Linda Salamone's Blog

2010-12-02T10:20:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a slacker I've been. It seems that Facebook has (temporarily) taken the place of blogging. Also, I haven't flown much lately, with the exception of the Arizona meet- the Santa Cruz Flats Race, way back in September. I flew my ass off there- and did some really stupid shit in the process. Note to self: find a happy medium between GOING FOR IT, and PLAYING IT TOTALLY SAFE. A mostly lackluster flying year for sure- coming back from an injury, getting totally skunked at Tegelberg on the heels of a so-so Florida comp season. But it seems that competitions are the only way at all for me to get the cobwebs out and fly fly fly. So many things seem to get in the way during regular life.
Anyhow... I had a decent winter flight last week, the day before Thanksgiving, after many weeks of being ground-bound. I had talked myself out of going a few times in the weeks before, and wound up kicking myself for not just GOING. So sitting at work, looking at the sunny, light (but COLD) forecast, I decided to just head out. I wanted to have something to really be thankful for! My son had borrowed my car so Mark had to get me from work and load our gear on. I brought along my freshly charged Thermic heated gloves to try for the first time since buying them in Germany. It seemed to be a mild enough day to try them out without the added hassle of rough air, and I was really anxious to see if all that money I spent on them was a waste or not.
The sun was shining brightly the whole drive down to Bath, NY. And while I set up the glider- still mild and sunny. When my son called to tell me I had to speak with his coach at 2pm (it was 1pm now, I was all set up and conditions were GOOD!), I was pissed to have to wait while Mark and Ed launched. Finally the call came and went and I launched myself into some really easy air and got right up. Launching and transitioning with the gloves was uneventful. Of course, by now, the sun had been pretty obliterated by a thick upper level scuzz, and I usually don't like flying in the cold sunless northeast. But the air was so sweet and easy and lifty and just absolutely effortless. Avoiding Ed was the biggest challenge I had while we climbed in a big boaty thermal just above launch, but once I got on top of him, I could drive around anywhere and take stock of my hands and how they felt with the lowest heat setting. I decided I wanted more warmth and it was simple to increase the setting to the second level in flight. I could zip into my harness easy enough even with a thick coat and a few layers of clothing on, but the dexterity of the gloves is not really good enough to use my push-to-talk easily. A few times I transmitted something to Mark but his volume was so low it was useless to talk. He called out that he was cold and landing on top and shortly thereafter I found myself sinking out. Doug had arrived and launched so Ed, he and I scratched around near the launches until I felt crowded and headed behind the church to land. The rolling narrow LZ there is not exactly my favorite choice of landing spots, and without wheels today I was even less thrilled, but I didn't even have time to stress out about it because I was staying up just fine on that piece of ridge. 10 minutes later a nice cycle got me plenty high enough to top land. I set the gloves to the 3rd and highest setting as the cold was settling in to my whole body and they felt nice and dry and only a little chilled. Nothing like they usually feel when I fly in 35 degree weather for an hour. So I flew around at 600 meters over the hill for a while and listened to Mark whine over the radio while his own hands thawed out. Before I could get too low again, I decided to land on top even though Ed and Doug still commanded the ridge. I didn't think either of them was high enough to land anywhere but behind the church but soon Doug begged to differ and did a landing on the knob behind launch. Nice to have a PG sometimes! My own landing was good and I took stock of my hands and how they felt as I carried over to break the glider down. Still warm, and dry, and ground handling is fine with the grip. Having cold hands is the main reason I dislike flying this time of year. I think I have that all solved now. These gloves were such an impulse buy, and a big expense, but I was nervous about the cold conditions in Germany and didn't want frozen hands to hold me back during the non-existent World Meet. Another pilot had heard I bought these gloves and told me then that they were terrible- she had tried them and found her hands were soaked and sweaty and raisin wrinkled when she landed some hours later. I didn't use then for more than an hour, and I didn't have them on the highest setting the whole flight, but let's see what happens when I test them out some more. For that experiment... I need some decent flying weather. Bring it on.
Flights: 1
Glider: old Litespeed
A2: 606m
Airtime: 56 min
Hammondsport

2010-07-06T14:46:00.017-04:00

After a (not) frustrating Friday at Indian Cliffs in Elmira New York, I finally hit the right site at the right time for the 4th of July break. Saturday, July 3, we arrived at Bristol to a doubting Doug Stoner, but Katrin on top said it was beginning to blow in some. There were more pilots than I have ever seen on top of the hill there, and so many PGs!!! Lots of help carrying in (big hike!) and the clogged launch was a sign of many hopeful pilots. Even Joel dragged his Exxtacy in....
Florian was the only pilot to stay up for very long- a few PGs did so-so. Then Mark launched later and had a low save over the parking lot to break launch height by 85 feet or so. Bob and Rick went... sledded. Then I got in front of Joel in the slot and headed left after waiting forever to launch. It must have been after 5pm and I was at least hoping for a few 360s. I sank along the ridge to the south and saw a few vultures. Mark called on the radio and said there were a bunch of them back at launch but I had my eye on what looked like a hawk even further south. Sure enough I got some beeps and it was just big enough to crank a 360 in. I stuck with it until I was drifted back over launch and going up fast and smooth. Oh yeah... that felt so good!!! Joel launched when I was pretty high and then a lot of PGs went off. I was bouncing off the inversion some 800 meters over take off and Doug joined me. I don't know who all the others were but we could just drive all over the sky a couple thousand feet over with impunity. After an hour and a half I decided to land- still had pool issues to deal with at home. A confidence inspiring landing just on the edge of the tall grass was a perfect ending to a really sweet flight. My kind of air!

The next day we headed to Hyner View- for their unique brand of partying. Adam was being a pretty good sport to come along and we- Joe S, Mark, Adam and I floated on the river for a bit as no one was soaring when we arrived. Later we went up when Dennis Pagen was scratching around- by the time we got up top, he was the only one really high. He got flushed before we finished setting up, and I waited for Bob Beck to suit up before even THINKING about launching. Joe and Bob and a few others were soaring a bit when I launched, and I got up quickly. Again, sweet, smooth air. No bumps or surprises, just light solid lift. Pretty soon I was up around 700 meters over and boating around on glass. After two hours and a nice tour around the valleys, I headed to land. My approach could have been better- I was too high, but I put it down okay, with only a slightly late flare, but no forward momentum to freak me out. A quick swim in the river to wash up, a maddening dinner in town, and then the evening's festivities....
Mark had handed a huge amount of fireworks to Adam, who was more than happy to start setting shit on fire, and pretty soon, 'Middle Aged Man' was getting ready to do his final showing as the Statue of Liberty. I got recruited as a Foil Virgin and we plastered him head to tow with aluminum foil, handed him a bunch of fireworks, and let him do his thing....

Adam and the dog after the lights and noise.

Spoons has a unique way of making a lot of noise... In the morning, Adam reported some naked fire jumping had occured after I went to bed. And Spoons said that Middle Aged Man would be back again next year and not retire... I think due, in part, to the extra special foiling job I did of his nether regions....

On the way back through Dansville on Monday, Mark treated Adam to a sailplane flight for his decent behavior. Here's the tow plane.

Getting ready to take off.

Final approach.

Nice touchdown!
No one got more than short flights at Harris Monday, so we were glad we didn't try. It was 95 degrees and humid and feeling like summer in New York. Thank God the pool is back in action!

2010-05-30T07:05:00.001-04:00

I wrote this more than a week ago:

Here we are waiting on top of the mountain. This is the last official day - unless we get a 500pt task, then we’ll add tomorrow as a world championship competition day. But the cloud we are engulfed in at 1:30pm is reluctant to lift. Solid white outside the café for hours now. Gliders are all set up but we can’t see them unless we are standing right next to them. Seems unreal that this is almost over and it ended up so unlike my expectations. I stopped writing when it felt as though the rain and fog and sleet would emote from my blog. Like an elephant in the room- we really don’t talk about this situation for more than one second in case in engulfs us and we lose all hope. We joke about it, we get our gliders ready, we speak enthusiastically every day and every night. But the weather just doesn’t let up. The organizers, the press, the volunteers, the support crews, and the pilots have this strange bond of silence. Because really there aren’t a whole lot of things you can say about it. I‘ll quote a friend: “Credo che questo sia l’evento piu’ sfortunato della storia”. Truly. But we party, we make plans- the ‘alternate program’ we call it. And it’s usually a blast and a half. Making new connections and seeing old friends is absolutely awesome. But we don’t get to fly in this beautiful place. Each day is like Groundhog Day- even the food I am served by my wonderful landlady is the same day after day. Like the sky, the rain, the mountain in the very near distance whose peak we cant even see every morning. This morning even the castle was enshrouded in cloud. So, here we are waiting on top of the mountain. One. More. Time…..

And I add this today- on my way back home after the strange and wonderful and frustrating time I had….:

We had our gliders set up until the last cable car was due to leave. I thought I had made the correct decision to pack up and ride down as it stayed socked in until 5pm and beyond. I didn’t want to risk walking down the mountain in the slush. But at the headquarters I saw that just before 6pm the sky opened enough and gliders launched and were staying up low over the castle. Oh well, another opportunity missed. We might get another chance to have a fun task Saturday, but the meet was officially over now. Not one single task flown. Another party in the tent, some time in the local bar until closing time, and Saturday morning the sun is huge and bright for the first time since I arrived. This place, I swear, is cursed for competitions. A slap in the face to be squinting out my window at the bright sunny and warm day!!! We head up the mountain and set up in the sunshine and have a task set so the organizers can have an excuse to give away all the daily prizes that never got awarded.
I launch off the east ramp because the wind is very cross. Ollie tells me just before that there is a ton of wind on the ground but it is not windy up here. I don’t find much lift except a bubble in front of the launch and when a rigid joins me too close, I leave. Sinking all the way out towards the first turn point, finally I get some beepings. I try to core this thermal and it turns into a monster. I get a few good turns, then I am headed over the falls and banking hard to keep from going over. I cant hang onto this thing for very long and at some point I realize it’s no use. I decide then that this is not worth ir- I see 37kph on my vario for windspeed and a sock on the valley below me sticking straight out. It is a paragliding school and a glider is kiting but the wind is obviously howling. After 25 minutes in the air, I put it down in this PG school and two minutes later Jamie joins me. At least she concurs that this air is shit, and later we figure it is rotor from a SE wind blowing over the back some, mixing with the strong valley winds below. I never even made the first waypoint which was only a few Ks out. Oh well, I live to tell about it!!! And nothing is broken.
The party/ceremony in the evening Saturday was strange- only a few made part of the course and one made it around. Natalia will take first in our meet - Corinna and Kathleen round out the top 3. But it is not a world title, just for fun, and the Adidas goodies and such become door prizes and pretty much everyone goes home with something cool. I got a backpack which is pretty fitting because I seem to have accumulated a whole ton of stuff to put in it. Heather Mull sings a song that Claudia, Hadewych, me and the Spanish team butchered the week before. Its “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” and we added a bunch of our own words. Claudia printed up a bunch of copies after we banged it out on my laptop a few nights prior, so everyone had a copy and sang along. Heather was awesome and it got a lot of laughs and applause. That song continues to run through my head….
Later we closed the local bar down again, dancing our asses off and saying goodbyes and making plans for travel. I was headed to Bassano del Grappa the next day- I couldn’t wait to get to Italy where the sun shines all the time, the flying is great, and my friend Mirella waits. I packed up my room and got ready to head out when Stephan convinced me to have a fly off the Tegelberg again. Riding up the cable car one last time- it’s sunny and warm today (of course- the world meet is over!) and there is no snow on launch. In fact, it’s dry and even hot up there. Tons of PGs are waiting more than an hour to launch. We set up and I take off after Stephan. The HG ramp is not so crowded and there is no real wait. He heads back behind a piece of the mountain, I don’t dare go there- I am still so intimidated by the rock faces of the Alps. They look like they could eat you up. But I get a screamer of a climb out front and get right up to base where it’s a bit cloud sucky. When I pull out away from the cloud, I am still climbing for a while and wind up above most of the bases in the blue. Very cool. I watch Stephan thermalling much lower…and still behind the damn ridge! I lose him and fly around and visit the area when I had my ass handed to me the day before. And it was STILL shitty there. So I find where the air was softer and more friendly and just took it all in for a while. I really had to get going to Italy so after an hour or so I ditched all that abundant lift and headed to tour the castles. They are so impressive from above and I could see all the tourist streaming into the Neuschwanstein. I came into the huge field to land and Timethy was there to take some photos. I have a fairly decent no step landing- but dropped it at the last second straight down to save the shock on my arm. My arm was sore as is customary now, even after a short flight, but only for two minutes which is also the norm. We have dinner at the Italian place to say good bye to Giovanni the proprietor, and take a few more pictures of my landladies in “our” backyard. I was so glad to have had a really sweet flight finally over the Tegelberg- so grateful Stephan talked me into it.
Off to Italy….The drive through the Alps was breathtaking.
Mirella was waiting up late- we were a little lost but her amazingly loud whistle in the night put us in her driveway. Bassano was totally ON the next day and we headed there, just 40K away. I just kept saying to Mirella- siamo qui, a Bassano- insieme finalamente…and it was all I could do not to cry. Seeing her again, finally being at Bassano in the warm sun and the familiar Italian language all around….I could read the road signs and menus and speak with her finally in both English and Italian…We met Jesus and he gave Timethy a glider, helmet, harness and vario, and though he hasn’t flown a hang glider in 5 years, he handled the topless Laminar like he never left the sport. I almost sank out right after launch trying to get into a climb under Mirella. She’s going up like a bat out of hell, and I am finding NOTHING below her. I headed out to land but got a climb down low- I would repeat that a few times- never making cloudbase but having a great time flying in the really friendly air. I found Timethy at some point way up high and we climbed in a big boaty thermal for a while. He was my very first footlaunch instructor some 14 years ago and now we fly together for the first time ever- him in Jesus’ glider!!! So yeah, I met Jesus in Italy, and he is a really cool dude… He set up the glider, and then was there to break it down after we landed some 90 minutes later. He even took my rental car off launch to the LZ. Life is GOOD! My landing was identical to the one I had at Tegelberg the day before so I’m really happy. We had dinner with a bunch of PG pilots up on the mountain. I can still hear the cowbells on the mountaintop with their melancholy ringing. It was surreal. I was so happy to be there- like coming home after weeks in the cold rain amidst the harsh-sounding German language.
Tuesday was going to be a repeat of the great soaring conditions but Timethy having no glider today made us decide to go to Venice. We got a bit lost on the trains on the way but finally made it there. We just wandered around the streets and canals and it was so hot and sunny, just like I had imagined it would be. I was still thawing out from my weeks in Germany. Mirella made a fantastic dinner and took me to her salon very late at night to cut my hair- something I had asked her to do weeks before. To go home with something she gave me- and see it every day… my hair. Only two people besides my mother have ever cut it and it was such a cool thing that she did for me.
In the morning we left- heading back to the German Open competition in Grainbach, which I had considered entering but decided against after seeing the same shitty forecast as Tegelberg’s. I was taking pictures of the sunny ruins and castles in Italy, when as soon as we crossed the border into Austria- BAM! Huge thunderstorm and torrential rain and Oh My God… Here we are back in Bavaria… and of course… it is raining- and 20 degrees colder!!!! Bernd and Stephan and Julia and Regina and Rebekka are all here trying to have yet another comp in the Bavarian Alps. The entertainment was improvised and so great that night- lots of guitars and a sitar and our voices- singing every thing and playing spoons and harmonicas and- shit- really great. My time here is limited and even the constant rain can’t invade my good mood. I got shortpacked in the drizzle the next day and finished packing for New York… Of course the sun was bright and shining the day I leave….
So now I sit, on a plane back home. The last 6+ weeks seem like half a lifetime. It began by driving with my daughter down to Florida- her flying lessons, the Rob Kells comp, falling back in love with flying after some scary events in the air, the Flytec Race and Rally, facing the “Linda Arn” field in Moultrie, Georgia, getting stuck at Quest with no ID or money, frying my laptop, seeing my mother in Naples and then heading to Germany, getting settled in for the ‘Big Meet that Never Was”, seeing the whole Italian team again and finding ways to stay busy, the castles, the salt pools, Claudia and Daphne, Timethy, huge disappointments and frustratingly great surprises, Italy, Mirella, Jesus, more frustration, then goodbyes- definitely too many goodbyes.
So many people supported my attendance at these meets. Buying shirts, just sending money in support, sending really great messages. I feel like I didn’t my part with the blogging and keeping the information flowing. I have such a difficult time hiding negative emotions I might be feeling and sometimes writing actually makes it worse. It was so hard to keep positive during the Worlds and I knew writing anything would probably bring me to my knees. After I left for Italy I had no more internet except through my Blackberry. So this is my apology for not keeping up. I have so many pictures and I’ll get them up on Facebook soon. I have a ton of work to catch up on- I am late getting back to my job and I acquired a new boss somehow while I was gone. But I’ll get them up soon and in the meantime- Daphne did a killer job capturing on a daily basis what was happening in real time at Tegelberg. Her video editing was amazing and I’ll be reliving it myself when I get a fast connection to view it all. I met some of the most dynamic women during this trip- and reconnected with some old friends. Overall- great experience. I would have liked to have had a competition, but maybe there’s a reason why that didn’t happen which isn’t apparent at this time. pictures soon...

2010-05-12T08:54:00.005-04:00

I left for Germany one week ago. It seems there is a curse on the weather at this place but only when a competition is scheduled.
Friday I unshorted my glider with much needed help from friends and was told to set up to have my sprogs measured. Never having messed with my sprogs I figured- no problem. I was told they were way too low, the glider was completely asymmetrical, and Gerolf would have a look the next day since just raising them might make the glider have a turn or something. I met up with pilots; some old, some new, and had a nice dinner at a local pizza place. My B&B is great- right near to everything- and the proprietors are awesome and speak english.
Saturday we all registered and the glider measuring thing began anew. Some six hours later, after Gerolf had a turn with it including making new shorter nose wires and my glider was deemed certifiable (no pun intended). Another dinner at the local pizza place (really good cheap food- not just pizza)and the Sunday forecast promised fairly decent weather for test flying my "new" glider.
Sunday was looking threatening as far as storms go, but everyone was keen to get a flight in so I joined my glider at the top of the mountain (I had stowed it up there the noght before like we're supposed to). Set up space is at a premium and you just can't believe how creative people were being to get gliders assembled. Then there was the problem of maneuvering the glider up to actually launch. The ramp is great, good slope, nice drop off. But I was a nervous mess by the time I wrangled my glider into the queue. It felt so different- with just the nose wires un-slack, and my hang check prior to launch revealed me hanging a bit higher than I was before. But no problem! Randee took a BUNCH of great photos on launch so if you are on Facebook, you can see most of them there (well if I ever finish uploading them- Facebook is being as buggy as everything else electronc in my life right now!). This site is like nothing I have ever seen- I mean- I have never seen the Alps. Amazing!
My launch felt pretty good, but my glider felt different- stiffer, a bit tighter. But it's flying straight and true, even at my 3/4 VG (all I can get right now)so I thermalled a bit in either direction, raced across the valley, then realized how cold my hands were and decided to land and ponder this whole experience for a while. My landing was okay even though there were no wind socks in the primary (they had fallen down), and I just guessed the correct direction. Jamie was coming in for a landing and I watched as she climbed out from pretty low to fly another 20 minutes. I got a ride for my glider to the cable car, to stow the glider for Monday, the first day of competition.
Back to the pizza place again (I'm getting lazy about finding food and I don't care much for the German stuff) and then to bed to rest up for tomorrow.
Monday- I am on the safety committee (how does that keep happening???) so I have to keep an eye on the task committee meeting and keep Heather posted about any issues I have or hear before flying or while in the air. None of the rigids set up at all because base is lower than launch and there is a lot of general milling about on top. Finally I decide to set up after Daphne starts to. Before I have my tip wands in, however, Heather cancels the day. The wind was blowing up the back and some huge development was just behind us. I was confused though when my phone texted me a 'welcome to Austria' message when I hadn't even really moved much. I hadn't realized just how close we are to the border. I broke down the glider, stowed it, then headed to a sports outlet store with Jamie, Claudia, Timothy, Daphne and Rosie. And just guess where I had dinner....
Tuesday... yeah well, the fohn has set up so they didn't make us go up the mountain. But it was such a beautiful and warm sunny day, Daphne, Timothy and I decided to hike to the castle for some excercize.
A strange sighting on the way- I'll let the pictures do the talking...

seriously... there are just no words....

We wound up right at the (Neuschwanstein)castle- after going way uphill for a good sweat, and decided to go in. But the tickets are only available at the bottom- we had come up the back way. So Tim left and Daphne and I walked all the way down, purchased tickets, and hiked all the way back up again. The Italians ran into us and we showed them the back way down past the waterfalls after our respective tours. The castle is pretty wild. Ludwig II was a nutcase! But you can't take pics of the inside- sorry.
Lunch with Daphne (we were somehow really really HUNGRY) and then a quiet afternoon complete with nap. I finally ate at a German restaurant for dinner- it reaffirmed my desire to be at 'my' pizza place...Plus the waitress is super cute there. Alba is making me speak more Italian and I think she is getting better with her English. Hopefully, if Mirella visits, we'll be able to have a real conversation....
Wednesday- rain rain rain. I have had every conceivable electronic related problem, and the latest was that I simultaneously fried my converter and took all the lights out in my hotel. So I ran some errands this morning with Alex, Carlo and Gorio and with Alex translating, got exactly the converter I needed. So no more leaving my car half on and running outside to charge all my various shit.
Later in the afternoon we headed to the pools/baths/spa right here in Schwangau. A variety of salt pools indoor and out. Jacuzzis, vortexes, saunas, steam rooms- clothing not allowed in some areas. I was pretty waterlogged when we left and thankfully Alba had thought to bring her shampoo and stuff because it was just about time for dinner. It was nice to float in the super salty warm water in the cold rain with the Alps as a backdrop.
Pizza place again- at least I am ordering different stuff off the menu- and this time it was the owner who was the late nite entertainment. A party was going on at the HQ tent but we arrived too late and headed to a sort of disco/bar for a bit. I met a German pilot, Stephan, who had a mission to complete: sending word from my dear friend, Mirella, who may or may not arrive Sunday. Seriously good laughing until the wee hours at this place.
Thursday, today: RAIN RAIN RAIN. Are we ever going to have a competition? It is easy to forget what we are assembled here to do, and filling the days with beloved friends - is so sweet- yet we really need to get flying. I love the fact that I am tied for first place, but also... I am tied for last...

