Third Flight in the ASH-25

I paid my fifth visit of the year to Williams Soaring Center on Saturday, April 17, 2010. And this time Kenny Price and I flew in the ASH-25 once again!

This turned out to be my second longest flight out of Williams, trumping the flight South to Lake Berryessa described in the last post. This time we went North. We towed out to Walker Ridge and climbed in thermals to the Tree Farm Gate. From there we made our way to Goat Mountain and got into convergence lift. Then we flew North to Snow Mountain, Mount St. Johns, Sheet Iron Mountain, Alder Springs, turned Black Butte Mountain, returned to Walker Ridge and flew South to Rumsey Gap before we returned to Three Sisters and finally Williams. Another incredible fight out of Williams!

Here, we are heading North after leaving Mount St. Johns.  There were plenty of clouds to mark the convergence line.

The next two shots are of Black Butte Mountain, the farthest North that we progressed that day.

Here, we are still in the vicinity of Black Butte Mountain. Again, the wings of the ASH-25 just seem to go on forever!

We are heading back to the South here and that is Mount St. Johns to the East of us.  If you look closely, you can see another glider heading North just to the right of the summit.

In the next two shots we are approaching Snow Mountain. The trees have been destroyed by wildfire and they cast long shadows in the late afternoon sun.

 

The sun burst reflection off the canopy made the cornice of Snow Mountain appear to be the recipient of divine intervention!

We progressed back down to Walker Ridge and united with Pete Alexander (98) in a thermal at the South end of the Bear Valley near the 16/20 Intersection.  After thermaling with him for a brief time, we decided to set up for a photo opportunity. Here he is in the next three shots. I look forward to seeing the photos he took of us!

We left Pete and headed South to Rumsey Gap before returning North to Three Sisters and heading back to Williams. Here we are heading for home at 120 Knots, which is about 140 MPH!

This is our GPS trace from the flight.

Flight time - 3.4 hours, Distance covered - 203 miles