I got to Morningside as soon as they opened for 2013 season. I wanted to get cleared for a launch from that magical 450. I was so determined and ready. Very reasonably though, I was told to demonstrate a launch from 150' first, then from 250, and only then 450, if all goes well. Patience... right.
I've done all that, but had to wait long time to launch off 150' as conditions were not good. Then 250 was pretty easy, and finally a flight off 450.
Launching from 450 was the most fun. It is hard to describe feeling when you do something you haven't really done before :-) ... It was so exhilarating to finally launch from a more or less real mountain that I almost screwed up my approach on landing, but I recovered and landed fine. It was actually one of my best landings. I still had no feel how far the glider would go, mostly overshooting my intended landing target. That is another skill to work on.
Overall, it was an excellent day! I was really excited and couldn't wait to have more flights off 450' launch.
Here is a short video of my first flight off 450' launch at Morningside taken by Krassi Kaltchev