Camp Speicher

I made it to Camp Speicher yesterday, and am sleeping in temporary housing for the moment. We did some orientation and driver training today, and will probably start doing some driving moving stuff around on the base tomorrow. We have orientation to the "C" sites on Friday, then should be able to go out on a convoy some time after that. The first trip out will be a "right seat, left seat" deal, where we ride along with another driver who has been at this base a while, to wherever we are going, and we drive back to here. Then we will be allowed to drive on convoys without any one else in the truck with us. I'm looking forward to getting to work. I currently don't know if I will be staying here, or if I will be transferred to another base. If I get transferred, it will most likely be to another of the "C" sites. They have "A, B, C, D, etc" sites over here, and the number one of each group is the primary base of the group. I don't have a clue as to why the sites are grouped this way, as it does not seem to be geographically sorted.

Hope everyone is well.

Smooth Air, Long Flights, and Soft Landings,

GliderMike

Traveling to Baghdad

Had a break during the festivities involved to travel to Baghdad, so I thought I would do a quick post. Yesterday, we spent the day "outprocessing" to get ready to transfer to Camp Speicher. Part of the process involved, checking in our Level III waistcoats, along with NBC gear, as we can get new stuff when we get to Speicher, and avoid having to carry an extra 50 or 60 pounds of stuff while traveling. I hadn't remember how far it was to where I needed to check in the Level III stuff, so I also wore my Level IV waistcoat on the walk. I would need to let someone else verify by inspection what the GP (government property) number on my Level IV vest, so I thought I would take it all with me. I was soaked and concerned about heat stroke by the time I got there to drop off the NBC gear and Level III waistcoat. One of my friends had done the same thing, and I guess he isn't in as good physical condition as I am, so he was in trouble! He walked in, and started slinging stuff off, and was cussing (quietly, but loud enough I and the guy who was checking my stuff could hear him). When the vests hit the floor, they were clanging (steel and ceramic bulletproof plates in the vests, remember), and making a racket. I started laughing about the circus, and when Mike noticed me laughing, he got embarrassed and said "It slipped", which caused me to start laughing more. I was nearly rolling in the floor when he said that, and all three guys in the warehouse were laughing by now. Mike finally calmed down, and he started laughing. I told him later it was mean of me to laugh at him, and he said he thought it was all pretty funny now that it was over with.

We made it to Baghdad on the 5th, and overnited there. I bought some stuff at the Bazaar outside the PX there. I bought decals that say "Danger, Stay Back" written in English and Arabic, and a couple of patches saying the same thing to sew on my Hang Gliding and Paragliding harnesses, as well as some postcards. I also bought a fabric map of Iraq which is supposed to be a "survival" map in case you get separated from your convoy. AND, I bought a couple of patches for OB1, and Montana Jeff to put on the boots of their harnesses which say "American Convoy Ahead, Stay Back" If they are flying good at the comps, it will be a moot point, but if someone is catching them, maybe it will break the concentration of OB1 and Jeff's competitors, knowing they should stay back! It is a good thought anyway, and the guys should be able to get a laugh or two out of it, if nothing else.

A Beautiful Day in Paradise

I finally arrived in Mesopotamia between the banks of the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers on October 20. I spent the night at the Baghdad Transition Center, then on to Camp Anaconda on Sunday, October 21 (my birthday). I celebrated my birthday by having a chili cheeseburger, onion rings, and a strawberry sundae for lunch, then having a banana split for my evening meal. I leave for Camp Speicher in a couple of days, where I will be posted (until someone decides they need more truck drivers at some other camp) for at least 120 days.

The company seems to have improved since the last time I was here, and everything seems to be a lot more positive now than before. Now, after you have been at a location for 120 days, you can apply for a transfer to another base, and they are allowing the transfers to happen. I think the improvement in attitudes and treatment is due to the current Project Manager, who is extremely emphatic about company policy of dignity and respect. He spoke to us (truck drivers) the second day we were here at Anaconda, and seems to be a straight shooter, who doesn't talk out of the side of his mouth, if you know what I mean.

Today I checked out a new level IV waistcoat, along with a ballroom gown, gloves and headdress to wear when I go ballroom dancing. The gown, gloves and headdress are made of Nomex fabric, and should be quite stylish, except for the fact everyone else will be wearing the same thing! The day I arrived at Anaconda, I was issued a tiara to wear to the dances, but it seems to be fairly heavy. Many of the soldiers refer to their tiara as Kevlar. Hope this finds everyone well. I am doing well, as I got paid for the first last days of October on November 2, instead of November 16th. During orientation they had told us we wouldn't get paid until later, as we had arrived in country after October 15th. I had the good sense to not complain about being paid early. Some of my friends from Kenya are starting to arrive here now also, which gives me more opportunity to practice the few words of Swahili I learned in Houston. There are also some Ugandan soldiers here who are also helping me learn my new language. Having a good time, wish you were all here. The house thermals look promising for flatland flying.

Smooth Air, Long Flights, and Soft Landings,
GliderMike

Finally out of Houston!

