Maybe next weekend came true!

Well everything except the "high above the SB peaks and landing at the beach part." It still turned out to be the perfect mellow day to take Ash for her first tandem with me at Skyport. The lift was super light but just enough to give us a comfortable extended sled ride to Parma.

Ash at the training hill

Ashley takes to the air with wonderful finesse on yet another beautiful day at the training hill. She took some kiting pointers from Kevin and next thing we know, she’s keeping her wing up until the sun went down. We are looking forward to flying tandem together, high above the Santa Barbara peaks and landing at the beach. Maybe next weekend?

Fun Tandem

Good times in the air with Aaron who is from Hawaii. We are both working on our commercial tandem rating so we can take friends and family flying. We had a nice flight from Alternator launch in Santa Barbara working the thermals for about a half hour. Thanks Aaron!

Flying at Dunlap

So I tried to reel in some takers for the Nor. Cal. league Meet at Dunlap this last weekend. After watching the forecast all week, I finally hooked some big fish Friday morning: Bo, Dean, Andy Palmer and I all believed it was going to be promising, so we decided to check out the site for the first time. It was an easy 4.5 hr drive to the LZ with a meet time at 0930 Sat. morning and about 40 other pilots showed up for some action. Saturday's task was ONLY 99k and Jack Brown, Dean and Josh Cohn made a decent effort. However nobody made goal but had the race started a bit earlier they might have had a better chance! I had a fun flight getting to know the site and tagged a few points before getting flushed by the valley winds. Afterwards everyone meet up at the Bear Mountain pizza and beer spot. That night most pilots chose to stay at the Sequoia Highlands camp which is adjacent to launch and provides private cabins for rent, a bunkhouse for 10 bucks a night per person or you could pitch a tent. There is also a fun recreation room with pool tables, ping pong and a fireplace with couches to kick back on and talk about the great day of flying. The next morning the camp host makes an all you can eat breakfast ready when you wake up. Sunday’s task was about 62k with a little fishbowl then an out and back to the main LZ. Again Dean and Josh went at it and I think they would have had a better chance again had it started earlier as well. Andy flew his Peak XP very nicely and and I did my best to keep up. Bo was skying out both days with a thermal clinic student of his and taking beautiful pictures of everyone. I had a 3hr flight and made most of the turn points except for the longer out and return legs. Nobody made goal either day but lots of pilots had exceptional flights. The weather was pretty high pressure with lift taking us up to anywhere from 6000-7700 ft. Valley floor is about 1,500 ft. The valley winds in the middle of the day made the up wind tasks challenging.Overall it was a fantastic weekend. Jug puts on a well respected meet and it is growing every year. I highly recommend you check it out especially since Dunlap is so close. You don’t need to wait until Rat Race to get your feet wet in the comps. These are low stress, high fun events with some of the best XC pilots around. It is also a perfect place for new P2s to get in some early morning and afternoon thermalling flights similar to Valle or Woodrat. The next one at Dunlap is June 21-22nd. Bo, Dean or Andy should have some cool photos for you to enjoy (my camera sucks), but see it for yourself. Don’t miss out next time! Ben

Typical Mondays- I Wish!

Nice way to start the work week. Got to get it while it's good! Doing some laps with Bo and Dean up to 5,800 ft. then landed at the beach for some kiting fun.

Senic Ojai

Finally got to take my dad up in the air for his first time in a small airplane. We had an awesome flight around Lake Casitas and the Ojai mountains. It felt like we were in a completely different region with snow on the mountains, slot canyons, green hillsides, and big drainage's with lots of waterfalls. We even saw a Condor by surprise. You can't miss them with their graceful 9+ft wingspan. It's amazing what's out there at the end of some dirt road, where the land is mostly untouched. Of course we left the camera in the car...oh well, next time.....or you will just have to go flying with me sometime, ask my Dad if it was worth it!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan was my first candidate in the Citabria. We planned this flight for his birthday in January but got skunked because of the storms. I think the wait was well worth it. We had an awesome flight around Ventura and even got lucky spotting a whale. Over the last few months, I was working on my tailwheel endorsement at CP Aviation in Santa Paula. The Citabria a fun, fabric covered tailwheel airplane. Spelled backwards it's, "airbatic" and you can bet I'm enjoying what it has to offer. CP Aviation is well known for their EMT "Emergency Maneuver Training" and aerobatic training. Next step is getting checked out in their Super Decathlon were the real acro fun begins. For now, I'm enjoying flying friends and family around with the wings mostly level :) building hours and sharing my love for aviation. Who's next?