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I FINALLY FLEW THE MAG !!!
 It was a perfect flight in excellent conditions. I had wanted to fly this site even before I started hang gliding. After talking with a local pilot about his ridge soaring experiences in Hawaii, and the improved safety record on modern gliders, I knew than that one day I would be able to realize my lifelong dream of being able to fly like the birds. I had flown in small Cessnas before but that didn’t even come close to satisfying my childhood dreams of flying like the birds do. While listening to Jim’s stories about being out in front of the ridge, making banked 180 turns, and staying aloft for hours, I could feel the intense passion he had for free flight and I wanted to experience that too!
I stopped by the Magazine launch one nice day about ten years ago on my way back from Russellville. (I didn’t even know about the sites here in Oklahoma which were much closer to my house) I just stood there, looking out over the valley and said to my self “One of these days, I’m a’gonna fly this mountain!” I even brought one of those new panoramic cameras with me to take pictures of the magnificent scenery.
Well, Saturday started out being a good day to be outside. While throwing hay to the horses first thing in the morning, I discussed with my wife the possible outside activities that I could do. 1. There were several fences that needed work, 2. This was probably the last day I would have a chance to go deer hunting, and 3. The boys were gathering at Buffalo for an iffy day of flying. Coming back inside, I checked e-mail. After reading Wispy’s weather report, I started thinking this might be the day to realize a long time desire of mine to fly at Magazine.
I loaded up and headed out. As I got that majestic mountain in sight, I turned on the radio to hear that several pilots were already in the air. I was more anxious than ever to get to the top. I heard Wispy on the radio mention something about the difficulty in finding a parking spot at the park office and remembered, oh yeah, I had better check in.
I was so anxious about getting to fly here that while filling out the forms, I kept putting the x’s in the wrong boxes. I was glad she gave me a pencil instead of a pen except I kept breaking off the point in my excitement. I finally got over to launch but everyone was gone. :( I thought back to a recent time I came here to fly the evening glass off. I had just gotten my Hang 3 but I arrived on launch well after everyone else had packed it in for the day. It was a surreal experience, standing at launch with the sun setting towards the west, the valley lights way below starting to come on and the wonder winds picking up.
I stayed there for a while and enjoyed a few beverages. Even thought it was dark, the spirit of the mountain was beckoning me, with her steady flow coming straight in on launch, consistent, smooth, strong lift. I was sure that as I was standing on launch, if I would have just raised my arms out, she would have kept me up as I leaned out into her wind. Ok, maybe I had a few too many beverages.
Mark S. called up on the radio about me coming down to walk down the LZ with him. After recently suffering the effects of being intimidated by Panorama’s small LZ, I knew it was a good thing to do. We went over the landing options at both fields, exactly how I should execute the approach under varying conditions. That instilled the landing confidence I needed to be able to enjoy the flight instead of any apprehension I could otherwise have once in the air on my way down. I also met Ms. Albright and found out for myself that she really is a wonderful lady.
Getting the glider set up gave me a few more minutes to reflect on what an awe inspiring experience I was about to embark on. The launch conditions were sweet. Light in, with just enough velocity to gently pick me up. I flew about a mile west down the ridge before heading out to the LZ. I stayed even with the wall while maintaining a good distance away. I could feel a little stronger lift closer to the wall but elected to stay away and just relax and fully enjoy the flight. I might have been able to get above the top but I wouldn’t be able to contain myself if I had, I would have been too elated.
I was really impressed with how big this mountain actually is. As I was flying out, I had gentle lift way out past launch. Even though this was the highest launch I have ever flown from, I didn’t have a lot of altitude above the treetops all the way to the LZ. I arrived over the west field with about 400’ over, had a perfect setup, and my feet touched the ground with just a short walk under the power lines to the gate.
What a great experience! Thanks Mark and Wispy for your diligent efforts in ensuring my first flight at Magazine was all that I had dreamt it would be.
J. Alan
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