I finally left Houston on the 17th of October. I had been within three hours of getting on the airplane to leave on the 9th, and they told us someone had contracted chicken pox. The guy had went to a doctor there next to the hotel on Friday, and done blood tests that confirmed the infection. He started showing the bumps and stuff on Monday after that, and called the company people. They sprang the news on us Tuesday morning. I couldn't remember if I had ever had chicken pox or been exposed to it enough to have an immunity built up, so I did what I thought was the 'honorable thing' and did a blood test the next day. I didn't get out of Houston for another eight days. When I get to feeling sorry for myself about having to hang around so long, I remember a guy from Kenya who had been there two weeks longer than I, and he ended up in quarantine until October 26. Hopefully none of the twenty or thirty people who ended up in quarantine came down with the chicken pox, which could cause them to have to stay even longer.

A Piano Player in New Zealand

I think I have all my projects done, and have about 15 minutes of "last minute packing" to do, and I will be ready to go to Houston to start orientation to go back to Iraq. When I was in Iraq before, I had started a blog, but immediately forgot the password, and never posted to it. I have decided to use it for the stories I will have when I am "off base", and use this blog for stories of "inside the wire". I have a link to it in the links section. The blog is www.nzpianoplayer.blogspot.com and the link I have listed is for A Piano Player in New Zealand. The title of this post is not to be confused with the link. I have a little story about what I will be doing with the blog, and another little blurb about someone else who claims "piano player in a brothel" as their occupation. According to blogger, he is the only other person who has a blog, claiming that occupation other than me. AS most of you know, I have been using that phrase in various places for quite some time, even before I went to Iraq. I added the NZ part when I went over there. Photos may be scarce for a while. Thanks for all your support.
Smooth Air, Long Flights, and Soft Landings,
GliderMike

Ben Lomand Peak September 18, 2007

This is "Oregon" Steve Siebel on his first trip to Ben Lomand Peak. The drive up was an hour and a half of dirt road. When we got there, Steve was wondering what he had gotten himself into. You can see the "Intimidator" in the center of the photo. I had warned him about it beforehand, and told him it really is not a problem, but due to its size it really looks intimidating. It is about three-fourths of a mile out there to it.

These two photos are of some mountain goats we shared the ridge with. They didn't seem to be bothered by us. I flew over them later, probably three hundred feet above them, and they didn't seem to pay any attention.
This is a shot after we all landed with the "Intimidator" and launch in the background. I had launched first, followed by Oregon Steve, then by Crazee Mike. I flew for an hour total, getting about thirteen hundred feet above launch. I could see Logan, Eden, Brighan City, and Ogden all at the same time. This was the best ridge lift I have ever flown, as I could get nearly a mile out in front of the top of the ridge, and thirteen hundred feet above the top, and still was in good smooth lift. It took me twenty minutes to get from the high point to the LZ I chose. I probably traveled three or four miles up and down the ridge sightseeing. The LZ I chose was a freshly plowed alfalfa field, which was not as good a choice as the freshly cut alfalfa field next to it would have been. When I landed, what little wind there was, was behind me, and I couldn't run the landing out fast tenough to keep from putting the nose of my glider in the dirt, and bent a down tube. When Mike landed next, he landed in the cut field, and did better, having a two mph headwind. Steve landed in the plowed field, but he also had about a two mph headwind, when he landed. I flew for an hour total as I mentioned earlier, Steve flew two hours, and Mike flew an hour and forty five minutes. It was a good day, in spite of my bent down tube.
This is a shot I took before sunset, after we had packed everything up.

Lots of Hang Gliders on the North Side

John, Shadd, Dave T. and I painted the new ramp at Pete's today. It really looks good. I will give the deck an additional coat of paint tomorrow afternoon to finish it off.

There is a group from Wisconsin visiting this week, and with the combination of them and a large number of locals showing up this evening, there were about 15 or 20 hang gliders in the air this evening. It was breezy enough that there were only 2 or 3 paragliders up for most of the time. Conditions looked slightly cross at launch, but when I launched, it was definitely a Viagra day.

I was visiting with Dangerous Dave this evening, and we decided to do a Mastercard commercial that goes something like this:

New top of the line, state of the art racing glider - $7,000.00

New Instruments/GPS navigation system - $2,000.00

New State of the art, top of the line, super aerodynamic racing harness - $1,500.00

Latest super high fashion, super aerodynamic hang gliding sunglasses - $300.00

Your buddy seeing the whites of your eyes on both sides of the said sunglasses when you are launching on the first platform tow you have done in 15 years - PRICELESS!!!

Flying the North Side

I flew the North Side this evening on my Paraglider, and Linda took a bunch of photos. I'm still experimenting on how to upload photos. The first group of photos are in reverse order with the later ones at the top and the earlier ones below the later ones. There are two groups of photos, and each group is in reverse order. Captions for photos are below the pertinent photo(s). It was a good evening on the North Side for me.