2010-05-06T19:47:00.002-04:00

Awake in the middle of the night after a good early sleep due to jet lag in Germany, it's time to update some Flytec Race and Rally stuff.
The first day of the Rally was looking pretty unflyable- dark overcast, low cloudbase, and strong-ish winds. We were still at the Florida Ridge and all packed up now. I launched late after hearing reports of 50 to 100fpm climbs. I knew it was a 'drift with the light climb you have' kind of a day, so I prepared to just keep turning as goal was almost directly downwind at Okeechobee. My tow was really ratty but I just hung on so as not to have to do it all over again, and I got let off in broken lift. Thinking I'd only get a few k's away, imagine my surprise when after struggling just to stay up for a while, I floated over lots and lots of gliders all over the ground. I figured the gig was up when a huge swamp at the edge of the lake made landing options undesirable since my hightest alt. was only around 2000'. I was going to deck it with a Kavu glider just at the edge of the swamp but got a sweet climb over that field instead. It drifted me in an ugly direction but like the few climbs before it, it wasn't going to quit any time soon. Larry Bunner and I worked it for a while and it eventually drifted us over perfectly landable fields to the west of the big lake. There was a seabreeze off that lake and a convergence that I managed to ride for a while after scraping Larry off. I wound up landing just 15k short or so and tying for 11th place. Lots of pilots ended up right in the same area. But it gave me priority staging as the scores at first had me tied for 10th.
Monday found me on the safety committee. We had driven from landing on the way to Okeechobee (from the Ridge) to Quest. As awesome as it was to be at the Ridge for a week, it felt like a homecoming to be back at Quest. Lauren and Paul have the whole place looking good. We got completely dumped on by an electrical storm as we arrived, so setting up the camper was a delayed project. No one thought we'd fly Monday but the day showed promise early and we all set up. A strong west wind (bad direction for Quest) and no clouds had me giving a thumbs down when asked for my vote on the day. We had delayed it but things were deteriorating so we just cancelled.
Tuesday, a bit less wind, but still strong and west. I was on the task committee and still haven't figured out what my purpose was there. We called a straight crosswind task and only a few gliders launched. It was looking pretty dismal to have a task so after the tugs decided to stay grounded, the day was worth like 3 points to those who flew. So I lost my priority staging! Ah well, it was nice to be in the top ten for a bit.
Wednesday, we had a task to the south to Avon Park. After two tows and sinking out in the strong wind, I finally stuck in one and got out of the park. Way last again, but the lead gaggle wasn't doing that great. I flew with some sailplanes and had a few decent climbs but didnt get much further than 27 or 28K. After a long delay getting retrieved, I decided to not even watch the scores and fly as best as I could every day. I am at this point beginning to get more VG on- sometimes 3/4 pretty regularly, so that's an improvement. But still, my gliding kind of sucks.
Thursday turned out to be a great day for me- not because I got faster- but because I got to goal at all! This day was the only one that really felt like a flying day to me- one that I would actually look forward to and plan around. Light SE wind, decent climbs, nice day. The start gaggle was crazy and scary at times, but I am getting that VG pulled pretty well and gliding just a bit better. Mitch and Mark and I were on radio and of course mark was ahead. Mitch and I flew together a bit until I went over him after seeing him coming up fast. But he climbed through me in a few seconds and my vario never even beeped. I lost him after that and got slow and alone, until Christian in the millenium and Brian Foster hung out with me a while. Christian saved my butt with a climb from really low, and I was unable to return the favor when we had this death glide that he failed to find anything in, yet I got my biggest gain since the start. It was such a sweet low save- unzipped and on final. I had a huge field to bail in but this thermal was solid all the way to 5 grand. Finally... later I got low again but had a 10:1 to goal and took it. I floated low for a long time and made it in with time to set up a decent approach. So good to be there in Williston. But everyone else was already there and I took 30th!!!! Oh well- it was a really fun flight.
Being back in Williston was begining to freak me out. I knew the next day we would head to Moultrie Georgia- a town I had never heard of before last year but that I now associate with pain and loss and fear. We had other issues in Williston first- like losing the crank to the pop-up and the tonneau cover for my Baja... but when the next day started out rainy and gloomy, I figured the worst had to be behind us. I towed up out of Williston last. It had rained briefly so I backed out, then the gaggle couldnt leave in their light climbs so they took a lot of relights. Knowing it would be a turn til you cant anymore kind of a day, I thought I might do okay. I flew some with Jack Simmons and Derreck, but landed with Derrick on the edge of some pretty unlandable stuff. Time to get to Moultrie by car...
Mitch splurged for a room in town so we spent time in luxury this night. In the morning I realized Mark would be driving north and I would have to head south- this being Saturday and the last Rally day. I had to get ready to fly and sort out my crap for Germany and try to not chew on the whole Moultrie/broken arm thing. It was a good distraction until I saw on the Nuvi a place called "Linda Arn" (sic). Since the week before I had been driving by places like "Linda Tuesday" and "Linda Sunday", I knew that Bill Schell had marked my accident site. Of course we detoured on the way to the airstrip to see it. Mitch and I walked out to the field where I spent some really scary time last year (and in fact it happened exactly one year ago today as I write this) and I was surprised how much was preserved perfectly in my memory and then the few things that were not as I had remembered. What I did see was that I had landed downhill in addition to downwind. Pretty good slope too. The house nearby that I could see when I was stuck there was so clearly abandoned. If I had not been able to finally make a phone call, no one was going to come home from work that night and find me out there. Yikes.
So at the airfield after paying homage to my field, no one was looking anxious to fly or even to set up. I took the time then to pack and repack and it looked as though we were having a garage sale out there. Jeez, I had a lot of stuff. It was getting very windy and base was low but eventually we all set up. After some screwing around and a few rowdy tows, the day got cancelled. The closing ceremony was in town at a buffet restaurant then Dana and I headed south and Mark took the dog north.
Dana had a job interview in Orlando Sunday morning and a flight back to Rochester on Monday. We had ridden back to Quest with Derrick and a large crew in the big RV but Derreck left for Ft Myers te=he same night. I had to short pack my glider at Quest, and I left my purse in the RV after losing my iPod in there somewhere. So Sunday morning, getting ready for Germany and hoping to rent a car to go to Naples firstto see my mom.... not really looking good with no money, credit card, driver's licence or passport..... hmmmm. So Alex Cuddy helped me short pack and did a really great job from what I could tell in Munich today. And then I got Quest-suck. No car or way to get to Naples. But at least derreck called and said he had my purse. Then Dana rented a car with Marks points when I borrowed Mitch's car to take her to the airport and later I took Dave Shields and his glider there as well. So Monday I didn't fly even though it looked great finally - instead I spent almost 7 hours of drive time between the two airport runs.
Tuesday I finally busted out of Quest to get to Naples. But not before my laptop completely shit the bed. It was the one thing I had been charging my phone with and so now my phone would die on the way to Naples. But I made it there and got my purse from Derreck and even my iPod was in it. Mom made dinner and I got a chance to give myself a pedicure and float in an overwarm pool, do my laundry (well mom did it) and just CHILL. Wednesday I brought my laptop to the Geeksquad but wound up buying an HP mini and shipping the big paperweight hime so not to have to schlep it all over Germany.
So... along in the laptop case was my car rental voucher for Avis in Munich. That caused a huge delay on arrival here this afternoon but eventually I got it and made my way to Tegelberg. A friend of Jamie's took my glider so I wouldn't have to deal with that and as of right now I have no idea where my glider is. But hey- I am blogging away in my very nice little room and I am quite comfortable. It was 40 degrees in Florida when I left and 40 degrees in Germany when I arrived. Too bad Florida was in celsius and Germany a fehrenheit measurement.... I haven't seen a soul yet from the meet but that will happen tomorrow at a meeting. I promise to bring a camera and do all that. I am a little lost without my regular PC but I'll ge tused to this. Sure is tiny. Wait til you see the castle! I'm going to attempt some more sleep even though it says 9pm in NY and it must be like 3am here.

2010-04-25T09:44:00.004-04:00

After too many days of not blogging – I will try to catch this comp up now that it has ended. Sitting in a Laundromat in La Belle with not much else to do anyhow.
Tuesday’s task was a dogleg to the west and then NW, and I flew with the big boys for just a little bit at the beginning. I can only get my VG on around halfway on this day, and only a few times before my arm just can’t pull it anymore. So I lose a lot on the glides, but I can climb pretty well. Mark decked it pretty early and I watched him land not too far from my sugar cane field from Monday and I was flying alone into an ever darkening sky. I saw rain to the south and got low when everything shaded over. I had a beautiful no wind landing in a huge flat field (everything is flat here) and had a horse really interested and excited by my landing. I thought the landowner was pissed about that when he walked over but he was super cool and laughing about his crazy horse. He and his daughter kept me company and helped me get my glider to his front yard to break it down while I waited for Dana to come get me. Really nice people and really nice dogs and a few mini goats to boot.
I worked on my VG with Ben’s help and got it to go a little more easily, but Wednesday’s flight I was able to get only a little more pull- just over half- and got it done a few more times. The task was to the east, and the sky looked like shit, so Jamie and I waited around to see what would happen. I was last to launch besides a few re-lights and I got on the cart and waited for the tugs to refuel. Almost every glider had left the flight park to start the task so I was impatient now. My tow started off great, until about ten feet off the cart. Then the tug landed and the line went slack. My first thought was- surely he’ll take off again and fix this- but no… I was too low and late to get upright so I just figured I’d roll it in. But no again… the wheels dug in and didn’t roll and face first I hit the dirt. In seconds there was a bunch of people pulling the glider upright for me and since I whacked near the road, I had a strange moment when I saw a slew of emergency vehicles enter the field. What the hell were they doing here so fast??? Later I found out that someone had called earlier thinking a diving tug was in trouble. But the whole thing really freaked me out and I had a ‘girl moment’. The tug pilot was so apologetic- he hadn’t put the fuel line back in after filling up so he had run out of gas- then he waited just for me until I got back on the cart. I had a great tow behind him this time and bobbled on out of the start gate. I made the first WP and had a couple more decent climbs but got low just before a stretch of unlandable stuff. I went to where a bunch of other gliders had landed and a huge thermal was just breaking off. I was below 175meters so I didn’t dare push it. I am always reminded of my bad decisions with too-low saves and I realize now it’s just not worth the risk. This meet is just my ‘warm up’ and I gotta stay in one piece for Germany. I landed way way way across the field as I was lifter pretty much all the way across. It was really wet and I carried my glider through calf-deep water for what seemed like forever while the others watched and wondered what the f*ck I was doing landing like a 747….But hey, it was a really sweet splashdown anyhow. I found out later that no one made goal and I actually had a sort of decent finish.
Thursday- long task to the west and then doubling back over the same points. 7 WPs all together including the start. Julia only put 6 in her instrument and missed the last one even though she made it back to goal at the Ridge. I was struggling for along time low and alone (as usual) after I got ditched early. My gliding sucks at less than ¾ VG. After 4 hours, I was in pain. My arm was hurting for the first time in the air and I couldn’t get my camelback. I kept grabbing behind my neck and just coming up with my braid. The camelback remained elusive and I was dry as a bone. I made the way far out turnpoint and got stupid low again, but Steve Larsen was climbing nearby and I found something to get high and cold in. I picked my way back and hit two more WPs and had just goal to make, but I had nothing left and the day was over- it was close to 7pm when I set up my 747 approach over a HUGE field (with a dead cow in the middle) and had a great landing. I had a pretty good carry and when I got it to the road, I was covered in mosquitoes. A couple kids pulled over wide-eyed and happily drove me to the store for bug spray. Mark picked me up before I was completely broke down because I seem to have lost my driver…. To FLYING. Because she told me she was busy taking tandems and couldn’t be bothered!!!! I had landed 18K short…
Friday morning Dana took another tandem and while I wasn’t watching- soloed!!! I saw her landing and her second solo flight. She got towed to the moon and boated on down. Perfectly.
The task was an even longer one Friday, and it got changed 3 times so we all got started late. Mark and I flew together for a while at the start but then we separated and got low in different areas. I counted him as out, but he rallied back, and when I decked it with 25K to go to goal, I watched him fly over my head totally specked out. That sucked! But I had a great flight with some screaming 1500fpm climbs and another great 747 landing.
Dana continues to do solos and landed on her feet this morning to Davis’ amazement. Two parties later and we’re ready to begin the Race and Rally. Too bad the weather is not cooperating at the moment.

2010-04-20T07:27:00.000-04:00

The rain cleared up after the soaking we got Sunday. Monday's task we feared was undercalled as the sky filled with nice cu's. The was the obvious lake effect hole over us and to the SSW but the task we called took us to La Belle (west) and then south to Imokolee to get around it. I towed (too) early, got drifted downwind in the broken clims- right into the blue hole. I landed after only a few Ks in sugar cane. My tow was grreat, my glider is flying fine, and I landed pretty good in the stiff breeze. I watched a huge gaggle to the north of me go by as I navigated my retrieve out of acres and acres of crops and canals with few bridges. Th farmhands watched me break down like I was an animal a the zoo, and one gave me a rideto where Dana was waiting. During the ride out to her, I got the greatest eco tour- 30 or more gators in and out of the water, turtles, birds... Pretty cool. But for sure I blew my flight this day and itstill stings. First task in almost a year- damn, thought it would go better. Well, let's see where I get to tomorrow....

2010-04-17T18:18:00.000-04:00

My first comp day back since breaking my arm and the sky was dark and stormy looking in two directions. I had a good spot on the staging line and took maybe the 6th tow for flexes. The rigids were just maintaining but I thought maybe we'd drift right outta there. The tow went okay in spite of all the stressing out I had done over shoulder towing after almost a year. But at around a thousand feet, I felt some rain, and in the next few moments I was completely soaked. Russel dragged me around as if searching for a dry spot, but waved me off after finding none. I ran back to the area over the prk where rigids were turning, but my wet glider felt scary and dive-y so I ditched the VG and tried to thermal. When the glider kept nosing over and bar pressure was nonexistant, I realized I had a big problem on my hands that I was ill equipped to handle. Things got worse when the rain increased and I let the VG off completely. Sinking and sort of diving fast, I was close to landing pretty quick but a gust front and heavier rain were making things even freakier for me. When I managed the glider onto the field, of course it was with a big hard whack. Zippy made some observations about my landing which will probably improve things in the future. First tip was to come in with way more speed and keep my hands lower on the uprights until flaring. I hasd felt like my groundspeed was screaming fast and to escape being face or arms first I had climbed up the uprights in defense mode. Not good. I got a whole lot more advice about flying when wet and am still truly amazed that so many pilots have experience with it. In my limited view, rain equals no flying. But so good to know what to do if it ever happens again. Half VG and fly fast and come in super hot. Getting the water off the wings is key to keep it flying. Lessons learned....Tons of rain on the way for the next few days.

2010-04-06T14:05:00.000-04:00

Hi, I'm Linda Salamone and I am the entire US Women's Hang Gliding Team for 2010. The Women's World Championship is in Tegelberg, Germany this year- May 8th through May 22nd. Here is the website:
http://www.wmtegelberg2010.de/typo/
My budget is just over $4300. This is the main reason I am alone representing the United States. Not too many people can take unpaid leave from work after exhausting all vacation and digging into their non-existant personal funds to go. Some of you may have already purchased a T-shirt, and a few (awesome) people have simply donated some money to help offset some of my expenses. The Foundation for Free Flight has granted my registration fees, and USHPA has provided some free advertising for my fundraiser T-shirts. I don't really have a lot of creative ideas about how to raise funds besides selling some pretty awesome T-shirts, and in the past, it was pretty successful. This time around, however, I have just this week broken even on what I spent on producing the shirts. I do have a few opportunities coming up at the demo days and the comps in Florida to sell some more, but I'm beginning to panic and I'm certain I'll have to take out a personal loan to make this event happen. I know a lot of people are cutting back on non-essential expenditures, and I get that, but if you're not in a horrible financial mess like a lot of people are, please take a look at this page and see if you might want a shirt- for you, or your wife, or your teenage daughter (the girly camis are super cute- plus when is there a time when you can buy your S/O something hang gliding related at all???). There are some on display and sale at Quest and at Lookout Mountain, too.
http://www.rochesterareaflyers.com/GOTTAFLY.html
It would be great to not have a HUGE box of shirts to haul around until I actually leave for Germany.
Also, if there are any business owners or entrepreneurs that would like exposure in the Bavarian Alps, I'm willing to advertise on my glider/face/chest/butt (half kidding) and I've been told by Corinna that this is likely to be a media circus. So any potential sponsors out there-let me know.
Help me keep the US Women's Team viable, this year and in the years to come.
This shameless post was incredible difficult to send. But I'll only apologize to the HPAC group... they're Canadians...
Thanks for reading this whole thing.
Linda Salamone
gottafly@frontiernet.net
www.gottafly.blogspot.com

2010-02-06T19:32:00.001-05:00

My son wins the Section V Class A Championship at 96lbs Saturday night. YAY!

2010-01-20T09:30:00.002-05:00

T-shirts are in !!!!!

http://www.rochesterareaflyers.com/GOTTAFLY.html

2009-12-31T11:53:00.008-05:00

Sunday, December 27th at Dansville, NY

No flying for me- I decided to not even set up when I got to launch with the solid overcast, strong wind, and colder-than-I-like temps. Mark got an 18 minute flight and managed 35' over launch, Doug did a little better in the PG, and Karl and Katrin had okay flights, albeit not very high. Not having any desire to land anywhere other than the gliderport or the huge flat field on Rte 63, I thought my decision not to fly was wise. Risk vs reward factor and all, you know? Instead, I drove retrieve when Matt showed up, and talked Doug into helping me kite the PG I brought at the gliderport. Everyone had landed and I was still thinking the day for getting any air time was not today.

I had a nice steady breeze to play around in, and with Doug's tutoring, it was the easiest time I've had getting the PG up and over my head. I actually felt like I knew what to do to keep it up after a bit and eventually I put the harness on- and Doug insisted on a helmet....The sun came out and of course the whole day's feel had changed.

A bunch of successful inflations... I think I'm ready to actually launch this thing on the training hill!

The others had taken off the mountain again and we got to watch as they all got high in the mid-winter wonder wind. I regretted not going up for that flight especially when Katrin said launching conditions were perfect, and of course if Matt could make it to the airport in a PG, surely I would get there in my Litespeed. Oh well, at least I got some decent kiting in and furthered my journey over to the 'dark side' of paragliding....

2009-10-16T15:35:00.003-04:00

Latest x-rays....

For the last month or so, the progress, or rather lack thereof, that my arm has been making, has been really getting me down. There have been days when it feels pretty strong and pain free, and I get a little optimistic. But then if I'm weak doing pushups, or opening a heavy door gives me pain, or it stays sore for days, or even when I just see that long purple scar, I am reminded again how my body has been changed forever. That it will never be what it once was. Part of it is just asthetics, and I believe after a time I will adjust to that, because really that's just my ego, and I am learning to let that go. Shit, I'm 45 years old. LOTS of parts ain't what they used to be. But the other part is the loss of some function - and I doubt I can ever adjust to THAT. My broken-armed friends (I have quite a few of them) have said that after a time, they feel no real difference between arms. I thought healing would be linear- with no steps backwards. I've since seen that that's not so. 4 months since breaking it, I flew a glider again. 5 months, and I flew my Litespeed. But my arm isn't right really. It feels like around 90%. And 90% isn't going to make me feel comfortable flying and racing hang gliders again- or even just going XC- or even just flying in ratty air. I didn't expect 100% at this point, but I have had the feeling for this last month that I will never GET 100%. I've been trying to prepare myself for this huge letdown, and I was seeking out discussions with others who have had to curb the kind of flying they can do due to age or injury (or even fear). And I've just been getting really down.

So I went to see my bone doctor yesterday and she took these x-rays. After I told her about the way my elbow creaks and cracks and feels sore, and I showed her the thing jutting unnaturally from there, she said she was going to take all the hardware out of my arm. Not now, but after a time. I about died. The thought of having to go through any part of this healing process over again felt like a kick in the stomach. Then there were all the thoughts about the actual surgery and drills and more scars and how much of all this metal had bone grown around it... ugh... more than I could take. After talking about it for a while with her (this lady is good at listening/hearing/explaining) I began to realize that what she was talking about was getting me back to 100%. I was still flipping out about it when I left her office, but the things she said slowly sank in as the day wore on and for the first time in months, I feel really hopeful about how this will all turn out. First and foremost is that this doctor realizes just how much range and strength and finesse it takes to fly hang gliders. And instead of saying, "well, you shouldn't have been doing that nonsense in the first place" or "guess you'll have to put that behind you now", she's saying "We need to make this right, and in the meantime, get back upon that horse and fly your ass off so you're stronger going into the second surgery". Holy crap! That's a pretty cool prescription!!!! She suspected when she first saw me in May that I might have the kind of problems I'm having with the lengths of the plates that were put in. It's beginning to fit really well in my head- the thought of having all this crap removed. I'll wait a full year from now, so I'm not missing as much of the season. All she asked me to do was not break it again before then because it'll be a REALLY BIG mess to fix, and she's not up for that... So I'll pick my conditions and do the very best I can to minimize landing risks, but I'm not going to settle for less than what I can get back out of my arm in the long run.

peace OUT!!!!

2009-10-14T12:35:00.003-04:00

Sweet pics from Harris Hill on Saturday. Thanks to Todd Sheehan!

First Litespeed flight since May 6 2009...

Didn't even need the 4 leaf clover- this was after landing-Breaking down with Matt Calladine- I was so not dressed for this chilly Autumn day.

2009-10-13T09:10:00.013-04:00

Saturday October 10, Sunday October 11 -Harris Hill in Big Flats, New York

Saturday was windy, but it was supposed to get calmer later. I took both the Litespeed and the XT145 and when I got to H-port and saw everyone watching it blow hard and slightly west cross, it took like 2 seconds to talk everyone into heading to Harris. Katrin and Karl had left their gliders up top when they went down to get Jorge, but wanted to join us so I threw their BUNCH of gliders on top of mine and off we went.
No locals were at Harris so we called the airport and reluctantly began settingup. It was 3pm and still pretty rowdy. My dog can be free to roam a bit here and the launch and landing are so much less stressful that H-port, so I set up my Litespeed. I kited the Arcus for a bit and watched a scary Jordan flight that ended okay but aged us all a bit. Bill launched and showed us how nice (but still strong) it was and after a bit, I got ready. My launch was funny in a way- I transitioned both hand simultaneously and hitched head down right away. The air was so solid and smooth but still, a really weird thing to do in any case.
It was easy to get up, 100 meters or so was about it, but it was easy and smooth and SO SWEET to be flying MY glider again!!!! What a great handling glider. It felt so solid and right. After a while the ridge got a little crowded and even though I was above the peanut gallery, I left to have no approach issues in the LZ. It was shutting down and I knew they would all be joining me. I had a great landing in no wind and as I was carrying my glider to break it down, I just started bawling. Bill was there and asked me what hurt- but nothing did- it was just such a relief to be back... totally back... It was pretty overwhelming. The Rochester contingent (besides Todd) headed to Bin Bin and shot the shit for a while before heading home.

