Although Gordon and Hugh didn’t make their declared goal at Rapid City, South Dakota, they did land safely at Hullett, Wyoming, which is approximately 870 statute miles (1401 km) from their takeoff site at Minden, Nevada.
Jim and Dennis launched at sunrise from Minden. I’m in KY on a family visit, sorry for the delay. They have over 500 km with a long run between Hurlong and Lone Pine thus far. I will be blogging on the Soaring Café site for the rest of the day.
Jim Payne and Dennis Tito accomplish another Wave-Mission Last night Jackie Payne sent out a short note via e-mail from California around the world: “If all paperwork goes ok, looks like 135 kph for a 521 km triangle. That should beat two US national multi-place triangle speed records.” This morning my SeeYou states “all reached…
I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced an incredible wave flight with Kempton Izuno on Sunday, September 29, at Williams, CA. We flew from Williams Soaring Center, located in the Sacramento Valley, in his ASH-25 (FNX). The flight was 8.6 hours in duration and we covered 859 km (second longest distance only to Jim…
This clip was taken while heading southbound along the Sierra just north of Tioga Pass.
From the OLC Magazine: ” Early on the morning of February 29, 2012, Jim Payne and his co-pilot Dennis Tito pulled the all-prepped DG 1001M out of the hangar at Rosamond Skypark and launched for an 11-hour flight…The February 2012 expedition was Jim’s 35th flight of at least 1,000 km.”
Gordon Boettger and Hugh Bennett launched from Minden-Tahoe Airport at ~0630 PST on Saturday, February 25, 2012, intending to attempt a long downwind flight in wave. Unfortunately they had trouble connecting with lift and the winds aloft were not in the ideal direction for their intended NE route of flight. See Gordon’s comments for more detail.
Few pilots in the world are as experienced as Jim in flying the Sierra mountain wave. In his presentation, Jim describes the hazards of long wave flights, the equipment needed to make these flights safely, and how to adequately prepare for and plan long flights in the Sierra wave. He also recounts several of his many successful flights.
