President’s Report for March 2006

Ann Sasaki

After a brief warm spell in February, we have had some really inclement weather in March! The recent storms brought much snow to the East Bay hills and mountains, creating a beautiful view framed with big, puffy cumulus clouds.

The second Saturday in March was a fabulous flying day with great instability. It was incredibly cold which meant the air was dense and lifty. I got as high as I’ve ever gotten at the coast after thermalling up along Walker Ridge. The view was fantastic - I could see several sections of Crystal Springs reservoir to the SE, the runways at SFO, the snow-covered range in the East Bay and all the way to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Meanwhile Dave Cherne took one of the photos accompanying this article as he benched up to 3500’ over launch at Mission. He said it was great and I imagine he was freezing up there.

Arnel & Nova soar. Photo by Lori Teichert-Smyth

A few notes on winter flying. First, weather conditions can change rapidly around storm fronts. As a number of folks found recently on a day between the fronts, you can be boating around in sunny, benign-seeming conditions and then find that the wind is quickly picking up and you need to land as soon as possible. It’s a good idea to read the National Weather Service forecast (Discussion, Zone and Marine) carefully in the winter. If the day seems fine but the forecast is for stronger, gusty winds, or an approaching front, you will want to factor that in to your flight plan. You’ll want to keep an eye on the water, not get too high and too far back, watch for wind lines, whitecaps, cloud changes, squalls out on the ocean and so forth. If you are at Mission, you’ll check the texture on the Bay and the ponds and monitor the development of the clouds and the strength of the wind.

Dave's boots over Mission on a snowy day. Photo by Dave Cherne

In addition, for those flying at the coast, the new slide that developed earlier this winter right around the corner of Westlake could be an issue on a NW (such as post-frontal) day. What used to be a slightly concave cliff face has now become a big dirt slide that really cuts into the hillside. Pilots should be careful not to carve too far into this area if the wind is NW because you may hit a rotor from the north edge of the slide and the air may be swirling around close to the slide. On a NW day, it’s tempting to go in and hug that first lip of the slide but watch out for possible rotor off the north edge. In addition, you really don’t want to land on the new slide or the older slide just to the north. Both are now so steep and unforgiving. No trace of the old highway 1 roadbed remains in this area.

And finally, a general note – we usually get less local flying during the winter than in other seasons. This means two things – first, we are less current in our skills and second, we may be more eager to fly than usual. This can be a somewhat undesirable combination of factors. When you go flying in the winter, try to use good judgment and realize that if the conditions are really not good, it’s better to wait until you have more favorable weather.

I would like to mention a few upcoming events of note as Spring rolls around –

March 25 and April 1 – Jill Nephew will lead discussions of weather conditions. See Wally Anderson’s announcement for details.

April 16 – Get your HAM license on Easter! See James Smyth’s announcement for details.

April 22 – Jody Lucas Fly-in and Picnic at Ed Levin – Hike and Huck, food at 1:00 p.m., door prizes, soarable flights guaranteed. See the BAPA calendar for details and don’t forget to RSVP to James Smyth.

April 28-30 – Elk Mountain Spring Fly-in – Big bonfire, possible beer drinking, soarable flights, serious 4WD excitement. See the BAPA calendar.

May 6-7 – Anderson Flat Fly-in – Beautiful wildflowers and soarable flights with incredible views of the mountains close to Yosemite. See the BAPA calendar for details.

Fly often and fly safely.