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Post by mike leger on Jun 26, 2020 18:32:50 GMT 1
A brief flying story from the desert in California, thought the area might be of interest to some since it is so different than the beautiful Alps that we often see pictures of on the forum. My friend Jeff and I received our E-swifts earlier this year but our adventures have been somewhat limited. Recently they reopened El Mirage dry lake bed out in the desert about a 4 hour drive east of us. So, we loaded up Jeff’s box on his truck and put his fuselage in my trailer along with my glider, which we towed behind the motorhome. El mirage is not a beautiful place, but it does have certain advantages like being able to taxi/take-off/land in any direction for miles and the potential for teeth rattling thermals. We had one full day on the lakebed with the swifts. Jeff spent the day tearing up the lakebed doing taxi practice and high-speed taxi runs while dodging the dust that were devils ripping off all around us. Due to what I assumed had to be very strong and rowdy thermals, I waited until 1700 to fly since it has been 10+ years since my last soaring flight. Late in the day the thermals were smooth and took me up to 9500 feet (2900m) above the lakebed which is at 2800 feet (900m). I flew around the area for 1.5 hours enjoying the e-swift and polishing my thermaling skills. Hopefully more stories to come soon since after recent deliveries there are now have 5 E-Swifts and 1 Pas in California. Cheers, Mike
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Post by Christian Hugon on Jun 26, 2020 19:05:38 GMT 1
Hello Mike,
Thanks for posting these pictures. Effectively, the place is totally different than in Europe. But it seems that the thermals are strong and that you can use the thermals to gain big heights. Let us all see other pictures in the future. It is very exciting.
Regards
Christian
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JMarc
New Member
Posts: 7
Name / Surname: Roussie, Jean-Marc
Main flying location: Region, Country: Dordogne, France
Two or three axes controls: Three axes
Administered_by: Robert
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Post by JMarc on Jun 30, 2020 21:40:12 GMT 1
Hi Mike, it’s great to read that you sent your Swift at nearly 10000ft. What a runway, no risk to hit the markings with the wingtips 😂. Cheers, Jean-Marc.
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