Grateful Dad goes sailing

We were finally able to try out the sailboat the other day. It was supposed to blow 10-15 ENE but when we got to the lake it was pretty calm. This was nice because it allowed us time to paddle out a couple hundred yards, raise the sails, and try to figure out what we were doing. Small gusts would come by every now and then and would get us all excited and moving. After about an hour the wind started blowing more consistantly around 10 mph and we were having a blast.

It was nice to see all that hard work and time paying off on the water. I thought she handled quite nicely. I feel like I could handle the whole thing by myself next time so I should be able to take Isaiah . I know he will love it.( even though he said sailboats are slow and boring)

Check out the short vid of the maiden voyage.

Rally Round-up

I haven't had internet connection for a few days so I couldn't update. Friday we had a 76 mile triangle task. Actually, it was more like two out and returns. We headed south into the wind for 22 miles, back north for 36 miles right over Quest, and finally south again 18 more with goal at the airport. It was a fun task with very nice climbs and clouds everywhere.

Saturday the task was a bit more difficult. An out and return of 91 miles I think. I had a good start, being able to fly with the big gaggle and figuring out their secrets. I learned how to make better decisions and where I have been wasting time. I was able to hold on to them most of the way to the turnpoint, but then got low and had to spend time just surviving. The western sea-breeze came in and made everything ugly. I ended up landing just short of the turnpoint in the middle of a horse racetrack.

So it turns out it was a good decision to head south to finish the comp. I guess it was raining at Lookout everyday, and we had two wonderful days of flying here. Florida is amazing.(for flying anyway). Jeff Obrien took third, Zippy second, and Glen Volk first.

This comp was definately an awesome adventure. It was cool staying in a different town almost every night, and seeing the southeast from high above in my little wing. I hope they try this again next year.

Back to Quest

The Rally made it to Americus, GA. and then was stopped by nasty weather to the north. We had a pilots meeting and held discussion on what to do. The majority wanted to go where the flying would be good so everyone headed back down south to Quest. I was on the fence about heading home to Lookout, or going back south. I miss my family very much, and I hate back-tracking. But Ashley (my wife) warned me that I could regret not finishing the meet so here I am in Florida. She's so good for me!

The weather report for today looks spectacular. I imagine with the light winds we will try for a triangle task. We'll see...

Lucas got too excited and spilled his O.J. this morning.

After the clean-up we enjoyed a nice buffet style breakfast at the little restaurant in Williston. They did a great job accomodating all of us. After breakfast we headed out to the airport to fly.

I have got to get a new harness. After flying these two comps back to back I realize that my harness just does not fit. I have been getting sore, but today it was unbearable. It's like when you wear shoes that don't fit and you get some blisters. Then, you keep putting them on and walk for miles every day in them. After about 20 miles today I just simply gave up and circled down to land at an airport. At the time I thought I was making the right decision, but I spent the rest of the day angry at myself for giving up. Hopefully I will heal enough to be somewhat comfortable tommorrow. I will be looking for a new one when I get home.

I'm not sure how most people did on the 144 mile task, but I think quite a few made it about half way. A front moving south shut everything down.

Rally Race - Day 2

The task was set to go to Williston, FL., 67 miles miles to the north. It all started when I found a nice soft climb off of tow and climbed straight to base. Making my way over to the start circle edge I was joined by OB and Lucas. We all chose to take the 2:00 start.

I left out first and passed the next climb I needed. Lucas called me back when he found it so I ran back to catch up. I wanted to take it all the way up so I was left behind as I climbed.

I was by myself most of the flight except for when Kevin Carter passed me. Over the town of Ocala I found a couple very nice climbs and soon found myself catching up with Lucas and 3 others. The sea breeze came in from the west and started shutting everything down. All 4 or 5 of us found ourselves low over this town with few landing options when we hooked a decent thermal to get us out. But since the winds had changed to more westerly, it was hard to make any progress.

Tom Lanning, Lucas, and I finally landed in the nicest field you have ever seen. It was finely manicured and even had fences around the trees. Soon after landing a woman driving a Mercedes wearing big diamonds came and informed us we were not invited or welcome, and that we needed to leave immediately. We apologized and broke down quickly.

