Merry Christmas

Christmas 2009
This year we had some of the grandkids, some of the kids, all of the traditions and lots of fun. The first video is mainly for family but if you would like the Gospel account read too you by yours truly then click below, it is a Norwood family tradition.


The other tradition is holiday flying and we got a sweet one. Doc and K went up Kiona round 2:00 and I joined in about quarter to four. Nice little lift, we all had nice flights, Doc and K froze for an hour or better while I kept my freezer time under 30 minutes. Everyone landed at their respective trucks to complete a perfect holiday outing. After a nice chat it was back to the home front for more Christmas Chaos and Cheer.
Preacher

Avitar - Didn't do it for me.

All the hype got me to use my late Friday afternoon to experiance the new Techno flick.
While the plot was reasonable there were two problems with the big effort.

1. from the perspective of a Pilot I wanted to see the flight scenes from the Pilots perspective. - This was only 10% of the flight sequences so it left me unsatisfied.
2. What was with J.I.Joe the evil commander. - WAY B movie!.

See it on dvd if you have to.
Preacher.

Plans

Cold and Dark - The flying window is very narrow these days. - A sledder here an hour there on a cold ridge - keep an eye out for nice light North days.

This is the time to get those projects done - yuck. - Need to repack the reserve - got my new Niviuk toggles from Doug - They are the Bomb.

Already starting to think about packing stratigies for Valle on the 8th of Jan.

I hope to get and take a mini computer so I can upload video and stories from the trip. Let me know if your reading the blog.- It helps me want to write more.
Dave.

Kold Kiona

Cold Cold Cold.
Had a very cold flight at Kiona Today

With WIND CHILL: -12

Set up on RC launch at about 3:15 today. Winds were too strong on top but down the hill about 150ft they were just right.

Kiona is a great hill for high winds from the North - they tend to be very smooth and consistent. This was just what I got. - Pushing out front with no need for speed bar I ended up about 1k over and flew till I froze. - It was just about sunset when I set up for a nice set down and a cup of hot coco.

The only thing worse that cold fingers is when they warm up again. - Ouch!

Looking forward to Valle De Bravo
Preacher.

FYI these are the corresponding wind tables for my favorite Kiona predictors

Weather Conditions for:
Hanford Emergency Operations Center, WA (HEOC)
Elev: 1240 ft; Latitude: 46.392; Longitude: -119.537

07 Dec 4:45pm 13 NW 10 G12
07 Dec 4:15pm 14 2 NW 9 G12
07 Dec 4:00pm 14 2 NNW 9 G12
07 Dec 3:45pm 15 NNW 8 G10
07 Dec 3:15pm 18 5 N 12 G17
07 Dec 3:00pm 19 6 N 13 G20

Weather Conditions for:
Rattlesnake Mountain, WA (HRMTN)
Elev: 3560 ft; Latitude: 46.394; Longitude: -119.593

07 Dec 5:15pm 5 -20 NNE 33G41
07 Dec 5:00pm 5 -20 NNE 32G38
07 Dec 4:45pm 5 -19 NNE 31G36
07 Dec 4:15pm 5 -19 NNE 29G33
07 Dec 4:00pm 5 -18 NNE 28G33
07 Dec 3:45pm 5 -18 NNE 28G33
07 Dec 3:15pm 5 -19 NNE 31G38
07 Dec 3:00pm 5 -19 NNE 30G38