Wind Advisory for Bay Area

Who is doing something with it?

Appears to be N to NE, so maybe Comm Hill will be going off!?!

I'm sure there's a spot in Livermore that rocks a N wind

Looks North & weak all weekend. DLG weather in the South bay. Maybe more wind up north but still N-NE.

Looks like some Big Air moving in after the rain clears out tomorrow.

Here's a NOAA Forecast for Coyote Hills with some nice steady NW and ridiculous Gusts

How's the hike after a rain?

looks like you left a week to early, 15-20 w/ gusts 30 sw in afternoon here, but it will be raining, gotta catch it in between down pours.

Yup,

Gotta follow the dollar$ and get them while their good

Hoping to see some good wind today, over at Coyote Hills Park

Chip the trail will be muddy depending on how much it rained last night & it will be very cold. Bring a change of shoes & a plastic bag to put the muddy ones in if you like your car clean. I should be up there just after noon but it looks very flyable already this morning.

Thanks for the tip,

...I'll be driving home barefoot, then

Rained pretty good over there last night, so I'll prep for muddy.

C-ya there

looks like it's getting a bit Northy

North might be better for Comm Hill

....maybe lesss mud too, spoken by a man with only one pair of sneakers up here

Later this afternoon was actually pretty nice at Tick. It was pretty Northy and a bit turbulent down low but for some reason the lift band seemed to just go up forever. Nice to see a couple of folks I hadn't seen in awhile

Made the mistake of dropping by work on my way over to Coyote Hill

Note to Self: Weekend flying and Work don't mix.

Swung by Comm Hill late in the day for a brief session. Crp that wind was COLD,...poor So Cal boy doesn't stand a chance

What do we have for tomorrow? I changed my Kato over to 2.4GHz, with an OrangeRX R610 and need to redial it in

Tomorrow looks NNE & weak every where to me.

Originally Posted by chip.greely

Very cool,

....thanks for sharing the videos. I think your little ASK-21 is Hawk bait

I'm interested in these sites and their ideal wind direction and velocity. I google mapped them and guessed at their location and wind direction in the pix attached (Please comment or corrected as needed)

Couple of questions by site;

Sierra Rd - which slope are you flying, where do you park and what trail do you walk? Posted?

Ed Levin Park - which of the 3 HangGlider launch sites, access, fees?

Communication Hill - I've heard alot of wind is required, due to slope and canyon interference

Sorry been busy, with Communication Hill you need N or NW winds it has a SW facing bowl and a SE one, however winds don't usually go that way. Your last picture shows the main ridge I fly on and you indicated the wind direction properly. Park at Manuel St and go around the fence (legal) and hike up the trail, you can't miss it. I flew my ASW there today and it was cookin' probably 20mph winds and consistent, very cold though with this cold snap we have been having.

For Ed Levin, Any of the launch sites are suitable, however I haven't had any ranger encounters here so I am not sure how friendly they are to flying but I'm sure it isn't an issue specially if there are no hang gliders. I marked the spot I fly at along with the trail to get there from the parking lot. There is a parking fee so I usually park my car outside and walk or bike.

General Area: N or NW winds are good for where I fly at but I think any wind can be worked with if you explore the surrounding areas. Area labeled SW is a bowl that can be flown with SW winds.
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This is what it looks like from my flying spot [/URL]

I indicted it here in the red circle, this would be what you see going up, the peak directly to the left is a launch site with a wind sock.
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There is a very nice bowl directly behind where I fly but it needs S, SW winds and I haven't experienced that in the Bay Area in my couple of months of sloping.
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Sierra is the most tricky as it is a pretty busy road and the look out where I launch at says no parking, however the area directly behind across the road doesn't say no parking. Landing here is also tough as the ground is very hard soil and you have to land down into the slope and hopefully not end up too far down, experienced fliers with flaps,spoilers should do fine, my ASW has no braking ability so i tend to overshoot my landing area. The view is totally worth it though. I have spoken to the owner before and he said he didn't care about me flying as long as I don't leave trash and don't bother the cows. Do not park against the guard rail, in my younger days I would hang out here with friends and they used to be more lenient, how ever last year they put this guard rail to stop people from hanging out here at night as hoodlums were shooting their guns into the hills and drinking.

General Area: White is where you park closer towards the trees, yellow is the flight line, a small mound that has the slope behind it. Blue is the path to land and the first big blue circle is where I try to land but since it is sloping towards the left it is hard if you don't have the ability to slow down your plane and drop it so mine usually flies down more to the 2nd blue circle. The red spot is area B about 50-70 feet higher with cleaner air and a much better landing spot.


The view from area B, notice the cars parked against the guard rail.


Video from Sierra at site a

E-Flite UMX ASK-21 Slope Soaring @ Sierra Rd. (1 min 34 sec)

And site B

E-Flite UMX ASK-21 Slope Soaring in 40MPH Winds + Long Range (4 min 21 sec)

Thanks for adding all the detail,

The Comm Hill trail off Manuel St (with the Sofa on top for resting ) is where I was for the N facing slope.

Sierra Rd area B looks very promising, with good access a bit further East (maybe a longer flat hike?) according to Google Earth.

Ed Levin parking fee starts at what point? As soon as you pass the booth? Where do you park outside?

We need a So Bay Fly Day

Originally Posted by chip.greely

Thanks for adding all the detail,

The Comm Hill trail off Manuel St (with the Sofa on top for resting ) is where I was for the N facing slope.

Sierra Rd area B looks very promising, with good access a bit further East (maybe a longer flat hike?) according to Google Earth.

Ed Levin parking fee starts at what point? As soon as you pass the booth? Where do you park outside?

We need a So Bay Fly Day

Glad to know you got to the right spot with the sofa along the way

There is no one at the booth @ ed levin on most weekdays and I don't think any one pays then. they usually have them on weekends but I am not sure how it is for the winter. You can park somewhere along the main road before the booth, I see cyclists park their cars there sometimes as long as it isn't a no parking area.