Jorge looks pissed... bad Moo shoo?

Sunday, for some reason I drove back down to Harris Hill even though I saw some serious wind in the forecast. Not all models looked blown out and I wanted another go with the Litespeed- it had felt so good! Got 5 gliders on my car (in the pic one has already been unloaded) and brought Ed, Katrin and Karl on up from the LZ.

Blowing blowing blowing... but the streets! Holy crap! Ed and Dan were talking about flying to Binghampton! XC is out for me just yet, but I was jealous til I realized they were kidding.

Bill launched first again and Ed followed after a bit. Then Dan got ready.

Readier....

Still too rough looking for me, but Katrin launched really nicely into the strong air. Karl got into the slot after I noted the change in the cloud type on its way into the valley. I told him that something was about to change- big time. I didn't know if it would be for the better or for the worse, but the clouds were a huge change in the way the sky looked. 5 minutes after Katrin launched, it started HOWLING into the slot. Finally, Karl backed out. We watched it rip roar through and then Katrin was parked and heading out to land.

Katrin and Ed with the different clouds.

She hit some crap on the way to final approach and wound up harvesting a little corn. Rotor from the west hill was affecting the LZ and so I decided to pack it up. Karl did also and I high tailed it home.

My unflown glider at launch.....

Just under 500 miles of driving for 30 minutes of airtime! But it was really important airtime (not to mention the landing) and I feel like my injury is even more behind me now. I get new Xrays on Thursday so we'll see just how far behind me it all is. I also got some productive kiting on the PG so another plus... And...It was great to see Dan and Bill and Ed and Matt and Jorge and Karl and Katrin and Jordan and Todd...

getting back into it!!!

2009-09-29T14:03:00.004-04:00

Estrogen Fest 2009 aka Women's Fly In at Lookout Mountain, Georgia

I can call this now our "annual excursion" and can say that "the regulars" (me, Katrin, and Caitlin) headed down to Lookout Mountain, Georgia right on schedule Thursday at 4m for the Women's Fly-In. The driving routine worked well: each of us would drive away a tank of gas then rotate positions in the car. We were dragging the oversized pop-up camper so we were getting around 3 hours drive time before refueling. I haven't been able to put 3 whole hours together driving in a long time, but the wicked sciatic pain was what kept me up during my late (early?) shift. By the time we arrived, some 15 hours later, we were wasted enough to crash on the floor of Timothy's cabin for an hour, then set up camp in the Landing- a site with regular water and electric hookups. Getting going was slow. It was already hot and muggy out and the trailer had a couple of issues. But we got it together and went up top to register and get a schedule.

Lots of familiar faces on launch, a few people flying, and Jen ready to get us all checked out with our goody bags and tow tickets. Awesome job on the Tshirts - Caitlin and I were about to buy one off the rack until Jen told us they were included in our fee. Katrin wanted to foot launch in the light southerly crossing wind; Cait and I headed down bottom to just hang out. I had to see about a glider for Matt Calladine so I figured I'd get that taken care of. The seller was going to be home in a few hours so we headed to the pool in the LZ. It was really hot and muggy- it's been so wet there the last few weeks. Erin from last year, and a member of Tom Lanning's Team Aerosnauts doing the Team Challenge was getting wet with us and trading bullshit stories.
I headed to this guy Nate's house later in the afternoon. He had a 155 Sport2 for sale, and I deemed it pretty perfect for Matt. We did the deal and got back in time to do a roundtable discussion with Mikey and Steve and others where Wills Wing came under fire from all the girls (and some guys) for not having more choices for smaller pilots. I wonder where all THAT was coming from??? Dinner by Judy Foods and some open mike stuff made for a pretty rowdy evening.
I got up before dawn and watched the sun rise... well, actually, just the cloud lifted from the valley and then moved back in again- never really saw the sun. During a torrential downpour, Claire tried to do a talk on some issues specific to women and flying, but we had to pull in close to hear over the rain. Even Katrin was grounded for today since the rain never let up until evening, but Sunday's forecast was looking good. A decent band was playing and us three girls spent the night dancing like white girls.
Sunday there was wind when we arose but too much hemming and hawing had us putting the training hill last on the list for Caitlin. Katrin headed up with Timothy for some foot launching and I set about trying to find Stacey who offered me her Sport2 135 since Wills Wing had moved over to Henson's Gap with their demos. I found her and she was willing to let me tow it so I started setting it up. I was going to wait til Caitlin came back from driving Katrin back up after a sledder but they were putting the tow planes away since it was getting towards 1pm and the air was getting really rowdy. Timothy showed up with his Russian friends and said it was blowing too hard to footlaunch. So I had to fly now, or not at all. I considered the variables and the risks... New to me glider, but a kind I have flown before and know to be really easy. Aerotowing which I just did two weeks' prior and found to be no stress on my arm compared to foot launching (changing grip fast and scratching to get up near a ridge). An underwater field that was about to be experiencing lots of variations in wind direction, but huge as anything to land in. Hmmm, what else.. Oh FEAR, lots of it. Mostly irrational but certainly the obviously rowdy tow was a valid source of stress. So I went for it. My tow pilot was briefed on what to do if suddenly my right arm was dangling below my base bar (pin me off!) and then the crew wound us up. I was immediately careening off to the left but just hung on and got some extra speed before coming off the cart. It was all good until 300' agl when my tug pilot and I decided to part ways for a second or two. Then we righted things without breaking the line and it was rock and roll all the way to 800m agl. We had flown through some booming lift and I went back for it. It was stupid easy to get up, and I spent the next hour at 1300m over the field and having a great time with this glider and trying desperately to just forget about the landing for now. It was really cold at altitude and of course I had no gloves on, but I would find some sink, come down a bit to warm up, and then have no trouble getting high again. Every once in a while I would look at the landing field. Each time the windsock was visible, it was 180 degrees from the last inspection. Shit... Nope, not gonna worry about that just yet. After a time my arm was a little sore so I started thinking about when to go land. I saw big huge clouds would cover the LZ at times so I thought if I picked to land after it was shaded over for a bit, I would be unlikely to be landing in the middle of a thermal breaking off down there. So that was my brilliant plan. Of course, I couldn't find any sinking air when I wanted it, and of course 500' off the deck there was NONE AT ALL so I spent a long time hovering and trying to lose that last bit. All the while the sock is showing me its INCREDIBLE range: it can be dead, hard N, hard W, hard SE... dead.. UGH!!!!!! Finally I got low enough where I just had to pick a direction... and of course, it was downwind. Ah well, come in fast, get bounced around while it all switches, then flare hard and a bit earlier than I usually do and... tada! A few running steps and I look like I've been landing downwind all my life. So Caitlin had been watching and she came over while I excused myself to GO PUKE.. nah, not really. But I was pretty adrenalined out. I took some time to gather myself together and headed over to Stacey's to break down her sweet little glider and offer up my first born for letting me fly it. It was only for an hour, but it was so good for me to fly in these circumstances. The Sport2 is such a confidence builder. If I could, I'd run out and buy one tomorrow.
And then it was time to get the tire changed on the trailer (it was flat- dunno when that happened), hitch it to the car, shower, then head on out of there. The wind had picked up a lot, but it looked like the air was getting more glued together as we left. Gliders dotted the sky as we drove out. 15 hours later, at sunrise, we get to my house, sort all the gear, then I head to work, Caitlin to school, and Katrin home for a day off (she's a smart cookie!). Here it is Wednesday and I'm only just now beginning to feel human.
I really hope the next Women's Fly In at Lookout gets a few more pilots. The flooding in the area from weeks of rain just prior to it surely had a lot to do with the turnout. But also, if they hold it every second year, I think it would be better attended. I went more for the socializing than the flying, but wound up getting a great flight in as a bonus. We should have spent more time convincing Caitlin to head to the training hill- conditions there were reportedly very good on Sunday. So lessons learned... next time....
I'll post some pictures later- we only got a few, but I know how much people hate blogs without pics....

2009-09-09T21:50:00.004-04:00

A few requests are forcing me to update this page before I have any pics to put up- so I don't want to hear any complaints from the peanut gallery....
Labor Day Weekend- where to go?- So many choices: Ellenville Fun Meet (that's always a blast). Hyner View (haven't had much of THAT place yet). Stay home and do scooter tow and watch people sled with the tow nazi at Longacres (um... NOT). Canada (two places to choose from there)... Hmmm. I let Mark decide since I HAVE A BROKEN ARM- so who cares where I go??? He decided on the place where Ryan and Bellerby and Dowsett can be found most flyable weekends- (Insert name of place here). I thought he was just being sociable so I was surprised to find that it was totally the soaring place to be- NOT exactly a good thing, remember: I HAVE A BROKEN ARM so when we arrived with trailer late Saturday afternoon, I was secretly pleased to find that, like all tow parks, this one was centered right in the middle of a BIG BLUE HOLE. In fact, NUVI let us down, so we just aimed for the middle of the blue and got there just fine, thank you. Mark starts setting up his glider first thing but it's like after 4pm so I'm feeling smug. Daniel Spier and his wife, Mary show up and I figure this could be a good social event. But then Bellerby and Daniel and Mark tow up. AND STAY UP.
The first hour, I was okay. The second one was half over and I was pretty much DONE. The trailer was not set up, nor in a place where I could accomplish that feat. The water tank was not full, the battery was dead. I couldn't find the car keys or unhitch the trailer to ditch to town and get food and supplies. By 6pm I was a LITTLE cranky. By 6:30 I was homicidal. When Mark landed and everyone began the post-flight bullshit I realized something very important: IT SUCKS TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THEIR FLIGHTS WHEN YOU WEREN'T UP THERE WITH THEM. Wives, drivers, sig. others.. I feel for you. But get this: It's WORSE when you know what your missing. I knew the air was like Florida late day- big boaty thermals- or the BBTs as we like to call them. Light lift, warm air, easy to stay up, lots of company.
After Mary and I left for town (very abruptly after the trailer was unhitched) I steeled myself for the campfire chats about the flying, but there wasn't much I could do about that. Mark promised to make getting me in the air on Sunday a priority.
Sunday morning, Ryan scooter towed the big tandem Falcon that was brand spanking new. Mark and I were going to take it for its maiden high flight. So many solos to get in the air first; one tow pilot, one impatient bitch WITH A BROKEN ARM. Late in the afternoon we get a chance to find harnesses that will work with the tandem. Caitlin's Moyes XT-145 is already set up in case things go well.
Our tow is really uneventful, except that Mark wouldn't let me have it. After we got off (at like 440 meters agl ???) I spotted a swirl in some crops and took the glider and maintained a bit. My arm didn't seem to hurt at all and pretty soon I was cranking and banking and climbing and just flying the thing like Mark wasn't even there. When it came time to land after 45 minutes however, I was content to sit back and just freak the f*ck out. But it was fine, we rolled right in, and I ran to get the XT.
My solo tow went fine, no pressure on my arm, but it was so late, I couldn't stay up long, but I shared some zero sink with Bellerby and then went to land. After hearing all the stories about other broken arms re-breaking when flaring, I was praying to whomever would listen that I would land safely. Forgetting that I was flying a lower performing glider almost really bit me though. I set up over the soybeans and found myself very short and just barely made the edge. In fact, one foot was IN the beans, one foot was OUT. I had a rough time with the transition as well- very small control frame- and just too new to me to do it smoothly. I dropped the nose but did no damage to my arm.
Monday I got my stuff ready as soon as the last tandem was gone. Another student materialized while I hooked in but I decided to go first. Mark said it was getting pretty good and the forecast sucked so I figured now or never. My tow was a bit sketchy at first- pretty good cross on launch- but once a little higher it was easy- just slow. I pinned off in what I thought was something, but I had to search and thinking I was going to be practicing my landings sooner rather than later, I cursed my stupidity. But then I did find something to maintain in and eventually climbed to 800m or so, later I saw the tandem get dropped above me and eventually we all got up to base and flew around a bit. By the time I got low again, the tandem was setting up to land, and we had a conflict of approaches. I tried to climb out in something that was lifting off the field, but didn't want to push things, and watched mark land with his passenger. Where he wound up made my LZ much smaller, and as I came onto final, I thought for sure I'd hit him or the tug. Again, my flare was weird and I skidded in but didn't drop the nose. My heart was racing so much that I thought I'd puke- I got myself unhooked and out of the harness and just put my head low until that racy feeling stopped. The whole time I was in the air I had made a conscious effort to forget the landing so I could actually enjoy the flight. But I was really bowled over by how physically wrecked I felt after landing. It wasn't a great landing, and I know it's partly my technique (or lack thereof) but also the CG on the glider is a bit off. I'll have to check batten camber and move the hang point back a bit to see. It was as if it just wanted to be a lawn dart, never settling into ground effect and rounding out- but again, maybe my fear-grip masked the landing cues. In air, trim was reading 48kph- maybe my instrument is calibrated wrong out of it's racing pod- but still, that seems awfully fast for a glider with no VG.
Anyhow, after my one hour flight, I could join the others and let them talk about their flights and feel pretty okay about the whole experience. There is so much more to say about the people that I met, and the advice I got, and the shower we bummed off some really great people, and Ryan's personal best, but really, it's all about my flight for me right now. It wasn't much to write home about, but there I was, back at cloudbase, on my own, touching the mist. Right back where I belong. My arm isn't sore, but my back is... and my shoulders..... and it feels like I went FLYING!

2009-08-19T16:12:00.001-04:00

Yes, that's an underwire bra.
NO, that's not a nipple ring. Just part of the bra's construction.
Thanks for asking.

2009-08-11T11:09:00.003-04:00

Finally, some good news on the "arm" front. The latest xrays show a lot of bone growth and filling in at the largest gap. I saw the xrays from Georgia, and learned that the doc that set the plates and screws was aware of that misalignment. Doing the best he could with the splintered remains of my humerus... my doc in Rochester says I am lucky to have full use of my right arm and she may have done things differently, but not necessarily have gotten better results. I am 5 degrees from straight (can't hyper-extend anymore, oh well) and I can bend it as fully as I would ever need to. The ache is gone, but some random motions still cause a little discomfort. But I can do a plank, and lots of girlie push-ups (on my knees) so flying is just a few weeks away.

I'm looking for a cheap Sport2 135, a Sting 140 (or just the sail for one), or a 145 Eagle to bomb around in until I get confident enough to handle the Litespeed. I also want to mess with the paraglider (finally!) and see what I can do kiting that. Things are finally looking up, so to speak!

2009-06-30T14:46:00.002-04:00

Damn it. 7 weeks later, this is how far I have gotten.... Seems like a huge gap to fill in. Strange since I can do so much with it. Hmmmmm.... maybe I am doing TOO much....
Radiographs from 6/25/09

2009-06-04T08:47:00.007-04:00

After the drive down, the camping lot selection process began, and then ended with some trimming, mowing, raking, pruning. I have a crew now, since, of course, I HAVE A BROKEN ARM.....

So Dana and I are driving for a total of 6 guys, she has been going short- usually to the Sport Class goal, and I have been going "long" which is relative around here. After all, it is Ridgely MD where 40K can take all day when you have 1600' ceilings and 40fpm lift.... So the drives are not crazy long and it's a lot of fun stopping along the way to throw a beer, a Gatorade, or a bottle of water to some other guy breaking down along the road on the way to my 'retrievee'. Usually (especially in the case of Jim K) we are there before they are done breaking down. (Actually, we could go back to the flight park, have dinner, and then go get Jim and he'd be about ready.... ) This is all pretty easy since I don't have to actually lift any gliders or help in any real way BECAUSE I HAVE A BROKEN ARM....

Here is Nicole, either blinded by her own fish-belly white skin, or she is measuring her head for her Special Helmet.

But she is now the mommy of a really cute puppy (Theodore, aka: Teddy) so she can be as Special as she needs to be. And I can post whatever I want about her because I HAVE A BROKEN ARM.....

Dana has begun tilting a little. I think it's from the stress of graduation and trying to sleep late in the camper when I rise with the sun.

There has been a task flown all 4 days so far, but today looks like a wash. We thought that yesterday, but after a few raindrops and solid overcast left the area, 6 people actually made goal. Terry R was the slowpoke breaking down, and I had to stow battens for him even though I HAVE A BROKEN ARM, but it looked like the apocalypse coming and we didn't want the harnesses to get wet in the back of the Baja on the way home.

With the shorter tasks and our incredibly efficient retrieves, evening activities have included poker (Glover is here so that's a given), ping pong, beer pong (new one on me), crab cracking, and some guitar hero in the hangar. One afternoon we were back so early we had time for a redneck dip in the kiddy pool....

And if you all are getting tired of hearing about MY BROKEN ARM... can you imagine how freaking tired I AM OF HAVING ONE?????? I want to fly! This is terrible!!!! What was I thinking coming to a hang gliding meet when I can't even look out the window at the cu's when I'm home????? ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-26T09:16:00.002-04:00

Right lateral humerus, post op Day 7. Staples came out 15 minutes later and splint was ditched, too. I'm still waiting to get the images of the fractures pre-op from Georgia. I think I can reasonably deduct a pound or two from the numbers on my bathroom scale now instead of counting it as fat weight...

2009-05-12T21:58:00.000-04:00

I was pretty satisfied with my performance at the Rob Kells Memorial Competition at the Florida Ridge. My body was sore and tired from 4 hour-plus flights, but no troubles with my back, and I was sleeping well in the pop-up. 3 of 4 days at goal, and the landing out was my best finish! The first day of the Rally sucked for me however, but days 2 and 3 proved to me that I could still finish fairly strong. I am not a fast pilot, but I had been making good decisions to leave areas when they were unproductive, and on Day 4 of the Rally, I left the Moultrie airport after dicking around with bullshit lift in the start circle for too long. Day 3’s task had provided me with my lowest, most outrageous save ever, so on my glide out of there, Overconfidence might have been my copilot…. and Complacency my back seat driver…. I saw Charlie out front and below me, and another pilot turning pretty well, until I arrived. Then the lift disappeared and we scrambled to find a core. Charlie went right, the other glider went upwind, and I headed downwind to a golf course at around 1300’. No luck, try the junkyard…. Nope, 800’, there’s a cell tower, no luck, …. 500’ I can make that plowed field over there…. And when I turned onto base leg for a landing along the downwind tree line, I didn’t get the glider to turn left 90 degrees. Instead, I got kicked right, over the narrow tree line to a smaller, but acceptable landing field behind. I hit a piece of ridge lift off the tree line, or maybe a thermal, but I was low and needed to turn left almost 180 degrees into the wind to land. But I only got around 90 degrees, and had to level out and flare. The ground was screaming by and I thought I’d get away with a crappy skidding roll-out landing. But not in the freshly plowed and planted peanut field… the base bar dug in and end-over I went. Fast and hard and violent. I came to rest on top of the underside of my sail and when I pulled my limbs into a fetal position, I knew I had a broken right arm. I removed my helmet with my left hand after calling for help on the radio and got not response. My teeth and eyes had gritty dirt in them and I was glad to be atop my sail. I couldn’t move around much nor see a lot of my surroundings, but the wind was blowing harder than I anticipated and there was a small house 50 yds away. A road was in the direction of the top of my head, 75 yds away where I could make out only trucks going by while really craning my neck. My broken arm rested on my right hip and felt like five other people’s arms laying on me. Crunching, a lot. I had to think everything through since I couldn’t move too much. I called out for help a few times, but my voice competing with the diesel engine noise in the background sounded so pathetic and I didn’t want to start crying. I tried my PTT again, shouting into my helmet. No answer. I was lying on my radio/phone pocket and I’d have to prevent my broken arm from falling off my body to get at it. Slowly I rolled to expose the zipper behind which my cell phone was stowed. My Blackberry Storm, the buggiest, most frustrating phone I ever paid a ton of money for…. my only link to much-needed medical help…I picked that zipper open, one tooth at a time, balancing my arm, blinking sweat and dirt out of my eyes, choking back the sobbing I desperately wanted to lose myself in. Almost an hour had passed since my crash when I finally freed my phone. I brought it out to place a call to Bill Schell, driver extraordinaire, and saw it was in ‘camera mode’ partially, then it went snowy white screen and stayed that way. Oh god, now I have to reboot? I can barely get the battery out with two hands- now I gotta do it with ONE??? WITHOUT DROPPING ANYTHING??? I did get the battery out, using my teeth, and told the vultures circling overhead that I wasn’t quite ready for them yet. As the little clock timer thing spun around while the stupid phone did a soft-boot, I laughed inside thinking about the coroner having to pry a perfectly working phone out of my cold dead hands. Ten minutes later I was able to call Bill, and try to guide Mark, who thought I bled out hours ago, to the place where I was laying. I could only describe what I knew from the air, and they were near the junkyard I flew over. But frustration set in and I started bawling so I had a 911 operator get a GPS fix on me and relay it to them- and an ambulance. I had dropped the battery cover off the back of my phone into the dirt, and when the first-responders started running across the field towards me, I remembered to ask them to grab it before it got lost. I was so relieved to have help, it was 90+ out there and I was worried about shock and heat stroke and my arm falling off, but I immediately shifted to salvage mode. I remembered Tom Lanning’s account of his equipment being taken by the tide while his broken arm was tended to, and other stories of harnesses being cut off…. And then I told the first guy there not to cut a thing- if he couldn’t figure out how to get me out – then we’d wait for Mark. The EMT started arguing with me about time, and I told him I’d been lying there for more than an hour and I’d wait one more if it meant not cutting my harness… and by the way you’re standing on my SAIL, buddy!!!!! I was singing a way different tune, however, as Mark and the EMT tried to stabilize my arm while getting me upright. I was able to walk to the ambulance and they got me on an IV and morphine push really quickly. I don’t think they liked my new tune so I kept getting more morphine after every pothole they hit on the way to the ED. I’ve never broken anything big before, but the orthopedic guy they got off of the golf course to fix me had seen it a million times. Surgery the next day (Thursday, May 7th) was 2 plates, 16 screws, and around 20 staples to put 6 long slivers of humerus back together. Morphine, Percocet- everyone keeps asking me how can I wipe my own ass left-handed- but with those drugs I might never have to find out at all…..
Than you, Ben, for hearing my first call for help. And Mark and Alex for landing to come find me when he relayed it to them. And Rhett and Bobby for aerial searching. And Bill for driving and reassuring Meesha and breaking down my glider. And Jack and Nicole and Alexia and who else was there 20 minutes out of recovery???? I was sooooo loopy. And the guys at the Moultrie airport. The whole hospital staff (especially the nurses bearing Percocet!) Mark gave up the end of his meet to wash up my glider and get me back home. Bill left my car and my dog in better shape than he found them. And now all these people on Facebook and the internet that have said a prayer, given advice or just shared my pain some…. Wow. When the drugs wear off and the real mental healing begins, I’ll be drawing from all of you. I’ll need you. Complacency and overconfidence almost killed me. I hope someone learns something from me. Because if you can’t be a good example…. At least be a horrible warning……

