Admitting that I fly remote control gliders cements my seat in the house of 40 year old virgin-dome, but here it goes...
In 1999 I built up a Dave's Aircraft Works Schweizer 1:26 2 meter foamie remote control glider. The DAC 1:26 is constructed of low density EPP foam wrapped in strapping tape and covered with a shrink wrap covering. It's super strong and can take hard blows without breaking. At the time I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area where there were plenty of flying sites. As the smooth sea breeze of the Pacific Ocean hits the coast mountains its forced upward creating perfect lift bands. It was a great place to learn to fly RC gliders and build skills that would serve me later in hang gliding.
For the past 8 years the 1:26 lay busted up in my basement. In November I dug it out and spend an entire day rebuilding it. I was hoping that the early winter winds would bring perfect conditions to soar a local west facing hill, but El Nino shut that down. It's been smooth and mild all month!
The 1:26 Rebuilt
Patrick also has a slope soarer that he hadn't flown in a few years. We met up on a pre-frontal day last month and tried to fly the gliders. It was super windy in the morning, but it died by mid-day. We started at the hill near my house, but the wind was just slightly too light and cross out of the north. After a few hours the trend didn't get any better so we decided to mission to Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain is the remnants of a lava dome that juts out of the craggy hills of the Front Range. The lava rock is harder than the surrounding granite so it eroded slower than the surrounding peaks. The result is a perfect mound shaped hill. It's got a decent west facing area that's well above the surrounding terrain. If it was windy anywhere, it would be windy on top of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain
When we got to the trail head there was only a few hours of day light left. The clouds were getting low to the north and west and the wind was strong, but gusty. We hiked to the very top in hopes of the best chances of flying. I had never been to the top of Sugarloaf before so even if we didn't get to fly our planes it would be a cool hike. A fire on the eastern slope had burned all the of trees except for occasional charred trunks. You could see all the way to Kansas!
Burnt Trees
Snow
Kansas
At the top the air was choppy and inconsistent. I wasn't willing to risk crashing my freshly built glider, but Patrick took a few flights. It wasn't really soarable, but good fun none the less. As the sun set we hiked back down and were treated to an amazing sight. The haze in the air created perfect contrast to see an amazing pyramid shadow of Sugarloaf mountain. Being at the apex of the shadow was a truly unique perspective.
Patrick Flying
Dogs Watching
Amazing Shadow
Sunset
A few days later I headed to Lookout Mountain to hang glide. When I was setting up my glider my sprog pocket zipper broke, but luckily I had the 1:26 with me. I mounted the Hero Cam above the cockpit and hiked up to the top of the hill. It wasn't really soarable, but I was able to make a few passes before I crashed it into a bush. Here's the footage:
Hero Cam Footage
For the past 8 years the 1:26 lay busted up in my basement. In November I dug it out and spend an entire day rebuilding it. I was hoping that the early winter winds would bring perfect conditions to soar a local west facing hill, but El Nino shut that down. It's been smooth and mild all month!
The 1:26 Rebuilt
Patrick also has a slope soarer that he hadn't flown in a few years. We met up on a pre-frontal day last month and tried to fly the gliders. It was super windy in the morning, but it died by mid-day. We started at the hill near my house, but the wind was just slightly too light and cross out of the north. After a few hours the trend didn't get any better so we decided to mission to Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain is the remnants of a lava dome that juts out of the craggy hills of the Front Range. The lava rock is harder than the surrounding granite so it eroded slower than the surrounding peaks. The result is a perfect mound shaped hill. It's got a decent west facing area that's well above the surrounding terrain. If it was windy anywhere, it would be windy on top of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain
When we got to the trail head there was only a few hours of day light left. The clouds were getting low to the north and west and the wind was strong, but gusty. We hiked to the very top in hopes of the best chances of flying. I had never been to the top of Sugarloaf before so even if we didn't get to fly our planes it would be a cool hike. A fire on the eastern slope had burned all the of trees except for occasional charred trunks. You could see all the way to Kansas!
Burnt Trees
Snow
Kansas
At the top the air was choppy and inconsistent. I wasn't willing to risk crashing my freshly built glider, but Patrick took a few flights. It wasn't really soarable, but good fun none the less. As the sun set we hiked back down and were treated to an amazing sight. The haze in the air created perfect contrast to see an amazing pyramid shadow of Sugarloaf mountain. Being at the apex of the shadow was a truly unique perspective.
Patrick Flying
Dogs Watching
Amazing Shadow
Sunset
A few days later I headed to Lookout Mountain to hang glide. When I was setting up my glider my sprog pocket zipper broke, but luckily I had the 1:26 with me. I mounted the Hero Cam above the cockpit and hiked up to the top of the hill. It wasn't really soarable, but I was able to make a few passes before I crashed it into a bush. Here's the footage:
Hero Cam Footage
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