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!