December at the South Side

I usually don't fly after the middle of November. It's just to cold and the motivation isn't there. In fact, the last few years the end of October has been the end of the flying season for me.

This year's been different. We've had some unseasonably warm weather that's given the opportunity for some late season flying. Yesterday and today the abnormally warm temps got my flying juices moving. Yesterday, John L., Sam, Cal and myself flew in great conditions at the SS. Today it was stronger. I did the unfathomable and actually got set up before the sun came up. The sunrise was amazing! Sam, John and I managed an hour of sorties with multiple top landings in reasonably smooth air. I even climbed up even with Blue Balls in the pre-nuking conditions. By 9:30 it was over with gusts pegging over 35mph. Very worth the effort.


Sam gets an unwanted obstacle on one of his landings.


Notice Sam in the upper right hand corner.



John L. was heard saying, "at least we can say we flew".

Flock Of Birds

A lil' vid of flying in Salt Lake 2010

The New CPR

A very interesting development in the delivery of CPR. As a member of the PCMR Ski Patrol, I wonder if or when proffesional rescuers will adopt this new technique?

11/02/10

Yesterday Dan Moser and I drove out to Randolph. The conditions were a bit iffy, with most wind forecasts calling for light west. We were joined by Matt Shoemaker and his parents (potential tandems). Later on Shadd, Ryan and Carl showed up. As we set up the wind slowly clocked around from NNW to WNW and the Glass once again faithfully turned on. Everyone got over an hour of smooth evening soaring, even Matt with a passenger - his mom.


Matts Mom.

Hmmm!

Randivous

A little movie from yesterdays activities. One note of interest, Cody is back flying and is seen launching first on the vid. Wes, Cal, Matt, Greg, Dan, Casey and I, also flew. It was a strong day wind wise with thermals topping out over 12g. Casey Ben had a gain to 12.5g. Greg and I had fun coring up in one of the stronger thermals of the day. The lift was consistent over the valley later in the day. Matt penetrated all the way out to the highway and was still high returning to the LZ. Shadd and Liz were also present at launch, but opted not to fly because of the wind strength. Great day.

Randvous 10/15/10 from Bruce Hibbard on Vimeo.

Centerfold

The recent August issue of HangGlider ParaGliding magazine, featured an unknown pilot in the centerspread. I actually had the mag a few days before realizing it was me in the pic. My first reaction was - what a bad pic for the centerspr..... oh god it's me!

Duran Swooping a Hotel

Randolphing

Tuesday 25 hangs made the drive to Randolph from SLC and the surounding areas. I believe, 25 hangs had great soaring flights over the Crawfords.

I launched around 4pm and soon after a litteral swarm of hangs followed into a premium Autumn sky. The wind was perfectly T-boning the hill at 18 to 20mph, with nice thermals that topped out around 9000asl.



Dave Holmgren passes beneath me.



Flying out over the flats.




Looking down at launch.



The LZ after most everyone is down.

Fantastic Video

A great base jumping vid. Thought I'd share.........enjoy!

Last Walk Around Mirror Lake - Boom Bip (Boards of Canada Remix) from FroschYankee on Vimeo.

Just Good Fun (part 2)

Once again, the Crawford's produced! Eight pilots converged on one of Utah's favorite and most scenic flying sites. The day began with less than great looking conditions, with light winds and almost 80% cloud coverage. Once set up on top, the wind picked up and the clouds began to dissipate. Dave Chapman launched first in light winds and immediately climbed out. One by one, all eight of us launched and found great soaring conditions. I ended up spending most of my flight over the flats. The lift was just abundant everywhere. I climbed to cloud base on three occasions, one of which was right over the the town of Randolph. I had to fly south of Randolph a few miles, and away from the cloud coverage just to get out of the lift.......cold!!


Looking back toward the Crawfords from the valley.



Dave, ready to go.



Jeff Sharp, a Colorado pilot, finishes setting up.

A few pics from my glider.

Just Good Fun

A shot Ryan Voight took of me launching at Heber.


I've been so pigeon holed with XC on the brain, I forgot how much fun it is to just go flying without the expectations of big miles.

