Light Winds 47 degrees Blue Skies
I left Denver at 5:30 and drove down to the Soccer LZ by Falcon on the North East side of Colorado Springs. John Black passed me with a big smile just before I arrived. It's a pretty good LZ but there are a few challenges: tall power lines to the south and the road and lines to the north. The field is great with hard pack and astro turf. There is a cut in the fence to the left of the locked gate but it is a bear getting the Thumper over the berm. As luck would have it as soon as John Kevin and I finished lugging the Thumper, a lady came along and unlocked the gate for us. The winds were light from the South West. Kevin and John took off quickly and I blew my first attempt.
BUT... It was a good thing because I have finally discovered why I've been blowing so many launches. My A lines are getting caught on the bottom of the line guides. It is going to be easy to fix by using the guides or taping the bottom so that they will not catch the lines. I climbed to 1000 feet and watched John carve it up. Lots of open area for low and slow with a great view of Pikes Peak. I stayed up 35 to 40 minutes and landed when my hands started to get really cold. The wind had picked up some and was more from the South but the landing was smooth.
Great Air and a beautiful morning. Kevin landed and went up again to mark his 300th flight. John also launched for a quickie but it was a strange launch because one of his trimmers was out and the wing was giving him fits. I thought he was trying to do a cross wind take-off and it took a long time for him to get off the ground. He figured it out after running halfway down the soccer field and adjusted with more left brake.
Congratulations Kevin ! ...
We talked about the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival and he thought it was still on but after checking the web site I confirmed that it is definitely cancelled this year. The site says that they will return next year in partnership with another Festival Promoter...Big Words...I hope they can do it.
The ride home took an extra 30 minutes because VP Joe Biden was speaking to the Air Force Academy Graduation and they were stopping traffic until he passed.
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