Flight Reports

Great training day with reliable but small thermals to 4300ft. Did a intro for Jordan and he loved it, his comment feels like I have been flying in a cage up until now. The BFR for Lee with some spin training in the 2-32 and a rope break. Then Caitlyn got back in the saddle after a few months off.

The forecast was for mostly blue skies, so the day’s activities were focused on training flights and demo flights. Other than being hot, several training flights and demo flights were completed and enjoyed by the participants. The day mostly was blue…a few small cu only. Sunday was not the very good soaring conditions we had on Friday and Saturday!

I flew a great local soaring flight from Hamilton Municipal in the Schweizer SGS 1-26. The WeGlide/Copilot trace only captured the last part of the flight, so the official scored portion shows 34.3 miles, 106.9 points, and 1 hour 11 minutes, but the actual flight was much longer, closer to 4 hours total.
Most of the day was spent working local lift around Hamilton, staying patient and making the most of what the sky offered. Late in the flight, the logger captured the scored triangle south and southeast of the airport, around the Vista Mountain and Star Mountain area, before I brought it back home. Even though WeGlide only shows the final segment, it was part of a much longer and very satisfying 1-26 flight.
The Schweizer 1-26 makes you earn every mile, and this was one of those flights where staying with the lift mattered more than rushing anywhere. It was a good reminder that a modest trace on WeGlide does not always tell the whole story. In reality, it was a long, enjoyable afternoon of local soaring, capped off with a clean little triangle and a safe return to Hamilton.

Skysight and the Ft Worth SKEW-T both said, “Good day!”
Finally! 6 hours in the air and 3.5 of it completing a ~220 mile CC at 61 mph. SW to Goldthwaite and good looking cu, but they were foolers. Turned SE to Lampassas and hopefully better lift. Took a couple of 2 knot climbs to get away from the weak conditions. Turned N back to Hamilton and better lift. Hit a couple of 8 knot actual average climbs. Bases were est. 6500 MSL. Drove N to Stephenville and then SE to Clifton. Turned back west to Hamilton and an enjoyable hour of flying with Ashleigh in TL (see photo).
Most of the day was flown at 90 to 100 knots IAS and the flight computer showed mostly 85 up to 110 knts ground speed. The 25 is amazing!

That weak leg to the SW killed my average speed. Average lift stopped for climbs was 4-5 knots.

Best day since January! 5 ships departed and returned to Hamilton. Lots of birds were in the air from TSA.

Landon Cone got his 1st ride in an ASH-25E super ship. Short XC from KMNZ to Lampasas , to Comanche and return. Nice cu with bases estimated 6,500 MSL and best lift was 4 knots average. Landon got to work several weak 1-2 knot thermals to practice handling the HUGE 25-meter wing span. Fun day!