Monday 7/30/12 rides

We provided rides for a special event using three gliders and two tow-planes.  I gave three individuals and one couple rides.

Here's Melissa in the front seat with the seat belt and shoulder harness off after we landed and parked.  She was a wee bit apprehensive but as we towed up past the lower- level natural turbulence into the smooth air she started to relax.  The release from tow at 6000' over Prunedale, above the fog covering the Monterey Bay, was exciting for her as we turned and banked away, slowing to 50mph for a smooth ride back to the airport.  After about fifteen minutes of gliding and talking, she said she was feeling very comfortable.  It's a whole new world for most passengers and just takes a little "acclimatization"!

Apricots drying in the sun a few miles east of our airport:

Kiyo's ride started out the same as Melissa's but after we released, he took the controls and flew the glider smoothly for his first flight lesson.  Some of my passengers just have "The Right Stuff"!  He said he'd never flown before this event but that was hard to believe as he turned and banked with excellent control while "feeling" what his control inputs were doing.  I think we have another sailplane pilot in the works!

Jamie and John chose the ride for two so I removed the control stick so they could fit together in the rear seat while I flew from the front. Although my head and shoulders blocked some of their view, they certainly appear to be enjoying the ride!

For my last ride I took the male half of a couple who had to split up for individual rides because the man's body was just a little too big.  As a college football and basketball player his stature served him well but the glider designers were trying to make their aircraft more efficient with minimum cockpit space!  Our Schweizer 2-32 gliders are the most spacious.  I've had a 6'7" grandson in the front seat for his ride.  Alan was very comfortable in the front seat for his Mile High ride and we enjoyed our conversation while flying over the hills east of Hollister.

Saturday 7/28/12 rides

First to fly was 14 yr-old Will who was accompanied by the whole family:

As the overcast dissipated Will and I followed the towplane around and over the remaining cloud to the top of Henrietta Peak in the hills east of Hollister.  On the way back, Will flew the glider with a very good touch and showed me "The Right Stuff"!  I hope he finds a glider operation near his home in CO.  We've had 14 yr-old student pilots solo and then get their licenses at 16 before they drive the family car!

Jonel and Sonaya wanted a couple's ride:

After landing we got a pic to show who's really in the "driver's" seat:

Susan and John had their ride as a couple too:

Another family event involved a grandfather's birthday ride.  Here we have the son-in-law taking a picture of his wife, mother-in-law, three children and father-in-law:

 With the airport about 8 miles away and 3200' below, Sam was bringing us back from the east hills.  Although we couldn't converse in English, my only language, Sam and I had a good ride using prearranged hand signals so that he could fly the glider for ten minutes during our return to the airport:

We couldn't talk to each other but we managed to fly together!

7/20 Silver Hawk birthday ride

Randall wanted to give his daughter Taina a memorable present for her 18th birthday.  What better than to get her "high in the sky"!

 Ah, family values!

Monday 7/16/12 rides

Vincent brought his two daughters in for a SH ride.  Lou and Lena are ready to go:

After our half-hour in the air we landed and Lena tried out the front seat where, as a student, she would sit:

Vincent snapped a pic of his two daughters entrusted to me:

Vincent took a Mile High ride over the Diablo Range enjoying the peace and serenity of flight without fear of the engine quitting, running out of fuel or any of the other problems which can distract one from the enjoyment of flight:

As they were leaving:
 
 Notice that Lena has the little pamphlet explaining our sport of soaring in her left hand.  Never know when a new glider-pilot is created!

Saturday 7/14/12 rides

Kimberly and Mark went for a Silver Hawk ride:

Kari brought Thuy out for a birthday ride:

Lars and Amy fit nicely together for a Mile High Mountain Ride:

 After landing Lars stood up!