2009-05-07T19:42:00.003-04:00

this is where i got to yesterday morning before my battery died....Hard to say where to start now since it’s been a while since I had a chance to blog. The end of the Florida Ridge meet was great even though the last day I broke my ‘goal streak’ but it was my best finish nevertheless. My driver, Bill, has been right there within just a few short minutes every time. With my dog, even.
The first day of the Rally was not so great for me. I should have left when I first got high and to the edge but I was hoping to be a bit faster and have some company now that my harness issues were seemingly worked out. Near the big lakes in central Florida, I went down. I had been so low on other flights and gotten up and I truly thought I would get up in this one field that had some big power lines. Alex radioed that he was landing a bit to the north at an airstrip, and as I was touching down I knew he and I were likely the only ones down on this gorgeous flying day. I was tortured by the cu’s as I broke down and Bill and I drove the rest of the way north to Quest. I had done this whole flight in reverse in 2007, but today, I was not even half way there.
The second day of the Rally was to Williston, 67 miles towards Georgia. I decided to just go when I felt good going and that sure worked out well- for a bit. I was alone, but it was a good flying day, predictable lift under the clouds and reasonable distances between. Even when my left shoulder started hurting, I thought things were going to turn out well. I was upwind and high and all was well. Then a long glide put me on the deck while Jonny and Ben specked out under a cloud. I had a tower to climb over and for a moment I imagined my boot catching on the tip. But I did manage to get up, only to find high cirrus had shut down a big chunk of the course line. There were only a couple of more climbs until I was looking to land, and I picked a beautiful field and had the best landing of my whole trip down here – of course because there was wind. Driver Bill, there on cue after picking mark up… drive the rest of the way to Williston. And what a great little town that was! At the Sweet Spot diner Tuesday morning, the waitress let me take Meesha out back for a hose down. There aren’t a whole lot of swimming holes around so that was all we had to cool her off. At the airfield, things got going fast. We had a HUGE 146 mile task with a quartering tail wind, and not a lot of time to get there with a thunderstorm near the end.
So day three of the rally, Bobby towed me a bit downwind, and then hung around in the Dragonfly videoing me – which I didn’t get at first why he was there- but I had a decent climb, gave a wave and he left me with a couple gliders going up pretty good. But downwind. Which should be the name of this flight. Not only did I have the actual courseline off the grid on my Garmin, at the end of the flight, I didn’t have I75 on my Garmin page because I was that far off to the east. Osceola National Forest was just behind me much of the trip, and made landing options and climb choices very interesting. I had my lowest save EVER I think, at 160K out, and tried to avoid lining up with Lake City airport runways for a long time. But eventually, the huge storm ahead, the lack of fields below, and the shitty lift towards courseline put me down in a field with a few cows, and one bull. My set up and landing were pretty sweet.
more later.... and pictures. i'm pretty laid up right now.

2009-05-01T23:05:00.002-04:00

So how, after 3 days on a row of making goal, can I be in 19th place????? Ah speed, not my strong point. Today I fixed 3 out og 4 harness issues. I was way more comfortable, all the way zipped in, and a bit more head down. But I am so sore, so tired, that between WP3 and WP4 I was like- I'm done, I need to land... But of course I didn't. I'll write tomorrow about my flight, and post some pics while I'm doing laundry at Mom's, but right now, I am trying to see if I gained or lost in the standings by not making goal. Jeez, it was a tough day. I feel like someone has taken a 2x4 and beaten me with it. We'll see soon, the ceremony is just starting.....

2009-05-01T08:57:00.003-04:00

I SWEAR PICS ARE COMING!!!!!

Third task, bigger than yesterday, 90 miles int he same direction with a couple extra WPs. Getting out of the start was interesting, lots of crappy lift and when I found something good, I suddenly had lots of friends. But the glide to the first WP was fairly uneventful, and then I got caught in no man's land with a few pilots and Mark left for greener pastures. I stuck around and never got a good climb until Steve Larsen hooked a ripper that I jumped into with him going up at 1400fpm. Rough ass climb however. Then getting the second WP wasn't so tough, but all along the way to the 3rd, over Arcadia, I lost all hope of getting to goal. I just kept concentrating on relaxing in my WAY uncomfortable harness, in which I can't seem to bump head down, and squeaking through as many Ks as possible. Every time I thought I was done for, I would fly upwind off courseline and fine a sunny dry field and each time I was rewarded by vultures and hawks and other soaring birds picking me up like puppeteers and raising me up to almost cloudbase. I was hanging with Steve a lot, but we'd leave at different times, eventually I saw him on the ground ahead of me and picked a nice climb just past him from 300m over the dirt. At base again, I knew I had WP3 for sure, and Lucas was way below me to pimp off of if things got bad again. The clouds were lined up nice the 30K to goal, and I pretty much flew straight all the way. I did stop for a climb at one point when I picked what I thought was the goal field a few Ks further than it actually was, and again was surprised to see a bunch of gliders in a field directly below me when Mr Bill called up to me. My landing was at least on my feet, but my flare late and I put a nice divot into the goal field. My body is beginning to feel like someone ran a big rolling pin right over it a few times. I am sore!

Which leads me to the fct that I am beginning to hate my harness. It must be rectified.... Plus I am waiting for Jonny to get up this morning to change my impossible to pull VG cord. I can barely get 3/4 VG on and my glides are so horrible. I spend too much time climbing because of my inefficient glides. But 3 days 3 goals, I am tired but happy....

Airtime 4:41

Miles: 90

2009-04-30T08:18:00.002-04:00

So no pictures, because I've been lazy/busy. Yesterday, Wednesday, windier than the previous day, and forecast to get stronger. So.... the task committee calls a big task - 87 miles or so, over to near Apollo Beach. I see by Bill's map that most of the same swamp will be below me for a chunk of the trip. I know we'll fly, even though it's pretty stiff by 11am, and I am already set up. A change in the location of the launch line put me in good position and I towed up behind Jeff James pretty early. I followed OB around the tow field from above him, thought I was toast and would have to relight a few times, but I was bolstered by the fact that he was still cruising around down there in much the same (well, worse) position as me. Finally I took what little climb I had out of range of the paddock. I saw another gaggle doing a bit better to the north but I didn't dare leave what I had. I think it was Jonny that came sniffing over and deemed my scrappy lift unworthy. But I stayed with it and we all sort of joined together on a search for something better. Jeff Shapiro and I tried to grab the same thing at the same time along with a rigid, and up until the first WP we were no doubt in each other's way. But after the WP, things got dicier, and I lost everyone but my rigid buddy. We were working less than great lift separately and then we parted ways completely and I was alone. I did get some decent climbs later and heard Mark and Ben were a few Ks behind me. They were catching up and I was going to let them so I'd have some help. But Mark passed me up without me knowing and then when I thought I was headed to land I saw his glider up high and raced downwind to get below him. I was rewarded with the best climb of the day so far and got up past 6K fast. He and Ben were long gone ahead of me (Ben pretty much stays high all the time it seems....) and then I came to a town and saw a glider really low. I had almost been sucked into a cloud a short time before and I was pretty high still. Ben called to Mark, who was in that low glider, and tried to talk him into a climb, but Mark found nothing until it was too late. I planted myself on top of him when he said he was landing but there was lift just behind him and over a forest, and again, I was rewarded with a screamer of a climb- more than 1000fpm average all the way to base. After that things got tougher, the climbs were few and far between but still pretty strong. But so was the sink. At 4 miles out I didn't think I'd make it and at 2 miles out I unzipped and picked a field. I still didn't have a visual on the goal field (where Ben had tried to describe it to me some time earlier) so I set up to land. Down to 300' I found a strong climb and got the hell out of there. I kept climbing until FINALLY I saw the airport(?) that was goal. Lots of gliders there, but what the hell? I never thought I'd get there so I was glad to have arrived. I know two of my teammates went down early but the rest of us three got in, giving the Blind Squirrels a lock on third place again for the day! Because, you know.... even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while... I told Shapiro that I didn't even have to ask him if he liked thermalling with me in shitty lift; I figure he'll probably avoid me in the future. Oh and I actually landed on my feet for a change (but I almost hit the fence again to remain true to form). Stats later.

2009-04-28T20:29:00.003-04:00

cool video of Sunday.. from...http://artandaviation.blogspot.com/2009/04/dune-goons.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYdAce5TXuE
and here is a lot of water but with some dolphins thrown in.

Anyhow, so today we flew. The tow behind Rhett was uneventful except for the screaming thermal he pulled me through and then went back to get some more. I pinned off and just kept turning right away from the field. I got high and cold on my way to the one waypoint, but then on the second leg things got bad. I missed a climb that a gaggle was topping out- they seemed to have pulled up the ladder. I searched around a while and found myself stupid low over the swamp for a very long time. I could only get to 900m and then back down to 400m. I heard my sink alarm a lot, and there was no place to land AT ALL so I hung onto every scrap of lift until I got into the smoke from a brush fire and finally got good numbers to goal. Not trusting my instrument, I kept climbing until I saw the airport. Finally I headed over and of course got lift all the way and had to burn off more than 3000 feet to land. I almost came down on the fence, lost all my airspeed, and bellied in, right in front of just about everyone who had probably left the start circle later than me but got there a lot faster! So it was a windy day, but less so than yesterday, and I didn't have too many reservations about flying, just usual first day of comp butterflies. I think pretty much everyone made goal.....and I was pretty close to the slowest in. Oh well. Tomorrow's another day!

2009-04-28T20:11:00.007-04:00

Okay, so Sunday was hotel trolling at the beach. Monday was blown out and a day trip to Scot Trublood's operation for just a cruise around with some friends on a boat. Saw TONS of dolphins, an osprey guarding her nest (and then the dad came with a fish for the baby but I missed that with the camera.) And all the birds had numbers, and they all sat on their assigned posts on the way out of the channel... Saw a bunch of f*cking horseshoe crabs, Lauren's large breasts, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers trying to die, and smoke. Someone has set the everglades on fire.

Way fun day, even if it don't involve flying.....

2009-04-27T08:48:00.003-04:00

Blown out- day 2. But just marginally. We headed to the beach to try to soar the abandoned Holiday Inn near Turtle Beach. On my first go, I pinned off too early and landed down the beach too soon. The second tow, I reached down to release and didn't realize that the weak link (why did they have a weak link???) broke on the 'man tow' end simultaneously. Tom was soaring already and thinking I was off tow, I began my upwind run to the south. I heard some screaming.... "the rope! the rope!" and lo and behold, I had the whole rope dragging underneath and behind me, and Tom says, scraping all along the building's textured surface..... oh F*CK!!!!
I reached down with two hands and yanked again on the release. The rope gone now, I made a few passes and landed with my heart in my throat.....

Meesha has become a beach dog, and no seagulls, pelicans, or chickens died in the making of this blog....

2009-04-25T17:52:00.001-04:00

Florida Ridge Task 1 Saturday
Oggi e' una bella giornata... .ma troppo vento.... no task.

2009-04-14T11:18:00.009-04:00

April 11th 2009

The 2009 Rochester Area Flyer's "Check it Out" program was a huge success this year. Regretfully, I have never before attended one of these events, only because it coincides with the beginning of competition season in Florida or Arizona. Well, the Florida comps are ON this year, but later in the month, so I donned some warm weather clothes and headed to our beautiful 120' training hill in Farmington, NY.

The forecast was for really high wind but sunny skies- not a day we would fly or even hold our regular training, but for our purposes this day, the weather was PERFECT. We set up a few gliders in the wind-shadow of the Quonset hut and Moritz Wagner gave 21 prospective students a bunch of relevant info before we strapped them in.

Eager (and cold) faces....

It was my 45th birthday so I get to have a picture of me doing demo.

Rick Brown showing how easy it is to get it up!

For $50, each student can run around with the glider, get their feet off the ground (on a day like today!), and decide whether or not they want to commit to the club's full training program which begins at the end of April. We've found this one day deal cuts down on the number of people who begin the full program and quit a few days later when they realize that hang gliding is not for them.

The hill in the background faces N, WNW, W and we can use the back for E wind

We all got some exercise....

Our instructors and assistants are volunteers. One of each will be assigned to one day a week where they will make the call as to whether (or weather!) or not they will hold training that day. They leave a message on a remote answering machine and the students know by 4pm (7:30am on weekends) if they will have a lesson. During the 60 days of our program, students usually enjoy 30 or so days of training for $595 (less $50 if they paid for the Check it Out session). The fees include USHPA and RAF membership for one year, and of course use of our Condor, Falcon, and 4 Eaglets. Lessons end late June when the crops are too high, and by then, most of the students have their own equipment and some are ready for their first high flights. Others finish training later in the Fall, when the crops (usually corn) are harvested from the field. If the student re-joins the club the following year, he or she can have use of the training hill whenever it's not 'crop-prohibitive'.

Last season's goofy-looking batch of students (aka The Mod Squad):

So, here is a link in case I misremembered anything:

http://www.rochesterareaflyers.com/raf.php?content=events

2009-04-14T09:16:00.002-04:00

I am officially TRAILER TRASH!!!!

Home away from home... I said DOWNSIZING.... didn't I?
Instead of getting pet-friendly hotels through Florida and Georgia. Ron Letzin fixed up the crank so no more 2x6' holding up the roof!!!!

2009-04-06T14:46:00.008-04:00

Weekend Update-

Ah back in Florida, to stay at Quest this time. Cheaper, no hassles, tow when you want. Not quite the same ambiance as further south, but a great place to hang out and fly. The pond at Quest brings back many memories, but tales of an alligator kept me from swimming laps. I only managed to swim to the dock a few times- really really fast. For years I've been hearing that an alligator lives in there, and each year the story of him grows, as does his supposed length... I guess if he existed for real, he'd grow... and I think now I'm convinced there really is one. There is also a lot of other wildlife around... maybe because it's so quiet much of the time...

Saturday, April 4th was the first flyable day since I arrived. There were lots of folks hanging at Wallaby that I really wanted to see and Jamie and I were planning to do an XC over to the party there. We were going to call ourselves team 'Pair of Questicles'... funnier because we are girls.... ha ha... Last year at Demo Days, I took my student, Mario Luppa, on an XC flight from Wallaby to Quest, (thanks to the use of Lauren's little Pulse), and this year, my little Litespeed was hopefully going to take me the opposite way. But when Dustin launched and almost sank out, and OB launched and DID sink out, my hopes of a screaming XC flight ending at the party were fading. Jamie saw the change in the forecast and bagged it, but I got a great tow behind Paul Tjaden and milked some light lift for a while deciding what to do. Timothy was set up to retrieve me, or bring my stuff to Wallaby so I could shower if I made it, so I got brave and left Quest pretty low. Jeff and Dusty were already gone, Bellerby was farting around over the airpark with another Steve.

My first climb was in desperation mode... I was really low a few miles south, so I decided to stick to Rte 33 due to the fact that the mines are impossible to get out of on the weekends. I flew from field to field for a while, never getting more than 700 meters. Once I passed the sailport, however, things got better. The sailplanes were not afraid to get up right close with me and share the air. The lift was frequent if not booming, and they were spaced so close together. I just started leaving when they got a little frustrating, and another one was put right in my path. No clouds to speak of, except way south, so I just followed along Rte 33.

I heard Paul on the radio after a bit, and realized I didn't know where I was going. I told Paul (using my radio LEGALLY for the first time) I was lost. He said he couldn't help me with THAT. So I said, WALLABY was lost, I can't find it, where is it? He said some stuff I didn't get and I was turning and scanning the terrain way to my east. Nothing looked familiar at all, until I saw I was coming up on Rte 4- and still way west by Rte 33. Paul confirmed Wallaby was a mile or two north or Rte 4 and I headed east over some unlandable territory to see if the one field I had in mind WAS Wallaby. I was really high, like 4500' so I had lots of time to look for other gliders and be sure I was headed in the right direction. But even though the field had the right shape to be Wallaby, there was nothing flying that I could see. As I got closer I saw that there were indeed many gliders parked along the tree lines and on the cables. I looked everywhere for someone flying but saw no one except one kingpost low and setting up to land. I arrived with over 3000' and seriously thinking there had been an accident or something (why else would no one be flying during the meat of the day- 3:30-on the first really soarable day of Demo Days???) so I burned off my altitude quickly and tried to land. I kept hitting all kinds of lift (isnt that the way it always is when you want to come down) and the shifting sock had me s-turning until it straightened out again. I made a huge effort to get my hands up higher than usual since my last really weak flare, and had a shitty landing anyhow. At least I stayed on my feet and didn't whack. But I really need to fix those landings.

I was told by a bunch of pilots that the seabreeze had kicked in and flushed a large group just before the bell rang. The dreaded bell... And there were a few pilots that got pushed way east and were trying to get back. Mostly everyone was hanging out, socializing and eating. Timothy had my stuff and as I packed up, I started seeing lots of people I knew. Bellerby had landed short with the other Steve, and Nicole was out trying to get him from way behind a locked gate. Paul made a flight to Wallaby and then the party REALLY started...

A few random pics...

Bellerby after his long carry-out (had to rub that in...)

Lauren's about to do something rude to that ear of corn...

Wills Wing- in conjunction with Wallaby Ranch- really knows how to throw a party. Great food (although not for vegetarians) great beverages, great slide shows, great people, great location. Thanks so much to Timothy for getting my stuff to me and Belinda for the ride back and Bellerby for the ride to the airport... Awesome time...

My flight-

Duration- 2:45

Alt over launch- 1430 meters

XC miles- 22 ( I think)

2009-03-24T13:13:00.002-04:00

Saturday, March 21, 2009- Stid Hill, South Bristol NY

The organizers at the Bristol Ski Resort asked us to set up a glider for their Spring Carnival for this weekend, and, being that I am the Public Relations rep for the RAF, I tried to muster up some enthusiasm for the exposure it could create. A beautiful forecast, warm and sunny, and light winds- great for flying there, not so good for skiing. But they have a pretty good snow base left and only a few trails looked closed. I had more than an hour to check it out from 3K above, in baby ass smooth lift. But the flight was of course after the obligatory "manning of the booth" and at 1:30 I was relieved of my duties by Karl and Katrin, and Ron actually had carried in and SET UP my glider at launch. Wow.... Mukrim, Doug and Mark all had sledders just as I grabbed the PGers and went up with Ron. Ryan reportedly was climbing out over the parking lot as we rounded the back side of the hill. We hiked in from Piscotti's, seeing as I had nothing to carry- it was easy! I checked over my glider and launched after Mukrim climbed out. Ryan was nowhere to be found but I did see him high overhead during the hike. I scratched a bit, not finding whatever Mukrim was in, and decided to leave the ratty ridge. I found nothing but sink all the way to the parking lot and began to set up a landing. But as I extended my glide towards the skiers on their slope, I got beepings!!! I cranked and banked a while and when I looked at my borrowed (shitty!) vario, I was still 300' below launch. So after that nice low save I wound up at 3200' over and got really really cold! Mukrim and I just cruised wherever we wanted and flew over the slopes a while. It was weird being over there, usually I go over the back or north. I began to look at the LZ situation and to my surprise saw the wind shifting from the south now. Ron and Rick and a few others were scooter-dragging down there so I asked Rick what it was looking like. Light, mostly westerly.... OK, I can do that. I searched a while for some sinking air- tough to find! and tried to leave all my options open as I set up a landing. Then it starts coming from the north and I took my final in that direction. Staring right at the sock I see it flip around and now I'm in a tail wind. Damn. Eating up the distance to the break down area, a weak flare... and a pound into the ground. I caught my kneecap on the base tube as I did my "tuck and roll". Ouch. But I got off easy considering....
Here's Lon's video link of my crappy downwind landing. Right at the beginning. The windsock is obscured by the glider in the foreground. The rest of the video is pretty funny too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCJEY_BMN64
Karl, Katrin, Doug, Mukrim and Ryan all had great PG flights in the late afternoon. Spring has sprung!!!
Marty took care of the PR stuff there the next day- thanks Marty. And special thanks to Ron for hauling my stuff in and setting it up- I owe you big!

2009-03-17T11:31:00.007-04:00

Friday March 13, Dansville, NY

I left work early thinking it could be good- at least it was warmer- like mid thirties.... On launch it felt like 50 or so since the site faces SW. When I was driving into town, I saw a PG up over the mountain and climbing nice. It was Matt, and I went to the apartment LZ to pick Ryan up on the way. Matt was still doing pretty well for a while and he was way out in the valley with no drift really. The wind was wafting in at times while I set up. Mark and Matt were ready and I was going to wait until later when I figured it had to get better than this... I spotted a hawk going up good to the lower right of launch and Matt and Mark blew off like 5 seconds apart. Mark grabbed the climb from Matt pretty well while I raced into my harness. Too rushed and I broke my zipper trying to get it to go over my ski jacket.... I figured the chest buckle should be enough to hold me in and I turned the glider around... wondering if that were true...

Mark and Matt ready...

Matt's launch: I wound up waiting quite a long time for another cycle. It never happened as it had crossed out from the northwest. I was still waiting when Mark came back after landing at the airport. It was so obviously cross but Ryan and Matt got their gear onto launch again, only to pack up like I did. Ah well...

Saturday was the 'chute clinic, organized by the tireless Katrin. Here's a funky simulator for PG deployments.

We were all anxious to go fly Bristol, with a great forecast, so Joe was busy repacking. He was going so fast even his hands were a blur... I got one deployment off but it was more than 10 seconds to get the thing out of it's container. The side mounts are tough.

The Subaru made it up Bristol and we got there in time to see a perfect light breeze from the WSW, complete with hawk climbing out in front of launch straight up... gonna be GOOD!

