Sunday 12/16/12 rides

Today started out beautiful and blue!  By the time my Silver Hawk ride couple and I got up in the air the overcast had appeared but the visibility was still great.  Greg pulled the release at 4750' while we were above the lower level of the growing clouds.

We flew around performing some pleasant maneuvers while slowly descending ~200fpm to a landing on runway 24 after which Yongyi tried out the front seat giving Greg more room in the rear!

After some lessons, testing and receiving a pilot's license, she could be giving the rides!

As I'll be moving to OR and this was my last day at Hollister Soaring Center, at least for this year, I wanted to have a "final" ride in my favorite sailplane, the Duo Discus, made famous to the movie-going public in the remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair"(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155267/).  My wife was vacationing in Hawaii with her four sisters so I flew with my "cousin" Lora Lee as you can see:

The shadows on the Flint Hills showed the lateness in the day of our flight:

 Looking west toward the obscured Santa Cruz Mtns:

Lora Lee was taking her own pics:

We landed on runway 6 just before sunset after a most pleasant 3/4 hour flight.
There is our runway just under that overcast above which we had stayed out to the west.

A very nice way to end a very good day!  

 "That's all for now folks"  H...

Laura & Haven "Employee Day"  1/1/05

Saturday 12/8/12 rides

Diana and Ray chose a Mile High Ride towards the ocean on a day with excellent visibility.  Here's the view from 5000' looking NW from Fremont Peak to Watsonville and the Santa Cruz shore/mountains:

When the camera is turned backwards we get this:

With a 180° turn this becomes the view, looking NE from the Gabilans:  San Justo reservoir, Hollister, the Diablo Range and way off in the distance the snow-capped Sierra

Astha and father, Abhinav enjoyed their Silver Hawk Ride to 4750'  Astha especially enjoyed the turns and maneuvering.

On tow for my third ride.  We are behind out Pawnee towplane at 3600' above sea level, climbing at 400'/min with a forward speed of 78mph headed for Pacheco Peak NE of Hollister.

After releasing at 4750', Carroll and Robert accompanied me on a leisurely glide back to the airport as no lift was found to extend our flight save for a few "bumps" directly over the airport but too low and weak to exploit unless we were a "true" bird!

Saturday 12/1/12

The weather was challenging but Jake's birthday needed to be celebrated so up we went behind Charlie in the Pawnee.  We got to 4750' cloud base over San Juan Bautista and released for a nice easy glide back to Hollister.  A few nice turns and wingovers allowed for just enough excitement.

Here are Jan and Jake in the rear seat of our Schweizer 2-32 N9864E:

After landing and "taxi" to the ramp Charlie gets a nice pic of the couple in the glider with Jan in the front seat and our Pawnee towplane in the background:

Sunday 11/18/12 rides on a beautiful day!

Rain Friday and some showers Saturday brought a nice day on Sunday.  Some cancelled reservations still thinking rain but not these folks!

Yasmina & Igor chose the right day for a Monterey Bay Adventure ride above the scattered clouds on a day with great visibility:

Crossing 101 below, looking north towards San Jose on the way west to the bay:

Monterey peninsula in the distance while still on tow over Prunedale:

On tow behind our Pawnee: 72 mph at 6450' climbing 400' fpm.  Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough just over the red yaw string on the nose of the glider:

Andrea & Brian chose the Mountain High Ride over Fremont Peak.  Clouds over the San Joaquin Valley are visible behind us on the east side of the Diablo Mountain Range.

Last flight of the day was with Yuning & Jeff into the sunset for a Silver Hawk ride over San Juan Bautista:

Interesting reflection in Jeff's sunglasses shows reverse image, Yuning on his right and me in the front seat holding the camera backwards to take their picture:

A ride with my son Lincoln!

I was very lucky to have my son come from New York State to use his contractor skills in preparing my house for rental so that I could join my wife in our new OR life.  Lincoln had flown with me once before in my Cessna 152 over northern MA back in '90 but had never been in a glider.  The Schweizer 2-32 is perfect for two good-sized American men!
Rear seat with full controls was very comfortable and off we went behind Charlie Hayes in the Pawnee.

 Here's the before pic:



On tow and all is copacetic!

 There is the Monterey peninsula off in the distance as we get ready to release over Fremont Peak at a mile above the ocean.

After we released Charlie came around and flew formation with us:

 On the way back to the airport Linc handled the controls until I asked if he wanted to do some fun turns and a good wing-over.  He was game and discovered that he really liked that maneuvering!  After landing he tried on the front cockpit:

I think I know were he'll be for the next ride!

Sunday 11/11

My wife has taken a job in OR so I'll be moving up there soon and won't be giving many more rides in Hollister.  I was pleased and humbled to have received two awards from my fellow glider pilots to end my career at Hollister:

There are very few airports that have a hangar like this one:

Or active toys such as these:

When I was called and asked to fill in for an "under the weather" ride-pilot I jumped at the chance to get "high in the sky" again.

My first passenger was Gene an ex USAF "missileman".  He flew the glider very well!

After landing I got a nice pic with Gene and his son who had taken his ride in another of our Schweizer 2-32s with our flight instructor/manager Quest.

Here's a nice pic of a family outing where the men took individual flights with our flight instructor Charlie in the high performance Duo Discus and the gals had paired flights in our 2-32s.

It sure looks as if the pair I had with me were enjoying the ride!

Saturday 10/13/12 rides

Gave 4 rides on Saturday to 8 happy people!

Carroll & David

Notice the shadow of the yaw string on David's face, he's a marked man now!

Jessie & Yaser

Yaser's right cheek and shoulder strap display the sign!

Katrina & Scott

Again a marked passenger!  Check Scott's forehead and left shoulder:

Mona & Sanket

Now you can see the yaw string that casts the shadow:

That yaw string is my most important in-flight instrument!  It is a high-tech, heads-up display showing me the relative wind and allowing me to correct with rudder input from foot pedals in order to have us fly straight through the air for the most efficient aerodynamic presentation, the least drag created, the lowest sink rate and therefore the most time in the air!  The one pictured is for me when I take one passenger in the front seat, install a control stick and fly from  the rear seat(the rudder pedals are always there)!  For these two-passenger flights I use the yaw string attached to a small stalk on the nose cowl.  Single passenger get a chance to operate the controls too!

Making the best of a low-ceiling day!

We can schedule time but not the weather!  A father and daughter touring CA had only this morning for a glider ride and Charlie gave them the best he could with the weather they had.

Overhead in a "close-in" landing pattern:

turning base to final:

almost to a smooth touchdown:

No soaring today but still an exciting glider ride:

Mother, Robin, and daughter, Tara, flew with me to 3000' before the ceiling made us release from the towplane.  We did some easy turns, came back to the airport area and looked at the corn maze before landing.

They look very happy even though the visibility wasn't great!

Roman's 85th B-day Monterey Bay Adventure!

Roman accompanied by his wife and son arrived for his 85th birthday ride saying he really enjoyed his 80th birthday ride with our ride-pilot at the time, Ruth Cook.  He couldn't have picked a better day weather-wise as the pictures show.

On tow behind Cherokee 76W at 6000' over Prundale looking towards Santa Cruz Mtns.

After release at 8250' with Watsonville and its airport below and Santa Cruz in the distance:

We flew over and around some beautiful cloud formations on the way back to the Hollister airport:

Here's a good view of the Swank Farms Corn Maze adjacent to runway 24 where we landed after our hour in the sky.

Here's the crew: