Friday rides

Mark and Cindy chose the "ride of my wife" which is the very smooth scenic tour preferred by my wife who loves the view but not the movement!

Jil's husband had given her a gift certificate and she also wanted "the ride of my wife"!  As she was alone, I could put her in the front seat, install the control stick in the rear and give her the best view!

Jil's daughter and granddaughter were below us playing at the Swank Farms playground and market but the new corn maze wasn't mature enough to see like this one of '07.  Each year the design is slightly different.

Two nice Tuesday rides

Stefan and his ten-year old son Aidan went up for a scenic Mile High ride over Fremont Peak.  The visibility was good to Monterey and Santa Cruz.  Aidan liked the "roller coaster" and wing-over maneuvers!

Clyde brought his daughter Angela in for a Hollister Hop.  She said she'd only been in an airliner but when I put her in the front seat and let her fly the glider after we released from the towplane it was if she'd already had some lessons.  Maybe it was in the genes as her grandfather had flown P-51s in Europe and P-38s in the Pacific during WWII according to Clyde.

Nice response from a ride passenger!

I was very pleased to receive this email message and its contents:

Hi Haven,

Thanks for the pictures. The video I recorded during the flight is here:
http://gallery.me.com/brian_mcgee/100012

And, pictures below. You can see the plane after detaching in the second one.

Thanks again for the flight!

Brian

Young small people are interested and bring excitement!

I had an opportunity to show off the glider and pique the curiosity of some school kids the other day:

Two pilots were in last Sat for a ride.  Father and 10 yr. old son!  John's dad wanted to make sure I knew that his son, although small, did many things well when they flew together in their single-engine pressurized Cessna.  When I said that for the two of them to go together they would have to sit in the rear without a control stick, it was decided that John should experience his first glider ride from the front seat with the opportunity to fly while I sat in the rear, after installing the control stick of course.  John was intent to learn and experience everything.  I neglected to get his picture because I was so focused on his questions and amazed at his ability to quickly get the feel of the glider and operate its controls as if he'd already had ten lessons.  That boy has "the right stuff" and it was a pleasure to witness such precociousness!

Here's a pic of our seating arrangement after our flight and their departure for home.  We had to get constructive with cushions and the chutes were necessary because we did a loop and some aggressive wing-overs.  John could control the pitch and roll with the stick while I operated the rear rudder pedals because the front pedals were beyond his reach!

Friday flying at Hollister

Chuck and Will had a nice Mile High ride over the Quien Sabe Valley:

The boys went this time!  I hope the girls come back for a flight:

Jennie and Andy went looking for the Monterey Bay which was mostly covered by fog.  We could see Santa Cruz and Watsonville clearly and came back over Gilroy and Casa de Fruita.

After we landed Quest explained what the two BASA club gliders were going to do and they helped us launch them for the flights to the Panoche Valley and back.

 Clark in the Grob with Gabriel behind him with the Pegasus:

Very nice video

The video was made by a pilot flying out of Avenal, a club out on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEhZidt4RpE

Friday and Saturday rides

Eric came down from San Francisco to have a vacation day after some long hard work.  He said he had a new appreciation for life after recovering from a bicycle accident and just wanted to take a glider ride.  We had a nice tow up over the fog of Monterey Bay, released and did a loop. When asked if he wanted to fly, he said, "Yes" and proceeded to fly the glider as if it were natural for him.  He should take up glider flying as that bicycling is way to dangerous!

On Saturday I was privileged to ride in the rear cockpit of the Schweizer 2-32 while a young German glider pilot now studying at Berkeley familiarized himself with our local area and a glider-type he'd never been in.  He flew the whole flight as if he'd been trained in the 2-32 which speaks highly of the thorough training he had received at home and the experience he had flying in the Alps. I was so relaxed I forgot to get his picture!  Not the Alps but beautiful in its own way, The Quien Sabe Valley:

After quickly converting from two-place dual-control to three-place front-control, I loaded Evette and Richard for his 60th b-day ride out to the Monterey Bay:

The fog was still over the bay:

We enjoyed a few fun maneuvers and the luxury of the ability to "hang-out" above all the earthly troubles below.  After returning to the airport environment we saw the apricots placed out to dry:

 

My glider-pilot friend Dave came in to take our 2-32 for a "spin".  The two gliders he owns and flys out of Minden, NV aren't certificated for spins and he likes to keep his flying skills honed with the occasional aerobatic flight. I just sat in the rear seat and enjoyed the flight as an "observer"(don't often get that opportunity) while Dave played. 

                                                          WHEE!

This is not a pic I took but one that a pro photographer friend made for an Air&Space magazine article about spins.  The pilot is Russell Holtz and the glider is one of our 2/32s.

