A Tale of Air (Pretty Long)
I have to pause tell everyone about today. I
dont post to often to the exchange I dont like
to use names but once in a while it is necessary.
My friend Scott Hewett who is somewhat of a
explorer in the field of searching out new sloping
DS spots had gone up to Fremont Peak yesterday.
We have been going to Fremont Peak off and on now
for about three years since a fellow No. Cal
sloper discovered its possibilities for good
sloping. Unfortunatley, out of the perhaps 10
times I personally made the trek to the top (about
a 1.25 hour trip from Santa Cruz and then another
½ hour hike carrying gliders gear to the slope)
I have only flown twice in poor conditions. Well
anyway, Scott got skunked again. I like to rub it
in and gave him a bad time about it. He is
persistent though and doesnt give up easy.
This morning I awoke to find that East/Southeast
winds were blowing and it was raining up in the
Oakland Hills where it works great for this wind
direction. Our local slopes in the Santa Cruz
area dont work at all in this direction.
So
..What does Mr. Hewett suggest to me at 6:30
this morning? You guessed it, Fremont Peak of
course! I agreed and we made the trek up there.
Well, on the way up I could tell by the trees and
bushes and things flying in the air that this
could well be the day! Near the top we started
encountering lots of limbs in the road. All
right! Now, if only the direction would be
right. We got to the parking lot at the top and
looked on up the hill where there are lots of
radio towers and a flagpole with a somewhat
tattered American Flag blowing like it was in a
hurricane. Scott suggested we drive to the top
where the towers were, hell the gate was open,
nobody around so why not? We did drive up the
windy road and when we rounded the last bend my
van got rocked like it had been hit by a nuclear
blast! Some poor guy who works up on top
installing a new tower (not today!) was driving
this rough terrain forklift around putting heavy
articles around his temporary work shed so he
could tie it down so it didnt blow away. From
that side of the hill (Fremont Peak forms a wide L
shaped Bowl) the direction was not happening so we
drove down. We parked, Scott looked at me
. I
looked at him and we said
.well? It was
unanimous, we packed up our heavy air flyers and
headed up the hill. The walk up for a while is on
the lee side of the mountain so that wasnt to
bad. You walk up and around until you reach this
saddle in the mountain and then the rest of the
trip is on the windward side of the ridge. Scott
was in front and when he reached the first exposed
area he immediately got blown down and I mean
literally blown down! What a blast of compressed
air flow! This saddle is where the whole valley
below is funneled up the windward side and I know
why its lower there. Over the years the mountain
has been worn down by the wind. Anyway, I get
around him (the path is narrow there) and make my
way over and start down the other side to start
traversing the hillside and I get blown down.
Carrying even the small slope rockets and radios
was an extreme chore. I get down a little ways
and look back to see how Scotts doing (he brought
two gliders and I only brought one) and didnt see
him. Im thinking Jeez, I wonder if its two
windy for Scott and Im just two dumb to know?
But no there he is taking a different route (this
is after he got blown down again). We make our
way across the hillside trying to figure out where
would be the best place to fly. Scott has DS on
his mind big time. We decide that we need to walk
way out to the end of the ridge where it bends
around to the left a little because this is where
it would hit the slope most directly. As we are
getting near the spot I spy what appears to be
small birds flying near the top of hill in the
area we picked out. What it turned out to be was
leaves being blown up the hill from trees some ¼
mile away, they would hit the top and the rotor
coming back up the hill would catch them and toss
them around in a mini whirlwind. Perfect! DS
heaven? Maybe.
The wind is howling/screaming. I am ready to fly
my Higgins F-20. Scott launches it for me and my
Lord what a ride. I mean this thing is ripping
the sky apart. I do these dives way down the
valley and then go vertical and its flying like
its got after-burners. The only down side is the
hill faces east so the morning sun beaming down in
between clouds that are tearing past us is
somewhat of a problem and you have to be careful.
I fly around for awhile with my heart in my throat
and try a couple of DS passes on the lee side.
Way to fast for this Cowboy, I know my
limitations. So Im having fun on the front side
and thats when I decide to turn the ailerons onto
high rate. Big mistake! Im screaming long the
slope and decide to do a roll and thats when all
hell broke loose. I have bad problem of giving it
elevator when doing a roll and thats
