Th e Rainier Paragliding Club Newsletter

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1 Th e Rainier Paragliding Club Newsletter rving th e Paragliding Com m unity ofw e ste rn W ash ington Th e Th erm alcolum n Se "Do, or do not. Th e re is no try." - Je di M aste r Yoda In Th is Issue: H aircut for Brem er LZ by Kim Sm ith Page 2 H ow Big is Your Bag by Doug Etter Page 3 No Fooling A round by Jim Baldo Page 3 O n th e RPC W eb Site: March Calendar & Mem bersh ip Form 1

A H air Cutfor th e Bre m e r LZ A couple of w eek s ago I noticed th at m y neigh bor h ad been spending a lot of tim e h om e so I ask ed h im w h y.

M ik e, I ask ed, w h y don t you bring th at big T-Rex th ing over to th e Brem er LZ and let it eat a few trees. W e lh e did bring it over and it w ent w ild.

As th e piles grew ta ler in size and m ore in num ber, m y w a let sh runk proportionately until fina ly th ese trees w ere roasted over a h ot bed of coals and reduced to a sm a lpile of glow ing

It sits proudly in th e w ind flow no longer encum bered by neigh boring vegetation.

2 A H air Cutfor th e Bre m e r LZ A couple of w eek s ago I noticed th at m y neigh bor h ad been spending a lot of tim e h om e so I ask ed h im w h y. W ork h ad been a little slow during th e w inter and th ings h ad not yet brok en loose. H m m! M ik e, I ask ed, w h y don t you bring th at big T-Rex th ing over to th e Brem er LZ and let it eat a few trees. W e lh e did bring it over and it w ent w ild. Reach ing h igh on th e trees, it bit th em in h alf, yank ed th em out by th e roots and stack ed th em in piles. After a couple of days, about tw o acres of sm a lalders h ad been devoured. As th e piles grew ta ler in size and m ore in num ber, m y w a let sh runk proportionately until fina ly th ese trees w ere roasted over a h ot bed of coals and reduced to a sm a lpile of glow ing em bers. Now, m ark ing both th e w e lh ead and th e m iddle of th e new ly created field, is a new w ind sock I constructed. It sits proudly in th e w ind flow no longer encum bered by neigh boring vegetation. As soon as M ik e h as tim e and w h en th e w eath er is dry, h e w i lbring over h is Stegosaurus to levelth e playing fie ld. It is going to be nice to h ave m ore room and options for landing in th e LZ at th e Flying K Ranch. Th at is, if th e snow ever m elts and a low s us to m ak e th e drive to launch. Even today (M ar. 25th ) w e received a new layer of snow up on th e ridge. I h ope th at th e snow is gone by th e tim e w e h ave th e Brem er cam pout th is year. I am look ing forw ard to a better th an ever cam pout at Brem er th is year. See you th ere. Kim 2

3 H ow Big is y our Bag? by Doug Ette r Safe ty Office r R PC Spring is fast approach ing and th e flying season w i lsoon be w ith us (w e h ope). W ith th at in m ind, I w ant to sh are a few th ough ts about flying s afe ty. O ver th e w inter w h ile our enth usiasm m ay stay strong, our flying sk i ls certainly dim inish. W e get soft. W e sit in our easy ch airs and do too little for too long. W e overeat during th e h olidays and pack on th ose extra pounds. W e don t exercise as m uch as w e sh ould. Even th ough sitting in a Barcalounger of a h arness is not th e m ost dem anding of activities, it sti lreq uires th e use of long-dorm ant m uscles and sk i ls. And h ik ing to launch or from th e LZ w h ile h um ping th at 50 pound pack req uires a large am ount of energy. H ow m any of us h ave h ik ed w ith our gear during th e w inter just to stay in sh ape? Not m e! Enough on th e ph ysicalside. H ow bout th e m entalfocus? Good flying decisions com e from a m indset th at h ones itself th rough activity. Even th ough w e talk and even dream of flying, our m entalacuity for flying also tak es a w inter break. Spring flying conditions can som etim es be rath er extrem e to say th e least. Com bine a lof th e rust on our bodies and brains th at h ave accum ulated over th e w inter, th en th row in a little over enth usiasm at just th e ch ance to be in th e air again, and w e could be setting ourselves up for a bad day. Every m onth, th e USH PA m agazine h as articles on H ang Gliding or Paragliding accidents. O ften th is is one of th e first articles I turn to. No, it s not m orbid. I w ant to learn som eth ing from som eone else s m istak e. I analyze th e scenarios w ondering w h at I m igh t h ave done differently to affect th e outcom e in som e oth er w ay. Som e of th e analyses are easy inexperience for th e conditions, plain old poor judgm ent, m ech anical failure, th at sort of th ing. H ow ever, I often sense th at th e accident w as not caused by just one sim ple th ing. It s w h at th e experts ca la cascade of events. A giving rise to B, w h ich can th en lead to C resulting in O UCH. I lik e to th ink th at ch anging just one of th ose variables w ould result in a different outcom e. Th e upsh ot is th at w e typica ly enter th e flying season w ith dim inish ed sk i ls of both m uscle and m ind. Add to th at som e active spring air and a craving for airtim e, and w e could just be setting ourselves up for a tragedy. M y advice is to proceed w ith caution. A lof our accum ulated sk i ls and w isdom w i lreturn probably q uick er th an w e th ink. Just try not to dig into your bag of luck too early in th e year. No Fooling Around! by Jim Baldo As I sit h ere jotting dow n a few notes, I find it h ard to believe th at just a few days ago I w as enjoying sunsh ine and w arm th on th e O regon Coast. M y deck is now buried in about six inch es of snow and it look s lik e plow ing m y drivew ay h as becom e a necessity even th ough th e day for fools (April1) is only five days aw ay. M y six trips to Ecola State Park, located by Cannon Beach, O regon, th is past m onth now seem lik e a distant m em ory. Ecola is a coastalsite, one I h old w ith th e utm ost respect. It is th e site th at introduced m e to th e th ri l of being blow n back. I m as sure it w as just dum b luck th at a low ed m e to escape th e clutch es of th e 3

