Against the Wind

Life at Wallaby Ranch rolled on Saturday morning.  I watched tandems stream into the air, including this young pilot-to-be.  He was excited, but matter-of-fact, about his flight when we chatted later at breakfast.

The main feature for the day would be the brisk west wind.  Some pilots made plans for cross-wind XC flights, but I decided early on to prove to the skeptical that I could stay local.

I flew upwind towards the Green Swamp to the west.  It was evident early on that a western sea breeze would push through.

I made several trips west to Route 33 and quickly zipped back downwind to the ranch.  I shared a climb with a sailplane just north of the ranch.

I shared the sky with a bevy of happy pilots continually pounding upwind.

I tried to time my arrival to the field between thermals, rapidly circling down in sink.

However, I was less than successful.  I arrived in a full-on gusty thermal lift-off to everyone's amusement on the ground.  Although it was a carnival ride, I had a nice no-step landing.  (The two remaining pilots in the air, Oded and Jason, were not impressed with show.)

I patched together a short video of the flight.

Flights: 1, Duration: 2:00