When you're spinning, it doesn't look like this still photo.  A movie would do it more justice but being there in person is the only true way to experience the thrill! 

Thermal, the red-tailed hawk fledgling's true story

"Hello mister, my name is 'Thermal' and I'm a Red-Tailed Hawk. I'm pretty young and just fell out of my nest! I bonked my head and sprained my leg because no one has yet taught me how to fly. I see that you offer flight instruction so I've hobbled into your office and want to enroll in one of your training programs. Can you teach me how to fly?? Both of my parents are REALLY good at flying and soaring, and I hope to be as good as they are when I grow up! They told me that you humans control big white birds that fly around our home, but compared to us hawks, you're pathetic at soaring. So, I'll make a deal with you: If you teach me how to fly, my Mother and Father will teach you how to soar like a Red-tailed Hawk!  Is it a deal?? I'm just going to stand here for as long as it takes to get an answer- or for someone to help put me back up into my nest. Your friend, 'Thermal' the Red-tailed Hawk"

On Monday June 1 at about 6PM, I was working on the computer at the office, writing up invoices, when I felt as if someone -or something- was watching me. I looked up to see "Thermal" looking directly at me. He really seemed to be confused or disoriented, and I felt that he was purposely looking for some help. We made eye contact for a few minutes, and both of us determined that the other wasn't a threat. I then grabbed my camera out of my backpack behind the counter and got the shots. One of the other glider pilots had seen Thermal hop through the doorway, and he and I talked through open windows about what to do while trying not to do anything to spook Thermal. I began to search on the Internet for raptor centers, and began making phone calls. The other glider pilot also started searching on his Internet/Phone device. Soon we had three numbers for three centers so he called one, I called one, and the woman on the phone with me hung up and called one. We got hold of a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Paicines, just off Panoche Valley Rd. Within about a half hour, a woman came out and rescued Thermal by gently draping a small towel over him and scooping him up very slowly and gently. His talons were stuck in the carpet briefly, but she soon freed them and they put him into a transport box. They will observe him, and when he's determined to be healthy, they'll release him back into his nesting environment. As soon as Thermal is all healed up, we at Hollister Gliding Club look forward to helping him reach his full potential as one of Nature's excellent natural aviators!! And in return we hope to eventually learn from he and his parents how to be better soaring pilots as evidently they don't think too much of us and our big, white birds.

And everybody lived happily ever after. (Except for the Hawks' prey.)

Happy Soaring,
Quest

                                               July 5 update:

Hi everybody,

Lynn Shippley volunteered to make some phone calls to check up on our little red-tailed hawk friend "Thermal" who wandered into the office about a month ago. Here is what Lynn posted to various interested parties within the Hollister Airport community.

"Thermal" is a "she"!

Happy soaring,
Quest

"Thermal" has recovered from her injuries and is presently in a conditioning
pen with three friends of her approximate age. She's been flying for about
three weeks now and is putting her efforts into strengthening for flight in
the wild. The Wildlife Rehab Center feels that she'll be ready for release
in two to four weeks.

Lynn Shippley
Admin Support Services

Keith's birthday ride with Sandy

Keith said he had winch-launched in England in a two-place side-by-side glider.  Must have been this one, a Slingsby T-21B:

Sandy got Keith a birthday ride gift certificate and he wanted to take her along so we used the only glider type in the world that can take three people, the Schweizer 2-32:

We released from tow at 4750' over Henrietta Pk. in the Diablos about 7 miles east of the Hollister airport looking down into the Quien Sabe Valley:

 The Sierra Crest with the snow capped moutains was clearly visible over the San Joaquin Valley.  We were unable to use any thermals as the sea breeze had already kicked in but the glide back to the airport was very enjoyable and I gave them some excitement with an aggressive landing!

Keith's birthday ride with Sandy

Keith said he had winch-launched in England in a two-place side-by-side glider.  Must have been this one, a Slingsby T-21B:

Sandy got Keith a birthday ride gift certificate and he wanted to take her along so we used the only glider type in the world that can take three people, the Schweizer 2-32

We released from tow at 4750' over Henrietta Pk. in the Diablos about 7 miles east of the Hollister airport looking down into the Quien Sabe Valley.  The Sierra Crest with the snow capped moutains was clearly visible over the San Jaoquin Valley

Josh chooses the MBA aerobatic ride

Josh brought his fiancé for a glider ride but she was not enthusiastic about leaving terra firma in such a "small" aircraft.  When we let her sit in the front seat with the canopy closed she experienced some claustrophobia.  Josh stopped trying to "sell" her on the ride, deciding that he would "be gallant," put on a parachute, sit in the front seat, experience some aerobatics, fly the glider and then relate it all to her!  He asked me to come along and I couldn't refuse.

She was very pleased to have him back on the ground and we had a great time playing in the air.  Everybody was happy!