Linda was able to get 3 shots of Dude and I close to each other. I talked to Dude afterwards, and I think he was a little tense on a couple of the passes we made. He was able to stay up almost as long as I did, and he also was able to top land. At one point, he was within 50 feet of having enough altitude to bench up. I lacked about 100 feet ever getting enough altitude to feel comfortable enough to move back to bench up. There were quite a few people who did bench up, but they launched about twenty minutes before I did, and the lift was starting to fall off a little by the time I launched. There were also quite a few people who sank out and landed in the water treatment plant LZ.
The "house thermal" in front of the HG launch was really cooking this evening most of the time.
Here is a photo showing my excellent form pulling my wing up getting ready to launch.

The below photos are in reverse order, with last being at the top and the earliest of this group being at the bottom. Yes, I really was that low, and yes, I really did get back up above the ridge, and top land.
The order is reversed on this group of photos. My smile is so much ear to ear here, you can't see much curve on it. This was after I top landed. There were a bunch of people who sank out.
I never did quite get high enough to feel comfortable to move back to bench up, but it was close.
There were times traffic was a little thick.
I was actually getting back up here.
I really did get this low. Linda said my wing never got below the ridge, but I knew there were a couple of times I really got low. When I would hit some good lift, I'd check traffic, and if it was where I could make a couple of turns to pick up a little altitude, I did. It was a good evening for me on the North side.

Ben Loman Peak September 1

Mike Gretta and I flew Ben Loman Peak (or Willard Peak, not sure which it is) north of Ogden this afternoon. This is a shot looking down the south facing launch. I call the large rock point that is slightly to the left of center "The Intimidator." Standing on launch, it looks a lot closer than the 1/2 mile away it is.


Above is Mike Gretta ready to launch, and after launching. You can get a better idea from the "after launch" shot of why I call the point out front "The Intimidator" The three below photos are me before launching, and 2 more after I am out, but still between launch and "The Intimidator". These really give a perspective of how far out the big rock point is from launch.

These 3 photos are in the order they were taken from left to right, and down. On the lower shot, I am still between launch and "The Intimidator." It REALLY is a long way out to the big rock point.

The LZ I chose was an elongated bowl between two sets of powerlines. The bowl was about a quarter mile wide from east to west, and about a half mile long from north to south. I didn't take any photos of the LZ. (I need an emoticon here, and haven't figured out how to put them in yet!) The bowl was about twenty feet higher on the north end than the lowest point, and about fifty feet higher on the south end than the lowest point. The lowest point, where Mike and I actually landed was at about the two-thirds distance point from the north end, with the last third of the LZ to the south of us. This was my "first" time to pick an LZ from the air that I knew wasn't flat, and only my second time to pick an LZ from the air, which I had not checked out on foot before the flight. I chose the LZ for relatively easy access for retrieve, and because I was sure I could end up heading uphill at the moment of touchdown. There were also some leafy trees over the very north end that I could fly over to check wind direction by looking at the leaf movements, and still be high enough to land to the north or across the LZ if the surface wind was not still out of the south. My skydiving background helped with this, and my ballooning background helped with a "guestimation" of wind speed. I was pleased with my LZ choice. You pilots who have lots of XC time may not remember what it was like on your first few flights when you had not actually picked out your LZ before launching. This LZ was not visible from launch, as "The Intimidator" and the ridge it was in kept us from seeing this LZ from launch. Next I have some photos I took after we landed, but none of the actual LZ itself. This gives a whole new meaning to "going in the bushes!" The LZ was behind "Willard Bay Nursery"

This photo shows my harness, helmet and "packing tool" in the shade behind one of the shade bushes in the area. I have a close friend who gives me a hard time about my not caring for lots and lots of trees. He likes lots of trees for the shade available from them, and I tell him you don't need so many trees to be able to find shade. This shot is for him. I'm not sure if you can recognize the packing tool is a bottle of NewCastle.

As you can tell, I'm still learning how to place my photos in the blog, so some are not as nicely placed as OB1 or Jamie Shelden do theirs, but at least I do have some photos. It was a good day. This flying site, could be a H2 site, except for "The Intimidator", the power lines on both sides of the LZ, and the fact you can't see the LZ from Launch. The day we flew it, I don't think it was a "Big Air" day, but the site definitely has the potential to be a good XC site, and a good "Local Big Air" site, with lots of available altitude. The drive up is longer (and definitely requires 4X4 with good ground clearnance) than the drive up Francis Peak (which is driveable with almost any two wheel drive), but there are not the altitude restrictions here that Francis has. Mike and I have discussed the day, and both came to the conclusion it was a good exploratory day, learning some of the areas to be able to get good lift, and some of the areas to avoid, unless you are wanting some sink. I'm not sure exactly how much vertical launch is above the LZ, as I didn't check altitude before starting up the hill, and didn't zero my memo altitudes before launching. I think it was around 4500 feet vertical from launch to the LZ. Also, Linda Watkins (my wife for those of you who don't know her) took the photos shown on this post.

Looking for Work Again!

I bailed from the dump trucking job, and yesterday was my last day. Trying to figure out what I can find in the way of gainful employment that doesn't have much to do with trucking. Preferably looking for something that has to do with aviation of some sort. I hope to never set foot in a truck in the states again.