WEATHER
Visibility: Clear all day.
Wind: Light and variable.
Altitudes: 14,000+ msl.
Time Aloft: Three and one half hours.
Max Lift: 10+ knots.
Temperature: 105 deg.
Comment: Fantastic shear line.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Alex Caldwell, flying the Blue Whale, entered a shear line just at the West Ridge and rose to over 14,000 ft. His flight lasted 3.5 hours and could have gone on much longer but the sun was setting and he needed to get back to Tulare.
2. Here's how it all developed. I was flying some folks from Livermore to Tulare and called Alex to see if he wanted to fly out with me to Avenal. He accepted and we left Tulare on a very hot afternoon. On the way to Avenal, we began to see small cu's developing over the West Ridge but they were so high above the ridge that we discounted them, but not entirely. In fact, we wondered just how much higher they were and what was causing them. But being so high, we guessed they might be some upper level disturbance and probably not associated with anything we might be able to catch and soar in. That assessment was sort of borne out by the fact that as we approached Avenal we encountered no turbulence at all until we descended to about 2500 agl.
3. On the ground at Avenal it was HOT. And we were there for about an hour and a half, and no students showed up. So I began to think about getting back to Fresno. Alex and I vacillated about flying, one minute agreeing to get out the Blanik, the next minute, I'm remembering all the things I needed to do at home. This went on for about half an hour, and finally I decided that being hot, and not knowing for sure what was happening aloft, I guessed that just about the time we pulled the glider out and launched, those cu's would disappear and our flight would be a sled ride. What a terrible assessment that would turn out to be.
4. Some time after I left, Alex finally decided to test the West Ridge and pulled the Blue Whale out for what he thought might be a brief ride. As he tells it, once he got to the West Ridge, it was all straight up with no pause until he reached just about 14,000 msl. He estimated he could have gone higher but with no oxygen, he wasn't legal above that altitude. In fact, the FAR's state that oxygen must be used anytime one goes above 12,500 msl for more than thirty minutes and at all times above 14,000 msl. He was amazed at the height since he had never been that high at Avenal in all the years of flying there, particularly in his open class sailplane, the Nimbus 3. Here he was flying our venerable Schweizer 2-33 and looking down on the earth from that altitude. Little did I know what I missed until Alex sent me an email of his grand flight. There were several times during our conversation on the patio when I said out loud, "Maybe we should go up and see what that's all about". That was as close as I got to seeing Avenal from on high.
5. Alex, Dan Gudgel, and Walt Rogers are all trying to understand what weather conditions caused such a phenomenal shear line. When all the analyses are in from the experts, I'll post them on this site. In the meantime, all one can do is "wish you were there". Just think of how many soaring records could have been achieved by not just our licensed member pilots, but our student pilots as well. I can just imagine Hannah, Jack, Andrea, and the rest of the young people getting up that high. Now that would have been a thrill.
By the way, in the midst of all the excitement about Alex's high flight, we need to mention that several days ago Alex renewed his Flight Instructor Certificate Glider and is now available for flight instruction based on mutual schedules.
