Flying at Bates

Coming in to Santa Barbara on the train yesterday we were a bit worried about flying weather. We'd heard reports of torrential rain north of Los Angeles, flash floods and mud slides causing the I-5 to be shut down. We could see that traffic on Hwy 101 was moving at a snail's pace.

But after settling in to our home for the next couple weeks we emailed Chris (our instructor from Fly Above All) and learned things should turn around in the next day or two and planned to meet him and Lorenzo at the Elings Park training hill.

Kiting here was amazing!!! What a difference consistent winds can make! Unlike the wacky wild wind gusts we usually try to kite in at home. Seriously, it was the best either Andrew and I have ever kited.

We also got a few runs off the training hill while hoping that the clouds to the east clear off soon.

There are mountains there somewhere!

After lunch (tacos and smoothies, of course!) a couple other newer pilots and students of Chris' figured that Bates might be soarable so we decided to join them and headed about 20 minutes south to Carpinteria.

And sure enough, it was! We both had fun flights of about 20 - 30 minutes.

Andrew getting ready to launch at Bates.

Words of wisdom from Chris about flying this site:

1) Don't land on the highway.
2) Don't land on the railway tracks.
3) Don't land in the water.
4) Don't land on the people on the beach (fortunately, not too many of them there today.)

Andrew in flight.