tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16506806060131077252011-07-07T18:06:43.527-07:00Get out, get high, go far...Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-59359742785918685282009-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:002009-08-30T09:27:02.285-07:00

We are returning to the beautiful Ojai Valley again for our 4th annual Ojai Thermal and XC Clinic! The flying in Ojai is spectacular and offers ample opportunities for finding and using thermals, and easy XC flights. Every year we have seen new personal bests for altitude, duration, and distance. The primary site we'll be using will again be Chief's Peak which offers fun and safe flying from

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-88714534970024841182009-08-19T13:16:00.001-07:002009-08-19T13:20:04.232-07:00

The 2009 US Paragliding Nationals are in full swing here in SLC. Superfly team pilot Andy Macrae has been keeping us up to date on his blog, complete with photos, results, and spectacular video.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-41762208536812568232009-06-09T18:45:00.000-07:002009-06-09T18:52:58.808-07:00

Garmin has released BaseCamp for OS X, "a 3D mapping application that allows you to transfer waypoints, tracks, and routes between your Mac and Garmin device and manage your data using topographic Garmin maps that include digital elevation model(DEM) data." It's like a TOPO Google Earth built to work with your GPS.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-813981029981223052009-04-28T12:48:00.000-07:002009-06-29T16:08:13.554-07:00

I’ve never bought into the idea that adding 20 lbs of ballast, or flying a glider at the top of the weight range will suddenly have you whizzing past your buddies at mind-bending speeds. Or even less likely, that doing either of the above will suddenly make un-flyable conditions flyable. And glide ratios? Not so much. Or rather, I don’t buy the rationale for getting excited about 0.5:1

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-29472003256582395512009-04-06T11:42:00.001-07:002009-04-06T11:46:38.954-07:00

Just a heads up for USHPA Instructors. New P1 and P2 tests are available online at the USHPA website. Apparently they were updated some time ago but we weren't notified.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-77044393388029463722009-03-25T17:44:00.001-07:002009-04-02T15:07:02.291-07:00

Digifly has quietly released new firmware for the Flyer 2 vario. The new firmware makes the Flyer 2 functionally identical to the Archimede, but without the new labels on the buttons. There are several useful improvements and if you have a Flyer 2 this shouldn't be passed up. The new software is here. Manuals and VLTools for the Flyer 2 and other models are available here.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-90644923649775394992009-03-24T22:05:00.000-07:002009-03-24T22:14:40.375-07:00

For those of you with old Palm Pilots sitting in the closet collecting dust, Vincenzo Piazza has created a great piece of software that, when coupled with your GPS, turns it into a fully fledged competition-grade flight instrument. Very cool. Check it out here.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-22482156944647575332009-03-22T20:59:00.000-07:002009-04-29T07:48:17.674-07:00

This is an attempt to consolidate the instructions for compiling and running Tom Payne's Tini utility for OS X. It's designed for people who have little or no experience with the OS X Terminal. Tini is a small application for downloading logs from Flytec and Brauniger flight instruments.First, make sure you have the OS X Developer tools (XCode) installed. It comes with every copy of OS X but may

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-38039682576793842532009-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:002009-03-22T19:45:17.366-07:00

Tom Payne has produced a nifty command-line tool for downloading tracklogs from Brauniger and Flytec instruments that runs on OS X, Linux, and the BSDs. Many of us have been waiting for this for a long time (no more booting into BootCamp or having to use Parallels!) and somehow his work has gone mostly unnoticed. You can find it here!

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-77838836373159143222009-03-11T09:50:00.000-07:002009-03-21T13:51:03.194-07:00

I'm posting the site guides that I usually hand to students or visiting pilots with the hope that more pilots visiting Ojai/Santa Barbara see the guides, and understand that renegading on these sites poses a risk to themselves and the site. These three guides only cover Chief's Peak in Ojai, and Alternator and Skyport in Santa Barbara but more will be forthcoming. I have purposely left the

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-64968819354024983102009-03-09T18:58:00.000-07:002009-03-17T19:48:37.106-07:00

2.6.2 makes a few big changes. I've added S2F Gain to the arrival altitude chart. It shows how much higher you would arrive if you flew at the proper Speed-To-Fly. The Time chart also shows times for S2F. The Polar curve graph now no longer allows the S2F indicator dot to exceed the 100% speed-bar value. That applies to the S2F table as well. The Polar Curves Table and Input tables have been

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-51225510530259583372009-02-19T07:48:00.000-08:002009-02-19T08:04:23.528-08:00

This article was written by Mike Meier many years ago, and still stands true today. I don't think anyone has ever put it more clearly or concisely. This should be required reading for all P2s and an annual refresher for all instructors.Why Can't We Get a Handle On This Safety Thing

