XC Course Weekend

I think most PG pilots out in Golden had Mt. Seven as a good friend this weekend. The weather was great, the scenery as always was beautiful and the flying, amazing.

Friday evening those of us in the course gathered together and Will figured that a better use of time would be to go flying rather than start with lectures, as the conditions seemed decent. Everybody launched, and I think for the most part, we all had an extended sled run. I was actually pleased with this as I could test out my new wing longer in the air, and had plenty of height over the LZ to make some turns, try small wingovers, etc. No problems with my new glider!

The next morning we had a lecture and then went up to launch. Everyone launched and most pilots thermalled up to upper launch and got some pretty decent flying in. Most pilots, not including myself. I tried looking for lift the same places everyone else had gone but I couldn’t find anything decent. I made some turns, but I kept falling out of whatever lift was there, and then eventually had to head towards the landing zone. I landed pretty pissed off – no smiles from me!

I don’t like sharing negativity with others, so I didn’t say much, and spent the afternoon trying to figure out what I could have done differently. I couldn’t really come up with the answer. I was told later that I launched in a sink cycle, and it was just the bad luck of the draw. I had a hard time believing it then, and I still do now. I think a better pilot would have stayed up.

On the drive up to launch in the evening, I knew I would make this flight count. I think Will could see I wasn’t very happy with my previous flight’s performance, so he helped me out on radio for the first bit to get me high. It was kind of funny in the air having somebody yell “TUUUUURRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!” to you, do it and then be like “YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” I like it when people are pumped about something – it’s completely contagious.

Will left me to do my own thing and after flying with some other gliders for a bit, I got to upper launch and starting doing some thermalling up there. I think I started to really get the hang of turning in thermals, and ended up being in the air for almost 2.5 hours! I got a few hundred feet over upper launch, but could feel the wind pick up higher, so I didn’t push it too much. I could have easily landed somewhere further downwind, but thinking about the inconvenience of doing a retrieve and standing in the middle of a field getting eaten alive by bugs didn’t really appeal to me, so instead I flew straight out to the main LZ and did some bigger wingovers this time (not too big – I’m pacing myself with this new wing) with a good 3000 ft of height, and then landed. It was really nice to land and have everyone congratulate me – the first to launch and the last to land – that’s the way I like it!

The next morning things were looking very unstable as some thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon and the cloud formations showed a good possibility of things quickly overdeveloping. We went up to launch in the early afternoon, and after most of the group launched, I got ready. It was race day for Psychosis (the “World’s Most Demented Downhill Mountain Bike Race” - http://www.psychosis.ca/) with Red Bull being the major sponsor and launch being the biker’s start point. A helicopter around launch kept on interrupting when we could all take off which was a bit annoying. Kind of funny when you think about it – when’s the last time your launch window was interrupted due to a helicopter buzzing launch a stone’s throw away?

Finally it left, and I waited until I felt a thermal was in front of launch. Ha ha, I may have got my timing a bit too good on this one. I launched, and felt like I got rocketed to the moon – totally unexpected. My vario let out a continual series of high beeps, which didn’t seem to cease, even though I was flying in a straight line. I did a couple turns in this crazy thermal, but it soon started to scare me. After only a couple minutes of launching I was already level with the summit of Mt. Seven, and I started getting tossed around. Seeing my lines go slack at one point was kind of freaky, but I knew what to do, controlled the following surge, and easily got out a tiny cravat that followed. I got my adrenaline rush out of this, so I flew away from the mountain, and headed for the LZ.

The type of flying I’ve done over the last while has been pretty uneventful in terms of getting deflations, cravats, uncontrolled spirals, etc. so I discovered what my limit was this weekend. Maybe I should have stayed in that thermal, but I say if you’re shitting yourself in the air and it’s no longer fun, why stay up? I think second time around, I’d probably stay in this kind of air longer, but later hearing other pilots mention that the air really was pretty ratty just gave me confirmation that my decision to land was right.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. The course was excellent – I learned so much. If I left this course knowing 10% more than what I did going in, it was totally worth it. I know I walked away having gained a lot more than that.

Born Again Pilot

An excellent morning today indeed – I flew my new glider for the first time today!

As I unfolded it at the training hill, I was almost giddy with excitement and had a couple butterflies too. It was like Christmas in July! (I never said I wasn’t a dork).

Anyway, there wasn’t any wind out there so I practiced some forward inflations after a half hour or so of just kind of looking at the pullies, the size of the wing etc. I definitely didn’t have to try as hard launching it as my old wing, and it was kind of interesting how it would kind of come up slow at first, and then accelerate quickly. Pitchy for sure.

I did this for a while, knowing full well that I could go for a quick top to bottom, but I paced myself knowing that conditions would stay this way for a while and that since I’m out of shape, the hike up would be long and strenuous and would therefore suck! Finally, I got ready for a proper flight, launched, and off I went. Hee hee, it was like floating on a cloud! Kind of strange because maybe because of lighter material (?) things just felt really smooth and flowy. As I came to land, knowing full well I’d have a better glide, the brakes seemed kind of soft, and although I missed my target, it went well.