Friday was a great day at Randolph. Liz, Berg, Greg, Steve and I had one of those days. Steve launched his new Atos, and what a beautiful wing. We all had great local flights. There was one mishap on launch (no injury), that prevented liz from flying. Liz came back Monday and had a good flight.

The new T2's are so nice, especially in stronger conditions. Greg, Steve and I penetrated up wind into a strong WSW flow at will. The abundant lift was topping out around 10.5. Steve and I shared one of the strongest cores of the day, averaging around 800 fpm. One minute Steve was there, the next he was a shimmering thin line a quarter of a mile out, then gone.

We all landed, then off to Don Pedros.

A Few Flights to Mention

This summer has been slow coming, with few great flying windows. However, there are some mentionable days to account for.

In August, A new sight called Red Cliffs produced a few spectacular flying days. On one particular day, I was the first to launch among five other pilots. In the first half hour of my flight, a nice organized cell landed me at 15k. With a brisk southerly component, I was able to cruise downrange toward Salt Lake and make Mt. Nebo in minutes. I have always wanted to soar Nebo. The mountains around the Nebo Area are some of the highest and most majestic peaks in Utah. There was a cloud street pushing northeast from Nebo all the way across the Spanish Fork area. The street looked like it dissected the Wasatch and extended into the next state. I ended up getting flushed and landing close to Pason for about 23 miles. My flight was eclipsed by John Glime and Shadd Heaston. They were able to fly back toward Salt Lake. Shadd flew to Provo for 50+ miles, and John almost made the point for 60. I was just happy to get on Nebo and enjoy the grand scale of the area.

Heber produced a few disappointments, as well as a few fun local flights. On one particular flight, I got the opportunity to fly a few miles east of launch to a mountain I have thought about pioneering. The lift on the mountain was workable and actually sustained my flight for ten minutes or so. I landed in a nice big field just below a possible launch.

Yesterday, Ryan V drove for a few of us. Kip, a pilot from the East Coast, Brian from SLC and myself had nice flights at the Crawfords. I was able to work some interesting wave type lift out front. After launching, I drove forward toward Randolph climbing through light patchy lift. As I continued there were short cycles of sink, then back into lift. This cyclic lift continued a few miles to the west. I dove back toward the ridge and enjoyed the rest of my flight thermaling on the Crawfords. After landing, Kip and Brian went back up top for a relight. The wind picked up a bit and we had to wait out until the anticipated glass off happened. They ended the day with rewarding sunset flights.

Concrete Counter Tops

Six years ago I built a 4'x5' concrete counter top for a kitchen island that I built. I somehow forgot the pain and what a complex process the whole affair was. So this summer I decided to replace all of our kitchen counter tops with polished concrete tops that match our island top.


This section has a under counter mounted sink. A sink pop-out is incorporated in the mold.



The pop-out is positioned and secured in the 3/4" melamine mold. All of the inside corners are sealed with silicone.



3/8" rebar is used for strength. The concrete will be a 2 1/2" pour! How could anyone afford to have this done? Just buy granite!

South Side 9/01/10

Pics from Saturday at the South Side.

Short Divide

Sunday as with every weekend this summer, the weather was hard to call. The day before was another skunk, so I was in no mood for any more bad calls - crap! Given the instability still present and possible over development lingering, we decided to drive north to the Short Divide, where there was less chance of OD.


Lisa V was set up and ready to go within the hour of arriving at launch. The wind at launch was strong but the site handles strong conditions amazingly well. However, after getting Lisa in the air I was a bit concerned about getting myself to launch, much less launching unassisted.


Cody called before I was set up to inform me that he was available for driving, and that he was on the road heading for launch. Since Cody lives pretty close, I was hoping he might be on top to help me into the air. He instead informed me he was an hour away and not to worry about the wind, "just inch your way down - you'll be OK".




It wasn't as bad as I thought, and soon I was launched and in the air with Lisa. To the south, in front of launch, the air was clear but over the back there were a few cells that were dropping virga - pre gust front conditions, not good. Once well established above 10 grand and well above Gunsight peak, Lisa headed north along the mountains on the east side of Malad Valley. I soon followed as it appeared the OD would stay NE of that area. We soon realized the wind at our altitude was out of the west, which typically makes for turbulent conditions. The air was quite textured with plenty of strong lift, as we made our way north under the building cloud development.