about pu ling rea ly big ears. It w as now I pu ling m y outside A s low er and low er for a li w as w orth, w h ile standing on fu lspeed bar.

4 150 ft. trees th at abound in th is park, as it w as poor judgem ent th e got m e into th at predicam ent. I rem em ber clearly as I w as traveling back w ards across th e park ing area, h aving launch ed in a lu l of w h at w ere w inds too strong for th is site, th e story of a fe low pilot talk ing about pu ling rea ly big ears. It w as now I pu ling m y outside A s low er and low er for a li w as w orth, w h ile standing on fu lspeed bar. I also rem em ber th e feeling of exuberance as I lost altitude in front of th e ever nearing row of trees and entered th e rotor zone below. Th is w as one tim e th at flying in a rotor w as h igh ly preferred to th e alternative. I considered m yself luck y. In th e site's h istory, oth ers h ave not fared as w e land h ave spent m any h ours h anging h igh in th e forest s canopy aw aiting rescue. Ecola is an innocent enough look ing site th at w ork s best in SSW w inds alth ough th ere are tim es w h en it can also be flow n in a w est w ind. In w est w inds, th e launch is cross and w h at you feelat launch m igh t not be w h at is rea ly h appening out front. Th at said, w ith th e num erous gu ls and eagles th at fly h ere, you alw ays h ave th e locals sh ow ing you th e w ay. O n one particular day, w e w aited at launch for th e w inds to increase w h ile w e w atch ed th e gu ls flying by. Th ey w ere not getting h igh and w ere expending som e energy (read flapping!) as th ey passed, but w ere also finding som e lift on th e w est facing cliffs. O nce I w as able to conq uer m y fear of th e h ik e back to launch, I launch ed and fo low ed th eir lead to th e south w h ere I too w as rew arded by lift th at prope led m e to 500 ft over launch. M y good fortunes caused th ose pilots sti l w aiting at launch to h urriedly unpack th eir gliders and join in th e fun. O n anoth er day, I found m yself alone at launch w aiting for th e arrivalof m ore pilots. As I unpack ed m y gear, I noticed th e conditions getting stronger so launch ed w h ile th e opportunity presented itself and th e w ind w as sti lreasonable. Know ing w h at could h appen if I w ere not careful, I k ept a close eye on m y penetration directly into th e w ind. W h en it began to dim inish, I h eaded out over th e ocean and dow n th e sh oreline search ing for th e edge of th e lift band. Th is a low ed m e to safely travelaw ay from th e cliffs and tow ering trees and exit th e lift band to th e south w h ere th e cliffs are m uch furth er inland. O n th ree oth er days, I found m yself only dream ing of fligh t as th e w inds w ere too strong to safely fly. O n one of th ese days, m y patience w as inadeq uate as I opted to leave early to avoid th e rush h our traffic only to learn on m y arrivalh om e, of th e great flying th at w as enjoyed by th ose th at w aited. As I now glance out m y w indow, I see th e asph alt of th e m ain road pok ing th rough th e snow. M y drivew ay is sti lnow h ere to be seen and I m afraid I ve avoided th e inevitable as long as possible. I m now prope led onw ard k now ing if m y drivew ay is clear, I lbe ready to h ead out on a m om ents notice to m ore flying adventures. 4

"M ind w h aty ou h ave le arne d. Save y ou itcan.

s ide nt Mik e McIntyre Se cre tary Jim H arm on Tre as ure r K ath y Sm ith D

Th e subm ission deadline for th e next new sletter is April. 26th.

5 "M ind w h aty ou h ave le arne d. Save y ou itcan." - Je di M aste r Yoda 2008 Club O ffice rs Pre s ide nt K im Sm ith Vice Pre s ide nt Mik e McIntyre Se cre tary Jim H arm on Tre as ure r K ath y Sm ith D ire ctor (Social) Ste ve Me s s m an Please contribute your stories and ph otos to th e new sletter. W ith out your contributions, th is new sletter can not exist. Th e subm ission deadline for th e next new sletter is April. 26th. Ple ase Sh are your Storie s and PH OTOS! D ire ctor (Safe ty) Ne w s le tte r D oug Ette r Jim Baldo Th is m onth 's ph otos subm itted by: Ch ris King, Kim Sm ith, and Gail& Jim Baldo. 5

The Ind ian Mynah b ird is no t fro m Vanuat u. It w as b ro ug ht here fro m overseas and is now causing lo t s o f p ro b lem s.

The Ind ian Mynah b ird is no t fro m Vanuat u. It w as b ro ug ht here fro m overseas and is now causing lo t s o f p ro b lem s. Mynah b ird s p ush out nat ive b ird s, com p et ing for food and p laces