Flying the Wallowa Lake Tramway
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- Wow! The Mt. Howard launch off of the Wallowa Lake Tramway is awesome! If you're looking for a bit of flying during a family vacation this place is hard to beat! Wallowa Lake State Park is located 5 mi S of Joseph, Oregon in the Wallowa Mountains. Launch is @ 7900 feet plus change. The LZ is well over 3,000 feet below and the views of the Wallowa Mountains in June are spectacular! For further information visit www.flythewallo...
enjoyed the flight
It was fun - and fortunate too. It’s not uncommon to put a bit of travel & effort to get to a launch and have good enough conditions to launch. We could just as easily had to pack the gear back up to the tram and hauled it back down. I don’t make my final decision to fly until I’m standing on launch with my glider to get the best feel for how the air is behaving. We lucked out and nailed a day with very nice weather for a flight :)
That looks like so much fun
It was :) I'm itching to go back there. It's a great area to visit even if the weather isn't good for flying. Great vacation spot!
Thanks for sharing the great video!
Tango Tango You're welcome :-)
Wow is right! What a fantastic flight. Way to be bro. So nice to have a wife that not only puts up with your flying...but drives too! LOL
Very cool. Looks cold.
It was right around freezing at cloudbase. The snow was not melting very fast. I hope to give it a go in July someday.
Awesome video. Looks like a great place to fly. Well done.
Thanks! Yeah, Susan's a trooper - it was fun sharing the flight w/ her via the radios, etc. I usually head out flying when she's busy with other things. This was the first time we've teamed up for flying this year. It's a great place to combine flying with a vacation.
Quality video, enjoyed every minute!
Thanks Scott! I enjoy making vids that tell more of a story and give folks who have not been there an idea of what to expect. Hard to make a bad video here though - such an awesome site!
Nice job launching! Looks like a pretty place to fly-have to check it out next summer..
Did you ever get to Mt Howard? I'm wanting to go back in 2019.
Thanks Wilco! Going to try to get a few local pilots to go w/ us next year. The site is 200 miles south of Spokane. A 4-5 hour drive due to winding roads - all paved though!
Thanks! I'd be reluctant to launch there with temps in the 80s and no wind! It gets steep fast though. But, you certainly would not want to let your glider get ahead of you. The gravel/grass turns to rocks then larger rocks pretty quickly. I hope the next time I go there it'll be with some of our flying group and I get to fly it more than one day. Mid-June is about the earliest due to snow pack. In August/Sept the lake is low enough that landings can be made near the mouth of the Wallowa River.
Gotta love a vario that's sensitive enough to detect being picked up off the ground.
I've walked to the top of the hill it is a 6 hour walk up the hill fun 👍👍👍
I could see the go-cart place from way up there!
Thanks for the iPhone tip - that'll make using it in flight a whole lot easier :-)
best vid yet mate....go chattaroy dude...
From what was said by the pilot who wrote the site guide it is the launch that is the most challenging. If a pilot is not making consistently good launches it is not a place to practice. Conditions can change quickly on launch. You've got to read that well and RUN. The day I was there wasn't typical (little to no wind and steady in direction when there was some wind). Add being at 7900' and .... It isn't a site for lesser experienced pilots - especially pilots used to coastal conditions.
You're right - sorta .... I'm suspended too high - need to add 3-4 inches to my hang loop. Been flying enough new places that I just haven't changed it yet. Going back to a site I know well so will do some hang loop adjustment. Also, this Tracer harness is 2nd hand. Didn't know the previous owner - just that he was roughly my size. Will likely get a new Tracer this coming winter - one that fits just right!
Great video! Loved it. Thanks for taking the time to show us. :¬)
btw... you can use either one of the volume buttons on your iphone to snap a picture, instead of the software button. It's way more stable-- keeps you from vibrating/moving when you snap the shutter.
Nice video. Just a small tip you may have more control and probably be more comfortable if you can flatten out your hang position. In other words lower your head as it appears that your legs are low and your head is too high.
Cheers
Hey thanks! Once I get a second GoPro and get to work on a RC camera mount .... I'll have to retire in order to edit all the HD video!
Thanks Jonathan - trying to get as good as your vids!
On my goal list for this summer is to do a multi-flight vid w/ improved editing. Also want to tell more of a story in a shorter time (vid between 5-10 mins). I tend to make vids too long.
Love the video, thanks for sharing. But I have to ask, what is that infernal damned beeping noise?
Ha! That's the audio on my Flytec variometer. The vario measures change in air pressure/altitude. I have it set to begin beeping if I'm gaining altitude. The greater the frequency of the beeps the more rapid I'm climbing. Helps one stay in a thermal. You'll notice that I tend to fly straight when the vario is silent and turn when it beeps. My objective is to stay in rising air - and rise with it :) The Flytec also has a display that shows my altitude and rate of climb in ft/min.
I'm hoping to get back to Mt Howard in the summer of 2019 :)
@@ChattaroyMan Lol, thank you for the explanation. I hope you do get a chance to go back, it sure is fun and looks like a blast!
great video, and sad that you will be leaving our school
Thanks Jordon. I'll show back up at Horizon every now and then. Great place to teach! Great kids!
Was any equipment destroyed in the landing?
Sorry for taking so long to reply - nope - nothing bent either :-)
Do you know what the prices of the tram are?
+Christina Calhoun The tram rates are here: wallowalaketramway.com/rates/summer-at-the-tram/
Bascially for adults it is $29 for the first day and $10 for the next (you buy a two day ticket for $39 and you have to use the 2nd ticket within 5 days). They do not charge extra for glider transport. Some paraglider pilots make multiple flights in one day for the $29 price (since it is per day not per trip up the tram). It's really a great place to visit - just a bit out of the way - but well worth the trip!
Thank you.:)