Eliminator appears to be the most popular launch for HGs in Santa Barbara.
![hang glider hill cayucos hang glider hill cayucos](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/vr-splice-j/0b/2b/d4/7a.jpg)
I've been putting this off for quite some time. I'm anxious for all of these "best practices" to become second nature. All in all-I'd say I improved substantially in all these areas by simply giving them some attention. Other items to be addressed: lighter touch all the time, less stress during my landing approach (unzip/transition to downtubes earlier in approach), develop a nice clean downwind/base/final approach pattern, more confidence in judging altitude before going on the downwind leg. I also wanted to work on having more control of the glider with one hand free. I've had difficulty zipping/unzipping my harness while in flight because I keep trying to grab the cord too low. I took the opportunity to just practice some things I've been doing badly. We resigned ourselves to a likely sled run. While we were setting up at Alternator, a bunch of PG pilots set up and launched. Amazingly clear air-possibly a symptom of the Santa Ana winds, which were thankfully not blowing over the back at launch. Arriving at launch, the view was pretty spectacular. Later we found out that they were traversing the range between Eliminator and Alternator.įirst Time Over Launch in SB! from henderthing on Vimeo. Down in the LZ, we noticed a number of HG and PG pilots soaring high over LaCumbre. Maybe they were too small for my turning radius. There were a number of PG pilots hanging out there, though. There were a couple little pops in front of the front range, but I didn't manage to go up in any of them. For some reason, I didn't manage to get back into that lift and sank rather quickly below launch. It's really satisfying to look down on launch. I managed to get about 500 feet over launch before losing the thermal or reaching its top. I flew over to where I saw John climb, and sure enough my vario started to beep. No other PG pilots were interested in launching right away, so I took the next slot. Carrying a hang glider down it is an awkward dance. The path down to launch is steep and loose. This is one reason some HG pilots choose not to launch here.
![hang glider hill cayucos hang glider hill cayucos](https://live.staticflickr.com/2135/4511466650_751e17c25d.jpg)
I made the precarious walk down to launch with my assembled wing. I've only been able to extend my flights a little bit in Santa Barbara, never really climb. John was first off, and just west of launch he started to climb. A few were gaining very little altitude-but in general it didn't look too promising-so we waited a little while. We finished setting up and watched the PGs launch to see what the air was like.
#Hang glider hill cayucos full
We brought our new puppy to Santa Barbara for some hang gliding.Īs we were setting up, a van and 2 or 3 other vehicles full of PG pilots showed up. It was also amusing flying over the train a few minutes before landing. There were a number of other aircraft that flew within a mile or two of us: 3 helicopters flying south over the ocean, and an 元9 training jet, flying very low and fast over the water. John and I just played around on the ridge. The other HG pilots got way up and left on an XC flight to Ventura. By the time I launched it was coming in a little cross with the ridge-so making my way north was a bit upwind, while flying south was fast. (much appreciated!)Ĭoastal Soaring at Bates from henderthing on Vimeo. There were some grounded PG pilots and friends of the other HG pilots to give John and I wire assist on launch. By the time I had my glider off the truck, it was too strong for PGs. The launch is a steep bluff-like launch, not unlike Funston.
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Winds were in the high teens-coming straight in from the ocean. When we arrived, there was one PG in the air and three HGs setting up. I'd never flown bates before, but it's a coastal ridge at Rincon Point-a well known surfing spot. Local pilots were indicating that Bates was working. Nor did it look like it would be soarable. But the wind in the LZ did not look good. We drove over to Parma Park-considering an Elminator launch. I had a mediocre launch and a mediocre landing. I played it safe and headed straight for the LZ. As it turned out, we could have waited another 20 minutes or so and had much better conditions! John, on the other hand managed to get an hour long flight out of them. Lots of cloud suck! Sadly on the other side the thermals were small and weak. Flying just below the clouds around the west bowl, over the slide I had the bar pulled to my knees to maintain level flight. We waited for over an hour for any window of visibility. The last thing either of us wanted to do was pack up and drive back down. By the time we had set up, cloudbase dropped to below launch.