Visibility: Yuck down low, 100 nuatical miles plus above the haze.
Wind: Light, max gust recorded was 11 MPH.
Altitudes: Whatever you released at.
Time Aloft: Sled rides.
Max Lift: Enough for the Ravens to soar in a tight circle up to 1000' AGL
Temperature: Hit 71°F early afternoon!
Comment: Training Day
Tow pilot: Jim
As the RASP had predicted, there was no soaring to be had. One time I saw a raven in a thermal at about 500' AGL, somebody else gave a later sighting at 1000' AGL. Early in the day the haze topped at about 1500' MSL, and viability was fantastic. As the day warmed up the haze layer crept up, but the thickest part never got past 2500' MSL.
What it was was a great day for student training ops. A very relaxed pace, time for briefings and debriefings, etc.
Bennett worked on on his check-ride prep. Sitting up there in the towplane I could "feel" him doing an awesome job boxing the wake. Instructor-towpilot planned rock-offs, simulated towplane engine failure, instructor induced slack rope, he handled it all just fine.
Wyll and Griffen are still in training phase:
Wyll was given steep turns on tow and followed them very well. On the way down Don had him do airwork.
Griff was made to work on boxing the wake, as well as airwork on the sled ride "home" and accuracy landings. From my perch aloft it looked like he had stopped 2-3 feet shy of the cone that had been set out. Great!
A very productive day for the students that came! New member Jay came out and was enthusiastic as he always is, but we ran out of daylight, so he did not get a ride. Bummer!
* * * * *
After one glider released I had time to snatch this image of the smoke from the wildfires that are ravaging Ventura County. The smoke in the distance is approximately 100 nautical miles away. If I had taken the camera on the first tow, a couple of hours earlier, you would have seen the smoke in a thinner, straighter column, towering about twice as high as seen here, with less haze obscuring it.
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| Smoke from Ventura County fire, taken just west of the Avenal Prison, taken 1:17 PST at about 3000' MSL. |
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