#296 #297 #298 East Springs Airport

A Beautiful Summer Morning with the PPPPG Club

There was rain last night but it was beautiful this morning. I was out of the house and on my way to East Springs Airport by 4:30am. It's 20 minutes farther South and East of the soccer field. For Some reason the GPS routed me through about 10 miles of dirt roads. Whats that about ? Last time it took me a few more miles south but at least it kept me on the pavement. So I arrived at the Air strip in a cloud of dust about 6:00am. On the way into the area I spotted a solitary glider and silently congratulated him on the early start.

There was a good crowd setting up ....Jerry K...Kevin K...Mathew W...John B...Shad...Mike B.. Alex D (was seen blazing out of the air port early. I saw him later but we never did talk so I don't know what that was about).

(photos by Mike Bennett)

Anyway The air was great with a layer of warm air sitting on top. It was fun bumping through into the warmth. There was also a bumpy area directly east of the LZ right above some cattle. Somebody was making jokes about the cows creating bumps. It was a pleasure to launch in such perfect conditions. Light laminar air....nice smooth surface to rollout in all directions and super flat terrain, the prescription for low stress flying. The PPS 250 came up clean every time and it was great how the buggy took the load and kept on pulling as the wing inflated. Those are the right tires for the surface... I noticed that I was staying on the "A's" longer than normal and it felt good to stay with the wing until it was well overhead.

I topped out at 1000 feet and practiced a little low and slow , nothing special but getting the feel of the Power Play.

While packing up I saw Ranger Bo...great to see him! Turns out he was the pilot I had seen on the way in ... he had launched from another field at dawn and was doing a fly-by. We chatted a little about the X-Country that John Black is talking about and he made a good point. Monument pass may be splitting the air flow because I seem to remember mostly SW breeze for early flights in Denver and the Springs boys tend to get Northerly air. I'll have to do a little research and see if i can spot a trend.

When I got home the girls had fixed a special Fathers Day breakfast and later we all went to the Paradiso for a lazy afternoon on the lake.