Tennessee Tree Toppers

It's 1:30 at Henson Gap and a squadron of sport 2's are ready to
fly. Greg Heckman, Nate Newkirk, Jeff Nibler and David Teuscher all
sky out right off launch in the light conditions. Greg heads south
with Nate and Jeff in hot pursuit. Kathy and I launch at 2:00 and
climb in a nice thermal where I find David Teuscher around 6000' msl.
I glide to the south in search of the sport 2 squadron led by the
mighty Greg Heckman. I joined the squadron around signal mountain
where they were still skied out and flying great. I fly with them in
a few thermals before moving ahead to the south. There wasn't any
wind and everyone was going very slow but the thermals were pretty
good. I get high at Inman point and start gliding towards Lookout
mountain where everyone had called goal for the day. It would be Jeff
and Nate's first attempt at the 32 mile task and they certainly had
the positive attitude needed. I had no doubt Kathy and Greg would
make the crossing. I enjoyed the view and started thinking about that
darn David Hopkins 135 mile site record and that darn David Giles 101
mile flight of the year 2008. I take a drink of water, talk to myself
out loud, get my head down in cruise position, let those flaps off
and turn the VR towards Ft. Payne, Ala. When I finally slowed down
and recovered from the incredable speed run with associated wind
noise ( I need a new speed helmet with visor) I'm near Ft. Payne and
going real good. I fly south of Gadsden, Ala. and start to get low
around Oneonta, Ala. and it's getting late. I fly over a nice field
110 miles from launch but it is very secluded with no sign of any
human activity, just some cows. I fly back to a more challenging
landing area where I passed over at a multi-million dollar chicken
farm with plenty of people. I take another sip of water and talk to
myself out loud again. Hey Stevie, your approach is the critical
factor here. I know I can do it (I think) or I would have stayed at
the further and better secluded field. I tell myself to pull flaps on
full and fly low across the chicken houses, machinery and people.
Turn along the tree line and over the deep gullies. Turn onto the
level ridge line and flare like you mean it. My approach is good and
I flare close to my intended spot ending up on my knees. The people
went wild and I was an instant hero. They thought I had flown from a
local Alabama site (Jenkins?) and couldn't believe I started in
Dunlap, Tennessee. I whipped out my cell phone and the land owner
gave Kathy and Alvin directions to the farm. Kathy and Alvin arrived
just as I pulled the drawstring on my harness bag. They congratulated
me on a great flight and admired my choice for an LZ. Greg, Nate and
Jeff all made it to Lookout and Kathy landed just short of Ft. Payne
for a nice 60 mile flight. I landed at 109.4 miles near Oneonta, Ala.
at exactly 7:00. My wonderful 5 hour flight re-confirms what I
discovered back in 1982, "there's nothing more fun than hang gliding."
Steve Lee
TTT Prez 2008

I

  Report errors or to add info to this page: mailto:Web Master