>> 67 Mile Cross
Country Flight
>> on Beginner Paraglider
>> Pilot: Evan Schelter
>> Paraglider: DHV 1 Gin Bolero
Plus
(Evan
started flying with Seattle Paragliding in April, 2004).
From: Evan
Schelter
To: marc@seattleparagliding.com
Subject: Chelan weekend
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Spent last weekend in Chelan for
a cross country distance flying fest. I did this 2 years ago
with Chris Santacroce (Team
Seattle Paragliding) and had a stellar time. This year surpassed... with all the
stuff they hauled in: huge bbq grill, shade tent, music, weed eater to mow
the tent sites, quiet generator for lamps, porta potties, and even a 10 foot
swimming pool that they had a water truck come out to fill. |
l.
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Saturday, I did a 12 mile flight and others
had maybe 16 mile adventures. When I was a new pilot, with Chris, he wisely
didn't let me fly during the cranking afternoons. Now with more experience,
this time I did. I must say, the dust
devils are truly impressive from the air. Chases of dust devils in Australia. Sunday, things were looking very
promising, with cumulus clouds forming to the north and southwest.
Winds aloft forecast called for generally west at all altitudes. I launched
at 12:45 when clouds were forming east of us, and worked them around the
south end of Jameson Lake. |
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I eventually reached the clouds at 13000'.
They were small friendly clouds. Used that to glide over the badlands ahead,
then encountered nothing but 800-1000 fpm (feet per minute) sink till I
was down to 1000' agl. But finally I found a burble of lift, patiently worked
it back up to 10000 and flew over Coulee City and beyond. Again, I found myself down to
1000' of the ground before blundering into a good thermal which took me all
the way back up. Clouds kept forming ahead of me and I used them to reach
11,000' over Wilbur. Continued to parallel hwy 2 to a bit past Creston. It
was 5:15 by then and there were no longer clouds ahead of me to mark lift.
The sky and myself were both running low on energy, and the landing
fields were cooling down so it was safer to land in a nice green field
after 4 hr 31 min in the air. |
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Straight-line distance from the map
is 67 miles All on an ENTRY LEVEL,
beginner Bolero Plus Paraglider made by Gin. Can't wait to get my new performance
wing and try again next year! The only depressing thing was I
learned afterwards someone left their tiny dog in camp with little shade and
no cool water (just a hot puddle from the pool overflow) - he had died from
the heat when they returned an hour later. You shouldn't bring animals along
when it's that hot. I mean, you were hot in Issaquah, but we were cooking
over there (the sign in Creston said 107 deg at 5:45 pm – makes for great
thermals though). Things learned: patience to work that
lift when it's light until you get higher and it really kicks in (this flight
required two low saves). My variometer (instrument flight deck) recorded
a has maximum of 1500 fpm up. All in all, a wonderful experience! |
Come Learn to
Paraglide!
Paragliding in Seattle is
FANTASTIC at Tiger Mountain (Issaquah)
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Localized
heating and associated convection can develop into dramatic small scale
vortices. These pick up available dust and debris, creating dust devils. |
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