XTexas Paragliding

XTexas Paragliding XTexas Paragliding exists to provide safe towing operations to rated PG pilots who want to experience world-class XC conditions right here in Texas.

10/12/2015

PG Hearne Report – October 12, 2015

Greetings XTexas paragliding enthusiasts. Not much to report this week. On Saturday conditions were showing flyable with winds out of the north. Unfortunately, no pilots. On Sunday Brian McAdoo drove down from the Dallas Ft. Worth area to give things a try. The winds had shifted around and were now coming out the south with warmer temperatures and nice puffy cumulus clouds drifting north east across a mostly blue sky. Surface winds were showing 8 – 9.5 mph and Brian had no trouble climbing to 2000' on tow before pinning off to chase lift. He made several attempts in various locations around the airport but never found the lift to take him above 3000'.

Ok, looking ahead to this week. As most of you know USHPA meeting is taking place this week in Austin. I plan to attend Friday's committee meeting on towing operations. I'll let you know next week if there are any changes in the wind. I plan to be out at Hearne on this weekend (17th and 18th ) for the last PG towing operation of the 2015 season. Hope to see everyone out there. Safe flying.

10/06/2015

PG Hearne Report – October 6, 2015

Greetings XTexas paragliding enthusiasts. Sounds like lots of exciting flying going on this past weekend at a variety of sites with all kinds of different aircraft. Congratulations to the Texas Wingnuts on another great fly-in. So good to hear about Texas pilots are getting quality airtime. The situation this past weekend in Hearne was nice to see. We had half a dozen different pilots come out to test their skills and conditions. Both days the winds were blowing from the NNE at around 6-10 mph so good time to practice reverse launches under tow.

On Saturday three pilots car pooled from Austin (John Petersen, Sam Gaddis and Derek Black). In addition Lindsey Black volunteered to come along and help with the chase and launch observer duties. Many thanks to Lindsey for the great support! We also had Andres Solis over from Houston for the day. Andres managed to get two tows in on the day with his first flight landing downwind a few miles from the airport. John and Sam found plenty of lift around the airport and managed to stay up for more than 30 minutes each. Derek rode the north wind away from the airport and landing several miles downwind, probably the best flight of the day. I even managed to get a 20 minute ride in. Thanks a million to John and Derek who worked as tow techs and helped get us all some air time.

On Sunday with nothing but blue and really high cirrus clouds overhead two Dallas/Fort Worth pilots came out to give it a go. Brian McAdoo took to the air first with a really nice tow to 2200' and managed to stay aloft for more than 30 minutes before sinking out. Scott Magas took a tow to 1946' before pinning off and found a few thermals to take him above 3000'. It was getting pretty late in the day with falling wind-speeds when Brian made his second attempt. By then the skies had quieted down and the magic was no where to be found. I should mention Dick Bell dropped by to watch and help out. Dick and I were both Bud Wruck's students so was nice to catch up on things.

Looking ahead to this weekend most of the forecasting models are calling for a 20% chance of rain on Friday and nothing over the weekend. They are predicting partly cloudy skies with north winds 5 – 10 mph on Saturday, and clear skies and south winds 5-10 mph on Sunday. Should be fun.

10/02/2015

Update on Tow Vehicle & weekend flying. Just picked up the tow vehicle from the mechanic. Terrific job of bolting the w***h to the bed of the tow rig. So… Let me know if you are interested in flying this weekend. Winds are looking good, albeit, from the north. Lift conditions look great from 12:00 - 5:00. Who’s in?

09/25/2015

Just spoke with my mechanic in Hearne. The tow vehicle will not be ready until next week sometime. So, PG tow operations in Hearne will be suspended for this week only. Hopefully, I’ll have better news next week. In the meantime, enjoy the weekend, build up those family points, and if possible get out and fly. All the best.

09/22/2015

PG Hearne Report – September 22, 2015

Greetings X Texas paragliding enthusiasts. Rocking conditions this past weekend resulted in two PG pilots pulling off some nice XC flights. On Saturday Melissa Morton from San Antonio pinned off at 1,000' and rode a strong thermal to near cloud base. With so much buoyant air in the neighborhood the hard part was getting back down. In her wake we launched additional pilots (John Peterson from Austin, Andres Solis from Houston, and Brad Morton from San Antonio) to keep her company but we all struggled to find the magic. At times we witnessed a strong cross wind component, and throughout the remainder of the afternoon the windsock would swing from north to south to north again making for multiple setups.

Later in the afternoon Kelly Miller from Austin showed up on the scene. His first attempt was nothing to write home about, but his second flight was a joy to witness. Heading west away from the airport he managed to get more than 10 miles out before turning around and successfully landing back at Hearne. Well done Kelly!

On Sunday, conditions were even better. The winds were 10 – 12 mph out of the southeast for most of afternoon with nice cumulus cloud streaks on both sides of the airport. Unfortunately, the hook & strap system that I was using to secure the w***h inside the tow vehicle failed and we had to call it quits before getting any pilots launched. Apologies to Yoram Borodaty from Houston, Brad and Melissa Morton from San Antonio and Warren ??? from Austin who showed up to either fly or help out.

On Monday I located a local mechanic in Hearne who felt he could easily bolt the w***h down to the tow vehicle's seat bed as well as find an effective way to clamp the mast. So, for now the rig is in the shop. Let's hope it's ready to go by this coming Saturday. For the latest plans on flying Hearne please go to my facebook site XTexas Paragliding. That's all for now. Enjoy your week and keep looking to the skies.

09/10/2015

Greetings X-Texas Paragliders. This past weekend was another quiet weekend for paragliding in Hearne. All three days (Saturday – Monday) proved plenty of cloud cover with storm clouds clearly evident on both Saturday and Monday. All in all, a great weekend to keep an eye on the weather and build up the family points during the long labor-day weekend.

On Saturday, Jamie Vargus from Houston joined me for a couple hours of para-waiting to see if any of the projected storm clouds would impact our flight plans. They did. On Sunday, the best day for flying Hearne this weekend, all the pilots must have been doing family stuff or flying locally. I understand a couple pilots towed up from Wells Lane, near Austin. Great to hear and I hope they had good flying conditions. On Monday we had three pilots show up, two from the Dallas/Ft. Worth (Scott Magus and Brian McAdoo) area and one from Houston (Andres Solis).

Monday promised to be worthy of the drive out to Hearne as the weather apps had all forecast good lift with little/no chance of showers. Everyone showed up around 2:00 pm when we were greeted with nice cloud streaks and blue sky. After we conducted the pilot briefing, pulled out the wings for pre-flight kiting, and got ready to tow Andres up, Brian came over and directed my attention to the large dark clouds gathering in the east. Bummer! Where did this come from? We pulled up the Storm app and sure enough, the skies east of Hearne were now lit up by fast moving storm clouds. Oh well, better to wait on the ground than trying to get down. So we secured our gear and waited about 90 minutes before declaring Monday a bust.

On a positive note… the new (used) tow vehicle is now ready to be deployed. With the increased visibility, automatic transmission, and close proximity to winch controls, tow line, etc., I think everyone is in for a much safer and more efficient tow.

Enjoy the rest of your week, keep an eye on the weather (Saturday is currently showing clear skies and really strong winds out of the north, Sunday lighter conditions), and we’ll see if we can catch a weather break.

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Hearne, TX
77859

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Sunday 12pm - 6pm

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