Baldy Fires Off - OD

Today a toe was dipped in the thermic waters of Eastern WA. - A small happy crew launched.

We were early - My fault - three of us paid the price and one went too near the Columbia. - Guess who.

My second flight (video) was seek and avoid. - Lots of lift - but to go above 5,000ft was to commit to the clouds and 25,000ft or more. - By the time I made it to 82 sliding in and out of the edges of lift I was in the only blue except the firing range. -

Nice looking clouds, right? - Well.

Even in the blue I had nothing but "suck" - two sets of spirals - see below - got me nicely down to a LZ with great access for a ride back to E-burg and Mexican food.

This kind of flying is not for the faint-of-heart nor those who haven't been "sucked" and survived prior flights. - Flying skies like these is not recommended.

More Lift Than I Wanted

Spring has Sprung and XCSkies indicated a window of moderate winds and conditional instability today. - The next week or so didn't look good - or at least I won't be able to fly for a while so I bit the bullet and went to the only West facing hill that would get me up in the STUFF.

I waited on the hill for an hour and a half to give the freight trains a chance to calm themselves and then with much trepidation and a bit of "damm damm damm" I gave it a go.

As soon as I was off the hill I knew it was a bad call. - Big sink - big lift back and forth and Selah Butte is not forgiving. - I pushed out hoping for a smooth one but got a rocker instead.

If you watch this video note how my feet go up as the wing rock backs. - And I was giving back to the wing as I rocked into the big T. -


It may be that winter has shaved my bump tolerance down a bit but I just was not ready for this much activity.
P.

Fly as much as you want

Today was a great day at Kiona. - Bill flew early -
Winds pick up and created very strong conditions. - I even broke my speed and had to land to fix it.
Second launch was highest wind I have taken on yet apx 22 - Pluck straight up and onto speed. - Great fun if you know what to expect.
Mini video for your enjoyment:

Total Air time almost 4 hours