Oceanside Open 2015

24-26 April 2015

It's been years and years since we braved the fickle Oregon Coast weather and went to a spring fly-in at Oceanside. Even with the trailer we didn't feel it was worth the 5-hour drive to possibly sit in the rain. This year we thought we'd take a chance and go even though it was raining when we left on Friday and the forecast was for unflyable east winds on Sunday.

Line at the Cape Lookout Takeoff

24 April, Fri - Out of North Bend around 0930,  a bit late but we didn't expect there to be any flying on this notably unstable wind-rain-and-sun day. We filled up the half-empty tank at Costco Olympia (259.9) to avoid having to get gas in the small towns along the back roads southwest of Longview. We found the old route we had used years before through Vernonia and Timber before hitting Oregon Rte 6, the main line to Tillamook. We went directly to Cape Lookout State Park to secure a site just in case there was going to be a shortage on Friday night. I tried using my Washington State veteran's card for free camping but, although Oregon has an almost identical program, it was not accepted. The "discovery season" prices were in effect through the end of April so we "only" paid $27 per night for a trailer site. Once set up we drove back to Oceanside where to our surprise a veritable slew of gliders were flying, soaring easily on light wind and heavy air. As we watched, several landed saying that the storm cloud to the west looked ominous. As it turned out, the squall passed to the north and there was only a little rain. C.J. and I decided to take a pass on flying in the wet, especially after we heard about the squall that had come through earlier and put three gliders in the trees. Instead, we drove back to Tillamook and went to the cheese factory for a self-guided tour complete with free cheese samples. Afterward we each had a sampler dish of three ice cream flavors - ones that are not generally seen in the grocery store freezers. By then it was after 1700 and the Tillamook Visitor Information Center adjacent to the cheese factory was closed so we could not find out about the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center or all the quilt blocks on barns and other buildings. We went back to Oceanside to register at the community center early for the fly-in and the dinner (which is now held at the Elks lodge in Tillamook). Back at CLO we had a late dinner of soup, salad and bread. This trip we had brought our sleeping bags so we didn't have to get the sheets and quilt and comforter out and make the bed. It wasn't as cold as at Frostbite the previous weekend but it was chilly and damp enough that the furnace felt good when we ran it.

25 April, Sat - The pilots meeting was scheduled for 1000 at the Oceanside Community Center and we got there early enough to hand over a check for the registration and dinner, and check out the t-shirts and sweatshirts. Dave Raybourne had his own table where he was selling his history booklet of hang gliding and paragliding in Oregon, and a bunch of free-flight refrigerator magnets. A good crowd had gathered out on patio behind the center in the sunshine, and there were a few optimistic pilots doing sledders from Maxwell. At the meeting we found out that Reed Gleason had bought his

Launching at CLO

second lot up on Maxwell Mountain and configured it as a parking lot for pilots with a launch on the slope side. Since the wind was forecast to be more northerly than southerly, the call was for either CLO or Solly Smith. Since we've soared Solly a number of times I was in favor of the launch at Anderson's Viewpoint. We drove down there and left our car in the day use parking lot and then scored a ride with Rosa who was driving a pickup truck shuttle. Conditions were still light on launch and it wasn't until Jim Baldo had managed to stay up that Mike Brand and Kort decided to launch. They soared also so I followed them. I tried two reverse inflations but couldn't get the wing solidly over my head so I took a break and went to the back of the line which had formed. Fortunately there were only a half-dozen folks ready to go including C.J. who got off neatly with a forward inflation. When my turn came up again I had another abort. Not wanting to give up, the next time I did a reverse and kept running backwards down the slope to get into the air. Conditions were light but it was just barely soarable. At times I was below the 400ft launch and at others I was close to 700ft and above the trees west of the highway. Still, I was unwilling to commit to crossing the canyon to try to soar the cape itself as Mike, Kort, Jim and a very few others were doing. C.J. felt a flush cycle coming so as soon as she got low she headed for the spot to avoid having to land at the same time as a bunch of other pilots (How many? At least 18 in the air at the one time we counted). I was high at the cycle and managed to hang in for another 25 minutes for a total of 58 min. I was high when I went out to try for a spotlanding and I did a classic aircraft approach; all to no avail as I overshot the target and landed softly out beyond the rings. C.J. and I got our lunch from the car and hung out on the bluff above the LZ to watch the landings and enjoy the sunshine. Later we drove south to Cape Kiwanda. Not knowing what the driving might be like on the beach, we parked in the upper lot and walked the mile to the dune. [We could easily have driven - the sand was nice and hard and the tide was way out.] There were a couple dozen people with paragliders, speed wings and a lone, and probably overwhelmed, hang glider.   The wind was just less than strong enough to be soarable but there were plenty of crazy antics going on. We saw one guy flying with two others hanging on to his harness. The Little Cloud van was there with demo gliders and it looked like there were plenty of takers. We ran into C.J. B, Derek, Susan, Reid and Sarah Doherty who were just leaving for CLO to get a flight there and a tandem flight for Susan's friend, Heather. We walked back up the beach and returned to the CLO launch, too. There was still a line and about the same number of wings in the air. We had had such good flights that we weren't dying to fly again. We returned to camp where C.J. hung out at the LZ while I took a shower. Then we headed to Tillamook for dinner. It was a great venue for a dinner; too bad that only a fraction of the 110 pilots who registered also signed up for the meal. There was a cash bar with very reasonable prices and then a salad bar, chicken, ravioli, cheesy potatoes, green beans and rolls. We got to visit with Marybeth Wells and hear about her adventures in Australia. When the prizes were awarded, CB Schmaltz handed out the silver dollar spotlanding certificates and C.J. took second place [There was a definite lack of women pilots competing at this fly-in, so she also got third place for distance flown]. Since I was one of the few to turn in my results slip I received the huge, curved-glass trophy for longest duration.[My 58 minutes was nothing close to Jim Baldo's 3hr16min, but he wasn't there and had not submitted his results.] [On Sunday I dropped the trophy off at the community center and told Jim where it was.] Ray Berger got most of the awards for hang gliding - a long, high flight at Kilchis. Rick Lai also received one of the awards; after all he had flown both Kilchis and CLO on the same day.

26 April, Sun - There was some rain overnight and the forecast did not look good for either flying or hiking. We had planned to pull the trailer over to the day use area (later we noticed that checkout time wasn't until 1300) and hike out to the tip of the Cape, but it was too wet to look like a fun trip. Instead we drove up to Oceanside, left the trailer at the sewer (?) plant just outside of town and drove in. I dropped off the trophy with Mark Sanzone, the meet director, and we hung out visiting with folks for a while. When we were convinced that the conditions didn't look good for anything, we drove up to launch to see the new parking lot and the sloping ramp. The Little Cloud van was up there probably hoping for another day of demos. We drove down, picked up the trailer and went back to Tillamook Cheese for an ice cream lunch and to find out about the Quilt Block Trail and Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. Unfortunately, the Tillamook VIC was not open on Sunday. We picked up some brochures from their rack and from Tillamook Cheese and decided to drive up Hwy 101 a ways then cut across to Rte 26 on a secondary road just south of Nehalem. From 26 we took 103 through Jewell and Birkenfeld to Clatskanie; probably not the shortest route, but scenic. We stopped for gas again in Olympia (262.9 now) and were home around 1730 with only minor traffic slowdowns.

Frostbite 2015

...or was it "Sunstroke 2015"

Bremer HG launch and Mt. Rainier

17-19 April

Usually held at "Dogpatch", the landing zone for Dog Mountain, this year the event moved to Area 151, Dave and Diane Auman's property west of Morton. The LZ at Dog wasn't totally covered by water but it was much smaller than usual at this time of year. As a result of the almost snowless winter, Tacoma Power had started to fill Riffe Lake earlier than usual hoping to be able to provide hydro-electric power with the smaller amount of runoff expected this summer.

Area 151 was an excellent choice as there was plenty of room for the many trailers, motor homes, tents and other vehicles. In addition there was a large, level, grassy (and dry) landing area for hangs and paras. Spot landings were possible with a small takeoff  in a clearing 400 feet above the LZ and only ten minutes to turnaround. A much longer trip (45 min) to launches on Bremer Mountain was another option and many hangs and a few paras also drove to Dog for good, but not spectacular soaring.

17 April, Fri - C.J. and I got the trailer hitched up and pulled out of the driveway around 0930 and got

Area 151 from the 400-ft launch

to Area 151 around noon. We picked a site [You can see our little A-frame trailer on the right edge of the photo if you click on it and zoom in.] behind a grove of overgrown Christmas trees to give us a little shelter from the bonfire and music stage (a large flatbed army truck). We were soon joined by Aaron and Kerie's big motor home, Debbie and Greg's trailer and many others. I spent most of the rest of the day helping set up the huge cargo parachute over the eating and socializing area. Conrad, a bartender from the Morton Bucksnort Pub, set up his (free!) bar under the canopy and Dave moved his picnic tables in for seating. C.J. and I took a drive over to Dog to see what the LZ looked like. There were a bunch of hang rigs parked in the outer lot so we walked in to the berm. There was plenty of land to land on but there was also plenty of water so one would have to be pretty sure of one's spot landing ability to be sure to stay dry. After watching JJ soaring the point and landing in a dry area, C.J. decided to not fly her hang glider today. Back at Area 151 we watched a few PGs flying from the 400' hill and getting rough rides. We passed on the opportunity to fly and continued visiting with a break for dinner in our Aliner. Although the day had been sunny and hot, as the sun set it got cool quickly and the Friday bonfire provided some welcome warmth. It was downright chilly by the time we went to bed under a down comforter and quilt.