NOT! In the next 10 minutes the freight trains started to roll through and Ryan launched into a corker and went over the back like two minutes later. Mark launched next and did exactly the same thing. We'd thought he got blown behind the mountain low, but I called him on the radio and he went north to escape the ratty air and he wasn't having too much fun. Ryan called and said he got hammered behind the mountain and landed at the golf course. I decided to wait a while.....
Matt, Doug and Doug showed up and we all hang waited for a while. By 4:45, Doug F launched and things were definitely better. I got ready but he landed, and I waited while it began to blow harder again. But now it was steadier, not gusty and I launched into some really nice smooth lift. Using an old vario that was driving me nuts (mine had the battery fail the day before), I surfed the ridge to maybe 600' over (haven't really checked) for the next half hour or so. I coaxed Matt to launch and then it shut down on us. Doug got off as we landed and gave the skiers a show.
Hang waiting at Bristol....

Sunday the forecast looked like Cliffs, but that's a walk in, so Ryan and the gang headed to Harriet, but I begged off. I haven't quite gotten over my blown launch there and the forecast was too iffy. The thought of running the topless off there in very light wind gave me pause. So updates came in from Ryan all day as I tortured myself with the prospect of a nice Harriet wonderwind. But later it was obvious we had made the right choice by staying put and getting the yard into shape on this 60+ degree Sunday.

So beautiful weekend, good company, but lots of waiting around with not much actual flying. Sounds like hang gliding in Rochester in the springtime.....

2009-02-16T16:00:00.002-05:00

Ho volato ieri!!!!!
Saturday was forecasted to be awesome enough for me to get out in some 30 degree weather. But upon arrival at Hammondsport (BATH, NY), it was obvious that there had been some mistake made with each and every weather forecasting service we have available.... Ryan, Michelle and the baby were down, Mukrim, Matt and Doug.... We set up our hang gliders, but Mark and I were the only ones not to take our sledders. The paragliders all had short flights with interesting launches. Knowing Mukrim would be there all night and we'd give it a go on Sunday, we tied the gliders down behind the cabin.
Sunday we piled into the tiny Subaru (Ryan is a big guy) and left Michelle at my house to stay warm and watch my kids complain all day.... Doug called from H-port and said it was blowing hard but that Mukrim was flying (of course). It was still too strong for me when we got there but it was sunny and mellowing out. Colder than the day before, I don't think it ever got above freezing but with the sun shining for a change... Not having to set up a glider, I tried to kite the PG on the knob while Mark, Ryan and Mukrim flew, but it was too switchy and gusty to be a good learning experience. When I saw that Doug was getting ready (he likes the same conditions as me), I put on my harness and got in the slot. I haven't used the lower west launch in years but the upper launch had a scary drift that made it look like the launch extended twice as far off the cliff as it really does....
So my launch was okay but of course the air was rowdy. I stayed well clear of the ridge and luckily found that most of the coherent lift was in the valley. I got a thermal and high enough to be comfortable and started looking around. I had two heat pads in each mitten (it was working pretty well but tough to launch with mittens) and I got most of the way zipped up. The sink between the lift was huge, and once I thought I might not make it back out to the ridge, but the thermals were strong and it was really pretty easy to get and stay up, especially with lots of PGs marking where to go (and where NOT to go....) It was getting nicer and nicer but I was getting colder and colder. My toes were numb and I began to think about landing. Behind the church is rarely an option for me, and with the wind pretty westerly, I crossed it off my list. Top landing sucks midday, so I went over to check out the airport. I saw that there were a couple of vehicles parked right on the road that bisects the runway. I thought maybe there were people in the vehicles because you wouldn't really just leave one there and I figured it was time to find out just how pissed off they get if hang gliders land there. I set up an approach after trying to find some sinking air, and landed just in the short scrub along the mowed runway. Three people watched me as I walked my glider to those vehicles (a truck and an ATV) and I pulled off my helmet quick so they could see I was a girl and not a terrorist. Three generations of the family that owns the strip, the cow pasture across the street, and the ridge to the north of ours, greeted me kindly. First thing they said was, why didn't I use the mowed strip? and I didn't bother to explain that I had intended to, I just had a shitty approach and got hit with a bit of unexpected air.... But they said no problem landing there, not too much air traffic comes in anymore, yada yada, yada. But they did say that some time ago they were pissed when someone announced to them that the local hang gliding club was going to start using their field (not asking) and then proceded to cut a slot in their ridge (the one with the tower on it) for a new launch. I looked up at the ridge and it's obvious there was some clearing that had happened long ago up there. But I think everything is okay for landing there as long as you use common sense. I know it is definitely my LZ of choice especially when the air is still active.
Mark picked Katrin and I up and then went up for another flight in his hang glider. Since Ryan was flying again too, I figured I'd just thaw out a while and drive for people, but then Matt asks if I want to go tandem PG. Mukrim is test flying his glider and he happens to have another....
So we go running off into a wonderwind and maybe 20 minutes later Matt tells me I'm his second tandem and his first was on the training hill!!! Pretty funny... So we go cruising around for more than an hour, and I am so damn cold because I am blocking his wind but I don't want to say anything because I am having too much fun as co-pilot. We got stupid high and flew all over with Ryan and Mukrin and Doug. We passed Mark really close once and spanked Ryan's butt a little.... On landing, on top, just before I get ready to hit the ground running, I can't get out of the harness, so that part wasn't very graceful, but what a great time. Thanks so much Matt for asking- it was really awesome.
So.... Flights: 2
HG flight : 45 minutes dont know how high because I didnt set my vario- couple grand over launch anyhow
PG flight: 1:11, 1700' OL
What a great freaking February day!!!!!

2009-02-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

Fast pin. My kid's in blue. Yay Adam!!! 96lb County Freshman champ- won it with this finals match.

No flying stories since they hasn't been any flying. I am working on amending that ugly fact...

2009-01-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

15 miles to Seminole, 58 to Ocala. I'm going to shoot for 1000 xc miles this year.... only 927 to go....

2009-01-08T11:42:00.007-05:00

New Year in Florida- ALL OVER FLORIDA!!!!

New Years’ Eve- arriving at Wallaby Ranch- in time for the party, and for the cold windy weather. Reports about Jamie and Lauren’s flights online were taunting me and I couldn’t get to Florida fast enough. But after arriving, the weather was not good for flying so, on New Year’s Day, the obligatory (but pleasant) visit to my mother’s in Naples was added to the agenda. The New Year's Eve party at Wallaby was great, lots of old and new faces- great to see Raean and Fred and Patty Cameron- former Women's Team members (and good friends!) The wine and beer and food was well stocked until the wee hours. Some of the Quest crew was actually attending- nice to see...

I had read about Scot Trublood’s operation in the Ozreport so I talked Mark into a detour to Bonita Springs en route to Naples. My new Garmin Nuvi was proving it’s worth when Lauren gave me Scot’s address. He lives on a canal near to “Doc’s”, a restaurant right on the water. Scot put a call into his captain, to try to get a New Year’s Day flight in for us, and while waiting we headed to the local hot-spot, “Doc’s”. Doc’s has a beach-fare menu and a kiosk on the beach where they rent water motor sport vehicles, paddle boats, and parasail rides. Knowing that Scot had already had a slight run-in with this operation, after lunch I approached the guy at the kiosk and asked if this was where they did the “hand- gliding”. He said “no, we do parasailing” and when I asked if he knew anything about the other thing, he looked me dead in the eye and said, “Nope, not a thing”. This guy had already called the authorities more than once to screw with Scot, who is competing in the same niche, and his lie was so deliberate it was actually comical. Back at Scot’s, his captain couldn’t be lured from another job so late in the day, so we headed to the beach to see a spectacular sunset, and some dolphins herding a school of mullets just 20 yards away from us in the gentle surf. My sister and her family joined us for the aquatic show and later we all had dinner with my mom.
In the morning the plan was set: 4 flight parks in 3 days. Friday- Paradise Hang Gliding and the Florida Ridge (forecast was less windy now). Saturday- Wallaby Ranch. Sunday- Quest Air. Not having had a flight on the first of the year was a bummer- especially after reading about some flights back home. At Paradise, Mark took a tandem with Scot, I took a tandem with Mark, then I had a solo flight. Scot’s operation is slick. He went over everything with me and even though I haven’t platform towed in many years, this was simple. Q Wilson, Scot’s partner, and a really great photographer (lots of these photos are his), was on the release when I yelled “clear!” For the first 50 feet, I was sure I had forgotten how to fly a hang glider and I wouldn’t live to see another day. But as soon as I eased the bar of the 225 Falcon 3 out to trim, I just started grinning and didn’t stop until right around yesterday! They towed me up til 2000’ of line paid out, and when I saw the boat make a big U-turn back at me, I hit the release. The huge wing handles beautifully even with my solo weight on it, and I wanged around a little in the morning breeze. I could see the whole coast line (what a view!) and I scanned the water for dolphins or rays or schools of fish. I set up an approach to land on the starboard side of the boat and even though I rounded out early, splashdown- I mean landing- was easy on the floats Scot has outfitted for the wing. Flying above water is such a freaky trip- I was conscious of where all the hook knives and other cutting implements were before I ever launched. But it was all so easy and everything went perfectly. The ride back to the dock was like a bonus eco-tour. The next stop was the Florida Ridge for an afternoon soar, so we hightailed it outta there while there was a lot of day still left .I really can’t say enough good things about what Scot has going there. He’s thought everything through and delivers a really good time, whatever your skill level. I’ll put his contact info here- 1-888-WINGS-FL (or a land line at 239-947-8940)and hope that anyone headed to Florida this season makes a flight off the gulf coast in Bonita Springs part of their winter getaway.
At the Florida Ridge, Steve Larsen and Cheryl Uhl were at the ready with gliders and tows. I got into a 140 Falcon (little bit different than a 225!), Mark got a 170 Falcon, and three other pilots took to the air behind Cary Lloyd. Steve was cruising around in a funky rigid wing machine and DocSoc flew and his wife and kids were there. It was a bit windy and after a strange upright tow (not used to the single surface deal), I found myself in nice lift near base until I got blown too far away from the field. I chased someone that just got off tow and thought I was pretty much going to land out, but I patiently made my way upwind and back into the range of the flight park. After I topped out my last climb, I made an attempt to get into some smoke from a fire near the field but landed (a little short of my mark- Falcons!) when it didn’t pay off. Cheryl and Steve were so welcoming and accommodating, and it was great to get a chance to check out this flight park when there isn’t a comp going on. Seeing the two of them is always great- especially when they have crazy costumes on… Talking to DocSoc’s wife after the flight also gave me an idea about some things I may be able to contribute on a personal level to other women pilots in this sport- sort of in keeping with what was started at Lookout Mountain in September.
Anyhow, a call to Malcolm on the way back to Wallaby secured a really nice hooch (thanks Steve A.). I got my glider set up early Saturday morning and had Mike Barber take a look at the ding in my leading edge. We decided it was basically a non-issue and I got ready to fly. It was looking pretty good but by the time the afternoon tows began, some high clouds moved in. I had a great tow- rock solid- and pinned off in some light lift to the south. I waffled around, not daring to leave my little bubble for almost an hour. I did eventually see people I know in the air- Fred, Patty, Mark, Mikey- but it was tough to stay up and I was being very conservative. When the sun started peaking out, things improved. I joined Mark briefly in a thermal and then headed north to further facilitate the “4 flight parks in 3 days” deal. I set my sights on Quest Air and headed out over the Bronson Ranch. After two thermals, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I had some zero sink at 400 meters over the mines and I didn’t dare go down in there especially on a weekend- too many locked gates! I saw the gliderport to the west and decided to head over. I asked Mark over the radio if the Seminole guys had a problem with hang gliders, and when he said he didn’t know, I figured I’d find out for sure… real soon…. My glide over Rte 33 was eerily silent. No lift, no sink, but really really quiet. Like NO wind noise…WTF? I was looking all around for other aircraft during my base and final… nothing. But so very very silent. I lifted my visor, still silent. I felt the wind and realized suddenly that my ears were totally plugged up. As I pulled in for speed to land, I grabbed my nose and blew and – wow! – wind noise! Back to reality! I landed using as little runway as I could but wound up sliding in on my belly like I meant to do just that. At the ready with apologies and batting eyelashes, a few glider pilots came by and smiled welcomingly, remarking at how smoothly I had landed (ha ha!) My budding head cold was the only annoyance. Russel and Lori Brown came by while I was breaking down- they were as surprised to see me as I was them! Patty and Mark arrived pretty quick and we dropped my glider at Quest before heading out to dinner with Fred, Rae, Mike, Patty and a couple of new pilots. Sushi.. great day. I had had a 2 hour flight and Patty was sure it was the FOTD… (Chuck Stoner's pic below)
Sunday at Quest… what can I say? this trip just kept getting better and better. The only thing missing now was Lauren. Paul, Carl, Jamie and I set out to do 100 miles. Mark agreed to drive after a taking a local flight, and the rest of us set about ensuring that the flight would be short by getting completely prepared for a long one… you know what they say- wear a T-shirt and don’t carry a cell phone and you’ll fly 200 miles… And actually, I flew for 40 minutes and had to take a relight while Carl already left and Paul and Jamie were having NO trouble staying up. When we made the move to leave, a few thermals later found me a whole thermal behind the two of them. Carl was even out of radio communication but we pressed north. At one point, Jamie left a climb a little early and Paul and I stayed to top it off. She got really low and had a nice save but never got back into the game. Paul and I parted ways east of Ocala, I headed west under the good clouds and he waited for us girls to show up further east…. We never did…. When Jamie landed I considered going back to her to keep the retrieve reasonable. I knew Carl was way north, Paul way east, and I had taken a hard turn west… ugh… Jamie said not to be ridiculous about coming back to her so as a compromise I turned back towards where I figured was in line with Carl and floated around in the late day lift. When I left my last climb, I heard Carl on the radio. He was on the ground to the northeast of me so I just stayed on my long death glide. I had passed Ocala airport, and John Travolta’s airport had been in view, and I set up a nice long final up a hill in a horse-less field. Horse country for sure, judging by the nice fences. Landed on my belly again for some reason… Nice landowners, no problems. 90 minutes later and my ride showed up. Jamie and Paul loaded up my glider and Mark had cold drinks in the truck. Perfect! We found Carl in a bar (of course!) and grabbed a late dinner on the way back.
Back at the Wallaby hooch late, time to nurse my head cold and my strained back. Patty said good-bye Monday morning and a new rule was created at Wallaby- especially in my honor, I think. But the whole 4 flight parks in 3 days (two XC’s, a splashdown in the gulf, and a visit to some great people at the Ridge) was sooooo worth it. Leaving Monday was really tough- high cu’s and light wind- the best day yet- of course! And arriving in Rochester to 10 degree weather, snow, and no luggage! I think I need a vacation from my vacation…
1/2/08 airtime 20 minutes total
1/3/08 airtime 2:02, distance (I think 15 miles- I’ll check)
1/4/08 airtime :41 minutes
1/4/08 airtime 3:34, distance (no clue, gotta download- maybe 50 miles???)

2008-12-25T11:50:00.000-05:00

buon natale a tutti! oggi è il venticinque di dicembre. allora.... buon natale e felice anno nuovo!

2008-12-22T13:40:00.010-05:00

Saturday's JV wrestling match... serially. My kid is the skinny white one.

2008-11-27T13:04:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
Make it happier and spare the turkey- go vegan!!!

2008-11-11T15:03:00.007-05:00

I have a paraglider!!!!!

Thanks, Doug!

After a nice flight on Sunday, November 9th, Doug Stoner loaned me his PG wing to learn how to fly it! We were at Katydid (CHEMUNG, NY- EAST OF ELMIRA), in overcast, cold, windy conditions and I had a chance to recover from my blown launch last week. My shiny new downtube needed some adjustments with the wires routed wrong, but I managed a very nice flight (got ABOVE Dan and Ron pretty quick), and definitely took landing honors for the afternoon. It was textured air, and of course I got cold very fast. And once I made the decision to go out and land, it was forever until I could actually lose altitude over the well marked LZ. Strangely bouyant... but my approach was good, my landing was a no-stepper (there was wind!) and we all headed to dinner for some socializing afterwards. So... a decent launch, flight, landing.. all after driving through the rain to get there. And Mark drove for me, just 5 days after having his hip replaced!!! Even Mimi got to hang out and be a hang gliding dog once again.

me and Doug and Mimi on launch, waiting for the wind to calm some.

you can't have a name like Stoner and not wear winnie the pooh cold weather gear (actually that's tigger)....

JB and student- they soared for half an hour...

My perfect no-stepper...

Okay so we'll try not to let overconfidence set in again. It eats metal!

So, Jamie and Ron and Ed and Dan and John all had really nice flights this cold crappy rainy Sunday. How 'bout that?

AND I HAVE A PARAGLIDER!!!!!!!

Flights: 1

Airtime: 48 minutes

Alt2: 450m OL

2008-10-29T10:34:00.003-04:00

Fadi Mohamed took this video of my launch at Hammondsport (BATH, NEW YORK) on Labor Day Weekend... What a gorgeous day. I wound up flying for over 3 hours. Fadi graciously sent it to me yesterday...

2008-10-20T18:18:00.005-04:00

Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19 2008
yo, GW- INDIAN CLIFFS IN ELMIRA, NEW YORK!!! (although the hawk and Mukrim sliding in on his butt are at BATH, NEW YORK)
These pictures are a little jumbled from the past few weekends, but I wanted to include some of them before they got forgotton in the mess of photos I have. This is actually from Saturday... Matt - BEFORE he got blown over the back....

This one is also from Saturday. The leaves are at their peak color right now. Amazing to have such sweet flying at this time of year. Ron K is getting ready to launch- he had an early obligation so he wasn't going to dawdle.
Saturday also marks the first day of bow hunting season: here is my dog trying to blend with the leaves. She is a little too "deer colored" to be let loose. Stupid me forgot that "man has entered the forest" and I should have just left her (and my nagging son) home.

So Saturday was just too damn windy for me. I was hesitant from the moment I heard the first blast go through launch, and I waited through the afternoon for almost everyone else to go before I finally dared to meet "the wall" of lift just in front of the cliff. Once in the air, it wasn't totally death defying, but I couldn't zip up, due to a knot in my "up" pull, on the inside of the harness. I was able to reach inside to get it partway up, but it was cold (3degC), and WINDY, and I was just not enjoying the air very much. I kept messing with that zipper, both hands struggling instead of controlling the glider, kicking at it (all before I realized why it wouldnt budge), and I was just not happy! Rick and I were on the radio together and I did take one really gnarly climb to 900 meters over, but once he asked me what I had for a temperature reading, I decided it was better for me to be on the ground. Textured. Yeah, good word for it. Oh and I saw 28kph and thought I was looking at mph on the windspeed. I tried to get to Harris LZ while I was still high, knowing the narrow valley would be pure hell, but I couldn't penetrate out into the valley in front of that ridge, so I headed for the main LZ. And pure hell it was... My vario made the rotor noise all the way to the ground and even though my feet touched the ground lightly, the approach was harrowing! As I packed up (my car magically appeared as if driven by my son...) I watched as 7 or 8 gliders boated around the ridge. Rick had a personal best of 3 hours and change. As someone drove me away, I couldn't help think that I was just a big weenie. All the way home I was dissecting my rationale and continued to do so that night. There were flights of several hours in duration, and I only bit off 40 minutes worth.... But the fun factor was low and even though there are times when I would have no problem with that kind of air- Saturday wasn't one of them.

Peg, the landowner, generously allowed us to invade her property again the next day. WAY better forecast, by my estimate. This is from Sunday- the Canadian contingent- part of it- here with Jim K and Dan W.
Indian Cliffs- the most beautiful site in the Southern Tier. Never have I seen so many gliders on launch, setting up in the crisp Autumn air. Bill V, Don, Steve B, Bob G, Dan W, Dan S, Ryan W, Matt C, Doug S, Oded K, Kark L, Katrin P, Ed J, George, Jim K... who am I forgetting?? Oh and ME! Holy crap... what a great day!
I was one of the first hangies to launch- two PGs going up in front and Dan S had done okay. I got up really quickly after a less than fun launch in somewhat dead air, and got right up above the ridge. I had a couple of close passes with Doug- one time I think if I had reached down I could have dragged my hand across his canopy. But pretty soon I was on my own way above the rest of them ESPECIALLY RYAN, who, try as he might, just couldn't seem to find his way into the stratosphere with me.... but I digress...
I watched Bellerby launch and climb up, video camera in hand pointed at me (I'm going to try to get that footage from him to post here- it's not often that I am above him) and it seemed as though I could fly wherever I wanted with impunity. I went to where Dan W and Dan S were by Harris, flew with them awhile. Bellerby joined us and I played chicken with them all and tried some of my dirty thermalling tricks in the super smooth lift. Sailplanes pimped off of us from below and it really seemed like the air was magic. I was getting cold hands after an hour, but I was really liking the view and the company. Dan left to go land and just after, I got my best climb of the day, a solid 4m/s to the scuzz layer. Then I was REALLY cold and my hands were numb. I tried to find sink and had a tough time- the whole valley was going up. Mark called on the radio and said it was DEAD on launch and people were potato-ing. I cored some sinking air and got to about launch level and scoped out the LZ. Just then, Ed launches and comes right out over to me. He and I are at about the same altitude, but we have differing objectives. I tried to avoid him, and the lifting air, while he tried to avoid me, and landing now. Somehow, all he found was sink, and I saw we would be in conflict for landing, so I moved into the rising air and waited out his landing. After he was on the ground, I found it nearly impossible to come down, so I zipped back up and climbed out again. So strange to have completely different experiences in the same air. That got me thinking about Saturday, and then I followed a mental thread about how attitude and perspective is so important. It seems like half the pilots got up on Sunday, and half the pilots sledded. Perspective...

Here is a picture from two weeks ago, at Hammondsport. Can you find the hawk?

