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.