About as far as I got was Portage, about seven miles north of Gunsight. Lisa flew a bit further crossing into Idaho. In lieu of the strong conditions and fear of getting swamped by the OD, we both decided to call it and head back to the Short Divide. We drove back south and had nice landings in a field close to the Plymouth Chevron Station, thanks to Cody's guidence. As soon as we landed the clouds above Malad Valley were dropping Virga!

Even though it wasn't a long flight, the fun conditions made up for the lack of miles.

Cody At The Crawfords

One of my favorite pictures I've taken. Cody Dobson landing at the Crawfords. Hurry up and get well Cody!

This weekend was the start we've been waiting on. Saturday was one of those days that didn't look all that great from the info the soaring forecasts provided. Horse Heaven was the obvious choice for the day given the wind conditions. Even though the thermal index was mediocre, a few of us decided to make the drive south to Levan.



Lisa launched first around 2pm and had to do some groveling out front. Julian and I launched next and found solid lift immediately. By the time I was climbing through 12k, Lisa was at 15k+ and heading over the back. I was soon at 15k and made the jump over the back as well. Julian headed out front and landed providing a chase.



It was obviously one of the first great XC days. Even though the day could have easily yielded a 100+ flight, I ended up in Indianola for a meager 26 mi tour of Skyline, but a great season starter. Lisa landed in Mount Pleasant.

The Day

The day was........amazing. Driving in from the backside through Provo Canyon, the cumulus clouds were hanging low over the back of Timp and Cascade. Some of the cu's were well developed with pretty high cauliflower tops. As I continued through the canyon I had my doubts about the day. Once on top it was obvious the big cu's were drifting from the NE (the wrong direction). Cloud base was about 500 ft below the peaks, however as the day progressed the bases lifted a bit.

Set up! A truck load of panties arrived, which was cool because I was alone. amazingly the cu's coming over the back weren't penetrating to far west. Smaller Cu's were forming in front and drifting toward launch with nice accompanying cycles blowing up the face. I launched and to my suprise got drilled and headed out front. I found a bit of lift in Provo Canyon and drifted with it to the north side. It turned into something workable, but disappeared after a few hundred feet. Finally over the water tanks, above the soccer field, it came together. The lift was strong and disorganized, but cohesive enough to get me to cloud base. I tried diving back toward Timp, but that was poor judgement. Very ratty - still some lee side turbulence close to the hill. I flew back out front and was joined by three of the PG's. We all bobbled around close to cloud base for a while before they headed north. I flew out over Provo finding an abundance of lift. I played around over town for a while and landed in the soccer field. Airtime - 1.5 hours.

Got out late this afternoon at Inspo just in time for conditions to go south - litteraly. Just a short flight, but still fun. Was joined by Tom and Lisa.



The new T2.



Tom, Bruce and Lisa.

Sunday At Inspo

I did get to fly Last Saturday at the South Side. OB was there as well as half a dozen other pilots. It was a bit of a raw morning. The typical glassy morning air didn't last long. The wind was bumping up to 25 by 9am, and by the time I was set up and ready to launch at 9:30 we were feeling gusty spikes close to 30. I was able to squeeze in a few sorties on my new T2 before it was blown out.

This weekend We had a friend out from Minnesota. Dan and I flew hangs together back in the day. For all His reasons, Dan gave up flying in the late eighties and never picked it up again. Dan has remained interested in hang gliding so it wasn't to hard to convince him to drive for me on Sunday. Inspo looked like the most obvious choice for the day. It was my third - launch in a good cycle, get drilled, catch something over the sub-station just before unzipping, work zero to 100fpm lift to 7000asl......this year. I am thankful for that flight, but man, this year has been a bugger!! Is it just me? I am getting in a few flights on the T2, and realizing what a great wing it is - solid!


Not the T2. A vintage photo of one of my first flights. Circa - 1976.

Men Walking On Water

I saw this on a FB post - worthy of sharing.

