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!

Friday 7/6/12 rides

Farzana and Naseem were visiting from Chicago, staying with Farzana's sister in San Jose who brought them in for their TravelZoo Silver Hawk ride to 4750'.

sister takes their "before flight" pic:

inflight pic at 4000' over the Santa Clara Valley:

Jeanne wanted to see her nearby ranch from the air:

 She said her husband was down there haying!  Attempts to call him while overhead  were met with limited success.

Friday 6/29 & Saturday 6/30/12 rides

Eddie brought his 8 yr old son Bayliss to the airport for his "indoctrination" flight.  Eddie said he and his wife had flown with us sometime around '96/"BC"(before children)!  A couple of cushions put Bayliss in a better position to enjoy the ride:

After landing, Bayliss jumped in the front seat for a nice pic:

Saturday morning was clear and a family group arrived for a Silver Hawk ride for Johnathan, here in the front seat while his uncle mounts a GoPro camera to record the flight:

 I don't know why they need me as they look ready to go!

Jonathan has a great view while he is operating the controls at 3000' above the ground:

 I look forward to viewing all that this mounted camera is recording as Jonathan is flying.  Just to the right of the camera mount is a patch of orange on the ground showing where the apricots at B&R Farms are laid out to dry in the sun!