Was first to fly Cerro Gordon in 1975. Hang 4 #212. Was flying with Jerry Katz day set record 80+ miles. Broke 16,400ft and many 30 mile flight on Cumulus 10.
Where is Gunther Launch, must be north of Walts Launch. I flew Owens summer of '95 in m WW HP-AT158, always from Walts Point. Second flight I brought O2 and flew more conservatively, gaining more altitude when possible. I flew Walts Point to top of Tinnamaha Peak, crossed to scratching in front of Black Mountain with the antennaes. I some times encountered 1,500fpm up and saw mountains get smaller and smaller below me until reaching my max alt of 17,300 feet. I flew over Janie's ranch, bopping along at cloudbase while dropping verga and landed in Mina in Nevada. 6-7 hours in the air, about 120 miles distance and 17,300 foot max alt, and unforgetable experience. Not even all the beers my buddy Tuttle and I drank on the way back to China Naval Base erased this memory. I remember very well getting tossed around under my glider in Owens, much worse on other flights there but what a magical place to fly.
most often the lift will be best at the edges of the canyons rather than straight up the middle of the ridge, the wind is blowing less in the canyons and is where the heat is building up and where the best thermals originate, more exploring would be recommended,
Nice ride - fun to watch your stats as you were flying along. First time I flew the Owens was in a Wills Wing Omega single surface. My Colver vario was pegged in thermals at 1000' up and the air was butter smooth. Landed at the end of the range at Janie's whorehouse. Came home told my buddies of the magic air and we came back the next year in our shiny new UP Comets. We got our asses handed to us. Really ratty thermals and trash air - thought for sure I'd be coming down under the chute. Good times to remember from the comfort of my recliner :)
Must have been in the 80s, happy to hear you survived the infant years of hang gliding. I learned on a WW Duck 180, then got a Seedwings Sensor B Full Race (wonderful with one or two quirks), then a WW HP-AT158 (all around great glider), a WW Ram Air 154 (an absolute pig except for wanting to go straight and fast) and after 10 years I left the sport.
Those cumulus clouds along the ridge going North looked quite good. Was it not good enough for a "speed run" to the North (and then back, possibly) ? Or did you not have a retrieve driver ? Thanks for sharing !
It's a Garmin camera (the Virb Elite) and the Virb Edit software does the overlay. It's all terribly out of date, so I'm trying to build a replacement that isn't dependent upon the camera. If you know someone who knows their way around Eagle CAD, I could use a hand.
