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.
I knew Gordo was truly a wave flying virtuoso, but I didn’t realize he was also very good at teaching this esoteric art. That’s a rare combination and an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.
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…
I had a second magical wave flight with Jim Payne at Minden within a week, the first last Tuesday (September 24) and the second Sunday, September 29. This second one exceeded both of our expectations, resulting in the longest distance flown in the U.S. in the OLC (“On-Line Contest” for non-soaring friends) for the 2012-13 competition year: 1,681.7 km (1,044.96 miles).
On September 24th, Mitch Polinsky was lucky enough to log some time in the Sierra wave with a true master, Jim Payne. The flight was posted on the OLC along with comments by Jim.
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.
