- Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:47 am
#400059
https://youtu.be/AIf7kChC9fs
Saturday 8/19 I went out for my 3rd solo flight and it ended up being my first soaring flight, lasting 49 minutes from foot up to foot down with a pretty good landing. Launch was about 5pm in "moderate turbulence" with wind speeds in low and high cycles from 11-13 to 15-17. I timed and chose the lighter cycle to launch in.
I haven't done much flying prone (it was my choice to go prone) so when I got to the ridge I had crappy flying that I smoothed out over many passes. After a few minutes Tom, who assisted me with launch, joined me in the air while giving me plenty of breathing room. Sharing the sky with him added enjoyment to flight and gave me a chance to work on staying aware of where he was and being sure I checked my turns. (In all honesty I knew where he was about 50% percent of the time, he left the area a few times). Passing each other and making eye contact at one point was a fun experience. After 14 and a half minutes of ridge soaring I managed not only to stay up but gain a little bit of altitude. The technical work and focus it took to do this was very satisfying.
Next step was to head down to the landmark they call the volcano to work on some 360s. I started with left 360s and managed to catch some lift and took it up to about level with launch (about 3,500 feet) before I drifted to my boundaries. I went back down a bit to work on right 360s, I gained very little and then got dumped. Generally I went up on left turns and down on right turns, I realized later in my flight that during right 360s I was pushing out unevenly, almost entirely with my right hand.
I thermaled up to or above launch several times, I'm guessing the climbs were a little over 1,000 feet, the other pilot suspected I got up to 3.8-3.9k. I don't have a vario so I don't really know. Near the top of one of these climbs I started laughing because I suddenly realized how freaking enjoyable this is! I also noticed that bright spot that shows up around your shadow... except the shadow was hardly visible. I pointed this out to myself on camera.
As I'm sure the story usually goes, eventually I got low and had to head to the LZ. I spent about 28 minutes thermaling. On the way to the LZ I transitioned to upright and attempted an upright dive. I failed, only reaching 28mph, but nailed it the next day.
I went to staging, circled down and did my DBF approach rounding out to a nice and gentle 4 step moonwalking landing with a little flare (best landing yet). That felt really good.
My instructor congratulated me saying that was the best student flight he had seen in a long time. I was pleased and surprised that it lasted more than 45 minutes. I remember being on the ridge getting tired, hungry and thirsty... but it all went away at some point.
As I was moving my glider into the shade I got some words of encouragement from the other pilots:
"You suck Nathan!"
The next day I did another flight but didn't launch until after 6 because the winds were unpredictable (to me) gusting to 22, I launched in 10mph. Unfortunately I didn't find much lift and only got a 10 minute flight but had another good landing and the flight was still very enjoyable.
It's late Monday night right now and this flight still has me feeling good. I think I might like this hang gliding thing!
Saturday 8/19 I went out for my 3rd solo flight and it ended up being my first soaring flight, lasting 49 minutes from foot up to foot down with a pretty good landing. Launch was about 5pm in "moderate turbulence" with wind speeds in low and high cycles from 11-13 to 15-17. I timed and chose the lighter cycle to launch in.
I haven't done much flying prone (it was my choice to go prone) so when I got to the ridge I had crappy flying that I smoothed out over many passes. After a few minutes Tom, who assisted me with launch, joined me in the air while giving me plenty of breathing room. Sharing the sky with him added enjoyment to flight and gave me a chance to work on staying aware of where he was and being sure I checked my turns. (In all honesty I knew where he was about 50% percent of the time, he left the area a few times). Passing each other and making eye contact at one point was a fun experience. After 14 and a half minutes of ridge soaring I managed not only to stay up but gain a little bit of altitude. The technical work and focus it took to do this was very satisfying.
Next step was to head down to the landmark they call the volcano to work on some 360s. I started with left 360s and managed to catch some lift and took it up to about level with launch (about 3,500 feet) before I drifted to my boundaries. I went back down a bit to work on right 360s, I gained very little and then got dumped. Generally I went up on left turns and down on right turns, I realized later in my flight that during right 360s I was pushing out unevenly, almost entirely with my right hand.
I thermaled up to or above launch several times, I'm guessing the climbs were a little over 1,000 feet, the other pilot suspected I got up to 3.8-3.9k. I don't have a vario so I don't really know. Near the top of one of these climbs I started laughing because I suddenly realized how freaking enjoyable this is! I also noticed that bright spot that shows up around your shadow... except the shadow was hardly visible. I pointed this out to myself on camera.
As I'm sure the story usually goes, eventually I got low and had to head to the LZ. I spent about 28 minutes thermaling. On the way to the LZ I transitioned to upright and attempted an upright dive. I failed, only reaching 28mph, but nailed it the next day.
I went to staging, circled down and did my DBF approach rounding out to a nice and gentle 4 step moonwalking landing with a little flare (best landing yet). That felt really good.
My instructor congratulated me saying that was the best student flight he had seen in a long time. I was pleased and surprised that it lasted more than 45 minutes. I remember being on the ridge getting tired, hungry and thirsty... but it all went away at some point.
As I was moving my glider into the shade I got some words of encouragement from the other pilots:
"You suck Nathan!"
The next day I did another flight but didn't launch until after 6 because the winds were unpredictable (to me) gusting to 22, I launched in 10mph. Unfortunately I didn't find much lift and only got a 10 minute flight but had another good landing and the flight was still very enjoyable.
It's late Monday night right now and this flight still has me feeling good. I think I might like this hang gliding thing!