Hey Eric!

Meet you in the LZ at 9 - 9:15 am.

Rafael & Debbie

"Let-R-Fly"

Happy 4th of July!!! See you guys tomorrow.

I'll be at I-10 and Houghton with the Falcon at 8:00. Happy July 4th!

Hey, Fred

I've got your hat aand bandana in my truck.

See you tomorrow

John

John, Andy, Raphael, Debbie and I met at I-10 and Houghton and carpooled down to meet Eric and Whitney in the Miller LZ. Eric had the Suburban decorated with a July 4th red, white, and blue ribbon, and we all looked forward to a good flying day as the morning overcast was clearing and the sun was shining through. On top, as predicted, the wind was light north, so we headed out to the paraglider launches. Cycles were coming up the north ramp, though the base wind seemed crossed from the northwest. Raphael was up first and got off in a straight cycle but found mostly sink on his way to an uneventful landing in the LZ. Eric was right behind him on launch with the new blade wing, but an hour and a half later was still there waiting for a cycle he felt comfortable taking. The cycles were short, and straight-in components were quickly followed by wind crossing from the left. When Eric moved back to the set up area Andy stepped up with the bag wing. After a few minutes he inflated in a cycle that picked him while still facing the wing, but he handled it well and headed off launch searching for lift. He got low to the north, but by the time I was ready to launch he had found a thermal and was working his way back up. I watched the cross winds for about 10 minutes before taking what I thought was a light straight-in cycle only to be immediately banked and yawed into the left cross component two steps down the ramp. Fortunately the Falcon's forgiving qualities allowed me to correct back to wings level and I headed off to join Andy. We both worked small and ragged thermals (with me usually looking up at the bottom of his canopy) and at one point got to about 10,000' near Carr Peak. Meanwhile, it had gone further northwest on launch, and Eric and John elected to break down. Andy and I continued to work the small thermals and landed at almost the same time after about an hour in the air. We were packed up about the time Whitney, John, and Eric arrived back in the LZ. Thanks to Whitney and Debbie for the good company, all the help on launch, and for driving. Hopefully the next trip to Miller will be true monsoon conditions with consistent winds up the southeast and east launches.

A video of Fred's launch:

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This is a link to my photos and video.


Hope you enjoy them

Andy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsFvx1x-HZU

http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii13 ... deshow[url][/list][/list][/code]

Andy and John, thanks for posting the pictures and videos.