The Sweetest Flying Day EVER!!!
Yesterday I had the most amazing day. I met some female pilots out here in Annecy, and we planned to do some XC together, flying from Planfait to across the lake etc. – we’d see where the clouds would take us. It didn’t quite work that way as one of the girls forgot her instruments and had to go home to get them, while the three of us split in the sky. I ended up doing a small xc, flying across towards Annecy to one of the nearby ridges, and then coming back in to land. It was a nice morning flight.
I got a ride back up to launch, thermalled my way up to Les Dentes (the Teeth), flew to the next ridge that kind of looks like the Dentes, and over to the Forclase launch, where I had tons of height. I flew out over the lake, and tried to throw in some SATs. I got in a couple of rotations, but they were messy, so I pulled out. It was awesome though being able to do some XC and end with Acro.
Funny enough when I landed, one of the girls who I took off with saw me over the lake, and came to land with me. So the two of us found one of the other girls who gave us a ride back to PLanfait to find our remaining team member. Funny enough when we arrived back at the Forclase LZ, she was coming into land. Awesome timing!
Just before she landed, a guy in a Apco Twister decided to throw in a ground spiral at less than 50 meters off the deck. The second he pulled in, his wind dived violently forward, and after less than one complete revolution, he smacked into the ground and bounced. HOLY SHIT! Everyone rushed over to him, but he was completely fine. He was so fucking lucky – he should have broke his back for sure! Man, I’ve never seen a person bounce off the ground, and I hope I never witness anything like that again. It was a bit of a reminder that acro and tricks are fun, but the closer you try things to the ground, the higher your chances of pounding in like he did.
We all went up again to Planfait to do vehicle retrieve, but I was able to fly. It was about 6 o’clock, and although some people still seemed high, most were just ridge soaring. I was determined to do my SAT, but I questioned whether I could fly to Forclase at that time of the day. I launched, ridge soared, and tried to work any little bubble I could. Heart and soul, I wanted to thermal out of there. Finally, I caught something. Half a meter up, I dribbled intently in this thermal until I was ¾ of the way up to Les Dentes. Then I saw somebody climbing faster than me on the side of the mountain, so I headed there, and got to base 5 minutes later. Whoo hoo!!!! I followed the clouds, and made my way to Forclase. I didn’t bother thermalling as it was buoyant, and just flew slower when there was a bit of lift.
I psyched myself up and secured my instruments when I was over the lake and pulled into a perfect SAT, yeeeeeesssss!!!!! What an awesome feeling! As I pulled out a small plane looked like it was watching me, so I lost my excess height with some spirals and wingovers. I landed, and as the girls saw me come out, picked me up at the SIV landing field. How perfect!
On my last flight I knew I’d pull into the SAT, but I questioned my XC skills…especially at that time of the day. It was pretty sweet knowing I was the last to climb out of Plainfait, and the last person with the balls to head to Forclase in what could have been a very sinky glide. It was incredible that I pulled it off - it TOTALLY made my day.
Today us girls are planning some more XC, and I’ll hopefully practice some more acro as well. Yesterday will be tough to beat!
I got a ride back up to launch, thermalled my way up to Les Dentes (the Teeth), flew to the next ridge that kind of looks like the Dentes, and over to the Forclase launch, where I had tons of height. I flew out over the lake, and tried to throw in some SATs. I got in a couple of rotations, but they were messy, so I pulled out. It was awesome though being able to do some XC and end with Acro.
Funny enough when I landed, one of the girls who I took off with saw me over the lake, and came to land with me. So the two of us found one of the other girls who gave us a ride back to PLanfait to find our remaining team member. Funny enough when we arrived back at the Forclase LZ, she was coming into land. Awesome timing!
Just before she landed, a guy in a Apco Twister decided to throw in a ground spiral at less than 50 meters off the deck. The second he pulled in, his wind dived violently forward, and after less than one complete revolution, he smacked into the ground and bounced. HOLY SHIT! Everyone rushed over to him, but he was completely fine. He was so fucking lucky – he should have broke his back for sure! Man, I’ve never seen a person bounce off the ground, and I hope I never witness anything like that again. It was a bit of a reminder that acro and tricks are fun, but the closer you try things to the ground, the higher your chances of pounding in like he did.
We all went up again to Planfait to do vehicle retrieve, but I was able to fly. It was about 6 o’clock, and although some people still seemed high, most were just ridge soaring. I was determined to do my SAT, but I questioned whether I could fly to Forclase at that time of the day. I launched, ridge soared, and tried to work any little bubble I could. Heart and soul, I wanted to thermal out of there. Finally, I caught something. Half a meter up, I dribbled intently in this thermal until I was ¾ of the way up to Les Dentes. Then I saw somebody climbing faster than me on the side of the mountain, so I headed there, and got to base 5 minutes later. Whoo hoo!!!! I followed the clouds, and made my way to Forclase. I didn’t bother thermalling as it was buoyant, and just flew slower when there was a bit of lift.
I psyched myself up and secured my instruments when I was over the lake and pulled into a perfect SAT, yeeeeeesssss!!!!! What an awesome feeling! As I pulled out a small plane looked like it was watching me, so I lost my excess height with some spirals and wingovers. I landed, and as the girls saw me come out, picked me up at the SIV landing field. How perfect!
On my last flight I knew I’d pull into the SAT, but I questioned my XC skills…especially at that time of the day. It was pretty sweet knowing I was the last to climb out of Plainfait, and the last person with the balls to head to Forclase in what could have been a very sinky glide. It was incredible that I pulled it off - it TOTALLY made my day.
Today us girls are planning some more XC, and I’ll hopefully practice some more acro as well. Yesterday will be tough to beat!
posted by Veronica at 1:54 AM
1 Comments:
Awesome!
Post a Comment
<< Home