And here is Mukrim, that same day, landing in the gravel with his ASS!
And Bellerby... F'ing Bellerby.... 8 plus hours in two flights this past weekend.... (but he still won't tell me how high he got on Sunday...) At least I am sure I have the female HG honors pretty well clinched.
Sunday: Airtime 40 min, alt2 800m over launch
Saturday: Airtime 1:25, alt2 1050 over launch

2008-10-16T15:53:00.006-04:00

Wednesday, October 15th - Bristol Mountain (really, Stid Hill)
SOUTH BRISTOL, NEW YORK 35 miles south of ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

A beautiful Autumn day. Too beautiful to remain at work after missing Monday's epic conditions at Hammondsport (where Ryan interrupted his 4 hour flight to call me from a grand over to let me know what I was missing). But this time I brought my camera!
This is what it looked like as I waited for the 10 minute construction traffic signal-

We loaded up my little Baja and Karl, Mark, Moritz and I headed up top. Karl brought both a PG and HG, the rest of us were HG. After the huge carry-in, me with my bum knee, we set up and thankfully started seeing some cycles. But Mark launched and sledded, Karl launched and sledded (PG), Moritz launched and sledded... hmmmm... kind of wishing I didn't blow off work today... I waited for Alex to arrive for his first Bristol launch (but not his first high flight), hoping for something to change... And change it did. A huge bank of stratus clouds was moving in, killing any chance for a soaring flight and I bagged the idea of launching to help get Alex's glider in. Right when I got unready to fly- it starts cycling in again! So I get my layers back on, get into my harness... and it dies... Oh one of those days! A guy named Sven, a former RAFer, rode into launch and kept us company while we watched crows and vultures get up across the valley. Nothing blowing into launch well enough for me to join them, especially with my knee protesting any real running. Finally I dove off and headed along the ridge- to find nothing to get up in. I scratched closer than I usually do (no turn now in my glider), but didnt get up. I set up a landing and had some fun dodging those posts along the driveway on final... Why do I always set up so much shorter than I need to??? Oh well, Mark captured the moment on film and I actually had a nice landing after pushing out a bit to avoid them. They are actually just a bit more than a glider's width apart. Better still when some wuffo parks in the road to watch!

We all headed quickly up top to see Alex off. Karl was determined to beat my current "Flight Of The Day" status, as his Saturn was all set up... He milked that sledder for all it was worth but my 8 minute 20 second flight held the honors. Alex was ready next and he executed a perfect launch. He headed across the valley and continued with a perfect approach and landing right in the "cool pilot" landing area by the access road.
It wasn't a total waste of a work day (but close to it), and it was great to enjoy the riot of colors this particularily beautiful Autumn is producing. We should be getting some more nice flying weather this weekend, so hopefully it won't be the last of our unique kind of leaf peeping.

Flights: 1

Airtime: 8 minutes

Alt2: zero....

2008-10-13T07:08:00.002-04:00

Sunday, October 12, 2008
I'm kicking myself for not having taken many pictures the last two weekends. Yesterday I flew at Italy Valley- which, by the way, is CLOSED for the season(?) and we were fortunate to hear this straight from the landowner AFTER a really awesome flight. Greg from Canada was questioning online whether Italy was open before his trip down; I read his post after I got home last night on the SOUNYPG list. The closure is stated in the RAF website, unfortunately, it's not really where I get my current flying news. The landowner was specific about when the site closed (Sept. 30th) but a little fuzzy on when it would re-open.
That being said- what a nice day! I arrived as Mukrim was sledding out- and gave him a ride up top- NOT that he couldn't have hiked up himself, mind you.... When we got to launch (he carried in for me) Ryan was in the slot. It was coming in so nicely now and I couldn't get my glider together fast enough. Ryan, Mukrim, and Greg launched, and me soon after. The three PGs and I played all over the sky, with hawks, light wind, nice thermals to around 500 meters over, no worries about sinking out... until it got a little cross from the SW and then it got trickier. I was having so much fun with the jellyfish- Ryan is a pretty FAST jellyfish, however- and Doug S joined in the fun- I saw to it that everyone was safely on the ground before I set up for a decent top landing. It was when everyone (but me) went back for another flight that we met up with the landowner. Only Mukrim and Ryan and Greg had gone off, so Doug and I headed down bottom to let them know. Mukrim was still in the air when I left, so it was really pretty soarable all day.
Wish I had pictures!
Airtime: 1:20
Alt2: 538 meters

2008-10-03T10:05:00.005-04:00

Estrogen Fest 2008
part three- Sunday

Beautiful forecast, cu's, big lift, sun, warm temps... perfect! Except that we had to leave some time this afternoon so earlier would be more convenient, but not necessarily better for soaring.

Caitlin and Katrin headed to the training hill, I went up to the launch to watch a bit and stock up on some essentials. It was very cross and crowded (since not many were launching) so I went to the training hill to see how the girls were doing. Caitlin was looking a little battered, the Sting was pretty muddy, and there was absolutely NO WIND at all blowing into either hill. I can't think of anything more difficult than launching in zero wind on a very shallow low slope, but Caitlin tried long and hard enough to earn the tenacity award for the day. We headed to the LZ and I waited around for some mid-day soaring.

Claire Vassort

It was getting past 1pm when I figured that I just better get my flight in. No one was soaring off the mountain (still cross) and only a few tandems were going. A solo tow went up (Claire's friend) and the clouds looked fat and inviting, but he didn't stick. When I talked to Claire she said he was just tuning a friend's glider and that there was indeed lift. I got ready to tow and tried to lower the tail of the cart I was on. After struggling with all three pins and not being able to get the thing to budge, I asked someone on the line if there were carts already set up for a smaller control frame. She said look for one with a white cradle and when I found the only one with a white cradle, it already had an unattended glider resting upon it. It's pretty uncool to move someone's glider so I just found a totally different cart and tried to make do. But I was still concerned about being pinned into the cart again. Before I got into my harness, I noticed the previously unattended glider on what I now considered "my one true cart" was presently attended. I decided to use my womanly wiles to get what I wanted and sidled on up to the guy who was struggling into his harness. And I said sweetly, "Hey, you know, I'm really coveting something of yours..." (lower head and look up and apply batting lashes). I figure he'll probably not only give up his cart but all his money too AND help me get my glider into place.

Instead, he says, "Listen, this is a pretty big pain in the ass and I'm sweating all over the place. I'll be done with it in a minute after I tow up so just get in line (bitch)." Well he didn't say the "bitch" part out loud but it came across pretty clearly... Hmmmm, a-hole..... I turned away and took one look back- I wanted him to remember the chick he wouldn't give the cart to who later kicked his ass in the air... Then I noticed something- he was struggling more than the average bear to get hooked in... Aha! He has only one leg! Oh shit! Okay, well now I feel a little stupid. The "one leg" card definitely trumps the "girl" card in pretty much ANY game. I loaded myself into my cart and figured if I got a little stuck in it, well I sort of deserve it for being such an ass.

So my tow was uneventful- bummer because it meant there was no bumps -meaning no lift. Too early... When the tug pilot began to tow me over toward the ridge, where an earlier tow was searching desperately, I spotted some birds up under a fat cu and pinned off before we got too far away. Oops, mistake.... I got nothing and the birds left. I followed them from below and got some zero, then a beep or two.. great. I had pinned off tow at 650 meters and now I am at 600. Couple of beeps and I am climbing a little - well really just not sinking - I start to search for anything going up- scan the ridge- oh that guy is hosed- scan the clouds- turning turning- where's that one legged guy? - turning- probably he is already on the ground- turning, searching WAIT! WHAT WAS THAT??? I see way above these huge clouds, a glider scooting across the small space between them. Just like I saw yesterday! WTF? A trike? Am I seeing things? Well surely I must just SUCK and there is some awesome lift out there- SOMEWHERE! My 0.2m/s lift was actually improving now but I was afraid to leave it. I kept looking for that glider and continued to climb slowly, actually a little better now and pretty soon I was almost to the big fat cloud. Just as I got to within 500' of it's bottom, I found out where and who that other glider was. It came suddenly into view above and next to me, surprising me all to hell, I peeled off away from what was now cloud-suck and this stealthy rogue glider....

When I turned back to get a better look, I saw that it indeed was the same glider on the coveted cart, a blue and white T2. Now how the F%$@ did he get so damn high earlier? Did he get sucked into the cloud and pop out the top? Was there some booming lift somewhere that he rode up NEXT to and above the clouds? Well whatever, now I was going to have to kick his ass like I intended to earlier and sort this "above the clouds" thing out later. We chased each other all over the sky and Caitlin was on the radio wondering where we all went a few times. When he headed way across the valley, I chased him down and finally got above him briefly when we wrapped a thermal together really nice. The air was getting fun and after a while I headed over to the launch intending to end my flight to start the 14 hour drive home. I counted 16 gliders on launch and none launching. The blue T2 came over and lost a bunch of altitude with wingovers and I could hear him hollering over the launch. It was so bouyant now, no threat of sinking out, and yet, no one was launching. A Combat finally ran off and scratched the ridge. I stayed way out to show him how wide the lift was but he was pinned to the mountain for some reason. Sweet lift all around the launch; wind sock straight out, and still, no gliders launching. Oh well, I had to get going so I did some wangs ( I don't know how to do real wingovers) and found some sinking air (hard to find!), and set up to land. And I did! On my feet! Just like Mike said- come in higher, get my hands higher and arc upwards. Sweet! But damn, no one with a video camera...

While I was breaking down a few minutes later, I see the T2 on the ground. Tip Rogers hops on over to me and we just start ranting and raving about the flight. When I related what I had seen early in my flight- his glider stinking high above the clouds, and my reaction to it while I was scratching- he just starts laughing. Apparently he paid extra for an 8000' tow and was just hoping that some idiot would see him that high and think he got there by climbing. He got his wish.....

Tip Rogers

After Katrin and Caitlin gathered all of our stuff while I packed up, we hit the road. As we drove away, so many gliders littered the sky. The girls wanted to see Henson's and we only got lost twice on our way there thanks to Mikey's directions. When we arrived at Henson's launch there was almost no place to park. As soon as we got out of the car I hear some guy talking excitedly about this chick pilot who actually thought he climbed to 8000'... so I join Tip in his bragging to his cronies and mention that I did actually see a lot of the top of his sail after he had to FIND lift to stay up. Then I was crowing about winning the Team Challenge a few years back and F'ing Bellerby's magazine write up describing my "hawk-like intuition" on a long-ago Whitwell flight when an argument ensued about who was better friends with the memorable Canadian. Tip proudly displayed his new-to-him Sensor that had been garaged for the last million years and in pristine condition. It brought back so many memories to be atop this site. My literary dog, Meesha, came from Henson's. I first met Kevin Carter and Steve Revo and Bo Hagewood up here. I did some of my very first XC flights in the Sequatchie Valley. And here we were, air wafting straight in, sun setting, on the first day of Team Challenge 2008. We couldn't stay long but I did hear there were over 80 gliders there, 55 pilots signed up for Team Challenge- all that there when so many pilots were still at Lookout Mountain in the air when we left . HANG GLIDING IN THE USA IS NOT DEAD!!!!!

We drove all night, switching drivers, getting lost, guzzling coffee. I made it to work by noon, Caitlin made it to her 2pm class. All good. Not as good as Mark on Ritalin and Red Bulls and me sleeping, but still - we made it in one piece.

What a great weekend. So many women pilots in one place. I got to meet a lot of the girls who supported my Team to Italy by buying T-shirts and fundraising. Carmen and Judy and Christine and Liz and Linda and Judy H and Claire and holy crap, there were a lot of girl pilots. I got to see some old friends and hang with Mikey and Dennis and Terry- my idols - a bit.

I hope we get this all together again a couple of years from now. Not to be missed!

Flights: 1

Airtime: 1:40

Alt2: 1350 meters

2008-10-02T09:49:00.007-04:00

Estrogen Fest 2008 part two

Katrin on launch:

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=927807&CategoryID=3511&on=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is20pvQnD9w

Well I hope these links come out okay.

Saturday's forecast was looking really sweet and I was all set up down in the LZ, ready for a tow. Mike Barber gave me some very awesome landing tips, after seeing a hearty whack the day before. Well the forecast wasn't panning out: "sunny and delightful" was more like "overcast and threatening" and after checking that it wasn't really a huge storm cell over Chattanooga in the distance, I decided to try a tow. My LS3S is so sweet on tow. It was uneventful besides getting pinned a second or two longer in the cart than I liked, but that was my own fault for not insisting on a cart with a lower bracket in back, or trying to lower the one I had even more. I didn't find much lift after I pinned off but I did happen to see a sky-high glider ( a trike?- must have been) scooting above and between a break in the clouds. There were gliders on the ridge so when I lost some altitude, I went and joined in the very light lift. And of course it was getting lighter and everyone began to sink out, me along with them. I set up a decent landing but it was crowded. One pilot landing 180 degrees different direction than the next, and I had to clear both of them, but- I did hammer in a lot more softly than normal.... Claire tried out my glider after that, and made landing it look pretty simple.

Oodles of knowledge:

Fun party Saturday night- great band, pretty good food (not very vegetarian-friendly however), great people, and lots of beer. Katrin and Caitlin loosened up and started dancing after threatening to turn in for the night earlier. They honored all the women with great gifts and the party went on past my bed-time. We headed up top and sacked right out since Caitlin wanted a run at the training hill early.

More later but here are some pics:

Caitlin Johnson
Training hill #1:
Training hill #2:
I'll wrap this up when I get more time. I still get to do Sunday with it's epic flying...

2008-09-29T22:12:00.002-04:00

Estrogen Fest 2008
Lookout Mountain, Georgia September 25th-28th
Wow, hang gliding is NOT dead! There actually ARE women who fly! And Lookout Mountain is a GREAT place to gather, fly, and have great parties. The last couple of times I had been to Lookout kind of sucked. I mean, the people were great, the food was good, and the parties were awesome, but the soaring was a little elusive, and I either had an irritable companion or a lower back muscle spasm (about equal in their “pain-in-the-ass-ruin-an-otherwise-fun-trip ability) or some other such downer happened. So after a 14 hour overnight drive on Thursday, Katrin Parsiegla, Caitlynn Johnson and I found Judy Hildebrand’s house at 6am- just in time to find out accommodations scammed by Jesse Fulkerstein and Dennis Pagan. So we barged in anyhow and slept for a few hours in makeshift beds in Judy’s beautiful house on the mountain. In the morning Dennis and I commiserated over our aching backs and the Turin World Air Games (Test Events), had some coffee and the we all headed to launch. At some point I was informed that I would be sitting on a panel of a roundtable discussion with Pagan, Mike Barber, and Steve Pearson at around 2pm. Since it didn’t look much like a soarable day (too windy), I had a hard time finding reasons to back out. But there were so many eager pilots (mostly WOMEN!) setting up on launch, I decided to stay on top and watch what surely would be carnage on the cross wind/windy day. Katrin was one of those eager pilots, and we saw her off with a nice strong launch and then we headed down bottom to retrieve. By the time I got back up top, I saw Rich Annis had arrived (I had been telling stories about Rich at Italy Valley a few years ago trying to spectacularly kill himself in front of me) and he was setting up. Knowing that he would only fly in “nice” air – and the fact that Mike Barber was setting up- got me scrambling for my glider. Mike informed me that the roundtable discussion was just going to have to wait til after the flying…. So some guy launches and catches a snarky thermal down low just before it was too late, Mike follows, but even though I was ready, I saw that they had nothing I wanted- the “Fun Factor” seemed a bit low, and Rich Annis wasn’t launching… well I decided I would wait or just live to fly another day. The two topless gliders got high and all, and it was killing me not to join them and prove something (?) to this crowd, but it just wasn’t any kind of air I wanted, especially on launch. So I waited. And waited, and waited… until finally it was blowing down the hill pretty good. Now I watched Rich and he still didn’t pack up. But I hadn’t showered since I left Rochester, so I was weighing all my options and bitching at Rich for the fact that I set up my glider while the sun got low in the sky. Mike and the other guy landed but I had sent Caitlynn down with the car. Just as I was headed to pack up, it started blowing in. Joe Gorrie launched and was maintaining out front level with launch. It looked so much smoother now that the cloud cover had moved in and it was after 5pm… so I launched. Now this ramp is pretty intimidating. Linda Presley gave me the most helpful advice when she said just look forward, not down, so that’s what I did and I had a nice one. I headed out to Joe and got a few beeps where he was turning, but he ran away so I tried to be less intrusive. I went north and got a little something that turned on and got me from 100 meters below launch to 100 meters above. And that’s all I ever got but it was good enough and I decided to land when the ridge got a little crowded. I had yet another “Italian landing” and put a divot in the LZ with my whack…. Oh yes, what fun it is to be flying my “good” glider…. I even made it down in time to do the roundtable discussion where I basically just added "yeah, what HE said" to the mix.
The Friday night party was a little subdued compared to what I heard about Thursday night- but I was just happy to get a shower and a full sized couch to sleep upon. Lots of people turning up from ALL over, lots of women, holy shit!
Stay tuned for part 2 of Estrogen Fest 2008… and some pics…
Airtime: 30 min
Alt2: 100m OL
Shitty landing but stayed on my feet…

2008-09-23T09:57:00.004-04:00

Saturday, September 20th- Bristol Mountain

Ryan, Katrin, Jeff, Mark, Karl and me- making holes, filling holes, spreading grass seed... a real live work party at Bristol. Karl had already mowed it nice up there so now it's beginning to look like a regular launch instead of the dark side of the moon. Rick was attacking the LZ with the DR mower all afternoon (and missed some nice flying!) Daniel Spier and his wife, Mary, showed up along with Paul Senger and the Stoners. Mukrim, too. Couple of PGs launched and had some luck, Dan and Mark launched, then I barrelled off. For some odd reason I didn't take the time to set my nose angle, or yell "clear", so that's why I say "barrelled"... I scraped the brush at the edge a bit, but headed south and quickly got up. Sticky zipper, slight left turn still, but nothing was going to detract from the great flying that was turning on. Pretty soon it seemed everyone in the RAF (except for Rick and Moritz) was climbing high over Bristol valley, trading places and chasing each other around. The inversion was just below 750 meters and the sky was just beautiful cirrus. At one point I had Paul climbing up through me so I moved to what I thought would be better lift but what turned out to be just right in his way!!! Dan with the Atos, all the PGs... what a blast! When it got really crowded and a little scratchy, I waved good bye and headed into the valley. Paul came out with me and I saw we may conflict in the landing area, so i turned in some zero sink so he'd beat me there. When I saw his approach, I copied and wound up having a perfect no-stepper just where the cars were parked. That like NEVER happens!!! Rick's picture was just a moment before I flared (and I scabbed it off his blog. )

sweet!!!

airtime:1:40

alt2:758 meters

2008-09-21T11:55:00.002-04:00

Friday September 19th
I left work early to get a flight in at Italy Valley where Karl and Katrin were reporting it was blowing straight in at around 10mph. I had thought it might be blown out but having missed what was probably a sweet Harriet day Thursday, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. Besides, it was Friday...
Katrin was on the ground in the LZ and Karl had just launched when I got there. We rode up top as Karl sky-ed out. By the time we got carried in, it was blowing harder and he was sinking out. A long wait ensued and finally the wind seemed less obnoxious- but it was pretty late. Mark launched and got a little bit over and I followed. Immediately I knew my glider was f*d up. I had that hard left turn that made my life miserable (and almost cut it short) at Bristol in July. I knew I would have to land before my right arm gave out on me. I tried to get high enough to top land, and there seemed to be plenty of lift, but I couldn't feel much besides the glider wanting to spiral left. I was dreading trying to navigate into that tight LZ, but I crossed the valley thinking about my options. There really weren't any besides tucking the right downtube under my arm and hanging from it as I set up an approach. Not much wind down there so at least I wouldn't be trying to surf the tree line..... I came into the field and just hung on flying it as straight to the ground as I could. I knew from last time not to try to slow down or flare- thank God for wheels.... I came to a stop and beaked it in. Karl arrived with my car and we inspected the glider. The left wing was so turned up at the tip so dramatically. I switched the tips (one is more curved than the other) and decided it looked more symmetrical and so I would keep it that way for my next flight.
airtime: 12 minutes
alt2: 58 meters
yuck

2008-09-16T14:45:00.005-04:00

My daughter, Dana Nelson, ran her first marathon on Sunday, September 14th. The race went right by the end of my street where I first saw her.

Mile 4, I was just taking her drink order...

Mile 20, looking pretty fresh, but this was getting tough.

The finish!

Pos Bib name Gender M/F/Team Place Class Age City Event StartTm Net Time Gun Time Pace
296 379 Dana Nelson F 63 F19-24 20 Rochester Marathon 00:07.2 4:36:47 4:36:54 10:34

The race was cancelled at some point but she had already passed that point. The heat and humidity were unbelievable (the reason they stopped it). But she finished strong! She did great and I am so proud of her. Running part of it alongside her, I ran 9 miles total- the most I have ever done in my life. I was screaming in pain all night so I can only imagine what she felt like later!!! After 26+ miles!!!!!!!OMG!!!

2008-09-04T16:12:00.009-04:00

Labor Day Weekend Update

Saturday, August 30th

It began cloudy and rainy, but the forecast promised clearing (and lift) later. Mario Luppa was back in town for some XC experience, so after a trip to the Public Market, we all headed to Hammondsport. There was quite a crowd when we arrived. The Canadian paragliding AND HANGGLIDING contingent was well represented, and soon more regular RAF members turned up. The launch was beginning to like the Hammondsport launch of old...

I think Mark launched first, then Katrin and Karl, then Mario, then maybe some PGs while I was putting Mario's video camera in the car, then I launched. Mark's launch was scary, Mario's looked good- and I caught it on video to prove I have actually taught him something (more on that later)- and my launch was pretty good, too. Karl and Mark were getting high in one big thermal and that had me scrambling to get going. But now that I was scratching with the rest of them, it seemed they took the last ticket out of there. At just 70- 150 meters over for the first hour of the flight, I thought mine and Mario's chances of going XC were totally shot. I was duking it out with a Canadian PG in front of launch, Mario was behind the church REALLY low, Mark was stuck under a big cu with Karl. Finally, I get something solid to get up in and I see Mario doing well now too. The PG and I were really getting in each other's way as the two of us clung desperately to this first, and maybe only, big climb. But eventually it got big enough for the two of us to give each other room and get high. When I searched the west ridge for Mario, I couldn't find him so I called on the radio. He reports that he is setting up for a top landing and when I comment he asks for silence so he can concentrate. Well, I considered the flight to be just beginning, but after having a long look at the LZ by the church, Mario was determined not to land there (can't blame him!) and he took advantage of his newly aquired altitude to land in a better field.

I decided to try to hook up with Mark and see what he was up to. He said he was around 3300' at cloudbase and pretty soon I was nearby but he was in some shoulder pain so even he decided to land. That left me, and my PG buddy to share the air (at a huge distance from each other now) so I just started to cruise around. When I got back to the main ridge at one point, I saw a glider in the trees just north of launch. In the same place from where I have dug other gliders out. Obviously a blown launch. Mark confirmed it was Joe, and that he was okay and had help. The air way above was getting nicer and nicer and the lift more widespread. No handed flying... climbing at 1-2m/s... so sweet. Since Mario was no longer in the air to go XC, and at 1200m over launch I was getting cold, I scanned the ridge for some company. I assumed no one else was launching because they were getting Joe's glider unstuck but soon more gliders got into the air. I waited a while for this one unfamiliar topless glider to find something to get up high in, and finally Jim Ramsden was in the ozone with me in his T2. He chased me around for a while and then I figured I should go land after 3 hours in the air. Mario and Mark were waiting at the airport for me anyhow. I had to search for sink (isn't that how it always is?) and even though it was a less than stellar landing, it was likely better than what I could have done at the church LZ. I have been pretty stressed about landing lately.

