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Mike Masterson, 1999/1/25If you are looking for a relaxed flying experience that offers smooth gentle lift over a nice pretty hill with a comfortable, green grass LZ, then don’t come to Elsinore. On the other hand, if you prefer a challenging site that will test your flying skills with multiple wind directions, rugged terrain and wide open cross country potential, then Elsinore is the place. You launch facing into a warm desert wind from the east and thermal around until the cool ocean breeze arrives from the opposite direction and bulldozes you up and over the top with convergence lift. In the summer, this occurs almost every day like clockwork and forms along massive shear lines which you can soar to impressive altitudes and great distances.
This historic flying site was first explored by sailplane pilots in the 1950’s and has earned the reputation of a complex place that rewards good piloting with tremendous flights, but can be frustrating or even punishing to those who don’t have the necessary combination of skill, knowledge and equipment.
The first hang glider pilots to fly this site wore bell bottom jeans, built their own wings from hardware store parts and blasted acid rock from their 8 track tape players. Many of the early pioneers still fly here on a regular basis.
If you’ve been flying for awhile, then the E-Team needs no introduction. The name was coined in 1984 when local pilots formed a group to race in the H.G. 84’ Manufacturers League meet. The H.G. comps at the time were far too serious, so the theme for the E-Team was to have fun. The original members were Monte Bell, Dave Gibson, "Big" Al Homison, R.C. Dave Freund, Lester Washborn and Rick Garrett. The E-Team name and philosophy still live on for many of the local H.G. pilots. To be accepted in the group, you have to be able to Launch from the "E" in dead or light down and land downhill in no wind or land downwind, uphill. Once you have learned the site, hung out with the local pilots long enough to be accepted into their close knit group and survived the post-flight rituals which usually involve downing a few ice cold Silver Bullets, you can call yourself an E-teamer...... At least for a day.
The locals don’t give visiting pilots a hard time at all and don’t feel bad if no one shakes your hand when they meet you. The normal greeting here is an outstretched hand in the shape of a claw.
Once you have experienced a few soaring flights over Elsinore, rolled sideways by bullet thermals or pitched out of control by shear turbulence, you will know the meaning of the claw.
In the summer months Elsinore will work virtually any day that the sun is shining.... The hotter the better. The other thermal sites in Southern California will have temperature inversions over them which will limit your altitude gains to a bumpy 6 grand or so but Elsinore is different. The famous convergence at Elsinore will break up the inversion and allow you to get to 12,000 ft msl on some days. Even if you only get to 7 grand, you can set off on some epic cross country flights and grab a cheap ride back to the LZ when you land.
The best way to describe the site is to go for a virtual flight. You start by showing up in the LZ at about 10:30 so that you can meet your friends or make some new ones and arrange for a ride up to launch.
The road is paved all of the way up so you won’t need a rugged vehicle but your driver will still appreciate a $5 spot for gas money. We’ll pass Edwards launch at 2,800 ft msl on the way up and as expected on a hot summer day, it is deserted because it is mainly used in the off seasons when the wind is north or for early morning training flights. The glide from Edwards to the LZ is 4/1. We continue on the paved road for another few minutes to the E and see 20 or more hang gliders on launch and only a couple of paragliders. You look around for famous faces because this site is the stomping ground of champions and record holders. It is not unusual to see national aerobatics HG champion Mitch McAleer out here and at least 7 other pilots like Rad Dan, Bill Solderquist, Dave Biddle, Bill Rehr, Eric Raymond, Roy Haggard and Ron Young will be doing loops later in the day. People aren’t launching yet because they are waiting for the flags on the hills behind launch to go limp or blow down which would indicate that the ocean breeze, which we call the shear, is less than 40 minutes away. The paragliders typically launch first to clear the way for the upcoming wave of hang gliders that will charge into the air shortly before the shear arrives.
Standing on the E launch at 2,900 ft msl you look out across the lake and see towering cu-nims forming just east of the San Jacinto mountains. You instinctively reach for your jacket because you feel a 12 grand day is in the making.
