Monday 8/27/12 rides

Becky brought her husband John out for a birthday ride.  They were accompanied by  friends Lance and his wife(whose name I've forgotten, sorry).

John and I put on parachutes and towed to 6250' over the Aromas quarry for a Mile High Mountain Ride/Acro.  John liked the view most of all! (That annoying reflection/refraction "swoosh" in my pics is a function of my camera operation and I don't know how to have it not be there!  We don't see it with our eyes.)  Monterey Bay is in the distance.  John is looking towards the Salinas Valley:

 
Lance took his own Mile High acro ride to best share John's celebration!  He liked the loop and wing-overs.  We towed east over the Diablos and here we are looking west over the upper Santa Clara Valley with Fremont Peak in the distance:

Ted and Lisa brought their two boys, Jack and Ryan in for Silver Hawk rides.  Here's Jack with Lisa just after we released from the towplane at 4750' over Henrietta Peak NE of the Hollister airport:

After landing, Jack tried out the front seat where he could be if he did what some others his age have done.  That is to start training when big enough to reach and operate the controls, solo at 14 and have the private-pilot check-ride and license at 16.  The first person a new young pilot wants to take for a ride is usually his mother!

Ted was a big man and couldn't fit in the rear seat with younger son Ryan and Lisa said she was a little "woozy" from her ride with Jack so I asked if Ryan could go alone in the front seat with me in the rear(we do have complete dual control when a rear stick is installed easily)!  Ryan was good-sized for his age, 9, taking after his dad and was more willing than this look would have you believe:

Here we are after release at 4550' going about 50mph and descending at 200fpm with the Hollister airport about ten miles east, the Diablos in the background.  Once Ryan realized that we had complete control without being pulled by the towplane he started to relax.  When I asked if he liked roller-coasters his response was, "yes", so that's what we did!  Afterwards, he operated the control or "joy" stick himself and by the time our ride was over he was very relaxed and happy as one can see in this pic after landing and roll-out:

Saturday 8/25/12 rides

When Barbara's great-grand-son, hiding in stroller, convinced everyone that he was not happy to get in the glider, I asked his mother, Jessica, if she wanted to go and her answer was, "YES"!  The two gals were now in the back seat and we are ready for taxi behind the cart to the runway for launch.

After we released from the towplane at 4750' over the hills east of Hollister for our 30 minute ride I got this nice pic of two women enjoying themselves after leaving their "menfolk" on the ground!

Fog in the Salinas Valley on the other side of Fremont Peak:

       Fog over the Monterey Bay 30 miles to the west:

After landing, I put a control stick in the rear, Larry got in the front and off we went for a Mile High ride:

After releasing from the towplane Larry took the controls and flew the rest of the flight until I did the landing!  Larry had flown with me back in Feb and told me then he had soloed an Aeronca back in '63 near Otis AFB on Cape Cod.  His piloting skills weren't lost!

Ramy's Blog-cross country soaring

Ramy nicely presents a whole different world of soaring/gliding:

http://yanetz.blogspot.com/2012/08/2012-soaring-safari-71-722.html?spref=fb

Saturday 8/18/12 rides

Amanda and Ryan got lucky for their ride because the passage of a little cold front had moved out most of the ugly "old" air and replaced it with clearer new air!

We could still see bands of smoke particles from the many fires burning in the state but today was one of the clearest all summer. 

 Here we are over Prunedale looking at the Pajaro River valley and Santa Cruz in the distance:

 We are still behind the towplane at 5250' above sea level flying at 80 mph and going up 400 feet/min looking at Moss Landing and the Monterey Bay:

Fabi and Richard were next to fly east over the Diablos for a Mile High Mountain ride:

The Quien Sabe Valley looking ESE from Henrietta Peak showing the dryness of the area:

The San Luis Reservoir is off in the distance to the north.  That water comes down the California aqueduct system from northern CA for the benefit of those who want water for agribusiness and to live the "American" life-style.

While we were flying rides, the local glider club's high-performance two-place DG was being used to check out a new member:

After Jonathan and Nicolas were done, Kurt took one of our line-workers for his first ride in "sports-car of the sky".  Kurt said Bishop had a very good feel for the sailplane and handled it nicely.  They even did some upside-down flying!

Friday 8/17/12 rides

Andrew and Cody liked their Mile High ride on a very nice summer day:

Angie and Moses also chose the Mile High ride but I neglected to take their picture while aloft!  Here we have just landed and taxied off the runway to our parking area and raised the canopy prior to exiting:

The Swank Farm Corn Maze for 2012 is starting to take shape!

Friday 8/10/12 rides

A father and son upgraded their Silver Hawk TravelZoo coupon to a Monterey Bay Adventure scenic ride on a day when the area north of Moss Landing was clear and beautiful while the fog remained over the southern half.

After release over the coastline, the towplane came around and flew formation with us before diving to return to the airport.

 

The two Calvins, Sr and Jr, were enjoying the whole event!

 sunglasses reflection showing me taking their picture!

It was a beautiful day for viewing scenery and they enjoyed some "maneuvering" as well!

Next to fly were two friends, Mark and David.  It appears that David is using the cell phone, maybe texting?

The two men were most convivial and we all enjoyed our ride together!

Thursday 8/9/12 rides for private group

Some companies know how to reward their employees for jobs well done with a trip or group experience.  Just such an event allowed me to give two rides while our manager gave the other two.
Here's the group before the rides:

First to fly with me were two women friends Becky & Anna:

There was fog over the coastline with Santa Cruz in the clear.  The Pajaro Valley and Watsonville are in the foreground:

While we were flying, the towplane returned to tow up our other Schweizer 2-32.  After our landing Anna and her daughter Payton went up with me behind our Pawnee towplane:

Payton really liked the "roller-coaster" action with some nice wing-overs and tight turns!

As we were returning to the airport we flew over the towed glider containing the other half of their family:

The family before the rides:

While waiting for the last ride to land we saw the CalFire spotter plane land and taxi to its spot on the south end of the airport:

A nice day was enjoyed by all!

Saturday 8/4/12 rides

Logan and his dad, Kurt, were first to fly on a cool day with clouds and some virga(rain falling from clouds but not reaching the ground):

We flew over the Diablos to the east while Kurt, a local guy, pointed out some of the places he knew about.  Here's a fancy new house at the end of the road going uphill:

A little zoom shows it to be quite the palace: 

Here we have three generations as "Grandma" helps load her son Randy and grandson Reno for their Silver Hawk ride over Hollister to see from above where they live and go to school:

Suzanne sat in the front seat for her Silver Hawk ride and tried her hand at flying while enjoying a perspective all new to her:

The altimeter shows we are at 4100' MSL while over the hills northeast of Hollister.  Off in the distance is the Pinnacles Nat'l Monument with some dark cloud cover and virga.

Friday 8/3/12 rides

David and his father Marlon aloft on a Hollister Hop ride:

After landing, David tries out the front seat:

Allie and Eric went higher and longer for their Mile High Mountain Ride:

It is the dry season now:

Here's what it looks like in the "wet" season:

The apricots drying in the sun:

After landing Allie gets in the front seat:

Frank wanted the Monterey Bay Acro Ride so I installed the "joy" stick in the rear cockpit so he could ride in the front seat and even take the controls to fly the glider himself.  We put parachutes on and towed to 8250' over the fog covering the bay:

We did a stall/spin, recovering in a dive, pulled the stick back to about 3 Gs to go up and over in a nice loop.  Tight turns, wing-overs and "hammerheads" gave Frank plenty to film!