On the way home we happened upon the Dansville Balloon festival- 50 hot air balloons all began launching just as we were going through town....

Oh wait, that's a different bag of hot air.... (actually it's Jim Rizzo introducing me to his girlfriend...)Okay here are the balloons...

and one that was really strange (The Purple People Eater...) but I couldn't get a shot of it's face...

The evening was capped off at a Ribs Contest in Caledonia, hosted by the Genesee Sun...

So really a great flying day, no XC but still a lot of fun.

Airtime: 2:58

Alt2: 1250m

Sunday August 31-

We all head to Hammondsport again but knowing it will probably be cross from the north, we don't even take the gliders off the car. A Canadian HG pilot was struggling in a strong cross so we headed to Mossy Banks. It was a bit strong when we arrived and the launch needed some trimming anyhow. By the time it was clear and we were set up, it was blowing in pretty sweet. Karl got in the slot and waited through way too many nice cycles- hawks and kestrels soaring just out front. But that launch is so intimidating I could hardly blame him. Finally he backed off when it was just about dead, and Mario stepped up to the cliff. I told him that the glider wouldn't be flying for some time after leaving the cliff, so he would have to have the glider in a perfect flying attitude, with a little extra speed, while shoving off the launch. He executed it well (maybe a bit too pulled in) and dove significantly low away from the ridge. He scratched valiantly for maybe 4 passes then headed for a near perfect landing below. A PG had also managed a launch out of that tiny notch in the woods...

I got up to the launch as people were packing up to go back to Hammondsport. Now the cycles were decidedly cross from the NW, but I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Everyone was gone or almost gone when a cycle that was pretty straight started up the bottom of the valley. I tucked my glider's nose down a bit more and yelled CLEAR much to the surprise of anyone that was still on launch. My launch was sweet! and I headed right towards the overlook and I was going UP!!! A few passes just a hundred feet or so over but it was so nice!!! The other pilots were back at their cars at the overlook- surprised too to see me over their heads. It was great, but very short-lived, and a slight turn in my glider was scaring me out of scratching much. I landed with Mario and packed up.

On the way home we passed Dansville AGAIN while the balloons were launching, but we didn't stop since Karl, Katrin and Paul were joining us for dinner. A big feast ensued and many tales were told... But I had the Mossy flight of the day at 6 minutes 33 seconds so I kept my mouth shut for a change...

Monday, Labor Day, September 1st- Indian Cliffs

Nice forecast, except it looks like it might be really light. Up top, it's dead. I begin to set up, well just because I like to be ready for anything, and I know for sure it's not going to be blowing in anywhere else. By the time I am done, it is coming in NICE! Mario is ready, so he launches right after Scott, who is getting above the ridge nicely in his Falcon. Mario's launch was a little slow, but he recovered and pulled away from the slot with good speed. The rest of us ran for our gliders, and I was just pulling my speed sleeves on when I looked up and saw Mario way behind the launch just above the trees- NOT a good place to be. It looked like he was going to get out of there twice, but then we heard the all-too-familiar sound of glider hitting tree branches and watched as he put it in (conveniently) right next to the launch slot. He yelled that he was okay. Everyone ran the 15 yds over to where he was suspended, about 15-20 feet off the ground, right next to a pretty easy climbing tree. I shimmied up the tree and someone handed me a rope to attach to the dental floss he threw to me. The extraction of the pilot was more difficult than the glider extraction, but everything was down and unhurt in less than an hour.... which coincidentally is about how long the wind blew into the ridge that day. We left Mario to pack up the intact -looking glider and I got into my harness. Bill launched before me, and Doug in his PG, but it was very light now, and they were not getting high, until we saw a bald eagle climbing just below. I flung myself out at it and started climbing right away. Doug and I had our own little piece of the thermal but he left meat of it to me. The eagle showed me just where it was and soon I was 500 meters over and much happier than I had been up a tree. The wind was almost completely dead, so my track was straight up mostly. As I ran around the area when that thermal died, I found the wind was sometimes a light NW- that would explain why no one was launching. Doug had landed, Bill before I had even launched, so now I had the whole valley to myself. Well, just me and a couple of sailplanes. I tried to pimp off one that was turning behind Harris Hill, but when I got out there, I found only broken lift and he promptly left (must be he heard about me corkscrewing up through Jim Rizzo last weekend....). I went back to the east ridge and played around there til I finally sank out. My landing was perfect for a change- maybe because Doug was giving me the wind direction in the LZ- and I packed my glider and got back up in time for it NOT to wonder. A few sledders, but mostly everyone else packed up.

Airtime: 0:52

Alt2: 480 meters

So... what did we learn? Be ready, make sure your student is ready (already knew that). Launch like you mean it, and make sure your student does ( knew that too). Know what the wind is doing in the LZ (knew that, he knows that but he didn't need to know it on this flight!). Flare hard in no wind (check). Give your student ALL the information he needs to stay safe and have a successful flight (knew that too, but wasn't thorough....) After much discussion from- I mean WITH Mario, it seems he thought being closer to the trees was better for getting lift. Yes, well, up to a point to stay in the lift band. But he tested the point of wind gradient. For a tow park pilot, that isn't something he would normally deal with. Wind gradient near the ground, yes, of course. But I neglected to tell him the specific danger after seeing how well he handled scratching a ridge in July and again this past Saturday. I assumed he knew. So the thing I learned most is NEVER ASSUME. We also had a nice discussion about Intermediate Syndrome...

So we learned a very valuable lesson at a very low cost. A hang strap or two, an ego, maybe a bent batten, some flying, but all in all, it was cheap. And I have heard that there are 'pilots who have been in the trees, and pilots who WILL be in the trees' and now that Mario has joined the ranks of the former, he doesn't need to revisit that on some other occasion. For me, that adventure lies ahead, if the adage is true...

2008-09-04T08:46:00.002-04:00

Funny (?) Story
I had an English teacher in the 7th grade who went the extra distance to try to get through to his students. The memorable journals he had us keep- I still have mine to this day. Mr. Winterton, now Jim Winterton, to me. He was like the teachers in all the "Great Teacher" movies: To Sir With Love, Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers.... Okay you get my drift... Sometime in my mid-thirties, I located him in Syracuse, NY and gave him a call just to let him know that his efforts were not wasted- that even now some of his life lessons continued to guide me. I thought at the time he might think I was a crackpot, but no, he remembered me, we caught up on each others' lives, and he expressed how cool it was to get a phone call like that after 25 years or so. He was still very actively playing and coaching racquetball, and an upcoming clinic would bring him to my fitness club in Rochester so we even had a chance to see each othere again around that time.
Years later, we still keep in touch, although sporadically. Yesterday, as I was driving home from work, my phone rings and his name is on the display. When I answer, he asks, "Are you a Hang Glider, or a Paraglider?" I say I am a hang glider pilot. Then he says, "You'll never guess where I am...." and he proceeds to tell me that he is at the USHPA office in Colorado. It seems the National Racquetball Headquarters shares the same building and he happens to notice the flying theme on the adjacent door as he goes in to do whatever business he has there. Wow, how cool that he stumbled into part of my world! So he says he's going upstairs to USHPA to check it out and say, "Hey, I was Linda Salamone's 7th grade English teacher, how about that????" So that's what he does while he has me on the phone.
He asks loudly, "Who's in charge here?" and he tells me some skinny guy answers, "Me", and Jim tells him proudly, "Hey, I was Linda Salamone's 7th grade English teacher......" and the few people that were in the office give him .....a completely blank stare.
Then he asks me, "Hey, didn't you tell me you were a fairly high ranking female pilot in the US?"
And I answer, "Yes, I am the highest ranking female pilot in the country and I was the 2006 and 2007 Women's National Champion, and since no US female pilot competed in the Nationals this year, I guess I sort of still am...." He asks if ANYONE in the office ever heard of me and of course no one has. But they all knew Paul Voight's name (yay Paul!) and I told Jim to ask if any of them were actually pilots. Nope. Well, that explains that, I figured. But then Jim leaves the USHPA office somewhat disgusted and goes into his own National Headquarters, the USAR, and tells me that his picture is all over the walls and they all greet him loudly (I can hear it...) and he didn't say this but I am assuming it's his first time there because he only just noticed the USHPA stuff.
We got into a discussion that I don't want to repeat in total here but basically he was wondering why USHPA was so out of touch with the pilots who represent this country on an international level. I know that I am small potatoes but I AM ONE OF THE ONLY FEMALE POTATOES. Maybe there would be more female potatoes if somebody GAVE A SHIT!!!!
Okay, so that's my story. And I will end it here by quoting the USAR website when Jim Winterton was inducted into the Racquetball Hall of Fame...

http://usra.org/Home.aspx
Jim Winterton Syracuse, New York(Contributor, Inducted 2000) Jim Winterton has gained renown as one of the best racquetball coaches in the world, after service to the U.S. National Team for a full decade, during which time his squads brought home the World Cup from every International Racquetball Federation World Championship played in the period. He also led national teams to five Tournament of the Americas team crowns and a clean sweep of the 1995 Pan Am Games, where the USA brought home six gold and two silver medals. For his last hurrah as U.S. National Team Head Coach at the 1999 Pan Am Games, Winterton’s team nearly repeated that clean sweep of the medals, claiming six gold, a silver and a bronze medal.
2001

2008-08-27T16:16:00.003-04:00

DO NOT try this at home....

Oh wait, this IS my home!

On a recent unflyable Sunday, I was able to cap the obsolete vent that leaks into the kitchen. Thanks to the fact that my fear of falling has diminished, a couple of ladders and a ready camera.. this episode (that totally freaked out my neighbors) occurred and was captured on film...

2008-08-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

Saturday, August 23rd Dansville
Tough to decide, based on the forecast today, where to go. Another beautiful day so it would have to be somewhere. I thought Dansville had better potential than Italy Valley and having just been to Italy Valley yesterday... My plan was to launch at 2pm, and I think Mark launched exactly then. Marlin and I were set up, Doug had just arrived, and I waited in the slot forever while Mark was in painfully light climbs out of my line of sight. Nothing was blowing into launch for a good half hour, and I finally took the lightest of all cycles I would dare to take on this flat slope launch. I ran my ass off and maintained just to the west of launch. I didn't want to have any chance of having to land in the apartment LZ so I kept heading west towards the spa. Mark and a few sailplanes were over there and pretty high, I got some decent lift and hung tight with it. I had some breathing room at 300 meters over and saw there were actually a lot of sailplanes around. I got up high and just started to play with them. Thermalling with 3 at a time, and another hang glider- jeez too bad the PG didn't join us!! It was great when I started actually climbing right up through them, (ha! repeatedly!) and I think I may have gotten the altitude of the day with 1130 meters over launch. (3700') Launch is at 1450' msl.. what say the sailplane guys? Later Riz got a bit crotchety with me at the airport... because he was one of the guys upon whose canopy I was looking... There was lift everywhere, it was pretty easy to stay high. The climbs were very nice and smooth. Mark landed at the airport and I took a big swing around the whole ridge and valley and then went to land there as well. Doug was already on his way down there with my car. Again I LANDED WITHOUT WHACKING! ON MY FEET... On my old glider. hmmm...And I got to give the sailplane guys a little crap for good measure. It was sooooo much fun flying with them today!
Great day, great flight.
Airtime: 1:37
Alt2: 1130 meters

2008-08-23T21:04:00.002-04:00

Friday, August 22- Italy Valley
I took off work early and met Karl, Katrin, Mark and Mukrim at Italy Valley. Mukrim was up, Katrin and Mark in the LZ and Karl getting ready to launch again. A Syracuse pilot had also landed before I arrived. It seemed pretty straight in at launch, maybe a little strong at times, until, of course, I got set up. Mark and the two PGs were duking it out low, and I was waiting for a cycle. When they started climbing a little , I launched (probably a bit early) and dove in with them. It was easy to get up and stay up, but not very high- a hundred meters or so was about it for a while. When it got scratchier, Mark declared it too crowded and left the ridge to the rest of us and went to go land, and of course then it started to get better. Mukrim and I went way south and got maybe 400meters over and played with a hawk. He only turns right, I realized. Katrin launched and we went back to the ridge but it started getting lighter. I was trying to stay out of Katrin's way, not knowing her comfort level (I had gotten very close to Mukrim while thermalling) and got way below launch and decided landing was imminent. I was pretty stressed about landing with the sheep below, with the wind very switchy down there, so when I got a bite of some strong lift, 100 meters below and in front of launch, I grabbed hold. This was the best thermal of the day, taking me, Karl and Katrin up almost 2000 FEET over... and high enough for me to set up a top landing if I wanted to. I did grab one more climb out in the valley and when that ended I did a big search around, seeing that K and K had already landed on top. I found virtually nothing and watched while Marc Sachdev opted to launch right then.. sledded... I top landed and no one was more surprised than me that I LANDED WITHOUT WHACKING!!! What's up with that??? Oh maybe because I am flying my old glider- the one I could always land... hmmm what could be different... or was it just stupid luck in the tall weeds... ?It was one of the nicest flights, so worth leaving work...
Airtime: 1:38
Alt2: 630 meters

2008-08-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

Sunday, August 17th

Harris Hill- a couple of journalists, friends of my daughter's roommate, came along thinking that hang gliding was a wickedly exciting, thrilling way to spend an afternoon.... What they found was that hang gliding is not for the impatient or reckless, and certainly not the "thrill a minute" they expected- especially when the weather is uncooperative. Josh (the editor of the Genesee Sun) and John, the videographer/photographer, followed along from Avon to get a story about me and my recent adventures in Italy, and about hang gliding in general. They were incredibly patient and inquisitive as we were setting up, and they devised an ingenious way to fabricate a video camera mount- first on Mark's glider, and then on mine- with duct tape. The plan was for Mark to fly a bit first, do some wangs and wingovers in front of launch, then land, then I would retrieve the camera and try to get it up to cloudbase on my flight. So Mark, after potato-ing forever, highlighting the pure thrill of the sport, launched and had to blow through a ton of lift to try to stay low near launch where we were all waiting. When he landed I raced back up top with the camera, and got up to launch all wired up. I almost hit Josh when I started my run, he didn't expect to have to dive out of the way as he clicked picture after picture. But I never got very high my whole flight. Frustrating, scratching along at times, swearing and remembering the video camera recording what I was doing and saying- I tried to make it all appear effortless.... At one point I was hanging out near the sail port, waiting for a tug to take a glider off their launch. There was a climb right out in front of them, I wanted to join the sailplane out there, but the tug just wouldn't go. After a while I gave up and went away, and then of course the tug took off... I think he was waiting for me to get the hell out of the way... By the time I could explore out there, the climb was gone. Doug launched his PG and joined me for a bit, and then we both got low, below launch. He and I were joking earlier about the downside of fame- the paparazzi following me around all the time and the flashes from their cameras keeping me awake at night....I headed north and scratched hard and he landed. I spent a long time 45 meters below launch, finally getting up again, but not before getting kicked towards the trees in a scary moment. Scratching close- haven't done that for a while- it was exhausting, but I did wind up getting up when Mark launched again. I was soaked with sweat, dressed for cloudbase, and finally I went to land. The journalists were in the LZ waiting for me, clicking away... I came in and gave them a taste of what Italy was like for me- Flare, Tuck, and Roll... I picked the glider's nose out of the dirt and promptly fell backward trying not to break my harness backplate, laughing my ass off. It really was a fun day- what a difference a couple of very enthusiastic wuffos can make! Anyhow, the link to their article is below- it was incredibly flattering. They say the camera adds 20lbs... it makes me wonder how many cameras they had on me....

Airtime: 52 minutes

Alt 2: 110 meters

2008-08-19T19:16:00.002-04:00

here is part of the story for Sunday, August 17th
http://www.geneseesun.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33:flying-superwoman-competes-in-international-gliding-competition-article-and-more-images-on-tuesday&catid=24:news&Itemid=61

mom and lisa: that is a LINK... you click on it... just like this one:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gottaflyatfrontiernet.net/MonteCucco2008

2008-08-19T18:59:00.002-04:00

More flying to report this past weekend, August 16th first: Saturday was an early day at Hammondsport due to other obligations but everyone that was there made the most of it for sure. Katrin, Karl and Rick were doing site work but I insisted it was flyable since Ryan was soaring his PG. We all set up and Mark went first and got up pretty easily. I took a long time to launch because Ryan and Mark were sinking out while I was in the slot. Finally I decided that if they could hang onto the ridge, well, I could too... so MOVE OVER... I had an easy launch and got right up then hooked a decent thermal a short time later. It was pretty windy and a little ratty, but once I got up high, it was just easy. I spent the next 90 minutes just racing around from cloud to cloud. Katrin and Rick and Marlin launched and I don't know who else was there for sure. I heard that Doug and Dan and Moritz and Marc were there, but since I landed at the airport and left straight from there, I'm not certain. Marlin was kicking some ass while I was flying around and I went back across the valley to the ridge just to go check him out. He said later the big cloud that was sucking us up scared him so he bailed. But he was thermalling like he'd been doing it forever, not just this once and it was pretty cool to watch. A few times I headed out to land but with switchy winds on the ground, I would chicken out and find a climb and get back up high and cold. Then finally I was just a bit bored. With no way to really go XC and get around Elmira airport, with a west crossing wind, and other obligations, I finished exploring the whole valley and went to land at the airport. A fairly good whack ended the flight (as usual lately) and I was home before dinner.
Airtime: 1:40
Alt2: 940meters
distance: zero

2008-08-18T20:19:00.004-04:00

After any competition, free flying gets weird. No jumble of nerves, no throngs of competitors, no start clock, no death gaggles.... It's strangely serene and uneventful. My first flight after Monte Cucco was at Bristol, Saturday August 9th. I had some help carrying into launch- as usual- but for a change I really wasn't in dire need. My back, since the second full day in Italy, was feeling like a back that never had any issues at all. This is after two-plus weeks of flying, driving, sitting in airplanes, Italian flare-tuck-roll landings, and sleeping on a twin hotel mattress. The are so many variables in this equation, I really can't pinpoint what exactly solved the problem. Gorio's strange maneuvers, whole garlic cloves swallowed every morning, no running, the twin mattress, clean air, good food, or Italy itself. Who freaking knows? But I hadn't felt even a twinge of pain for almost 3 weeks when we flew Bristol last week.

Anyhow- the flight... Doug and Chuck and Doug and Mark and Matt and Lon and Rick and Karl and Katrin and her extended family... who else? Well I think that was it. This pic is stolen right from Rick's blog....

So there was some scratching going on, but some pilots getting up. I launched and got into something after a desperate low scramble to the south. Mark was way high trying to guide me and once I got into the big climb, it was this smooth, widespread, solid 1m/s climb. We had somewhat of a plan to go somewhere, but we didn't know where so when I got to base, we decided to try for Bloomfield and I don't remember where and then back, I think. Mark was doing something weird, climbing into the control frame and screwing around while I headed across the valley to a big fat cloud. When I got there, however, the fat cloud was not really working and I searched in vain for something cohesive. He came out lower and together we tried to find something, anything but it was literally a losing battle. For all the nice clouds and the decent initial climb and the large area I searched, you'd think we'd be having no trouble at all finding lift. But there was really nothing so I just waffled around a while. When I did finally head north to avoid landing in the switchy LZ, I found a hawk going up but too late, he was mostly drifting over unlandable area, and in my mellow flying mood, I didn't feel like pushing it. So I landed (pretty well for a change) after almost an hour in some old guy's field and proceded to break down. I found out later that Rick kicked butt and put a few more miles to his XC and Karl and Doug were scattered around the area as well. So, not a stellar flight, but really enjoyable and relaxed after the racing. My glider flew great- I am so happy with this wing and the way it flies- especially after I stressed about un-shortpacking it by myself. Mark noticed a ding on the back of the leading edge however, when I first set it up, but further inspection caused us to believe it was simply a water mark from being rained on the day before.

It was great to be back, but I was sad that my adventures in Italy were over. It was nice to meet Katrin's family and to fly with my friends again- even to get my ass kicked by "Sledder Brown". It will take a little more time, I'm sure, to re-connect here. And a few more flights....

