what a wonderful treat it was!

[bill arras]

Over the decades, I've had so many wonderful flights that it would be impossible to rank them, except to throw the whole bunch into a category that I think of as 'the best flights'.  Yesterday's flight falls into that pool of flights, the type that keeps me coming back for more.  It's why I fly.  What was so special about this flight?  I'll try to explain, starting at...  the beginning.

Scott sent me a message mid-morning saying he was free to fly and what did I think of the forecast conditions.  We talked and had the same type of conversation we thermal pilots have always had.  Our basic conclusion was we had no idea whether or not it would be worth going out, that the only way to know was by going.  Even if we don't say it out loud, I think we all have the same question in mind that Steve Roderick often gives voice to: "Is it going to be good?"  

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to go flying yesterday was made in a funny way.  Scott said that there was a chance Bill Wood would drive for us, so I said if Bill would drive, I would go.  Scott called Bill, then called me back to say "Load up your glider!"  And off we went, meeting Bill in Millican at 2 PM.

On the drive out and at Millican, we remarked a few times about the beautiful sky full of happy Qs.  Many of the clouds looked like they were working well, so we were hopeful about the flying.  The wind at Millican was very west and in the perfect range of velocity.

Scott and Bill had already driven the road to launch after all the damage done from the heavy rain there, but this was my first time to see it.  The signs of flooding were still very raw, indicating rain of a strength and volume I had never before seen at Pine, with deep water having ripped through places that rarely if ever had any surface run-off.  Even though I had heard their descriptions of the damage, seeing it in person was impressive.  Our road to the top was plenty passable, but in the worst condition it has ever been.  The road could use a lot of work; best would be for a cat to re-blade it.

When we got to launch, the wind was coming straight in, with long cycles up to maybe 15 or 20 and easing off to nearly calm.  Because Scott is flying his Very Quick set-up ATOS, I launched a half hour before he did.  But, when I took my glider to launch, the sky in front was fairly well decked over.  There was a break in the clouds that looked like it would arrive in about 20 or 30 minutes and I thought of waiting for it.  Then, thinking it a better idea to launch while the wind was coming straight in at 10 to 15, I took off.

It's incredible to me that, even after decades of flying, we never know what the conditions will be like at Pine.  To find out, we have to take off and fly.  As soon as I took off on Sunday, I was in light smooth lift.  It didn't feel like thermal, so I kept flying straight to the west under the deck of clouds for maybe 10 minutes, eventually climbing 1000' above launch.  That put me at the edge of the clouds, where I ventured out into the blue.  The gentle up and down from there set the stage for the rest of the 2 1/2 hour flight.

It wasn't difficult to stay up, but neither was it too easy.  There was plenty of lift, but the sink made us pay attention to what it would take to get back to the mountain from wherever we were.  Best of all, the clouds were working somewhat consistently, but not to the point they could be taken for granted.  Scott and I only flew together for a small part of the flight.  For the rest, we were playing in different areas, but with similar results.  We'd climb to cloudbase at just over 9000' and get into the wispies, other times we'd sink below peak level before finding lift again.  There's no place like cloudbase!

The conditions were not uniform or predictable while we flew.  Although it was incredibly clear air and scenic the whole time, the couds -and level of instabiliy- came through in waves and we adjusted accordingly.  The good news is the conditions were friendly the whole time, never edging towards white-knuckle stuff.  The thermals were really nice. 

In short, this flight was pure fun, pure enjoyment.  It was the kind of flying that puts a silly grin on your face and makes you happy to be alive.  We were lucky to catch it just right.  The funny thing is, we owe it all to Mister Bill.  Thanks for coming out and driving!

The Other Mister Bill

PS  There are more photos here:  https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Hang-Gliding-Pine

[Steve Roderick]

Looks like a nice day! Sounds like the weather was great, with friendly thermals. Thanks for sharing 👍 

Steve R.

Get Outlook for Android

---

From: pine-mount...@googlegroups.com <pine-mount...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of bill arras <bill...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, 29 June 2026 14:46:42
To: pine-mount...@googlegroups.com <pine-mount...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: what a wonderful treat it was!

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Pine Mountain Pilots" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pine-mountain-pi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pine-mountain-pilots/SA2PR02MB7769B17CF0CD73A54F50031EB7E82%40SA2PR02MB7769.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.

[Patrick Kruse]

You boys sure look happy. 

Well done and thanks for the flight report. 

Get some,

Patrick 

On Jun 29, 2026, at 4:10 PM, Steve Roderick <skym...@msn.com> wrote:



Looks like a nice day! Sounds like the weather was great, with friendly thermals. Thanks for sharing 👍 

Steve R.

Get Outlook for Android

---

From: pine-mount...@googlegroups.com <pine-mount...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of bill arras <bill...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, 29 June 2026 14:46:42
To: pine-mount...@googlegroups.com <pine-mount...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: what a wonderful treat it was!

 

<Outlook-pd0jgwcu.jpg>

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pine-mountain-pilots/SJ0PR02MB7198DDB4AE083C9EEF943A39C6E82%40SJ0PR02MB7198.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.