Sunday 11/20/11 at Hollister

For two days, pilots who flew their jets at the Reno Air Races were gathered in Hollister to attend an event sponsored by one of their own.  Bret was very gracious and funded rides for his friends in our two 2-32s while others were flying the jets.

Here's the pilot's briefing on a chilly, wet day with the wind unusually from the SE:

Dan Martin, one of Hollister's Finest, in the red jacket would be leading the group while flying Sal Rabino's Mustang.

"Fast Movers" operate overhead while Dick and I were clearing the runway after our glider ride:

Mustang on runway with two jets ready for a flyby:

Marchetti Jet has landed:

L-39 & L-29 flyby:

Mike transitions to glider from his big-engined L-29:

He's flown a whole lot more than I have and has a great sense of humor!  While demonstrating the proper way to perform wingovers he kept us in lift so we were maintaining altitude.  I had no idea of his qualifications until I read this!

Francisco affixed a GoPro camera to the left wingtip to record his flight:

Dave usually flies power and R/C when not wrenching on the jets at Hollister.  He got a kick out of piloting the glider for the whole flight.

He gets to work on this type of plane during the week:

Alex arrived for a Hollister Hop so that's what we did.  Here's what happens when you don't check your camera setting!  Sorry Alex

This pic came out better:

Saturday 11/19/11

There was a wait for the overcast to burn off but the beautiful visibility in the new air brought in by last night's cold front passage gave Chris and his 2-year-old son Michael a great Silver Hawk ride to 4750' over the clouds:

Got a nice pic of our shadow:

Ken's Hollister Hop was the next ride:

Christine and Morgan enjoyed their Hollister Hop together:

 as did this couple, whose names I neglected to record, excuse me:

Here's Paul in the front seat for his Hollister Hop:

Julie, a commercial multi-engine pilot enjoyed her first glider ride:

Lew, a helicopter and airline pilot, flew the whole glider flight himself just like he had done 40 years ago when gliders were being flown out of Fremont!

As one can easily tell, Petra enjoyed her Hollister Hop:

How's this for some Hollister Glamour!

For the last ride of the day Randall wanted the "big acro" ride so we towed to 8250' out towards the Monterey Bay and into the setting sun:  

After release from tow we pulled up into a stall, entered the spin phase for two turns, recovered in a dive to 120mph pulled up at 3 gs for a nice loop followed by a zero-g push over.  After a little "timeout" of peaceful scenic viewing we did some aggressive wing-overs and tight turns.  Randall flew around for the next 15 minutes and then we had to think about landing before the official sunset!

Friday 11/18/11 rides

I had wanted to give John a ride on Veteran's Day but the weather wasn't co-operative so today became the day to honor the 90 year old WWII 8th Air Force officer who operated a Mobile Repair Unit in England and France repairing and salvaging damaged bombers.  During a talk to the Hollister Airmen he recounted the story of flying in an English assault glider, the Horsa, at night!  I asked him if he'd like a glider ride during the day and he said, "Oh, why yes!".  

taxiing to the runway:

5,000' over his home at Ridgemark south of Hollister:

 

John in the glider cockpit after our flight:

Don had the next ride, a Hollister Hop to 3250':

followed by his wife Deanna:

as the cold front was approaching:

Even as the clouds began to close in, Michael was able to get his Hollister Hop ride and brought his daughter out with him to take pictures:

Thursday 11/17/11 rides

Cooler weather with clearer air promised good visibility rides.  My first ride, a Hollister Hop to 3250', was with a United Air Lines pilot who had been in a glider once before, in Arkansas.  I did the take-off but he flew the rest of the flight as if he'd been flying gliders for a while!  Usually those AirBus pilots don't get too much stick time as the computer flys the plane most of the time.  I had forgotten my camera so there is no pic!

Clare brought in Michael for a birthday ride.  Actually Michael flew his Cessna 182 in from Modesto with Clare in the right seat!  The three of us had a nice Silver Hawk ride to 4750' over Fremont Peak.  There were still spots of fog but the visibility was very good.  We maneuvered a little to give that power-pilot a taste of the glider's gracefulness but I think Clare was enjoying it more!

