Wednesday adventure

Dave Snyder · Post by **Dave Snyder** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 4:50 pm

Myself, Eric and Mr. Lowery headed down to Miller early Weds. morning. Eric wanted to ensure that the road mods met with Coronado Forest official Dwayne Bennets approval. They did quite nicely. And we have Dwayne's approval to improve the launch ramp without any extranious paperwork. He's a good man, and we enjoyed speaking with him. You guys did a hell of a job, glad I was at least able to contribute some chow!

We brought the divers. Blown over the back at Miller, went to the Stones. Forcasted to 35+. Perfect! Capped off a few rounds with my new .22 and set the streamers in the LZ.

Special thanks to Ken Stumpe. Ken and I spent three Sundays designing a front rack for my Tacoma, it performed flawlessly! When in doubt, get an engineer with a garage full of tools to design your rack. Patent pending..

The cycles were decidedly WNW at launch. We set up.? Sure enough, with a break in cloud shadow the air came straight in. First off was Eric in his venerable decade old Fusion. He proceded to soar in bumpy air. I then hooked in to my new massive 175 Sport 2. Nervous in my new glider, not very current, with challenging conditions I got my feet off the ground. What a diver! No bar pressure, tremendous penetration, and incredible response.

I was at 9000 in minutes, the air was too much for me and I headed for the LZ. Honestly, I had a few moments of ass-clenching fear. As the elected Safety Officer of this club I decided to err on the side of caution and head to the LZ. Topped out at 10' grand on my way out to the LZ and backed her in. Luv the Sport 2.

The "Bird man of Tucson" was obviously enjoying the turbulence as he topped out at 13' and landed OTB 6 miles east of Mustang corners. Thanks again John for driving and missing a flight. I'll drive for you next time.

Open Sky · Post by **Open Sky** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:57 pm

Would be interested in seeing a picture of that front rack. There's a pilot in Globe that has a new Tacoma and he's trying to figure out a good set up. Unless of coarse it's a super secret design.

Thanks Jeff J

Open Sky · Post by **Open Sky** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 4:03 pm

Nice flight by the way!

Your the guy who used to have the Pac Air Formula you named ?? and some of shots made Hg mag cover/calender?

Dave Snyder · Post by **Dave Snyder** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:41 pm

Yeh, I've been published a few times, never had a Pac-Air. Pic of the rack posted in the album under "general". Have yet to paint and perfect the padding. Went with Toyota aftermarket rack for the cab and have adjustable Yakima rack for the Snug-top shell over the bed.

Open Sky · Post by **Open Sky** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:16 pm

Thanks, looks like it can carry some gliders. I'll pass it on.

Dave Snyder · Post by **Dave Snyder** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:18 pm

You're probably thinking of Mark Sawyer, he's a hell of a hangglider photographer

Open Sky · Post by **Open Sky** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:07 am

That's him. I knew it was a Pacfic Airwave glider because it had a black wedge on the under surface. Does he still Fly? The magazine could sure use some new photos.

morey · Post by **morey** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 2:35 pm

Mark still flies intermittently, and teaches photography at a local high school. He'll have a difficult time mounting his new camera to his wing... as it weighs about 40lbs.
without the large wooden tripod.

(it's a large format film camera from about a century ago)

Wednesday adventure

Tacoma Rack