After a (not) frustrating Friday at Indian Cliffs in Elmira New York, I finally hit the right site at the right time for the 4th of July break. Saturday, July 3, we arrived at Bristol to a doubting Doug Stoner, but Katrin on top said it was beginning to blow in some. There were more pilots than I have ever seen on top of the hill there, and so many PGs!!! Lots of help carrying in (big hike!) and the clogged launch was a sign of many hopeful pilots. Even Joel dragged his Exxtacy in....
Florian was the only pilot to stay up for very long- a few PGs did so-so. Then Mark launched later and had a low save over the parking lot to break launch height by 85 feet or so. Bob and Rick went... sledded. Then I got in front of Joel in the slot and headed left after waiting forever to launch. It must have been after 5pm and I was at least hoping for a few 360s. I sank along the ridge to the south and saw a few vultures. Mark called on the radio and said there were a bunch of them back at launch but I had my eye on what looked like a hawk even further south. Sure enough I got some beeps and it was just big enough to crank a 360 in. I stuck with it until I was drifted back over launch and going up fast and smooth. Oh yeah... that felt so good!!! Joel launched when I was pretty high and then a lot of PGs went off. I was bouncing off the inversion some 800 meters over take off and Doug joined me. I don't know who all the others were but we could just drive all over the sky a couple thousand feet over with impunity. After an hour and a half I decided to land- still had pool issues to deal with at home. A confidence inspiring landing just on the edge of the tall grass was a perfect ending to a really sweet flight. My kind of air!



The next day we headed to Hyner View- for their unique brand of partying. Adam was being a pretty good sport to come along and we- Joe S, Mark, Adam and I floated on the river for a bit as no one was soaring when we arrived. Later we went up when Dennis Pagen was scratching around- by the time we got up top, he was the only one really high. He got flushed before we finished setting up, and I waited for Bob Beck to suit up before even THINKING about launching. Joe and Bob and a few others were soaring a bit when I launched, and I got up quickly. Again, sweet, smooth air. No bumps or surprises, just light solid lift. Pretty soon I was up around 700 meters over and boating around on glass. After two hours and a nice tour around the valleys, I headed to land. My approach could have been better- I was too high, but I put it down okay, with only a slightly late flare, but no forward momentum to freak me out. A quick swim in the river to wash up, a maddening dinner in town, and then the evening's festivities....
Mark had handed a huge amount of fireworks to Adam, who was more than happy to start setting shit on fire, and pretty soon, 'Middle Aged Man' was getting ready to do his final showing as the Statue of Liberty. I got recruited as a Foil Virgin and we plastered him head to tow with aluminum foil, handed him a bunch of fireworks, and let him do his thing....




Adam and the dog after the lights and noise.

Spoons has a unique way of making a lot of noise... In the morning, Adam reported some naked fire jumping had occured after I went to bed. And Spoons said that Middle Aged Man would be back again next year and not retire... I think due, in part, to the extra special foiling job I did of his nether regions....

On the way back through Dansville on Monday, Mark treated Adam to a sailplane flight for his decent behavior. Here's the tow plane.

Getting ready to take off.

Final approach.

Nice touchdown!
No one got more than short flights at Harris Monday, so we were glad we didn't try. It was 95 degrees and humid and feeling like summer in New York. Thank God the pool is back in action!