There is the field behind the fence.

We ended up landing 15 or so miles short of goal. Nobody made it today as the sea-breaze shot us down. Lucas and I did pretty good getting in 8th and 9th for the day. It was a fun flight. It is pretty cool to see the vegetation changing as we head north. There are more flowers here than in south Florida. Today is supposed to be 144 miles, we'll see....

Here is a short clip over the town of Ocala.

128 miles!

The first day of the Flytec Race and Rally started off with a bang. 128 mile task straight to Quest. The conditions were great with cloudbase around 6,300 and good solid climbs. I made a new personal best record for distance with this flight. It took almost 41/2 hours to complete and I was quite sore when I landed.

It all started with a weak-link break at 400 feet out of the field. As I turned around to land and relight, I noticed I was in a good thermal. In just a few moments I was climbing through 1,500 feet and on my way. The start circle gaggle flying was intimidating but I executed a perfect start. Right at cloudbase, at the tip of the circle, and leaving a few seconds after 1:00pm.

Some highlights of the flight were a bald eagle thermaling with me, a close encounter with a turbo-prop airliner( I could see the co-pilot looking out the window at me), and I also heard a jet pass over me in the clouds but never saw it. Florida seems to have some fairly busy airspace, especially around Orlando.

I landed just before 5:00pm and felt like I had been beaten with a 2x4. I had to lay on the couch for a while. Quest hooked it up for everyone with a great assortment of snacks and 2 kegs of cold beer. I have some pics from the flight and will try to put them up later. For now, I have to go get ready for another flight to the north. 67 miles nearer to the Florida/Georgia border.

Final Task

It's lonely when you land short. But, at least the scenery is nice.

Task 4 was another long one, 102 miles, with 4 turnpoints. I found a good climb off of my first tow and hooked up with some other gliders. I was busy climbing and decided to wait for the 2nd start clock which made me loiter for about 10 minutes. I actually did quite nice as I left the start circle 45 seconds after 2:15. This is something I am trying to master, and has never been easy.

At the first turnpoint I was high and saw three other gliders coming so I decided to wait on them. Turns out Lucas was with them so for the first time this meet we were able to fly together. We all had a good climb and I was on top. At 6,300 feet we decided to glide towards the 2nd turnpoint. I left first. I had a good line as I was only sinking at 200 fpm until I got close to the turnpoint when the air got roudy. I knew there was a good climb nearby, so I started searching for the lift. I was sinking like a rock and starting to worry. Looking back to find the others, I saw that they had found it about a 1/2 mile back and to the north. Now at 1,000 feet I didn't have the altitude to get back to them and I turned downwind with my fingers crossed. I found nothing and landed in a huge field beside the road, extremely upset with myself.

After I cooled down, I realized just how lucky I really am. If this wasn't a competition, I would have considered this a pretty good flight. I am lucky to be doing exactly what I want to be doing, flying around the country like a bird.

The comp is over and Dustin Martin came in first, Andre Wolf in second, and Johnny Durand in third. Now we rest for a day and start the rally race back to Tennessee tommorrow.

Task 3

It was another long task today. 90 miles. My flight started with some frustration since it took four tows to stick in the air. After I got to cloudbase, I realized I would be doing this task all alone. This made my day much more difficult. The climbs today were quite nasty also. They did not seem as organized as yesterday. I made the first turnpoint with relative ease, but getting to the second tested my patience. Crawling low over unfriendly terrain had me on my toes and taking every climb that I could find. I made the second turnpoint just South of Arcadia and headed north only to hit steady sink. After a short glide I had to land in a pasture next to the highway. As I broke the glider down I noticed all the clouds going away and knew I wouldn't have made it much further anyway. So, I made it 56 out of 90 miles and was surprised I made it that far. Sitting in the field waiting for Dale, my driver, was quite peaceful.

Lucas made goal today although it took almost 5 hours. He should do well in this comp because he has been consistant. Way to go man!

