Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 47

northwest along a scenic route to
Winthrop. All in all, a pretty great
start to the meet.

Monday, July 1: Day 2
The weather on top of the hill was
awful! At the 11:30 pilots’ meeting we saw strong gusty ground
winds out of the northeast, along
with an approaching large, dark cell
from the south bringing rain showers. The meeting was abruptly cut
short as marble-sized raindrops
pelted unprotected pilots. Later that
afternoon, the weather cleared for
those hardy pilots patient enough
to tough it out. Launches began at
2:30, with landings following shortly
thereafter. Fly-downs through the hot,
thick, moisture-laden air, followed
by cold beer and refreshing swims in
Lake Chelan were the most common
pilot-called tasks. The longest flight
was only 5.5 miles, by Tom Johns to
a landing at the wild asparagus field
below the Chelan Airport.

Tuesday, July 2: Day 3
Just after the pilots’ meeting we called
for a fire drill. About 14 pilots and
drivers produced the same number of
fire extinguishers and shovels. It was
a bit of a staged show for the benefit
of the visiting Department of Natural
Resources’ (DNR) manager, and it
worked. He was impressed.
The weather was problematic—
strong winds from the SW above
a sheer layer at 3000 feet looked
promising, but provided very little

in the form of useable lift—a “Green
Monster” day. Rigid-wing pilot
Mike Daily initially sank 1500 feet
below launch, but patiently worked a
thermal up and onto the Flats. Zero
sink in a thermal in strong winds is
still making progress, and, using that
philosophy, Mike kept going until
he eventually was able to land in
Nespelem, for a 61.2-mile best hang
glider flight of the day. Davidson
DaSilva, in the paraglider Sport class,
found his way out beyond Leahy for
a 38.6-mile best paraglider flight of
the day. Another paraglider, Reavis
Sutphin-Gray, won the unofficial
endurance award. He spent over three
hours in thermals over Chelan Butte
and above Farnham Canyon, but only
netted 6.2 straight miles. His track
log ought to be placed on canvas and
entitled “Two Plates of Spaghetti” and
put in a gallery of modern art.
That evening, the meet organizers
hosted a “Back in the Day” informal
chat session with two of the veteran
pilots and meet launch directors,
Danny Uchytil and Steve Hollister,
who have a combined hang gliding
experience of over 75 years. Flying tips
and tales of lore (some of them even
true) were enjoyed by all.

Wednesday, July 3: Day 4
The weather forecast called for strong
west winds. Upon climbout, it became
clear that this was going to be an
open-distance, straight out to the east
type of day—a classic Classic day.
Tallyho! Most of those who made it to

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