March 28th 2008
Wallaby Ranch, Davenport, Florida
the XC season has begun!!!!!
Lauren Tjaden, my awesome friend and former teammate, loaned me her 1992 model 9 meter Pulse to fly during Wills Wing Demo Days. I didn't want to be stuck local - since XC is my game- and I didn't want to have to land a demo after half an hour... The challenge of a lower performing glider added to the excitement of trying to land at Quest, 22 miles to the north. Mark picked me up at Orlando Airport and we went straight to Wallaby. I set up Lauren's glider after finding it in the stacks and went flying pretty much immediately. It was tough to do since a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while were there, but they're all pilots and I figured they would understand my desire to get airborne now and socialize later. The flight itself was a lot of fun- I kept searching for the VG and coming up empty handed. The sink was horrible- the climbs I found to be somewhat elusive and light below 4000'- above that, they got better. As I went up along Rte 33, I recognized a lot of terrain I fly over a lot in the comps. Mostly I am looking at my vario arrow during a race and I miss a lot, but this flight was relaxing and I got to take in a lot more scenery. I heard a few people on the radio, but they were not near me for long- that VG trick is really pretty handy, too bad I was deficient... I saw a couple of rigid wings over the glider port and I knew I was getting close, but I only got one more climb on the way and landed short by 4 miles or so at the fire tower. There was another glider there so I figured retrieve would be convenient. Mark picked me up and back at the Ranch (always wanted to say that) the party atmosphere was getting underway. I went to the hotel to clean up and unpack a little, and Mark tried to find some fish for the cooks to make me at the Ranch. Finding fresh fish in Florida proved incredibly difficult, however. And I made do with some pasta and veggies instead... Sold a bunch of T-shirts thanks to Laurie and Malcolm for allowing it and Paul Tjaden for making announcements about them... What a blast it was later watching some still pics and videos from WAYYYYYY back... I fell exhausted into bed after a really long day at like 1:00am...
Airtime: 1:37
Alt over launch: 6500' (by memory, not instrument)
XC miles: 19 or so
Wallaby Ranch, Davenport, Florida
the XC season has begun!!!!!
Lauren Tjaden, my awesome friend and former teammate, loaned me her 1992 model 9 meter Pulse to fly during Wills Wing Demo Days. I didn't want to be stuck local - since XC is my game- and I didn't want to have to land a demo after half an hour... The challenge of a lower performing glider added to the excitement of trying to land at Quest, 22 miles to the north. Mark picked me up at Orlando Airport and we went straight to Wallaby. I set up Lauren's glider after finding it in the stacks and went flying pretty much immediately. It was tough to do since a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while were there, but they're all pilots and I figured they would understand my desire to get airborne now and socialize later. The flight itself was a lot of fun- I kept searching for the VG and coming up empty handed. The sink was horrible- the climbs I found to be somewhat elusive and light below 4000'- above that, they got better. As I went up along Rte 33, I recognized a lot of terrain I fly over a lot in the comps. Mostly I am looking at my vario arrow during a race and I miss a lot, but this flight was relaxing and I got to take in a lot more scenery. I heard a few people on the radio, but they were not near me for long- that VG trick is really pretty handy, too bad I was deficient... I saw a couple of rigid wings over the glider port and I knew I was getting close, but I only got one more climb on the way and landed short by 4 miles or so at the fire tower. There was another glider there so I figured retrieve would be convenient. Mark picked me up and back at the Ranch (always wanted to say that) the party atmosphere was getting underway. I went to the hotel to clean up and unpack a little, and Mark tried to find some fish for the cooks to make me at the Ranch. Finding fresh fish in Florida proved incredibly difficult, however. And I made do with some pasta and veggies instead... Sold a bunch of T-shirts thanks to Laurie and Malcolm for allowing it and Paul Tjaden for making announcements about them... What a blast it was later watching some still pics and videos from WAYYYYYY back... I fell exhausted into bed after a really long day at like 1:00am...
Airtime: 1:37
Alt over launch: 6500' (by memory, not instrument)
XC miles: 19 or so
posted by Linda Salamone at
Thursday, April 03, 2008
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