Learning to Fly

Quickie

I spent the weekend away working in Brotas and as such didn’t get to take advantage of the good flying weather on Sunday afternoon. I woke up extra early today though to get in a quick flight before going to the office. I got up the ramp at 9am, and it was blowing a solid 25-30km/h northeasterly.

I unpacked my kit quickly and waited for a low spot before trying to inflate. The low barely lasted long enough for the glider to get above my head and I ended up running backwards toward the car park trying to get it under control. I quickly realised that it wasn’t going to happen and put a half dozen wraps on my hands and pulled the brakes in tight. The glider came down just in front of the hedge lining the car park, and I thought I was lucky not to end up dragged over it.

I pulled the glider right down to the very front of the ramp and opened it out again. This time I waited for a real low spot, that I thought would last a little longer, and also put the glider into a horseshoe shape to ease the impact of inflating it.

I gave it a pull and it shot up over my head. I spun round quickly and threw my weight forward to avoid being pushed back. As I did the wind came up and I went straight up like a rocket. I was worried about being pushed backwards and struggled for a few seconds trying to get my feet on the accelerator without any luck. It was tangled up and needed a hand to untwist it before I managed to get my feet onto it. By that time I was already 30m up above the ramp and moving slowly forward so I wasn’t so concerned.

I flew around for a while along the ridge and back. It wasn’t particularily exciting but it was good to get my feet off the ground. I could see some clouds starting to form and knew it would be a great day if I stuck around, but I had to get to the office, so I top landed on the ramp and pulled in on the B-risers to deflate the wing. I had to pull hard but it worked well and I wasn’t pulled backwards at all, so I think I will do that from now on to deflate when the wind is strong.

Total flight time: 40mins