Time : NA, October 10, 2000
Location : 19th Aveneue, Albuquerque balloon field
Glider : 31 meter Ozone Electron
Engine : SD-Monster
Airtime : 0,58

I came down, thinking that camp was about to be broken, only to learn that we were waiting for another team member to arrive, so I decided to fly for a while rather than waiting on the ground. In this last of the day's series of four flights, I had some very crazy touch-and-go's, where my 'touch' turned into quite a sideways run (in one case, I ran sideways for maybe 150 feet while going forward only 20 or so feet) before managing to get back under my wing to apply power for takeoff. These were lively conditions, with considerable ground-effect turbulence coming off the terrain features to the South, where the winds were mostly coming from. After a couple of these wild touch-and-go's, I lost some of my enthusiasm for this trick in these conditions, and, after being waved off by some visitors, I went back to flying the arroyos and dirt roads, which was challenging enough in the wind. When I got near the elementary school, the kids were out on the fields and began waving and swarming toward me, so I waved back and flew around outside the school boundaries for a while, basking in their contagious enthusiasm. Then it was back to the field, where the take-down crew had arrived, and it was time for me to pack up.

Flight NA

Time : 18:00-18:30, October 11, 2000
Location : Somewhere in the high desert of Arizona
Glider : 31 meter Ozone Electron
Ground handling time : 0,4

Sunset ground handling session in the high desert, at the tail end of a very windy day. Now my problem was insufficient wind, but having to run uphill in through the desert while kiting my Ozone was certainly good exercise…

Flight 129

Time : 16:52-17:08, October 11, 2000
Location : Abandoned (now for sale) ranch in the middle of a huge valley on highway 50 in Nevada. Between Eureka and Austin.
Glider : 31 meter Ozone Electron
Engine : SD-Monster
Airtime : 0,6

Big storm systems had been above me all day, with very little time spent in the sun (more time with windshield wipers on than in the sun). At times, I had heavy snow while crossing some of the passes… It was late afternoon, and I was crossing a particularly desolate valley when I noticed some very flat, flood-irrigated, salt-poisoned pastureland to my right. Soon there was a corral and gravel-covered parking lot behind a 'for sale' sign. I noticed that they wanted $360K for the place. I turned around and came back to investigate, thinking that this could be a scenic place from which to kite and perhaps fly... It was! Spectacular views in all directions, and a nice little flight before a few raindrops persuaded me to land and pack it up. On my flight, I found the sun-bleached skeleton of a long-dead cow lying in a dry grass of a wash. After packing up, I hiked out to the skeleton and brought back a load of bones for souvenirs.

Flight NA

Time : 13:20-14:00, October 14, 2000
Location : Van Norden Meadow
Glider : 31 meter Ozone Electron
AGround handling time : 0,4

Snow was on the meadow when I returned, Thursday the 12th, under a full moon. On Saturday, I made it out to do a little ground handling in light winds from the East and NorthEast. This proved to be rather difficult due to the winds being light, the snow being on the springy grass making for difficult running, and the fact that I had scooped up a couple of big snowballs into the left side of my wing without noticing it. I sure did notice the effect of the glider wanting to turn left all the time, however! Too bad I did not look for the cause - it might have made my kiting session more fruitful. It is great to be back, even though Winter seems to have paid a visit while I was gone...

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