On my second flight it was starting to get thermic and as I launched, I gained a bit of height almost immediately and could feel the glider almost “bite” into a thermal. It’s definitely more aggressive than what I’m used to, and the speed at which it flies seems faster too. Landing this time was more challenging because the thing didn’t want to land! Everytime I was ready to do my final flare, it seemed to almost find a thermal and then it went up again! I missed my target this time by something stupid like 50 yards but since the LZ out at Cochrane provides acres of landing space, it didn’t matter. I need more practice with properly landing this new glider, for sure..

So yes, I’m quite happy with my first couple flights on my new wing and I look forward to flying it in thermals. The weather looks good for Golden this weekend with highs exceeding 30 degrees - yes! http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-34_metric_e.html

Home Sweet Home

After only 20 hours of total travel time this time around, I’ve made it home.

My flights home were actually good – especially the one from London to Toronto. If you ever get the chance to fly in one of Air Canada’s new Boeing 777-300 aircrafts, do it! I spent my 7 hours sitting in a very comfortable chair watching whatever programming I wanted on my own little TV (Blades of Glory second time around still made me laugh), had really nice food and was catered to by pleasant flight attendants. No complaints.

No rain in Calgary, thank god, so I don’t have to drive 7 hours to the BC interior to get my vitamin D fix from the sun. It is too windy to fly right now but I’m too jet lagged to do anything anyway. Since tomorrow looks windier I am going to try to groundhandle my new wing on Tuesday or Wednesday to get some practice in before the XC clinic with Will Gadd on the weekend. I want to avoid taking my old wing out to Golden for that – I have no desire to ever fly my Apco again if I don’t have to.

I ended up buying a new radio just before I left – a Kenwood K2AT. In this sport I find myself making purchases which at the time seem perfectly logical and then later discover that I now own something which is poor performing, unreliable, heavy, overpriced, etc. I’m hoping that this radio I bought will not fit this mould I’ve created for myself, although I’m still half expecting someone to say “Oh! Why did you buy that, when you could have bought this, which is much, much better?”

The day I flew out of England looked flyable, and today a UK pilot I know told me it was good for flying too, of course. Frustrating, yes, but I had a really good time out at the Dune and spending time in England was really nice as well. I think I’ve learned from this trip that I really do need to start some sort of rainy day hobby outside of (business related or not) the internet because my own narrow mindedness is really the cause of my boredom when the weather is poor – the weather itself is not the culprit. After visiting England, I think I’ve been inspired to take up historical reproduction tapestry…that should keep me busy.

I Miss Canadian Weather

Normally I try very hard to refrain from swearing in my blog, but I really really hate this fucking rain.

It's been raining almost non-stop for the last two weeks here in England, and it's starting to drive me absolutely crazy - I really can't handle continuous rain. Nothing to do with flying really, (although that part of it sucks too) it's more overall mentally, it tends to get me down. Note to self: never EVER even consider moving to Vancouver.

I was determined to go for a walk the other day in between the small pauses of rain and got caught in a thunderstorm when it started to hail:

I ended up taking shelter under a big leafy tree and just chuckled to myself watching the hail bounce off the roofs of cars. Ridiculous.

Yesterday I went to Geneva and met a paragliding designer - very cool. I can't say that I contributed anything to the conversations he had with John, but I learned so so much about paraglider design. I kind of surprised myself by actually being interested about long discussions about glider design, testing, tweaking, etc. and the difference minute details can make in performance, stability, and safety. It was also raining in Geneva.


Although I may very well be returning to England in the next couple months, I can't get away from this weather fast enough right now. The fact that Calgary has had 30 degree sunny weather over the last while hasn't been an easy pill to digest. If it starts raining in Calgary when I get there, I will immediately jump in my car, drive 7 hours to Vernon or Kelowna and sit in guaranteed sunny 35+ degree weather for a couple days. I can't believe I'm experiencing seasonal affective disorder in the Northern Hemisphere in fricken July!

Anyway...this month is going to be big for me flying-wise, and although the weather has not been my friend as of late, I will be flying plenty when I get home. If I have to stay longer than I expected in BC to do it, so be it - I WILL get some practice in. There is no way in hell I'll have it any other way.

Lousy Rain…

So, the UK is apparently not a very good place to be as a paragliding pilot right now…it’s rained every day since I’ve got here. The rain is so bad that it’s caused localized flooding, which thankfully has not been an issue in the area I’ve been staying.

I got a lot of work business-wise done over the last few days, so the rain has been good for something. But not flying has been driving me a bit mad. The Rush I’m borrowing is sitting in the living room, and as I stare at the box it’s sitting in and then look through the window, it eats me up inside.

But, weather aside, England is very pretty. Yesterday we visited Sherbourne Castle and went to a pub for quiz night. It’s been fun, but *sigh*, it’d be so nice to fly.

Sherborne Castle

Inside the Party Room in Sherborne Castle - sssshhhhhh, pictures aren't allowed

We didn't discuss posing for this pic - amusing how it turned out

Local tap - I think I'm slowly becoming a regular

On Wednesday we’re going to Switzerland for a day, and hopefully I’ll get to fly out there…not sure if it’ll be a possibility or not. But hey, spending a day in Switzerland was not something I expected, so I’m looking forward to it.

Canada looks like it’s completely scorching right now – mmmmmm….I hope the warm weather will be waiting for me when I get home.