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By waltspoint
#401666
Hi all you Krazy Krazy Hangglider Dudes and Dudettes!

I was hoping for one more day this year, but Mother Nature and family obligation says no. So I'm closing it out with

18 flying days:
6 at Tres Pinos training hill and winch tow
12 at Ft. Funston
84 flights: 26 at the cliff, and 58 at the training hill or towing.
26 3/4 hours up in the ayr
Flights with 5 wings: T2C, Sport2, Freedom 170, Falcon something, Alpha 210 with the Easy-Flier setup

I wasn't healthy for the first half of the year, so that got scrunched into summer and fall. I didn't get to the mountains this year, but I'm happy to have gotten lots of launch/landing practice. Tres Pinos is great for that. You can winch up, land on top of the training hill, do a quick hop back down to the winch for another round, all day. The top-landing is also good for practicing up-hill downwind/crosswind landings, I recommend it.

I bought the Sport2 for my son to fly. But it only got taken out a few times because he decided to go on a Walkabout in Peru for the summer. I replaced my old T2 with a new T2C, which was expensive but really is a fantastic hangglider. I broke a downtube on my second landing of my first day with it, which was a bummer. I came in high, and was floating around at the back of the landing area at Funston killing some altitude. So I was flying slow as I descended through the gradient, and T2C does have a more abrupt stall than the Sp2 or Freedom, by a lot. Crunch! Be assertive during your approaches, everyone! But that was my only bad landing for the season, aside from dropping the bar for minor whacks a few times.

Next year I hope to perform at least 100 flights so that launch/landing starts to feel really natural. My airtime goal is 50 hours. I want to get to the mountains at least twice, I'm thinking of trips to Dunlap and Andy Jackson. Lets go on a flying trip!

The Easy-Flier was pretty interesting. I think it has the possibility of bringing new flyers into the sport by making that first day more fun and flyinglike.

All in all, it was a good hanggliding year f for me. How was your season? What are your plans for the coming year?

Push out, /jd
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By dbotos
#401718
Mother Nature poo-poo'ed on the start of 2017 for me with no flying January, February, or March. Got back to it in early April, test-flying and buying a used Falcon 3 195 (my first glider). Did 9 scooter tow lessons, two dune lessons, and one truck tow session (91 total flights). My original goal was to earn my H2 by the end of Summer / Fall, but that didn't quite happen. I'm chalking it up to weather, other commitments, and the fact that the flight park is 3.5 hours from where I live. Might try to get to a somewhat nearby training hill with some local pilots before the year is up now that I brought my glider home. If not, we'll see what 2018 has in store. I think the highlight of my 2017 flying was finally truck towing (which was a good jump up in altitude over previous scooter towing) and getting to watch the sun set on my last flight of the day:

truck tow footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDQipeV3Vns

mid-Summer scooter tow footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb7elpwCD4U
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By dbotos
#401719
I forgot goals for next year:

-get H2
-buy full harness and parachute
-fly at least 2X per month (even if it's just hill)
-try suprone
-make first mountain flight

Speaking of suprone, how did you like the Easy Flyer harness, waltspoint?
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By TomGalvin
#401723
4 flights for 3 hours at Marshall, Torrey, Villa, and Mancos. I only got to cloud base at Torrey. The other three were glorified sledders. I still loved it.

I have a new job with a 30 hour work week, flexible schedule and 5 weeks of vacation, so 2018 should be better.

Edit: I did get a "new to me" glider.
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By waltspoint
#401726
That's a beautiful hangglider, Tom! I love my Freedom. Make good use of it and your lighter work schedule for many fantastic flights. As Fat Freddy once said, "Hanggliding will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no hanngliding", or something like that.

>>Speaking of suprone, how did you like the Easy Flyer harness, waltspoint?
The harness is sort of part of the glider. It's like sitting in a chair and fastening the seatbelt. Then you put your feet on the little wheel steering bar, and roll off the hill. You steer the glider with your arms, holding the down tubes. It is in fact really easy to fly. Push out! /jd