Redemption

Day 5, Task 2. They decided to give us an 86 mile task today with one turnpoint. I launched near the back of the line but had a good tow up to a gaggle. Long story short, I had an AWESOME flight. I made goal and not too far behind the leaders I think. I came in with Jeff Shapiro and Ben Dunn, but I'm not sure which start time they took. I'll have to wait until tommorrow to see the results. I'm glad I had this flight since I was pretty bummed about yesterday's flight. It was great conditions with my averager on some climbs stuck on 900 fpm.

There was a bit of confusion on where exactly goal was and I just landed where I saw other gliders. Turns out the land owner did not appreciate us there and made us hike our gear out about 1/2 mile under one fence and over another gate. At least he didn't call the police?

Here is a clip of some in flight footage I shot while on glide. Looking forward to tommorrow.

Finally Flying!

After three days of too much wind, we were able to call a task and go fly it. Even though the strong east wind tore apart the thermals, many pilots made it into goal. I was not so fortunate. A series of wrong decisions or maybe bad luck forced me to the ground just 13 miles out. This was my worst performance ever in my short competition experience. Oh well, I have learned a bit more now and hopefully will do better tommorrow. Until then...

Dune Goons

It has been blown out here for the last couple of days here at the ridge. Saturday Lucas and I played a round of golf to pass the time. On Sunday the safety committee decided it was also too windy so a group of us went out to the Atlantic to soar an abandoned hotel on the beach. We were launched by 3 or 4 pilots pulling on a rope to hoist us up into the air. This is the first time I have tried this and it was simply amazing. This is what hang gliding is all about. We were able to get maybe 60 feet into the air, pin off of the tow, and then glide over into the lift band next to the hotel soaring as long as we pleased. It was hard not to be selfish as others wanted their turn. The view was great. We are having fun despite the comp weather setbacks.

Here is a short vid of the fun.

Tandem Terror

I found this picture of a tandem flight last summer. It is of me and a very excited/terrified passenger coming in for a landing. She was by far the most difficult passenger I have ever taken up. I had scratches on my chest and arms from her nails clenching so tight and she never stopped screaming. She told me she had never been on an airplane and thought this would be a good way to introduce herself to flying. I don't think she was impressed since she has never returned for lessons. Oh well, flying isn't for everyone.




Well, I am here in Florida now for two weeks of competition. More to come!

This one's for you, Mom.

This post is for my family. It is a short movie showing off my wonderful little boys. Feel free to watch, but it may be boring if you aren't related.

Fly-in 2009

I decided to try and host a fly-in type thing a long time ago, but never was motivated enough. Early in the week I saw that it might be light NE winds on Thursday and made the call. This meant we could launch off of the bandit launch in light cross or calm wind, and be landing slightly up-hill and into the wind. PERFECT!

So Tuesday I started mowing a design in the field beside my house. I was inspired by the guy who does this in Ellenville, NY. Even though my design is far less complicated than his, it took all day. First, I marked it all out with a pole, string, and marker paint. Then I went around on the riding mower. And finally, coming back with the weed-wacker in the small areas.

The weather turned out to be right on, couldn't be better. We had a Spot landing contest in which Mark Fink won. The actual spot was the small ringed circle in the center, marked with a paper plate. This made it a bit confusing on final but that's the fun. Everyone had good landings, well, OK, at least nobody broke anything.

Stocked coolers and hot dogs were waiting for us, and we made a huge bon-fire to get us into the evening. Check out the short video. I Wish I had used the camera more around the fire, but then I guess we could have looked like a bunch of idiots.

Glider needs new home!

I guess it's time we went our separate ways. We don't seem to "hang" out anymore. I've met someone new (T2).

I am selling my Airwave Concept 149. I flew it for a long while but need to sell because it is just sitting around. Great flying glider. The performance is similar to a U2. Asking $800, but I am negotiable. Check out the pics, there is a patch on the left wing. Other than that it is in great shape.

Nice winglets Here is the blemishLeading edge is in great shape. Bag in good shape, new from Gunnison Gliders, heavy duty fabric. Also has a bag to keep the winglets.
Nose cone removed