Catching Up

just a bit of catching up. Flying has been inconsistent lately, but I guess with a few broken ribs mending it's been a moot point. Last weekend I volunteered to drive for Lisa V, and it turned out to be a great day for Lisa and fun day for me being on the support end of things. Lisa launched from Horse Heaven and flew to Payson for a 40 mile flight.

Today I got to fly Inspo (ribs are good). I got there a bit early and worked on the Bailout LZ. The forest service closed the road to launch to do some brush removal, but not before Shadd and a few other pilots passed. They were able to launch early and thermal up to the top of the inversion, which was around 9000asl. The road opened at 4pm. I launched around 4:45 and found a nice thermal near the sub station that took me up to around 7100asl. Lisa V launched a few minutes after me, and found lift in the same thermal. I raced over to the foothills above the water tanks, but didn't find much there. I settled for a nice landing in the big green LZ. Nice flight!

Inspo Season 2010

Got a nice flight Saturday at Inspo on my new T2. I arrived at launch a bit early and ended up waiting out some pretty strong cycles. There were some 30+ gusts on launch, and it wasn't till 3pm that I decided to harness up. I Finally launched about 4pm and was rewarded with a nice 1hr flight on the new wing. Great glider!!



Just a random pic of the area around Inspo.

Kettle Squats

Here's a great lower body/core strength exercise that's easy, and you can do it at home with a barbell.


Use a relatively light weight to begin (15 - 20 lbs.). Start with your stance slightly wider than shoulder width, with feet turned a bit out. Hold the weight with both hands - arms extended down. Keep your back straight as you squat touching the weight to the floor (I used a kettle weight, which is a ball with a handle).




With the weight touching the floor, your quads should be parallel with the floor. Return to starting position. Do two reps of ten three times a week.

Thanks to Aaron Mathes (personal trainer) - Silver Mountain Sports Club, Park City, UT.

More later.

Hang Gliding Boot Camp

This flying season I'm going to do my best to get my mind and body in great flying shape before the XC season. Typically in the spring when the conditions are good, I just start flying. Slowly my body tunes in to what's demanded of it, and by summer if there's enough flying, I'm in reasonable shape. I talked with a personal trainer at my gym and described the different elements where specific physical demand is required as a hang glider pilot. Take-offs and landings are the most physically demanding aspect of hang gliding, and in certain conditions flying in and of itself can be physically challenging. The personal trainer gave me a series of exercises designed to address several deficiencies in my hang gliding fitness.

On a warm summer day at altitude in light wind conditions, a pilot might be required to accelerate his body and a 70 lb. glider from 0 to 10 mph in less than four seconds. Most of the time if there is a light wind coming up slope, launching is more about technique than physical training. However, there is an occasional launch in which a pilot will benefit from muscle-specific strength training. Landings tend to be the most physical aspect of hang gliding by a good margin. Having a strong core and a developed lower body could be the difference between landing successfully in no wind conditions and giving up prematurely, resulting in a hard landing.

More later.

Digging Out

Digging out. We got covered a few weeks back and expect more this week.





The last month has been interesting to say the least. Just when you think it's time for things to warm up, mother nature does just the opposite. Three weeks ago we got over four feet of snow over a four day storm cycle. My snow plow broke into the second day of the cycle, and I had a nasty fall in the driveway while shoveling and broke three ribs. I've broken ribs before, but don't remember it being so painful. In fact, a few days after my injury I decided to get a doc to check me out. The xray of my ribs showed three fractures of which one was slightly out of alignment. Anyway, three weeks later I am feeling like I'm mending well and even contemplating flying soon.






Something new on the way. My new glider (green and black), was test flown a few weeks ago.

AIRTIME!

Has it really been For months? I think the last flight I had was the Northside around the middle of October. This morning I got up at 9am and meandered around the house for a while. With coffee in hand, sat at the computer and clicked on the usual bookmarks across the tool bar of Safari. Yahoo, ksl, Salt Lake meso net.....whooo! It's soarable and over 35 degrees! In 20 minutes I was loaded up, second cup of joe in hand, heading out of the sub-division. It was a great day! Lots of hangs. I remembered how to do it!



Soutside pic from a few years back. John Lindberg in the foreground.