50th birthday acro ride!

Mark's parents brought him in for a birthday ride and he said he'd like to do some acro so that's what we did as soon as the morning overcast cleared.  We followed the towplane over the east hills and released at 6000'.  After a stall, spin, loop, tight turns and wingovers Mark tried his hand at the controls as we took in the sights:

7/21/11 rides

Owner/instructor Quest Richlife had the privilege of giving an introductory lesson/ride to the great-grandaughter of an aviation/glider historical figure, Hawley Bowlus:

 Hawley in white shirt with Lindberg et. al. and the Spirt of St Louis:

Meglan flew in the Schweizer 2-32:

Flying on tow behind Cherokee:

Megan with her grandmother Marian, father Royce and grandfather Jack Bowlus:

 I thought the day was over and while back working on a towplane in the hangar I got a call from Quest asking if I wanted to give a ride to a "walk-in" couple.  Of course I said yes, cleaned up, changed clothes(like Superman) from mechanic to ride-pilot and met my passengers in the office.  They wanted a Monterey Bay Adventure so off we went towards the coast but the fog obscured the view there so we released from tow for a Mile High Ride over the southern Santa Cruz Mtns. and flew back over Gilroy.  They said they'd be back when we have a nice clear day!
Louella and Robert over Prunedale with the Diablos in the background:

7/16 rides

Kayla and Cody came in for a Hollister Hop:

Randy enjoyed the Silver Hawk ride:

Karen brought her two sons in for introductory lessons and wanted to experience what they were doing so she went for a ride with me.  She handled the controls well and enjoyed it all so much that I forgot to take her picture.  I think she'll be back for her own lessons as she has all the "right stuff" to be a glider pilot herself!

Chelsea came by to say she'd like a glider ride and told me she owned and piloted a single-engined Piper Comanche.  When I asked if she'd like to do some acro, she said, "sure"!  She flew the glider on tow for the first time as well as any trained glider pilot, released and flew just beautifully because she could feel the need for the proper rudder useage, the most difficult thing for power pilots to master.

Here we are after our flight.  The cameraman didn't catch her smile which I saw!

7/15 rides

We had visiting Boy Scouts two of whom had rides in the Schweitzer 2-32 with me.

Bryce after landing:

Chris in the air flying the glider:

Ralph and I had a nice flight over the fog to see the Monterey Bay and then over Gilroy and Casa de Fruita.

Santa Cruz at the north end of the bay is coming into view:

7/9/11 rides

Rajiv and Julie arrived for their 10am scheduled ride to find and overcast sky!  When the sky cleared we launched for a nice Silver Hawk ride to 4500 feet over Hollister and the receding fog/low cloud cover.  To the east we could see the snow-capped Sierras over the Diablos and San Joaquin Valley and while we flew the Santa Clara and San Juan Valleys cleared.  Too bad I didn't have my camera!

After helping our two instructors to launch six introductory lesson rides I had the opportunity to take a man 6'8" in the front seat of our Schweizer 2-32.   If he could fit in this glider then he was out of luck for a glider ride.  He had an inch of headroom to spare and off we went for a nice Hollister Hop!  I got a picture of the two of us in the office:

Matt & Haven

Ted brought his wife Ellen in for a Mile High Acro ride as a birthday present.  What a man!  He even had her wear a fancy movie camera on her head to record the whole event. I'm afraid it also recorded voice and I have a habit of sometimes saying things that might be misinterpreted, oh well, it's all for fun, eh?

Ellen liked the spin, loop, hammerhead, wing-overs and tight turns-a real gamer she was!  She even flew it around for a while herself.  And she has the recording to prove it!

7/8/11 rides

Jean brought Anya for a Hollister Hop:

Juan arrived with his nephew and wife, visiting from Texas for three separate rides.  Mario was first for MH ride to the east hills:

 For his first glider ride he flew as if he'd already had lessons!

His wife Marissa enjoyed her ride as that smile attests:

 Uncle Juan enjoyed his flight over the city and countryside he's lived in for 10 years:

Family values!

The last ride of the day was with Jason and his daughter Victoria:

We flew over some apricot orchards and drying apricots where Jason said he had worked just recently:

Jason and Victoria left the gliderport just as they had arrived:

7/3/11 anniversary ride

George and Katherine came down from SF for a Monterey Bay Adventure "anniversary" ride on a summer day when the bay was clear of fog.  George had flown gliders in Romania but had never been in a "3-seater".  Katherine had never been in any glider!  We had a very nice flight:

This is the view of Santa Cruz and the Watsonville airport on a similar day but with some cloud.  Same tow-plane!

Monterey peninsula with Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough in the foreground:

After landing.  Who's taking who for a ride!

Saturday 7/2/11 rides

A group with four Hollister Hop rides were first to enjoy the nice day at Hollister.  Kailey and Brennan went first:

followed by David and his grandfather Baldo:

followed by Stephen and his father Verne:

followed by Melissa and her mother Susan:

For a nice change of pace, Alenka wanted a Monterey Bay Adventure acro ride.  I put the rear "joy" stick in place so I could fly from the rear seat giving Alenka the best view and an opportunity to fly the glider after we had done some fun maneuvers.  We donned parachutes(it's the law and makes sense too!) and launched behind our Piper Pawnee.  After the spin, loop, hammerhead, wingovers and tight turns Alenka flew with a touch showing "the right stuff"!  The smile tells all:

Back to two-passenger scenic rides with Marina and Sergey:

and Ido and Itai: