Southern Arizona Hang Glider AssociationMiller Saturday
Moderators:ioan, John Wolfe, aaroncromer, jlowery
Well I made the trek up to Miller last week and I can verify the main gate is open. The forest service has an extra lock on our gate so there are 3 locks in total. The third lock is attached to a link on the other FS lock. The go around is strewn with debris purposely but nothing a high profile vehicle couldn't maneuver. On a sad note, Steve, a bartender at Nicks, (long black curly hair) has passed away. He was visiting his brother in Georgia and fell hitting his head. He died on 10/10/10. He was really friendly towards all of us and we will miss him. We are planning on going to Miller on Saturday early. Eric has 2 tandems to do, probably only one will work but you never know. I'm planning on driving down so anyone come on out.
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sorinorrin
- Posts:33
- Joined:Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Re: Miller Saturday
It turned out to be a really nice day.
We had four HG pilots, Eric (along with his tandem students Nate and his girlfriend Cody) Orrin Smith, Eric Tucker and me. We also had PG'ers Andy Miller and A.J. Frye. And Whitney Todnem, Eric's fiance Rachel and A.J.'s friend Camille turned out to give us wire crew and driving help.
Eric was off first with Nate, got a little above launch but was pretty heavily loaded on the tandem Falcon and soon headed for the LZ. Orrin Smith took off next and struggled for a few minutes, but then found one and was soon soaring over launch. We saw Andy launch from the east ramp and he also got up. Eric Tucker was next and he immediately got over launch. A.J. was next from the east, and I was off last from the HG launch.
Eric had planned to do a tandem with Cody as well, but conditions were getting a little to rockin' for that so we called it a day.
A.J. Frye took off XC and last anyone heard was well past the San Pedro river and still headed east northeast. I spoke to him today, and he got an amazing flight of over 50 miles, landing between the Swisshelm and Chiricahua mountains. He has a GPS spotter, so he pressed a button and Camille instantly had directions and a map to find him for an easy retrieve. Fantastic flight, particularly this early in the season.
Andy headed northeast and made it to Moson road north of Ramsey Canyon road. Everyone else landed in the LZ.
Everyone else had good local flights and got good altitude. I didn't get very high, only 9000 or so, but Eric Tucker reported 11000 or so, Orrin was stinking high as well. They both had long flights, I think Orrin's went 2 hours or so.
It was a great spring day. Many thanks (as always) to Whitney, Rachel, Cody, and Camille for their help and support. And congratulations to A.J. for a truly remarkable early-season XC flight.
We had four HG pilots, Eric (along with his tandem students Nate and his girlfriend Cody) Orrin Smith, Eric Tucker and me. We also had PG'ers Andy Miller and A.J. Frye. And Whitney Todnem, Eric's fiance Rachel and A.J.'s friend Camille turned out to give us wire crew and driving help.
Eric was off first with Nate, got a little above launch but was pretty heavily loaded on the tandem Falcon and soon headed for the LZ. Orrin Smith took off next and struggled for a few minutes, but then found one and was soon soaring over launch. We saw Andy launch from the east ramp and he also got up. Eric Tucker was next and he immediately got over launch. A.J. was next from the east, and I was off last from the HG launch.
Eric had planned to do a tandem with Cody as well, but conditions were getting a little to rockin' for that so we called it a day.
A.J. Frye took off XC and last anyone heard was well past the San Pedro river and still headed east northeast. I spoke to him today, and he got an amazing flight of over 50 miles, landing between the Swisshelm and Chiricahua mountains. He has a GPS spotter, so he pressed a button and Camille instantly had directions and a map to find him for an easy retrieve. Fantastic flight, particularly this early in the season.
Andy headed northeast and made it to Moson road north of Ramsey Canyon road. Everyone else landed in the LZ.
Everyone else had good local flights and got good altitude. I didn't get very high, only 9000 or so, but Eric Tucker reported 11000 or so, Orrin was stinking high as well. They both had long flights, I think Orrin's went 2 hours or so.
It was a great spring day. Many thanks (as always) to Whitney, Rachel, Cody, and Camille for their help and support. And congratulations to A.J. for a truly remarkable early-season XC flight.
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Tom Morrison
- Posts:38
- Joined:Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:25 pm
- Location:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Thanks for the update John.
I always enjoy hearing about good flying days. Miller Canyon is most definitely my favorite site. I’m still buzzing about the flight with Eric Smith last September making it all the way to Carr Peak. I wish I was there Saturday with you guys, it sounded great. See you in September eh!
Canada Tom
I always enjoy hearing about good flying days. Miller Canyon is most definitely my favorite site. I’m still buzzing about the flight with Eric Smith last September making it all the way to Carr Peak. I wish I was there Saturday with you guys, it sounded great. See you in September eh!
Canada Tom
Miller Sat
A link to the video John downloaded of Nates Tandem.
Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwVy-p-Clr0
Eric
Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwVy-p-Clr0
Eric