On summer days where you don’t see big cloud development across the lake you can fly in shorts and a tee shirt.
The glide from the E to the LZ is 6/1 if you can clear the spine, but about 8/1 if you have to fly around the E-Cone. Once you have made the decision to launch and your way is clear, it is tradition to let out a big yell during your run down the steep slope. During your high-G pull out, make a left turn and head for the spine to the north. You hope for a few beeps of ridge lift along the way to give you some extra ground clearance when you begin thermalling over the spine. Consider yourself lucky if you have more than 50 feet under your boots when you make the first 360. There is usually abundant lift when you arrive at the spine but sometimes you have to scratch around and venture out over the E-Cone which is a prominent peak out front of launch. This scratching can be tremendous fun as your flight path will have as many ups, downs and sharp turns as the Matterhorn Bobsled Ride. While working the spine, you should be aware of the infamous "Tuck Zone". Some say that it exists only on the southwest side of the E-Cone but others feel that the whole south side of the spine is a tuck zone once the shear has arrived. Another theory is that when thermals break off both sides of the spine at the same time, you will be in for a rough ride. All will agree that it is not wise to fly below ridge height on the south side of the spine, especially when the wind has a little north component in it. If the wind has a significant amount of north in it, you should be launching from Edwards and not the E.
Once you begin your climb out off the top of the spine your altitude gains might be temporarily limited by an inversion layer which is the warmer air at about 4 grand. The inversion caps off the thermals and causes them to scatter and get bumpy. Once the shear arrives, the inversion will be pushed aside or broken up so you can climb to higher altitudes. When you get above 5,000 ft msl, you can drop back to Elsinore Peak which is the first range of mountains behind launch. Once there you will see the gray misty air of the shear and actually smell the ocean and feel the chill of this fresh breeze. If you position yourself correctly, you can find the areas where the easterly air you launched in is colliding with and riding up over the top of the ocean breeze. The shear line where the convergence is taking place can be recognized by the border of clear air against gray, misty air. Some say that the cool, moisture laden heavy air of the shear has a bulldozing effect on the clear desert air, forcing it upwards so it is important to remember that the best lift can be found on the clear side of the shear line. You should be able to gain a couple of thousand feet at Elsinore peak and this gives you some options for a cross country flight. Most pilots head south to the Towers which is a cluster of radio antennas on a prominent peak. The convergence gets an extra kick from the powerful thermals rising off the barren ground surrounding the Towers. You will probably be joined by a couple of sailplanes from the Lake Elsinore Soaring Club. They tow their sailplanes right into the convergence and they make a graceful addition to the blue sky around you with their sleek lines and smooth turns. The lift is so broad above the Towers that I have flown with 20 other aircraft and not felt crowded. Once you reach 7 grand or more, you can fly across the lake but it is a good idea to stay over the Towers for a while and see how high you can get. On good days you can get to 10 grand and on outstanding days, you can get to 12 grand, which is 9 thousand feet over launch.
If you venture across the lake too soon, you might outrun the shear and sink out on the other side so it is a good idea to wait until the main gaggle leaves the Towers. Directly out front of the Towers is Skylark Airport which you must not overfly due to the active skydiving operations. The drop zone is right near the brightly colored tarps at the airport. If you have waited long enough before crossing, you will find smooth thermals over the black parking lots and the Sedco hills on the opposite side of the lake. If you plan on busting a big XC to the northeast, consult a sectional map so you can avoid the restricted airspace around March Air Force Base.
There are additional wind components which add to the convergence and these are the NW wind from Corona and SW wind which has been accelerated through the low point of Hidden Valley. If you are not planning a big XC flight, you can play around in the lift and land at your leisure near the big baseball
diamond or any main road. If you are a PG pilot, you can ride the city bus back to the LZ from bus stops all around the perimeter of the lake and as far south as Wildomar. The busses run every half hour on week days and every hour on Saturday but don’t run on Sunday. The cost is .75 cents if you ride the bus clockwise around the lake and $1.50 if you travel counterclockwise. The people of Lake Elsinore are happy to have pilots drop into their fields and I have never encountered a problem of any kind. The local Sheriff even gave one of my flying buddies a ride back to the LZ. Sometimes I land at the boating marinas when friends or relatives bring jet skis out for the day. Many of the pilots have houses around the lake and make their landings right at home. While flying XC, you can monitor the local, 2 meter frequency and listen in on who has a chase driver following them so you can get a ride back to the LZ. Top landing the E is possible, but not easy.