18 Apr, Sat - After oatmeal we signed up for Frostbite, paid for a Dog key, and C.J. bought a pink, performance t-shirt. One thing different about this Frostbite was how many paragliders were present. John Kraske was notable among them, and Kim Smith was a quieter presence. "Oldtimer" John Heckendorn was there to test fly his new-to-him Golden2 and got a half-dozen flights from the 400. C.J. and I got a ride up with Bret Conant, a PG who lives in Morton and is an engineering tech with the USFS. The launch was large enough to lay out two paragliders (just barely). Conditions were very light and I had trouble getting my wing inflated. It took four tries before I got off launch. But then I lucked into some lift to the left and out front. I managed to get above launch and soar for fifteen minutes before sinking out. The light wind was coming from the north, unusual for Area 151, and I

Larry in the mirror of the Wannabe Ranch Dragonfly

came up short of the spot but had a good landing. After lunch I went up again and this time I was all ready to go when a hang glider pilot launched with his right wing low; his glider continued in an arc to the right into a tree not far below launch. John H and I went down to make sure the pilot could get down safely. Kim S showed up with some rope and a saw and he and the pilot went down and got the glider out of the tree after a lot of work. Meanwhile more hang gliders were showing up and since the launch area was pretty small I decided to launch even though two pilots who had gotten to 2000'-plus were sinking out and recent launchers were not getting up. Fortunately, after a good launch, I found enough lift to get me up to launch level and maintain for a few minutes. Then the little thermal dissipated and I headed for the spot, landing well, just a bit off the blue. C.J. got a second flight, also - but hers was in Larry's dragonfly tug. She got some good photos of Bremer and the launches. Since the beer kegs had been tapped by then, I decided I was finished with flying for the day.  Meanwhile C.J. went up to Bremer with a truckload of hang pilots. Conditions were definitely over-the-back making for turbulence in the rotor out front. C.J. and Kerie decided not to fly and drove down. Dinner included burgers, hot dogs, and some ribs and all the other potluck dishes. C.J. had brought her famous blue-barb crisp which went fast. It was cold again after the sun set, the music was loud and went late, but it was a little warmer and more comfortable to sleep.

19 Apr, Sun - Tina organized a "breakfast for boobies" fundraiser for Kerie's medical treatments that were not covered by insurance (some $10,000). Much of the food was donated by Justin's parents so the breakfast raised more than $1000. Around 1100 C.J. and I joined Brent Taylor and Monique from Yelm in his big Chevy 4x4 pickup to go to the paragliding launch on Bremer with Alan, Adam, and Rob. The idea there is to get off the hill before the usual north winds pick up and blow over the back. Hopefully there will be enough heated air coming up the south face will provide lift to get you over the ridge and into the convergence. After Rob took off and soared, I tried launching several times but neither a forward inflation nor a reverse would work for me, and the slightly up-sloping logging landing dropped off steeply into rough clearcut so standing below the lip would not work. The other

Bremer PG launch by Harmon

pilots were all successful, but C.J. had to give up until the cycles became stronger. She took several tries but finally got off and, like the others, soared and was able to fly east past the hang glider launch and then cross the valley and make it back to Area 151 and a hundred-point landing. I rode back down with Monique. Everyone had made it back to Area 151 so we did not have to retrieve any outlanding pilots (a task that would have been difficult without cell phone coverage in the Tilton River valley). Back at Area 151 leftover burgers and hot dogs and some of the potluck goodies were available for lunch...or an early dinner. While the awards were being handed out for spot landing (Tom Johns won again, no surprise), I worked on breaking camp so we could leave by 1700 - that way we could make it to Covington Costco before the gas station closed at 1900. We made it with minutes to spare and were home before 1930.

At the awards we heard that a record number of keys had been sold – 70, and that around 80 people had paid the entry fee of $30 to support Dog Mountain. Maybe having Frostbite at Area 151 was a good thing for the purposes of fundraising; and it was good to add another new flying site to our list (two new sites for C.J.).