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Conditions were very light on launch, but the cycles appeared to favor
the east launch, so Gunter set up there and launched into a good cycle
and soared for over an hour.

Allan Reaves set up next but never found a cycle that worked for him, so
Joan Smith (from Phoenix) set up and took a light cycle, but the wind was a bit cross. Her wing weather-cocked to the south, and as she ran with it her right wing tip tucked. She killed it and went over to inspect the Manzanita. Morey and Alan Binney helped her extract the undamaged wing from the bushes.

Lots of little puffs then proceeded to tease us. I set up next and took a
good cycle, but wasted it by failing to get the wing over my head. I reset
and took a lighter cycle and flew for 45 minutes. This was my first flight at Miller Canyon (no trees were harmed during this flight).

Joan eventually launched next followed by Morey and then Allan.
Joan flew for about 25 minutes. Morey and Allan went high and were
still flying when we left. I'll leave it to one of these two sky gods to
share the details of their impressive flights with us.

The blade-wingers launched four or five pilots, all of whom had safe
flights. Today marked the return of John Lowery after a long absence from the air, and we were all very glad to see him flying again. I
trust that someone from the HG lot will provide details on their
adventures.

Blessed are those who cannot launch PGs in light winds.
(the meek launchers shall inherit the thermals?)

As the winds slackened and then crossed, those of us who don't have the skills to get off launch safely in light winds waited for the seemingly inevitable drive down the hill. We waited and waited- nearly certain of our terrestrial motor vehicle fate.

As we saw the skilled pilots like Eric and Gunter eventually sink to the ground after nice flights and valiant attempts, the day seemed over. But... things changed. In this rare case- good things came to those who waited- in the form of launchable conditions. John and Joan took the first few puffs, then Allan and I waltzed off in later ones. I didn't get off the east launch until 1:15, Allen 5 or 10 min later. That's pretty dang late for Miller.

However this turned out to be a blessing. The sun was partially obscured by high cirrus and the hard edges of the morning high pressure thermals had long since softened. Pefect lift was bountiful and took us up again and again in clean, smooth 500fpm columns. Nicely formed baskets of rising air had Allan and I going up like homesick angles as we danced around the sky with grins on our faces. We flew as long as we wished (or those giving us a ride home would tolerate) and came down with happiness pulsing through our veins. I topped out at close to 9K and 1:45, Allan about 1:40 which he says is his longest flight ever - by 5min.

Nice reports Morey :and John: and nice flights to you and Allen. I especially like "Blessed are those..." and "homesick angels",- beautiful metaphors.
I flew for an hour and 10 minutes and maxed out several times at 8400'. I was so glad to see it mellow so the rest of you could get your fix.
Gunter

"Eric, Gunter, Morey, Alan, Allan, John - all you guys! Thanks for the site orientation yesterday. I really appreciate the opportunity to fly at the site with lots of great beta. Thanks also for helping me clear my glider from the manzanita bush after my first launch/flail went awry. I'm so happy to have logged some airtime and experience at a beautiful new site. That's the longest, best sledder for me so far!

Thanks again for your help and kindness. Please look me up if you're ever flying in Colorado. Hope to see you in the air/at launch or in the LZ sometime.

Safe flying! Thanks,
Joan Smith, USHGA #82775
Arvada, Colorado
out of Phoenix for the weekend"

Joan,
thanks for joining us. Always great to have new pilots with whom to share our air. Great meeting you and hope to fly with you again.

stay safe-

Gunter wrote:Nice reports Morey :and John: and nice flights to you and Allen. I especially like "Blessed are those..." and "homesick angels",- beautiful metaphors.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. It's better than having to say... "His landing was so terrible, he splattered on the ground like a hefty bag filled with vegetable soup"

Thanks to John, Eric, and to the thermals for the lifts, and thanks especially to the drivers. There’s not much left to say after those beautifully written reports… We had ten pilots come out (5PG, 5HG) and everyone with a wing got to fly. My max altitude was also 8400; that seemed to be sort of a ceiling which I reached several times with a bunch of descents to below 6000. The vario reports total accumulated altitude gains (not counting the losses) of over 14,000 feet, similar to my best summer flights. The lift just kept getting better to the point that at less than 500ft. over the LZ I had to make an effort not to go back up, before I had a great no-wind landing at 3:06pm. (My ride was leaving) I posted some photos on the Miller album as well as my personal album.