even soaring. It really did 
look like a "test flight" before her "return to service"! She then circled wider 
and wider and departed SE toward the Pinnacles National Monument.

So long "Thermal"! We'll see you soaring in the sky!
Quest

In flight

elegant

Saturday Monterey Bay Adventure ride

Randy and Susan were on their way to the Pinnacles from Sacramento with family and wanted to use their gift certificate to have their glider ride but the marine layer was slow to subside so we towed up over the Gabilan Range to see the fog down in the Salinas Valley and all over the Monterey Bay up to and including Santa Cruz.  We were in the clear over the upper Santa Clara Valley and from the smiles it is apparent that we were very pleased to be in the air.

Here is the before-ride pic showing a little apprehension:

And here is the after ride pic with the excitement still on their faces:

Well, maybe it isn't all that evident from the pics but I was there and I know we had a good time!

Friday birthday ride

Alex gave Jason a ride for his birthday and came along to make sure he enjoyed it!

After we landed and tied down, We got a pic of Jason where he wants to be on his next ride:

International Soaring

Sailplanes on grass just looks so beautiful!

More pics of the World Championship contest in Slovakia:
       http://picasaweb.google.com/104195682308066635043/Szeged2010WGCVisitor#