It had been cloudy and threatening to rain all day but at 6 pm the skies started to clear and the conditions mellowed. While I was watching, Marek called and we both agreed that it was probably going to be flyable. Marek could not go but it looked good and was certainly better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself so I jumped in the MR-2 and raced over to Chips house. In record time I was at Simms and launched quickly without incident.
As predicted ... it was glass. I flew straight toward Red Rocks and as I came over the hogback I could see that there was a concert tonight. I flew the perimeter of the Amphitheater about 800 feet above the crowd being careful not to overfly the congestion.
Damn I forgot the camera! BUT from all the flashbulbs going off I knew that there were hundreds of photos being taken so the flight was documented (if not by me). From the west I could look right over the seating into the stage where they were doing light and sound checks. Perhaps 2/3's of the seats were filled with lots more coming.
After a couple of circuits around the park I headed east, as I was halfway to the hogback I noticed a strange craft to the south. At first I thought it was a balloon but within 10 seconds I could tell it was moving toward me and no balloon. It was coming straight at me and at about 3000 yards I decided to wag my wings and turn back to the Amphitheater. I did a small wingover and just as I began to turn west it must have seen me because it made a hard turn to the east and descended rapidly to 500 feet below me. When it turned and I could see the profile, I was surprised to see that it was Chinook cargo copter. I'm glad he saw me when he did ... I'm sure they throw a monster propwash... not something I ever want to experience.
The return was uneventful, I descended to 300 feet after crossing I-70 and overflew Soda Lake and the campgrounds which were mostly empty. The landing was easy, the wind had picked up and I was able to land on the dirt road and taxi right to the truck. Good Fight! Almost Epic but no pictures :(
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