Visiting my parents here in Mt. Dora, FLA...nice and hot, and well, nice and hot!
Yesterday, I got in two tows at Quest Air...it had been a while since I'd towed.
I was flying on all rented equipment which can be a chore for the anal retentive, but I managed to get through the unfamiliarity of everthing and got into the air.
The first tow was in the late morning, but clouds were beginning to develop, so it had promise.
I got towed up to 2500' and pinned off beneath a developing cloud...I then climbed another 500 to 700 feet to cloudbase in broken thermals. After I got to cloud base, I cruised around other clouds working what I could, getting used to my rented gear.
After 40 minutes I was back on the ground, but impressed with the limited lift I worked that first flight.
After a few hours more pilots showed up. I was on a timeline having to get back to Mt. Dora, so wanted to get up in the air soon to avoid any line issues.
The second tow seemed a bit smoother than the first tow, which is both good and bad. Paul T. dropped me under a cloud north of Quest that had fizzled out by the time I pinned off. I tried to boat around finding what should have been a decent thermal, but nothing was to be found. Being too far north, I needed to make sure I could make it back, so much of my altitude was spent in making it back to the park...I did manage to get in a few turns in a thermal east of Quest, but that thermal broke apart, as well. I headed back to the LZ and found a bubble of something at about 300' and worked that for another 8 minutes, but it had too much drift, besides my hands were sweating as I didn't have my usual gloves that I typically fly with...time to land.
Overall, I was happy with my tows more than anything else...right off the cart the jitters left and I was back on track, literally, behind the tug, on my rented Sport 2.
Quest is a great area to tow in Florida...On the ACP scale of 1 to 5 fingerbangs, I'm giving Quest 5 fingerbangs...they set me up well having not brought any of my usual gear and made me feel welcome...much appreciated.
First flight: 40 minutes
Second flight: 25 minutes
One more site added to the list!
Great time!