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-27244097617361190712009-01-28T09:50:00.000-08:002009-12-20T13:24:13.077-08:00

Most movies are in H.264 MPEG-4. QuickTime or VLC are best for playback. Option-click to download.The Nuthouse in Ojai '09Point of the Mountain tour on the Sigma 72008 Ojai XC & Thermal Clinic SHORT2008 Ojai XC & Thermal Clinic2007 Ojai XC & Thermal Clinic

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-35469295606314574252009-01-19T13:16:00.000-08:002009-10-28T19:41:11.492-07:00

We're doing a little closet cleaning for the Summer season so we have some gear that MUST go!The following are still available as of 10/28/09UP Makalu 2 - Small 65-85 kg - Red/GreyKited in a field 3 times but otherwise brand new! Stellar gliders for brand new through intermediate pilots! This is one of my favorite beginner gliders.$2100Makalu 2Windtech WINDSOS Reserve - Small (31) - Max Weight

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-25356924819436419202009-01-18T16:42:00.000-08:002009-01-18T16:47:29.128-08:00

An article I wrote in '08 after seeing several "enlightening" events involving Big-Ears. We've all been there. We've all done it. We've all wanted or needed to get down, preferably 5 minutes ago, for any number of imaginable reasons and an equally vast number of unimaginable ones. We have all, at some point in our time as pilots, thought "If I make my glider the size of a marmot pelt, I should

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-39749164748213008962009-01-16T21:52:00.000-08:002009-02-14T07:51:05.212-08:00

In another response to a question about Wind Probes I put together this short explanation on why cheaper is better!If you absolutely MUST have one, get a simple Hall Airspeed Indicator. The usual anemometers you see folks holding up at your local ridge are impeller driven (with a little propeller) and what they're measuring is the speed of the air molecules as they pass through the impeller.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-48209319933031246782009-01-16T14:36:00.000-08:002009-03-22T13:46:31.592-07:00

I was reminded recently that I had created a Performance, IAS & Atmospheric Instability calculator to satisfy my own curiosity and it was collecting dust in a long forgotten folder. So here it is, unleashed upon the public in Apple Numbers '09. It calculates:True Airspeed at AltitudeLapse Rate/Thermal IndexPolar Curves based on 4 points corrected for weight and Density AltitudeAltitude lost along

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-15133734821786627632009-01-15T18:31:00.000-08:002009-03-21T22:20:17.425-07:00

This is a short post I made to the paraglidingforum.com in response to a relatively new pilot's request for information on turning paragliding into a career. Despite being a bit of a disjointed brain-dump it received a good response so I thought I'd archive it here for anyone who is interested.In my experience there are 3 ways to survive. Run your own school, with a base, a safe and consistent

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-63477808029659338102009-01-06T17:38:00.000-08:002009-01-06T18:00:25.170-08:00

We have a limited supply of Bell Drop helmets in stock! We like these helmets because they provide significantly more protection than even the best paragliding helmets while still being light, with great visibility. They conform to the new ASTM DownHill mountain bike standard which far exceeds the protection of the CPSC bicycle helmet standard and the EN 966 Free Flight helmet standard. The visor

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-68392767390280634172008-12-26T16:13:00.000-08:002008-12-26T16:16:06.872-08:00

Our T-Shirt line continues to expand by the day!

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-61626029326198436862008-12-24T16:42:00.001-08:002009-02-17T09:20:48.852-08:00

We're now offering Reserve Repack Clinics on the East Coast and mail-in repacks for pilots who want it packed RIGHT and in the RIGHT bag! We see a 25-30% failure rate at most clinics. Don't be one of those! If you'd like to schedule a clinic for your area/club, give us a call! We'll only be available on the East Coast for another few months so schedule a clinic for your area now!

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-46154113099357161222008-12-24T16:33:00.001-08:002008-12-24T17:33:42.810-08:00

We have T-Shirts! I've been asked by a lot of students for Paraglide Ojai shirts and Gary Begley's infamous "Be your own hero" shirts. Here they are along with other fun and unique quotes including the ubiquitous "Glider pilot needs ride" shirt that every XC pilot should have! Check it out by clicking on T-Shirts in the Links section on the right.

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1650680606013107725.post-67581923257447215262008-12-23T16:56:00.000-08:002009-06-04T17:18:33.605-07:00

Destiny Altitude came about because we saw a need for friendly, and fun paragliding trips to new and interesting places with top level instruction. Regardless of whether we are leading a trip to an under-appreciated wilderness with stellar flying, teaching a Beginner through Advanced class, or traveling to your location for a Reserve Clinic we strive to bring you the highest level of instruction

Chris Granthamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18399574483556844644noreply@blogger.com