My last ride of the day was for the 89th birthday of a Bostonian who was part of that generation which brought us through WWII.  Clay served as a rifleman with the 2nd Marine Division in the Pacific.  His career with AT&T included service installing portions of the DEW Line in Alaska.  He enjoyed his hour in the air even though the view of Monterey Bay was obscured by the seasonal summer fog which usually burns off by the time we flew!
Here's Clay ready to go and standing next to him is family friend Peter who had a ride himself months ago and then brought his visiting father down for a ride also:

The single ride in the front seat gives the passenger a magnificent view, not to mention more physical room:

We fly about 80 mph behind the towplane but after release, slow to around 55mph:

Nice way to celebrate one's birthday!

ride passenger's video!

This is a video taken with a GoPro camera mounted with suction cup to the inside of our canopy.  As it starts you'll be aware that the canopy is open to the side making the picture look as if it will be 90° off but when we close it all will be good!

I would never have been able to upload and publish this if it had not been for the exceptional digital/artistic expertise of my cousin Jeff!

Enjoy...

Friday 7/13/12

Joan brought Rick in for a Silver Hawk ride:

My second ride of the day was with a couple who had owned and flown a Cessna 182 all over CA as some other western states but had never been in a glider(their engine never quit)!  Cheryl and Leon chose the "big" ride to 8000k over Monterey Bay:

                                                                                                                                 After we release, the towplane pilot flew in formation with us over the fog:

That's Mt. Toro, the Carmel Valley and the Santa Lucias in the distance to the south.

Looking SSW towards Monterey from San Juan Bautista:

We glided over the southern Santa Cruz Mountain range across the Santa Clara Valley to the Pacheco Pass entrance just north of Hollister.  Here we are looking back at the fog in the distance and the Frazier Lake Airpark in the foreground:

After landing and parking the glider, the towpilot and I flew in our Cherokee towplane 100 miles north to the Nut Tree airport in Vacaville to aerotow our other 2-32 glider back to Hollister after its annual inspection.
Travis AFB, then over the Delta to Mt. Diablo and south to Hollister:

The delta wind farm:

Two F-18s flew overhead but they weren't after us

Mt. Hamilton and the Lick Observatory, we're more than halfway home!

Thursday 7/12/12 rides

Janet brought Steve and a TravelZoo voucher into the office for a glider ride, smart gal!  We towed towards the Monterey Bay only to find it covered in fog, so we turned north and released at 6250' over the southern Santa Cruz Mts just west of Gilroy.  The next 30 minutes we spent cruising over the southern Santa Clara Valley before landing back in Hollister.

After landing Janet got in the front seat for the photo op!  Steve is acting-up in the rear!!

Next to fly were Tehila and Brady.  Here they take their own pic:

 But I got a better one of them aloft!

Look closely and you can see the picture taker using both hands, so who's flying?!

 We saw the apricots drying in the sun:

Saturday 7/7/12 rides

Steve used his 4500' ride to fly the glider while I enjoyed the ride!  His turns were graceful and co-ordinated.  Hard to believe this was his first time flying!  He demonstrated the "right stuff" and should consider training and licensing.

Pam's husband brought her over from the San Joaquin Valley for a Mile High Mountain birthday ride.  We towed to 6000' over the Diablos east of Hollister.  We experienced some "lift" and meandered back to the airport for landing.

Pam enjoyed the perspective and unusual sights like these drying apricots in the sun at B&R Farms:

Nana and son Kirk were next to fly.

After our landing, Kirk tried out the front seat!

While we were flying, private and club gliders launched to enjoy 4-5 hr flights to the south away from the effects of the "sea breeze" where they could sustain flight in convergence lift!  Bill and Peter in the "high performance" DG-505 are assisted by Caleb:

My next ride was with a private couple for a Monterey Bay Adventure so we towed west, releasing at 8250' over the fog which was covering most of the bay except Santa Cruz.

While at altitude, I heard one of my friends say over the radio that he had climbed to 11,000' 35 miles to the south!

 Susan brought her family in for two TravelZoo rides.

  Here are Cathrine and Jim in the air:

Tommy and Michael flew next but I didn't get their picture in the air!

My final ride of the day was with McKenzie and her cousin Courtney who was visiting from Indiana.  

We flew over the area where McKenzie lived just a few miles north of the airport so she could see it all from the air.

Another great day of flying was enjoyed by all!