Another birthday, another ride!  This time it was gift for Jasmine on her 19th birthday which was Veteran's Day but the weather wasn't co-operative so today was the celebratory ride given to her by her father.  She wanted an acro ride so we donned the parachutes, required, and went aviating.  While on tow she was recording the event on her phone to share with friends.  After releasing from the towplane at 6250' over the Aromas quarry we did some clearing turns, a one-and-a-half-turn spin recovering in a dive to 120mph, pulled 2.5-3 Gs and performed the loop, pushing over at the end for a little "zero-G" weightlessness.  She really enjoyed it all so we did some aggressive wing-overs and tight turns.  I want passengers to be able to experience some piloting themselves so she flew the glider and performed her own version of "acro"!  Mostly she enjoyed looking down on her homeland with a perspective few get to experience, a "bird's eye-view"!
Here she's recording the view of her hometown Salinas:

We landed to the east to avoid having the sun in our eyes but wanted to have a pic with the "beautiful" light:

Sat 11/12 rides

The overcast wouldn't clear and the ceiling was about 3100'!  Cameron and Erin were game so off we went on a Hollister Hop on approach to that ceiling.  Our tow pilot found a nice spot where we released giving us a view of some lower clouds and the opportunity to experience a little weak lift with some time for maneuvering.

For my second and last ride of the day, others had cancelled, Doug sat in the front seat, I put the control stick in the rear and off we went.  While letting Doug fly after release, we spoke of training and I was reminded of my first glider ride on a beautiful fall day in New Hampshire in the ubiquitous basic trainer,  made by Schweizer, the 2-33A.

Saturday 11/5/11 rides

We were looking forward to a day similar to Friday but a high overcast made for a chilly day with weak lift.  But the visibility was very good and Jim was ready to go:

The view from the front seat is always wonderful:

 It would appear that he had a good flight:

Dan was a paraglider pilot and wanted to experience a different kind of flying:

Brittany and Chris wanted to go together, choosing to share the experience:

While I was giving rides, private owners were putting their gliders together and launching, hoping to have yesterday's conditions today but alas, it was not to be!

On Paul's Monterey Bay Acro ride we saw the whole bay while above the lower clouds and he enjoyed the panoramic view as much as the acrobatic maneuvers. He liked flying  the glider back to Hollister as I became his passenger!

I thought my flying was done for the day and was preparing to work in the hangar on one of our towplanes when Joy brought Amy and Jonathan out for a Silver Hawk ride to 4750'.  We had a very nice flight but my camera was not with me so this pic of them on the back seat of glider-tow vehicle will have to suffice!

p.s.  That's "our own" Jonathan in the background with his beautiful Jantar.  The Bay Area Soaring Associates club DG-1000 is under the covers on the right.

After viewing this post, my passenger Jonathan sent me a pic that I had taken using his camera on our flight!

Now the record is complete.

Friday's great weather!

Lynn and her mother-in-law, Salena, chose a day with great conditions as we had a nice cold front come through and flush out the old dirty air!  Nice cloud formations together with lift in the unstable air made for longer and more beautiful flights as well.  Lynn was first to fly:

After returning to the airport we flew in a thermal with the state-of-the-art high-performance two-place DG-1000 together with a golden eagle, high above, and only came down because Salena was waiting to go up! 

Here the DG is launching behind our Pawnee:

Salina, a very spry "nonagenarian", enjoyed the best flight of the day, above, around and under the clouds while experiencing lift almost everywhere!  Her Karma was great and we had a marvelous flight.

We saw a passing rain shower over southeastern Hollister:

 We even saw rainbow-type phenomena over the hills east of Hollister:

After landing I couldn't resist the opportunity of having my picture taken with such a cheerful and exciting woman(last year she went skydiving at 94)!

A birthday-present acrobatic ride to Monterey Bay was next on this beautiful day:

Here's the birthday-ride couple after landing with the present-presenter in the front seat for a nice photo-op: