Another Good Day at the Dune
Yep, I was right, I flew yesterday. The tandem pilots and I checked things out again after we gave the wind some time, and sure enough it was soarable. It was very nice – lots of people in the air, and plenty of adventure.
It’s interesting flying with tandem pilots as the amount of wake turbulence is a lot more than you’d expect, so it’s good to be cautious. They obviously fly faster, so they tend to creep up from behind and then pass, which is fine, but then suddenly you’re dealing with the crappy air they create. I actually had a good 20% deflation at one point, which I easily pumped out, but hah, that woke me up from peaceful ridge soaring! There were a couple thermals pushing up against the ridge every once in a while too which I thought was quite fun. I like the feeling of straight up – it’s great!
I soared for a good 40 minutes and then I got bored, so I decided to land. My landings were great, but I had a hard time getting off the dune again with the wind so strong. I just find pushing forward (even with zero brake) hard. I must have looked pretty ridiculous pushing forward almost on my tiptoes with a harness that rides up, gaining ground ever so slowly. Oh well, I think it looks worse (and a lot less comfortable) when men have to do it!
When I landed, the tandem pilots (whose passengers took pics of me) warned me about a guy with an American flag on his helmet – they said that he didn’t know his ridge rules, and to stay away if possible. So, I launched again, soared some more when I heard some whistling coming from behind. I turned around and jumped a bit in my seat when I saw the Yank passing me pretty far on the right. It was a bit odd that he was flying right out of the lift band and over some tall pointy trees, but I kind of shrugged and just turned the other way. 
The wind picked up and a couple times I had zero ground speed, and even travelled a bit backwards. On that particular part of the dune, you really don’t want to land because it’s super-steep, and there are kind of bushy areas with snakes. And at high tide, well, the beach isn’t much of a landing zone either. So, I got out of that somewhat pinned position, flew faster, and went to land. 
The wind ended up dying, but it was a really fun day. That’s exactly what I wish every day were like….I’m still waiting to gain like 1000 feet of height above the dune and do something fun to bring the wing down, but I’ll stay patient. The internet connection out here has really been annoying me lately, hence the infrequent blog postings, but other than that, things are good. I’m itching to get to England to look around, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be at this particular part of the world again, so I’m just enjoying where I am.
It’s interesting flying with tandem pilots as the amount of wake turbulence is a lot more than you’d expect, so it’s good to be cautious. They obviously fly faster, so they tend to creep up from behind and then pass, which is fine, but then suddenly you’re dealing with the crappy air they create. I actually had a good 20% deflation at one point, which I easily pumped out, but hah, that woke me up from peaceful ridge soaring! There were a couple thermals pushing up against the ridge every once in a while too which I thought was quite fun. I like the feeling of straight up – it’s great!
I soared for a good 40 minutes and then I got bored, so I decided to land. My landings were great, but I had a hard time getting off the dune again with the wind so strong. I just find pushing forward (even with zero brake) hard. I must have looked pretty ridiculous pushing forward almost on my tiptoes with a harness that rides up, gaining ground ever so slowly. Oh well, I think it looks worse (and a lot less comfortable) when men have to do it!
When I landed, the tandem pilots (whose passengers took pics of me) warned me about a guy with an American flag on his helmet – they said that he didn’t know his ridge rules, and to stay away if possible. So, I launched again, soared some more when I heard some whistling coming from behind. I turned around and jumped a bit in my seat when I saw the Yank passing me pretty far on the right. It was a bit odd that he was flying right out of the lift band and over some tall pointy trees, but I kind of shrugged and just turned the other way.
The wind picked up and a couple times I had zero ground speed, and even travelled a bit backwards. On that particular part of the dune, you really don’t want to land because it’s super-steep, and there are kind of bushy areas with snakes. And at high tide, well, the beach isn’t much of a landing zone either. So, I got out of that somewhat pinned position, flew faster, and went to land.
The wind ended up dying, but it was a really fun day. That’s exactly what I wish every day were like….I’m still waiting to gain like 1000 feet of height above the dune and do something fun to bring the wing down, but I’ll stay patient. The internet connection out here has really been annoying me lately, hence the infrequent blog postings, but other than that, things are good. I’m itching to get to England to look around, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be at this particular part of the world again, so I’m just enjoying where I am.
posted by Veronica at 6:42 AM
2 Comments:
Great blog! After reading your last post I checked out the Dune de Pyla on GE - now I see why it's so popular!! From pics it looks like the back of the dune is pretty steep and high as well - is it ever flown? Good to hear you're getting some good flights - the weather in southern Aus has been too wintery for much flying lately.
Hi Bill!
Thanks - yeah, Dune de Pyla is a pretty popular site, especially in July in August. Yes the back of the dune is very steep but there are trees behind it, and well obviously a wicked rotor, so no, it's not flown.
Yes, we had a couple good days, but now the weather has turned on us again. It's either raining, or much too windy - typical paragliding weather!
Take care - hope you get your flying fix soon.
Veronica
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