Last Day, for a while, in Hollister!

I had come south by train from my new home in Eugene, OR to retrieve my p/u truck left behind because a bureaucratic rule said it was too heavy to tow behind the rental truck.  On the way north I stopped to visit with my friends at the Hollister Soaring Center and take a nice, solo, "farewell flight" in my BASA club's beautiful state-of-the-art sailplane, the DG-1000.

Just my luck, it was an exquisitely beautiful day for scenic glider flying!  

On tow behind Alan in the Pawnee headed for clouds over Casa de Fruita:

Looking back towards the Hollister airport and Fremont Peak after release:

Over Pacheco Peak looking NE past the San Luis Reservoir to the snow-capped Sierra:

After an hour and a half of some relaxed flying, including a few "fun" maneuvers and some easy thermaling, I landed as Jeff and Charlie had the glider reserved for the afternoon.  Here  they are almost ready for launch as Charlie is finishing getting strapped in/canopy closed and Bill "runs the wing":

Earlier in the day Bill and Charlie had a discussion with one of the Hollister jet pilots about our shared usage of the airport and the airspace surrounding.  It is nice to know how each of us operates and communicates:

After launching 1CH, the DG-1000, Bill said there was a commercial ride scheduled and would I like to do it.  Needless to say, I emphatically agreed to be ride-pilot one more time!

First there was a visit with my feathered-friend Tonto:

Tonto's benefactor, Tim had come to visit as Leisl and I prepared for a Mile High Acro Ride, she was interested in doing a loop.  After donning the parachute, receiving her briefing and getting strapped in, she had her picture taken by her friend:

We towed behind Alan in the Pawnee to 6250'(nautical mile) and released over the Quien Sabe Valley:

After a little slow flight and discussion, Liesl said she was ready for a loop!  We pointed the nose down so gravity could give us some airspeed/energy which we traded for vertical movement up and around in a nice 2.5G loop recovering with a little zero G.  I do believe I heard my passenger exclaim, "You sure know how to show a girl a good time"!  Over the next 45 minutes we did 2 more loops, a couple of aggressive wing-overs and some tight turns.  We even got a half turn with an immature golden eagle who must have been spooked by our "bigger-bird" presence!  Sometimes the eagles will let us circle and soar with them but the hawks generally will not.

The view when strait and level is beautiful:

As we turn, it gets more exciting!

   
We came back to the airport for landing when we couldn't find any thermals to keep us up for longer.  A nice landing was performed once again by yours truly and we taxied off the runway.  Bill came over and towed the glider back to the ramp for tie-down.  I wish I had bugged the golf-cart so I could have heard the conversation.  Feedback on the quality of the ride as related to another would be interesting for me to hear.  But I know I had a marvelous time exposing someone to aviation!

It was a very nice ending to fifteen years of involvement with the Hollister aviation environment.  H...