If you choose not to land around the lake you can head off in any direction you wish. Popular destinations include Hemet, (20 miles) the Pacific Coast, (22 miles) Soboba, (26 miles) Crestline, (38 miles) or just about anywhere else you can think of. During an XC flight to San Clemente Beach with John Heiney, Rad Dan Pritchett landed on top of a lifeguard building to avoid getting a ticket from the police who were waiting on the ground. The lifeguard allowed Rad Dan to remain on the roof until the police departed and he was able to glide on down to the sand and pack up his glider.
Elsinore has a large LZ at the foot of the mountain on the SW corner of Grand Avenue and Highway 74. Lying at 1,400 ft msl, it is a huge field almost ½ mile long, but it has a 5% slope which extends some final glides for many extra yards. It is a hot, dusty place but there is a market with cold drinks a half mile away. If you try to return to this LZ after an XC flight across the lake, be warned that you will encounter head winds from the ocean breeze as you fly west and the best bet is to re-cross the lake along its northern shoreline so you can have some bail-out LZ’s. If you run into severe turbulence during your flight, it might be a temporary condition where you are sandwiched between two opposite wind components. You can usually get out of it by flying towards the clear side of the shear line. The true convergence lift feels like velvety smooth 500fpm up and you’ll know it when you’re in it.
Mid-day summer flights here are not for beginners and I know one PG pilot who has thrown his reserve 4 times. A few pilots have reported being caught in dust devils over the E-cone and I’ve been spun in one myself while low over the spine. PG pilots would do well to fly a DHV 2 or lower wing unless you are a professional with cat-like reflexes. Everyone who flys here takes this site very seriously and as a result, we haven’t made the evening news in a long time. If you have good piloting skills and are well acquainted with the handling of your current wing, than you should have no problem with flying here besides the thick and fast moving air-traffic over the E on summer weekends. If you are a visiting pilot, and nervous in heavy traffic, you might want to make your first few flights on a weekday or launch well before the mad rush that occurs just before the shear arrives.
Is it possible for visiting pilots to show up and get a big convergence flight on their first try? Yes it is. This summer, on two occasions, I hosted some great pilots from the Northwestern US and the San Francisco Bay Area. After some aggressive thermalling over the spine, they joined me for 3 hour convergence XC flights on their first attempts. These were seasoned pilots that I had previously flown with at Marshall and the Owens Valley so I knew they had the right stuff to handle Elsinore. When one of the Bay Area pilots got to 11 grand over the Towers, he bolted off XC before the main gaggle, took a full frontal collapse while on max speed bar and when he told me about it on the radio, I said: "That was your welcome to Lake Elsinore!". He answered with a nervous laugh, kept flying and landed 2 hours later near Lake Skinner.
In the fall when other So Cal sites are blowing down due to the occasional Santa Ana winds, Elsinore will provide good lift all day long for Hang Gliders. It might be too strong for PG’s but you never know unless you check it out.
If you are looking for an E ticket ride in Southern California, then head out to Elsinore and we’ll provide the thermals, convergence and XC potential to make your flight a great adventure.
Hang Glider Contacts:
Lake Elsinore Sports: Paul Phillips (909) 674-2453
Adventures Unlimited: Kelly Harrison (949) 496-8000
Elsinore HG Association: Dan Pritchett (909) 678-7321
Paraglider Contacts:
Thermal Dynamics: Tim Nelson (310) 834-0769
Air America: Jeff Williams (949) 488-3574
Atmosphere: Marcello DeBarros (714) 407-9575