Stories of cross country trips
On Wednesday, 10 December, I finally reached a goal I’ve long dreamed of and prepared for; winter-wave-soaring the Cascades volcano crossing from Mt Hood to Mt Jefferson (and return). <https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=186235709> First, citations: this crossing has of course been made before by other pilots: Rolf Koenenkamp told me he had soared Hood-to-Jeff in wave rather […]
A full accounting of cross-country camp this year really begins two weeks before camp began. June 15, 2025 was Miss Isabel Ulland’s 16th birthday—which she celebrated by passing her glider checkride, one week before heading off to the Region 8 contest with the L33. Here she is with DPE Robin Reid. My wife, Candida, and
“Three hours in the sky, and only 30 minutes to tell the tale.” When I arrived at the airport, Banyan and Brian were already busy preparing the 2-32. The wind was whipping from the NW—exactly the kind of conditions I’d hoped for when I signed up for the L-33, eager to chase some waves. Once
Two wave exploration flights Jan 16, ’25, Brian Hart & Banyan Carman The day began with a deep dive into Skysight and other weather tools at the sim room in an attempt to tie out the weather predictions to actual conditions. The goal was to work out a proof of concept for the pure gliders
New Years Eve day held an interesting array of unique situations and challenges for Brian and myself, as we piloted his Super Ximango through the Noth American Alpines. The original plan was to takeoff from Hood River, and make a course due south, towards Mt Jefferson, climbing enroute, with oxygen, and see how much altitude
Hood River Soaring teamed up with the SSA and SGC to host a national junior cross-country development academy to be held at Ephrata the first week of July 2024. Despite a number of mentor pilots having been onsite as contestants at the prior week’s Region 8 Contest, they were ready and willing to stay and
Ephrata Dust-Up Report Here are a few highlights, as best I can remember at what seems like this late date following a whirlwind of a weekend (figuratively speaking, that is): The quash on tent/outside camping at the airport apparently did nothing to reduce participation; all 37 registered glider pilots showed up and apparently found places
Ximango Pick-Up Jonathan and I both find more satisfaction in sharing our soaring rides with others than in flying solo, and not having a two-place glider we can take to places like Ephrata for cross-country excursions, we began six weeks ago to consider looking for a two-place glider that we can use for cross-country mentorship