3 Tandems = 1 Rewarding Day
Last night a few of us got together at a tandem pilot’s place and after a few drinks, he suggested that I take him XC the next day. I really hesitated as his height intimidated me a bit with launching and I sort of pictured having troubles landing in some postage-stamp field in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, he assured me that as a local, he was quite aware of the different landing fields between Golden and Invermere, and that landing fields wouldn’t be an issue, but I nevertheless decided to sleep on it.
After considering the different pilots I could ever take XC out in Golden, I ultimately realized that he was at the very top of the list, and that especially as a tandem pilot himself, it was a good opportunity for me learn and be critiqued. So, first thing in the morning I did a nice sleddie with one of the hangie pilots and then went back up to launch for my first XC tandem.
We didn’t have any problems launching as there was a nice 8k’s of wind or so and I found it quite amusing as he ran down the hill and I flew behind him already airborne, just controlling the wing. Hee hee, get your passengers to do the work if you can – saves you some energy!
Anyway, we scratched around for 20 mins or so around launch in some disorganized lift, which was good for me as I had a better idea of how the wing turned and handled and then we headed out towards the spine of Seven. Whoosh! Up we went in a sweet thermal which brought us level to the summit of Mt.Seven. After gliding past Willi’s Knob and past the cliffs of Pegley Arrow without much more than very weak lift, which we tried to work, we headed out towards the valley and landed just past the 15k field – not too shabby! We were soon joined by another 2 pilots and a third glided maybe a k or so past us – so, we definitely weren’t alone in finding the sink. Very cool to land out with everyone in a tandem.
I just finished taking a third person up for an evening sleddie which went very well except for the fast landing, which seems to be my biggest hurdle these days. I got some great tips from the tandem pilots out here this evening, so hopefully fast landings won’t be an issue anymore.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Willi XC Challenge and the forecast looks good – one last shot to kick ass!
After considering the different pilots I could ever take XC out in Golden, I ultimately realized that he was at the very top of the list, and that especially as a tandem pilot himself, it was a good opportunity for me learn and be critiqued. So, first thing in the morning I did a nice sleddie with one of the hangie pilots and then went back up to launch for my first XC tandem.
We didn’t have any problems launching as there was a nice 8k’s of wind or so and I found it quite amusing as he ran down the hill and I flew behind him already airborne, just controlling the wing. Hee hee, get your passengers to do the work if you can – saves you some energy!
Anyway, we scratched around for 20 mins or so around launch in some disorganized lift, which was good for me as I had a better idea of how the wing turned and handled and then we headed out towards the spine of Seven. Whoosh! Up we went in a sweet thermal which brought us level to the summit of Mt.Seven. After gliding past Willi’s Knob and past the cliffs of Pegley Arrow without much more than very weak lift, which we tried to work, we headed out towards the valley and landed just past the 15k field – not too shabby! We were soon joined by another 2 pilots and a third glided maybe a k or so past us – so, we definitely weren’t alone in finding the sink. Very cool to land out with everyone in a tandem.
I just finished taking a third person up for an evening sleddie which went very well except for the fast landing, which seems to be my biggest hurdle these days. I got some great tips from the tandem pilots out here this evening, so hopefully fast landings won’t be an issue anymore.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Willi XC Challenge and the forecast looks good – one last shot to kick ass!
posted by Veronica at 9:57 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, congrats on the tandems. Your not missing anything here in Vernon. Got an hour this evening in convergence/thermal. Mara tommorrow to try to at least match your flight to Lumby. good luck!
Doug
hi.. it's Pagliaro... which is Italian for impossible crossing.
lyle
Post a Comment
<< Home