Adrenaline Fix

Thank goodness I went towing with the hangie group again today – I got a much needed dose of adrenaline and now I’m feeling a bit more sedate and the world is a good place again.

This morning seemed windy so I didn’t immediately head east to fly, but later in the day things died down and the second I got the message that things looked good, I ran out of the house in a mad rush, crashing into things and possibly other people along the way, just so I wouldn't waste a second of possible flying time. Flying in general can be so spur of the moment like that; “Oh my god it’s flyable!” and suddenly whatever you were doing seems totally unimportant, and the only thing that matters now is getting to your takeoff spot as quickly as humanly possible, much to the utter dumbfoundedness of the non-pilots around you.

When I arrived there were about 15 people out and about – hangies and their significant others, but I was the lone paraglider. It’s not very often us bags are outnumbered by the stiff-wings, but today was the day.

My first tow was good and conditions were much nicer than they were last week, as the wind wasn’t nearly as strong. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to stall my wing, so that’s what I did. The first one was fine – the entry was easier than on my old Rush (lighter brake pressure and higher stall point) and it came out fine. The next attempt had my glider exit in a tip tuck on one side and a cravat on the other. The second I saw the problem I thought “hmmm, no wonder this is a DHV 2..." I really had to yank the cravat out hard with the stabilo line and I just pumped out the tip tuck with the brakes.

A few times during SIV in the past when I’ve done a maneuver and the glider didn’t exit cleanly, I wouldn’t even notice until the instructor would point it out. I thought this was the best thing I did today after doing the stalls – not assuming that things were okay, and immediately checking my wing for any issues. It sounds simple, but after doing a maneuver I think it’s easy to get caught up in what you just did, almost letting your brain process the feelings and the event that just happened, rather than being fully conscious and aware of what your glider is doing and how it’s flying.

The second tow was my left hand hard-core spiral practice. Not having done a deep spiral as of yet on my Addict, I thought the amount of altitude I had would be perfect to dispose of by plummeting towards the earth at 15 - 20 m/s.

I locked in immediately and holy shit did those G’s ever build up fast with tunnel vision setting quickly. After a few seconds of this and my face being contorted in ways that probably had me look like hideously demented gargoyle, I thought, Exit! Exit! Upon normal flight my jolt of adrenaline had me give out a big “YEAAAAAAHHHHHH” and with a huge grin on my face, I knew I had just done my deepest spiral to date.

Tomorrow if conditions are good again I'd like to try going XC, but if not, the plan is to do a couple more stalls, maybe some spin-appreciation and then try a SAT. Throw some wingovers into the mix, and that's what I'd call a truly perfect day.

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.

The wind was fricken howling! At first it was cycling, but then it seemed to be consistently very strong. Having faith in my new glider and figuring is wasn't quite blown out, I got ready for my first tow.

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.

I'm really glad I finally got to experience towing and was in good hands with experienced hangie pilots who were also very good tow operators. Too bad the conditions were kind of sucky, but I'd certainly go for another tow any day.

Conceding Defeat

It hasn’t been that long since I suggested that I would still fight to find a paragliding work opportunity overseas but at this point I’ve pretty much thrown in the towel.

I’ve e-mailed pretty much everyone I know in the sport and have asked if they know of anyone looking for a tandem pilot/instructor and the response almost across the board has been “I’ll let you know if I hear of anything.” Other than finding a couple of small opportunities in New Zealand which I would have loved to take except for being quite certain that it would cost me money instead of make me money, it’s been kind of quiet.

Sooooooo…feeling a bit dejected by the world of paragliding, I’m forced to put the sport on the side, get a job, and try my best not to think about it for the next 6 months. Oh, woe is me! Ok, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s disappointing.

I’ve been scouring the internet for sports that I can take up during the winter months so that I can get excited about something else. I’m not big into skiing or snowboarding (my ankle still gives me grief and with a cracked bone on my other foot, probably not the greatest idea anyway) so something indoors is probably the way to go. The thought of going without a hit of adrenaline kills me! Auuughhhh! I need a fix! I need something exciting to do! Extreme swimming? Bad-ass badminton? I’ve already looked into joining a circus group, but I missed the registration date – damn!

Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise; when wanting everything NOW, sometimes life has a funny way of putting the brakes on for you, probably for your own good.