Not a Ridge Boring Kind of Girl...
Soaring, soaring, boring. Lately ridge lift with the occasional thermal is what the flying sites around here seem to be offering, ho hum, ho hum.
I suppose I'm a greedy pilot - I want it all; flyable in the first place, pleasant on launch, cu's popping everywhere, nice big smooth thermals, and somebody to hand me a cold beer when I land - is that too much to ask?
I've never done too much ridge soaring throughout my flying "career" - I usually seem to fly sites that are mainly thermic and I've only flown the coast on a couple of occasions. Now that the last 10 hours in my logbook are ridge soaring hours, I can officially say I've had enough!
Don't get me wrong, I love to fly, but man, making endless passes on a ridge are not my cup of tea. I find that my mind wanders, or I start nitpicking at the way others fly and start getting annoyed at how they always seem to be pushing me out of the lift band, or they thermal too broad, or they thermal the wrong way, or whatever. Reminds me of driving: the slow drivers are sissies, the fast drivers have a death wish, and you are always driving at the perfect speed. Right...
Anyway, today I ridge soared for about 45 minutes and had to top land to launch a student, which was good timing because I had to pee! Then after a break, I relaunched, soared for another half hour, got annoyed, got bored, then did some spirals, a B-line stall and pulled some big big ears just for fun. God I love altitude! The last few minutes of my ridge soaring flights are what bring a smile to my face when I land.
The forecast is hot and sunny! 30 degrees on the weekend in Vancouver in mid-September?! What the hell?! Hot and stable might be what we get, but this tropical-like weather is still A-OK in my books!
I suppose I'm a greedy pilot - I want it all; flyable in the first place, pleasant on launch, cu's popping everywhere, nice big smooth thermals, and somebody to hand me a cold beer when I land - is that too much to ask?
I've never done too much ridge soaring throughout my flying "career" - I usually seem to fly sites that are mainly thermic and I've only flown the coast on a couple of occasions. Now that the last 10 hours in my logbook are ridge soaring hours, I can officially say I've had enough!
Don't get me wrong, I love to fly, but man, making endless passes on a ridge are not my cup of tea. I find that my mind wanders, or I start nitpicking at the way others fly and start getting annoyed at how they always seem to be pushing me out of the lift band, or they thermal too broad, or they thermal the wrong way, or whatever. Reminds me of driving: the slow drivers are sissies, the fast drivers have a death wish, and you are always driving at the perfect speed. Right...
Anyway, today I ridge soared for about 45 minutes and had to top land to launch a student, which was good timing because I had to pee! Then after a break, I relaunched, soared for another half hour, got annoyed, got bored, then did some spirals, a B-line stall and pulled some big big ears just for fun. God I love altitude! The last few minutes of my ridge soaring flights are what bring a smile to my face when I land.
The forecast is hot and sunny! 30 degrees on the weekend in Vancouver in mid-September?! What the hell?! Hot and stable might be what we get, but this tropical-like weather is still A-OK in my books!
posted by Veronica at 10:50 PM
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