Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 48

BREWSTER
PATEROS
BRIDGEPORT
4TH OF JULY MTN

LEAHY

FOREST MTN

JUNKYARD LZ

BUTTE OCCER FIELD LZ KNEE
S

MANSFIELD

SIMS

LAMOINE
WITHROW
WATERVILLE
FARMER

the Flats quickly covered the 31 miles
to Sims Corner. Crossing Banks Lake
is always intimidating, for seasoned
veterans as well as for the first timers.
After crossing the lake, pilots then
landed at locations sprawling from
Hartline to Creston. Wayne Michelsen
cranked it out much farther to land
near Edwall, for a 4.5 hour, 105.8
miler, making it the longest straightout flight of both the day and the meet.
Just as important, Wayne avoided the
terminal airspace at Spokane by purposefully heading south and around
it. Mike Daily got out beyond Creston
(72.8 miles), I landed short of Creston
(69.8 miles), Tom Johns landed at
Wilbur (64.5) miles, and Matt Senior
went 53.4 miles. In all, 16 out of 20

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

pilots who flew on Day 4 went over 20
miles. Many set personal bests.

Thursday, July 4: Day 5
As a meet organizer, I planned a “Hike
the Butte” event for 8:00 that morning
and invited all pilots and drivers to join
in the four-mile, 2600-foot vigorous
physical-training march to the Butte
summit. To my astonishment, only two
participants—my son Kevin and I—
showed. Hey, I tried!
Once again, the weather called for
strong westerly wind. The thermals
were disjointed bubbles, not continuous columns, making us feel as if we
were inside a washing machine. For
those bold and patient enough, lift
was out there. Mike Daily proved his

SR17 & HWY2

COULEE
CITY

mastery by knocking out a 102-mile
straight flight to Reardon, and Kelly
Harrison was not far behind, with a
94.4 miler. Cliff Schmitt managed
55.4 miles. Many paragliders did well
in the difficult conditions. Morgan
Hollingsworth scored a 73.2-miler
beyond Creston that became the
farthest paraglider flight of the week.
Matt Senior, Roberto Cardosa, and
Reavis Sutphin-Gray all had flights
over 50 miles; Reavis set a personal
best of 51.8 miles.

Friday, July 5: Day 6, Final Day
The table was set. Mike Daily had essentially cinched up the Rigid class. In
the Topless class the competition was
a tossup between four pilots, in order