Another Fantastic Day in Leland!!!!!
SATURDAY Sept 16:
With over 15 pilots and almost 40 tows Hang Glide Chicago had a
fantastic turnout as the season moves to an end. Arlan and Jeff were out
early, 7am early, giving instruction to Dragon, HGC's newest student in
glass smooth, and quiet nippy, air. The tug performed flawlessly with the
tandem releasing at 3,000 feet just six minutes after leaving the ground.
The air was so smooth Jeff was able to roll the tug on her side and
descend in a vertical spiral, what a thrill!
Pilots setting up for a great day of flying...
Later in the day local, and some not so local, pilots began showing up
at the field and assembling their gliders hoping for the cu's to start
popping soon. The cu's never appeared but the lift was there, making for a
challenging but very rewarding day. Dan Dugan was up for over an hour
while everyone else was trying to decide if it was worth taking off. Dan
landed after an hour only because his arms were tired.
Once the hang glider pilots decided to go Joey and Jeff were busy
towing for the next few hours stopping only to refuel the tug. Turn around
times of under 5 minutes were the norm getting everyone off the ground
with hardly a wait. Several pilots left the local area for x-country
flights and at one time there was a gaggle of 5 in a thermal directly over
the field.
SUNDAY Sept 17:
Jeff towed Joey first thing in the morning making it to 1500 feet and
not even clearing the end of the runway with 30mph winds above about 400
feet. Joey actually flew backwards the length of the runway, instead of
the standard pattern, if he had turned he probably would have landed at
Sandwich airport, making a very nice foot landing. Later in the day,
around 2pm, winds died off to a more reasonable speed and several pilots
had nice flights. Shane was up the longest with a flight of over 30
minutes. Arlan gave several first time lessons.
Work on the second ultra light is
progressing nicely and we should be test flying it this coming weekend.
Tomorrow's weather is looking excellent, come on out and fly!!!!
Take a look at the pictures below. If you missed flying this weekend come on
out and get in on the fun.
