Green

I took a break from paragliding lessons and made the short trip to Tanner-Hiller airport and Hang Glide New England in central Massachusetts.

A fun group showed up to soak-in the last days of summer.  The early birds had satisfying flights but the later group was having trouble staying airborne in spite of the great looking sky.

I followed Rhett in the green tug down the runway and into the air.

I soaked in the green all around me knowing that in a month it would red and yellow; and after that brown, grey, and then white.

I enjoy the tow behind Rhett and this was no exception.  We climbed under a welcoming sky with the Quabbin Reservoir as the backdrop.

It was soon time to release and find my own climb.

Thanks to the tall tow, I was circling in spotty lift soon after.  I jumped from cloud to cloud like a kid skipping through puddles.

It was all so easy until it wasn't.  I missed a couple climbs and then had to make a long glide back to the field.  I arrived as Rhett was bringing another pilot to the playground.

I dabbled around in broken lift but eventually wandered back to the field for the expected landing.

Luckily, I stumbled into a climb right over the runway and slowly climbed and drifted away to the southwest.

The thermal faded before I reached base.  I flew around the field looking for my next salvation but either it wasn't there or it was hiding quite well.

Rhett waited, ready to go, while I flew in over him to land mid-field.  I quickly jogged off the field and they took as I walked back to the staging area.

Summer is too short in these parts and I was glad to squeeze in another day before the stable cool air of autumn rolled in.

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:11

Overdone

A small crew gathered at Morningside for some afternoon aero-towing.  It looked promising until a short-wave passed over us and the sky bubbled and then shaded over with too much moisture.  Eric towed me into a safe, but quickly shading, sky.

I wasn't sure what I would find.  I locked into a weak, but steady, climb and settled into for slow ride up.

The entire area was shaded but I found weak widespread lift near cloud base.

Nothing but a big blue hole waited for me downwind to the south.

Shading loomed to the east and west.

So I glided back upwind to the north, passing through large areas of minimal sink.

I searched most of the valley, but was soon heading back to the airstrip when I crossed over Eric towing another pilot up.

I glided off my altitude around the field and chased my shadow to the ground.

I patched a few clips from the flight into a short video,

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:48