Towing in the Wind
Yesterday I quenched my thirst for flying (well, partially anyway) by going towing near Strathmore, Alberta. The two weeks I've had without flying have been long!
Before I left the house, I checked the upper winds and everything seemed in order; Nothing showed higher than 8 knots in the surrounding areas which was more than reasonable, so I jumped in the car and made the drive out to the prairies.
Even though I grew up in Winnipeg where it's flat as hell and spent most of my life out there, the prairies now seem kind of alien to me. Almost everywhere that I've travelled to has had some sort of notable vertical topography and so going back to the flats is kind of bizarre. It's like, what am I supposed to fly off of? And why can I see for miles and miles? Funny, I suppose I don't miss the prairies much because I've discovered the playground of the mountains and I like it so much more...
Anyway, a couple hangies were already out there and one was doing a tandem. It's cool watching hangies tow - the release off the back of the truck is neat and more dramatic than a paraglider running behind a vehicle. Tandem hang gliders typically come into land on wheels which is kind of funny to watch as they come towards the earth face first.
I asked one of the hangies to anchor me as I was doing a reverse, as while clearing my lines I was getting picked up. So, with the bridal attached and an anchor behind me, I inflated, turned round fine and was immediately airbore.
Towing is kind of a weird feeling but one that I got used to quickly. Your glider is obviously behind you, there's pressure tugging from the hips and the different shear layers are noticeable while towing up. Then came the release, hee hee, my favourite part! I liked pulling on the handle and kind of falling back for a split second before flying normally again. Maybe it reminds me of the start of a stall, which is probably why I liked it...I like that freaky feeling when all goes quiet back there and back you go into a stall. Not that the release was really all that stall-like, but maybe just a little bit.
XC potential was pretty much nil as there didn't seem to be anything for thermals so I was hoping instead to do some stalls, etc. on my new wing. Unfortunately the wind was strong and even a few 360's had me travelling waaaaayyyy downwind, so I opted for some pretty tame mucking about. Both tows I had, especially the second one, had me going backwards on landing, which was fine because there weren't any obstacles, but I wouldn't say it was especially pleasant.
Before I left the house, I checked the upper winds and everything seemed in order; Nothing showed higher than 8 knots in the surrounding areas which was more than reasonable, so I jumped in the car and made the drive out to the prairies.
Even though I grew up in Winnipeg where it's flat as hell and spent most of my life out there, the prairies now seem kind of alien to me. Almost everywhere that I've travelled to has had some sort of notable vertical topography and so going back to the flats is kind of bizarre. It's like, what am I supposed to fly off of? And why can I see for miles and miles? Funny, I suppose I don't miss the prairies much because I've discovered the playground of the mountains and I like it so much more...
Anyway, a couple hangies were already out there and one was doing a tandem. It's cool watching hangies tow - the release off the back of the truck is neat and more dramatic than a paraglider running behind a vehicle. Tandem hang gliders typically come into land on wheels which is kind of funny to watch as they come towards the earth face first.
I asked one of the hangies to anchor me as I was doing a reverse, as while clearing my lines I was getting picked up. So, with the bridal attached and an anchor behind me, I inflated, turned round fine and was immediately airbore.
Towing is kind of a weird feeling but one that I got used to quickly. Your glider is obviously behind you, there's pressure tugging from the hips and the different shear layers are noticeable while towing up. Then came the release, hee hee, my favourite part! I liked pulling on the handle and kind of falling back for a split second before flying normally again. Maybe it reminds me of the start of a stall, which is probably why I liked it...I like that freaky feeling when all goes quiet back there and back you go into a stall. Not that the release was really all that stall-like, but maybe just a little bit.
XC potential was pretty much nil as there didn't seem to be anything for thermals so I was hoping instead to do some stalls, etc. on my new wing. Unfortunately the wind was strong and even a few 360's had me travelling waaaaayyyy downwind, so I opted for some pretty tame mucking about. Both tows I had, especially the second one, had me going backwards on landing, which was fine because there weren't any obstacles, but I wouldn't say it was especially pleasant.
posted by Veronica at 1:00 PM
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