The weather forecast was for 50% chance of rain and thunderstorms. When I got up the overcast was thick and low. It looked depressing. I didn't even want to go down to Wallaby Ranch from Quest Air.

But around 10 AM it started to lighten up and I headed down to find lots of low levels cu's and threatening clouds but lots of sunshine also. It was sunny up at Quest during the day also and later Dustin did a tandem up here after spending the day with Jeff and I at Wallaby.

Steve Wendt had arrive Tuesday evening and he was ready to start up his scooter tow clinic as I got over to his setup. Mike Meier at Wills Wing said he wanted Steve back for a scooter tow clinic (financed by Wills Wing and offered free of charge to interested instructors) and sure enough lots of folks showed up for it. Peter from Melbourne (http://www.cyclescience.com.au/) was here to learn how to run a scooter tow operation as were six Dutch pilots. Plenty of American instructors also (16 total signed up for the clinic).

Steve said that he had received an order from a Japanese hang gliding instruction business for parts to make up a scooter tow operation there, just before he left for the clinic. So it looks like there continues to be world wide interest in the Blue Sky method of low and slow scooter tow instruction.

It is so gratifying to see Wills Wing's devotion to Steve and to his methods. Both Steve Pearson and Mike Meier attended Steve's introductory lecture and Steve Pearson brought his fourteen year old daughter over for more lessons (she took some from Steve Wendt two years ago, at Wallaby Ranch). She also just got a birthday present of a nice Wills Wing harness with a little heart on the back of the boot.

While USHPA says it supports scooter tow instruction (and I do appreciate Gregg Ludwig's efforts) it is Wills Wing who really supports scooter towing by supporting the premier scooter tow expert in the country (and likely the world) with 20,000 tows, Steve Wendt. When scooter towing gets involved with the USHPA, it becomes a political football, and instructors who do not know what they are doing (and are dangerous to students) get assigned to be administrators of the program.

Steve setup the scooter tow operation in the south west field at Wallaby and we had a great time towing folks on the Condor 330 in spite of the wind (which wasn't that bad). I was amazed how well the big Condor did given the winds. The flights were perfect and the instruction was great. I don't think I would put new students in this situation, but for demonstrating how it worked to experienced pilots (and even experienced fourteen years old girls with an instructor on each wire) it was perfect.

Steve was teaching instructors how to keep students low and safe. How to reduce to power (but not cut it) when pilots go off line to give them a chance to recover. How to put pilots down softly when they weren't doing the right thing. How to keep their feet under them and their hands light on the down tubes.

As Steve was pulling us up all afternoon there was aerotowing going on from the northwest field with lots of dark cu's all around. I only saw one pilot stick, but maybe twenty towed up. It wasn't a great soaring day by any means, but it was a heck of a lot better than the forecast.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves scooter towing so we could have fun "flying" even if the conditions weren't perfect. Unlike yesterday it didn't rain (a couple of drops, maybe) and it was a glorious day all around.

Wallaby has a new big hangar for the Dragonflies and tandem gliders. It is great to see doors on the other hangars, makes the place look a lot neater. Lots of little hootches around the bay head. The concrete floor in the pole barn/kitchen is beautiful.