2008-08-11T07:33:00.005-04:00

Friday August 1st we did have another task on the last day at the World Meet. I was pretty stoked, feeling strong and determined to put a few of these girls behind me on courseline. All my equipment and back issues were behind me, and I knew I finally had a handle on the type of flying required for these mountains. I launched and got up quickly and had lots of company. Everyone was playing nicely today and we waited for the start clock. I kept an eye on Jamie, of course, and tried to leave the safety of Monte Cucco launch but things weren't as lifty on course. We would leave in small groups and then run back to the OD that was behind the mountain. Nicole was playing pieces of Jason Mraz's song over the radio and that was getting me into the groove. Finally the race was on and everyone went on a huge long glide towards the windmills to the south. We were just a couple of hundred feet over the ridge there and a few girls cracked steep banked turns and then had a million gliders to deal with. It was a gnarly snaky strong climb and everyone was desperately trying to get high in it. Lisa called that she had seen lighting behind Monte Cucco but we were moving well away from that (and towards another interesting Marge Simpson coif). I saw Lisa doing a little better away from the bunch near the windmills and I joined her. Soon the two climbs came together but Lisa was reluctant to duke it out in heavy traffic. Seeing that she was going to be left behind I told her "embrace the gaggle!!!" and so she did- she came in with us and now we were all screaming upward and it was looking like a good race would be on... until it STOPPED! I saw legs come out of harnesses and start bicycling and damn!!!! It's over!!!! A minute later as I headed out into the clear valley I got word from Francesco that the day was called. Oh wow, what a way to end. All fired up and nowhere to go with it... I stuffed the bar and flew towards Sigillo faster than I have ever flown before- 66mph was what I came up with. It was smooth and easy except I couldnt rock down low enough with my head (adjustment needed for sure). I have just never stuffed the bar like that for so long and it felt really good. I gotta say, my glider has been flying so sweetly since I have been here and besides the zipper issues and Italian-style landings, overall I am very happy with my equipment. I never had radio issues either- thanks to Jeremy Swerdlow- I will be praising that guy forever because that's how long that PTT he made is going to last. Also, my vario was working perfectly thanks to Steve "who's your daddy" Kroop... after several comps with little quirks.
Anyhow, I went and landed- no so great again even though there was wind in the LZ. But lots of traffic and I had a rigid coming in around the same time. The smiles and celebrations in the LZ were incredible, champagne poured on Alex and Corinna and Manfred. I was so glad to be there but so sorry it was all over.
The dinner and party that night at the Dominus were great, dancing until the wee hours. The chick they had half naked doing a table dance all night was a little weird given that it was also the Women's Worlds. Like where's the half naked guy??? In the morning we all got ready for the closing ceremony and of course we were all there at 10am but it didn't start until after 11am... Italian style, you know? We roasted while we waited and tried to find water for a few slightly dehydrated people....
Then the ceremony, lots of yakking, great outfits on the Germans and Italians... (wish the US team had sponsorship!!!) and lots of pictures. Then it was all over and we had to go pack our stuff. Lisa wanted to test fly a Laminar so with help from the Italians, once again, we got our gliders short packed and she had a sweet flight on a new Icaro glider.
Leaving Italy was one of the hardest things for me to do. I fell in love with the place, and the people and the flying. I know it will be a while before I am back there, but it left such a mark on me, I know it won't be too long.
If I could do it over, there are a few things I would do differently. First- I would have my equipment (harness) in tip top shape. Second, I would fly the area before hand- for a week or two. The type of flying is unlike anything I have experienced in the US- just different air and features. High pressure in Italy makes for really good flying, unlike here where it kills the lift low. Lots to learn about all of this- next time I would definitely insist on flying the area first for a while. The Pre-Worlds makes that possible for the men, but of course, this meet had difficulties getting organized initially and there was no time for a Pre-meet. As far as the organization goes- Flavio Tibaldi and Corinna did a great job with everything. It was first class and top-notch. I was so impressed- and I see how much should go into such an event. Third- we need a full team. And fourth- SPONSORSHIP. Obviously those two may be connected. I know that Kari and Lauren would have been there representing the US if not for the huge financial burden. Team flying is essential to reach goal quickly. I was flying alone mostly, as usual, and pretty slow. The Foundation for Free Flight graciously covered our entry fees and we sold a lot a T-shirts. Thanks to everyone who bought them and then made donations above and beyond the cost. Thanks to Roger Baker for such an easy to sell design! But still, I will be in debt for a little while and it was difficult to watch the other teams with many of those financial problems solved. Also I would never have been able to do it if my boss wasn't so generous and I knew I left my kids/pets/ and house in Mark's and Karin's capable hands. I was lucky to have a few contacts in Italy to facilitate the logistics. Mario Luppa was responsible for my cell phone and the hotel accommodations (plus his wife made certain I didn't get lost and led me to the hotel late that first night) and he really picked the right place at the right price. Marco at the Dominus was a delight- the atmosphere and the food there was phenomenal. New friends- Domenico the nut-job, Timothy Ettridge, Nicole- what can I say about Nicole??? Wow, she was such a bright spot and a good friend and a great driver and I can't wait to see her again and she left such a mark on me. And Lisa, my teammate- she was so encouraging and upbeat and capable and we forged an unexpected bond. Amazing women. The three of us had laughs unmatched in my life- c'mon- the ROOSTER, the dirty dancing with an unseen audience, the glass recycler at 6am!!!! What an incredible experience. I am forever changed. I need to stop now.

2008-08-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/gottaflyatfrontiernet.net/MonteCucco2008

I have so much more to share about Italy... .Unfortunately, I have lost my voice almost completely (people hang up on me when I answer my phone...) and I am buried at work and at home. Also I am so sad to have it all be behind me and the feeling is so overwhelming, I don't know if I can delve into it without just losing it. I will continue to add some photos to the Picasa page when I have time. I hope they are easy to access.

2008-08-06T09:56:00.002-04:00

This may be the last task of the 11th Women’s World Championships. Hard to believe it’s just about over. My flight started with a good strong launch and a sweet climb right out in front. I was worried about traffic but I seemed to be climbing right through everyone at first. I thought I’d be at base soon, but, just like every day we’ve flown on this north side, the lift would break off at around 400meters ATO. There were a few gliders stupid high though, so I knew there was a way to get through, but try as we might, it just wasn’t happening. Getting frustrated with the bouncing up and down, trading places with Jamie, I actually just started swearing and yelling at the air. I left the launch area and headed south and things improved only slightly. We were supposed to go to the eastern ridge on this task, a route I hadn’t yet really seen from the air, and the first valley we had to cross to get to the start seemed like a million miles wide. Getting nothing good on the ridge forced me to venture across. I saw a lot of gliders low and landing and I was totally psyched to get a nice climb right in the middle. Best climb so far… It was enough to get me over to the start and the TP, and things improved for a while. I saw a couple of other flex wings and one got very low. I began to get low as well when I saw two rigid wings in a nice field that even had a windsock. I thought, how nice, I’ll have company breaking down after an easy landing with a windsock. Surely if the rigids had gone down, it wouldn’t be too humiliating a finish for me. But as I rounded the field, I went over a factory that had a screamer of a climb right on top. I was thinking those poor bastards have to watch a girl rocket up right over their heads. As I climbed out (best climb of the day so far) it occurred to me that that was way too nice of a set- up to be for real. As I got above the nearby ridge, I saw a few other gliders in the air, and a whole bunch on the top of the mountain… Now I realized that this was Tre Pizzi, with it’s north/east launch, where we had spent a blown out practice day playing hackysack. It looked so different from the air. Well I was hitting 6.0m/s all the way up and thinking this was so great, but when I looked south, I saw a lot of shaded areas and OD in the sky. I knew I had better hurry to avoid the rain. I stayed pretty high all the way down the ridge, and with 7 K to go to hit the WP, I had to cross a narrow valley and a mountain and I got so low crossing I thought I could drag my feet on the bare summit. It was pretty freaky and when I looked over the other side, the valley where the WP was was anything but flat. It was sharp and creased and looked like Naples, NY- nowhere to land at all. I was under a fully OD’d sky, getting rained on now, and sinking pretty good so I just tagged the WP and dove for as many extra Ks as I could. That put me over a vineyard, and one small field with a 45deg slope…. Lots of power lines around ( to light up the grapes???) and it was Fly-On-a-Wall or nothing. No clue which way the wind was blowing, I’d been flying straight for too long and I had been getting every direction possible for miles… So I just did my “Italian Landing” otherwise known as “Flare, Tuck and Roll” (and take the hit with the glider instead of my body) and it worked out pretty well. I phoned Nicole and waited in a thunderstorm by the side of the road. I saw two gliders later that hit the WP and headed to flat ground- not in the direction of courseline. I know now that was Jamie and Kathleen. I had no clue how many girls made goal then, but at dinner I saw the score sheet and saw that 6 or so had made it and I came in 7th or 8th for the day. Still didn’t move me up any overall. Oh well, I had a good flight, a great launch, and a very exciting landing. What could be better- except for the freaking FOOD in Italy. Oh my God… the food.
More later.. I have just arrived home and copied this from a word doc that I wrote last Thursday! I will post a bunch of pics and some thoughts on the last (cancelled) day and the closing ceremonies. I have to stop crying first, in order to get some things done at home. ...

2008-07-31T12:49:00.001-04:00

I'll get some more pics up later. I am rushing so I can go shower. In short- it was really hard to get up and I went around 40K or so after a few low saves. I actually thought I might make it at one point but the rain and OD got in the way. I did a fly-on-the-wall landing that was very thrilling, to say the least... Tough flight...

2008-07-31T12:46:00.000-04:00

Task 6 Women’s Worlds
Our start was moved up to 2pm and it was a bit of a rush to get stuff going – funny how we get into our little habits. I have my ritual of walking way down launch and cranking up my iPod before the pilot briefing and I had to cut that short today. Lisa and I got off in the middle of the pack and my launch was easy. We were at the north launch- again- and it seemed like gentler air judging by the rigids and swifts getting up. I had a decent climb but couldn’t get comfortably high- that would repeat itself for the hour that I waited for the start gate. Lisa and I got something out in the valley but when 20 other gliders appeared to be in the stratosphere, I realized we were not doing something right. Back in front of launch a bit low again and Lisa headed out into the valley while I got trashed with a swift and another flex wing. But it finally turned on and I got through the lower inversion. Much better up there. I went over the back towards the start circle and heard Lisa was getting low. All the other flex wings were past the gate by now- I was late 7 or 8 minutes but damn, was I high! I headed across the valley in front of Monte Cucco and it was lifty and nice all the way to Gubbio. The second point was just beyond and clouds were forming and the bases were 3000 meters msl. The rigids were everywhere with all of us and there were climbs spread out all over. I headed back to the south TP and thought I might even tag that one and the last one and head to goal without another thermal- I was so high. But by the time I dove for the windmills I was almost landing instead and hanging on tight to the rat shit I was getting. Two other gliders prepared for landing with me, and I continued on courseline to get as many K as possible. Then I hit something low and stayed with it. I was just enough to drift me towards the last TP and then it said I had goal by 70 meters… just enough…. I have no idea where my score was but when I bellied into the very furthest part of the goal field- zipped in and full VG til the very end, there were many other flex wings there. Lisa appeared and helped me get my stuff across the field to break down. Her flight ended in the north valley early on but she had stayed very positive about everything while on the radio so as not to bring me down. I saw Jamie’s kingposted glider and knew that once again, I was very slow. Having a full team next time I do this sort of thing would be great, having a corporate sponsor would take care of some of the other stresses, and I look at the whole German team and know they have got it down right. I think I will make it one of my missions in life to get more women interested in competition. The US should be more fully represented in this type of arena. I have learned so much here, this type of mountain flying is unlike anything at home. The people here are so nice, so laid back, so real. The women I am flying with seem more open and social than when we did this in the US. I now know what it is like to be the foreigner and I regret not having done more to make the women feel more welcome in Florida. We all have so much in common, our lives are parallel. Wow, I guess I am in a mood!
Flights: 1
Duration: 2:57
Alt msl: 3000meters
XC kms: 68 or so..

2008-07-29T11:01:00.006-04:00

Random pictures... .just trying to get something in this space here.... Christian Ciech- 2nd place after 3 tasks, arranged to have a zipper delivered from Woody Valley-

The beautiful streets of medieval Gubbio...

My new friend "Spanky" who eats Brian Porter's leftover meat and cans of my tuna fish...

Rigids launching...

Gorio Mandozzi (on the left) is the Italian team's "doctor". He uses some unusual holistic therapies and has given me some relief of my back problems. He's with Graziano Maffi of the Italian team...

Carlo Bertacchi- hand sewed my new Woody Valley zipper into my harness until the wee hours of last night and destroyed his hands in the process. The Italian team has really been wonderful to us American orphans. I hope to get a picture of Mirella soon. You are all hoping I will as well- she is a real cutie.

So the task today was changed just after I got it all into both GPS's. When you have like 7 or 8 waypoints- it's a real pain in the ass. But the new task seemed to please everyone involved- I dont care- I just follow the arrow. The wind was much lighter than yesterday and we were at the N Monte Cucco launch again. I was anxious to try out my new, roomier harness, and got in line in the middle. It looked like some people were not getting up well, so I knew it would require some concentration. I launched very easily, and headed out to the spine to the left and got up while a few others struggled below me. That was a great way to start. But the lift got a little finicky and I headed toward the start circle, just 8 K away, to find something better. I tried to get some stuff off the ridge and watched while others got up in rat-shit, so I figured there must be something better around and went searching. I was wrong- there really was nothing better. I made a desperate search below the ridge and all the bumps and spines along the way... nothing big enough to turn in. Fields to land in were getting scarce and I was boxing myself into a narrow valley. There was one decent looking field- unfortunately there was a power line running right across it- and it sloped downhill in the direction of the wind. But it was actually the only thing going so I made it make do. My landing was decent and I had a good cry before I was joined by a few other women as I packed up. I have no clue how good or bad everyone did, but Kathleen just walked into the cafe I am in (headquarters) and it seems she made it quite a ways, but not to goal. I dont think anyone will make it in. I am pretty frustrated by my flight- BUT NOT BY MY HARNESS ZIPPER!!!! It worked perfectly and I am so happy to have my harness as I know and love it! I wish we would get some booming conditions so I could move up a bit on the board. Maybe tomorrow....

2008-07-28T10:37:00.002-04:00

I'll have to catch up on the pictures another time... I am pressed for time before it rains.
The great news is- I was second into goal today! Right behind Corinna! I actually landed first but I do believe she had already crossed... The not so great news is the task had been stopped (cancelled) and I flew OTB to get to the Sigillo LZ for ease of retrieval and proximity to headquarters. The launch for the day was at North Monte Cucco (back-side)- like yesterday's that was cancelled before we launched. When it blows north it needs to be somewhat light but today it was a little gusty at launch and some OD was going on around us. But I got off in a decent cycle, a few behind Lisa, and had a hard time getting up. I watched Lisa get low and I desperately hung onto some crappy stuff close to the ridge while she landed. It was hard to get any altitude and it was harder still not to hit any one or anything. I went to zip up and broke my already broken zipper again and decided that trying again was pointless in this kind of air. The bunch of us girls out there just sort of hung in, trading places and bouncing around- every so often someone would hit a core and then have lots of friends, but the climbs were brief and I saw rain just a few miles off. We pressed on a little down the ridge and then someone came on my freq. and said the task was cancelled. Stopped, whatever. I tried to confirm with Nicole but she was impossible to hear. I was not completely convinced that whoever called me was correct, and I was trying to confirm it for around ten minutes. Finally, I just made the decision to get down based on the way the sky looked and the fact that Corinna had zoomed away, presumably OTB to go land. I was just 300meters above the ridge when I dove over, and I got my ass handed to me in a big way. I wondered how Corinna handled it being on a bigger glider. I thought I would sink out right in the middle of Sigillo but I wound up surfing some serious rotor to make it to the LZ. Landing, of course, was just another adventure! But I looked around and saw that Corinna was just landing behind me and she was okay, other gliders came in but i think most people landed on the other side of the mountain.
I have no clue what the weather is supposed to be like here (and I am going to go out on a limb here and say that no one else does either!) for the next few days, but I am really hoping to get some big fast flights in. Preferably with a new zipper in my harness. My back is feeling pretty great so that hasn't been a big problem- just this damn zipper!!!!!
Okay, enough said- we are having a blast and Nicole is a really good dancer.

2008-07-26T12:41:00.004-04:00

Launch on day one

At Tre Pizzi, we didn't fly- we played hackysack and had handstand contests.... and took pictures of flowers.

More flowers, on the way to Perugia... Lisa is such a flower child...

I said, I freaking LOVE the signs in Italy. This one means: WATCH OUT!!!! Blue snake crossing!!!!

Today was a blast- task 3, that is. I was doing really well, going very fast, and then we had to cross the valley and hit a point that we've had every day, then got a short distance to goal. It was pretty blue in the valley and I saw no one after struggling a bit at the south WP, well no one headed across the blue, anyhow. Once I started across, I had a few wispy clouds, and I hung in and got pretty slow. I raced to the point when I saw another glider turning above it, but I didnt find what she was in. So I blasted towards goal and knew I was going to be short into a slight cross wind. But I just kept going for lack of any better ideas, and there were two gliders much higher than me turning in God knows what, and still I went straight on. My numbers said I had it by 200, and I remembered I had my stuff in metric, and so I trusted it- again, for lack of any better options. I squeaked into goal without any turns and actually landed on my feet. I have seen many people roll in their landings here, but I do believe I am the only one who rolled my launch off... So I dont know where things stand but I think I am doing a bit better after today. I hope. We shall see.... I know this post sucks, but I am being majorly distracted....

2008-07-25T03:24:00.002-04:00

The last two days of flying have been really great- it’s a shame I am not scoring better.
Day One- first attempt at pulling my zipper proved fatal- for the zipper. The slide completely broke, leaving me wide open the whole flight. Thankfully, Manfred’s wife gave me a makeshift safety pin so at the very least the top would stay down to where I placed the pin. We were launching from the back side of Monte Cucco to the NE. The flight was tough at first- seems like the rigids had the better part of the day to launch into. It was ODing and shading over as the girls were piling off. I got stuck behind a lot of people (note to self: get a better position setting up to be off the mountain earlier) and I watched them scratch and scratch and finally get up a little. Lisa got off ahead of me and I think I was one of the last off. I did manage to get up fairly quickly, but not high, and once I rounded the spine to the south, it got a lot better. I finally made it to cloudbase and I only have stuff in metric, so it was around 1200meters above launch. I think launch is like 750 meters above LZs and the LZs are like 600meters above sea level. Whatever. I got high enough to work some, anyhow. The climbs were strong and rough, and being only halfway in the harness was really tiring and annoying, but the view was awesome and I was having a blast. Delusions of grandeur as well… because I was tagging the first TP and thinking how easy this was, and then suddenly, it wasn’t. I tried to cross the valley to the west, and saw gliders turning ahead. By the time I reached where they were, they left. And the headwind was 38-40kph and I was getting drilled in place at times. Finally, I landed and cursed my foolish enthusiasm from earlier. Flights: 1, Duration: 1:30, XC kms: 31. Only Kathleen made it to goal- she is a tough cookie. Lisa and I spent the entire evening fooling around with my harness zipper.
Day Two- started off same as yesterday. Oh except that at breakfast the entire Italian team took apart what Lisa and I had done to the zipper and improved upon our handiwork. They also have a medic of a sort who has been working on my back problems. Adam H, if you’re reading this- he was actually saying the same muscle was hosed- the “souas” (sp?) and I have felt pretty good the last two days with my back.
Similar task as yesterday, but launching of the SW (regular) Monte Cucco launch. Rigids get up when it’s good, we go when it starts to suck. I pick a short launch line, only to find that it’s launching one glider to every three or so on the easier slope. Ah well… see above note to self… I watched while it seemed everyone was sinking out in front. Lisa launched and really had to scratch. I launched in a weak cycle (read:ran my ASS OFF) but got into the climb that she was getting into way to the south of launch. Climbing up really well after a few minutes and I reach for my zipper…. Aha! It doesn’t break… but it also doesn’t stay up. Damn, I need a new zipper. So this flight I alternate between holding the “up” pull in my hand, and then in my teeth- yes, my teeth. And sometimes I was just like, “F*K it” and let it all hang out. Once or twice, I got it all the way up and it stayed there, for a while. Until I shifted or hit big air… then it would just unzip all at once. I just managed to try to forget about it most of the time. My feet were a bit numb and sore but this flight was so much fun and I saw the Adriatic and flew straight under cloud streets for miles and had huge climbs… until I had to cross that damn valley again. I stayed over the mountains for a long time, way off courseline, and picked my crossing as wisely as I could. It was pretty good most of the way, and I pimped off a girl who got a little impatient, so when she finally got a climb almost to the Gubbio waypoint, I was right there. Except it was not as good over here and I struggled a long time trying to make that TP. I was below the low ridge and thinking I would land after I tagged it, and I saw a good field with a glider in it. I didn’t need to unzip… I already was…. And I tried to make out all the features of the field. I wanted to at least beat that glider on the ground so I swung really wide (remember that trick, OB???) but I got beepings… and more beepings… so I turned, and turned and damn I got up. I had been in Gubbio for so long I forgot to check where I was supposed to be heading. I was getting pushed downwind now, right to the next TP, so I just got very patient and went with it. I had such a sweet climb, the day was so late though and I started thinking about when the flight had to be over by. I think they said 6:30 and it was like 5:30 now… But this was so nice, getting high again, up under the clouds this late, and still getting around the course… so I milked it. I figured it to be my last climb and it was, only because after tagging the last TP before goal, it was just 10K further in. I looked at my numbers and saw I had it by 600meters so I just headed to the LZ that I had been able to see for some time now after making the last point. I spiraled down to land, watching a nice north breeze, until of course I was on final. Then it was dead, and I headed into the rough field over the gliders and Franciose was on the phone with her back turned to me as I started to yell.. coming in very fast now, but I had to let some speed off to get over her head, and then PILED into the ground. My head took most of the hit, I felt some pain in my right shoulder, but I got up as quick as I could and Tim and Nicole came over fast. I was embarrassed but worried about what damage I may have done to my neck so I talked to a medic for a few minutes but ditched them when they said they wanted me to go to the hospital. I will no doubt be stiffer tomorrow.
Anyhow, last in goal- but at least I made it. I had just about given up on the flight near Gubbio- I am so glad I stayed in the game. But I slide down two positions... well tomorrow is another day, and I am hoping consistancy will pay off and I will find my speed.
Flights: 1
XC Kms: 69
Airtime: 3:30
pictures later

2008-07-22T04:26:00.002-04:00

Well, no Costalucco yesterday- we are having some difficulties getting organized on some fronts. But Lisa and I did head to the "free" swimming hole the meet organizers arranged for us at the local camping grounds. Turns out the women who run the place thought that the swimming was not available for pilots, just meet organizers (?) and gave us a little hassle. Lisa thought 'coif' meant 'hair tie' and jumped into the pool (no diving unless you are the lifeguard or his friends or just Italian) and almost was asked to leave since she had no bathing cap on... .well... So later we headed to Perugia to get dinner, walk the downtown area and indulge in some of the cioccolato the citta is famous for. It rained hard when we returned to Sigillo, and just this morning we had insult added to injury when we found that the French team enjoyed great flights at Costalucco yesterday- and called it the most beautiful place on earth... I would post some pictures IF I HAD BEEN THERE!!!! Okay, so no flying and I am just a weeeee bit frustrated. But today we are headed one hour away to go fly. Everybody has been rounded up and it looks like nothing can deter us from our mission. If anyone sees my kids, tell my daughter to stop smoking pot, and my son to quit stealing beer, and my boyfriend to HANG IN THERE!!!!!
More later.... (P.S. the meet starts tomorrow.)

2008-07-21T04:45:00.010-04:00

Linda in Italy... yup... on the phone...

Early morning view out the back of the hotel window.

The signs are like those picture/word puzzles....

Horses headed up to launch. Cows, horses.... They got everything going on up there.

Looks a bit blown out to me... Monte Cucco launch.

Um, yeah, just a little windy...
So we decided to hike up to the top peak after watching a pilot get behind the mountain and get rotored pretty badly. An ambulance was leaving the mountain later with lights on and we heard he was okay but it was pretty scary.

Nicole placing her juju rock at the summit....

The incredibly (overly) friendly Italian Team- waiting for the opening ceremony to begin.

The ceremony was fairly brief and the food and wine was abundant afterwards.

Today is not good here but we are headed south to Costaluccio (sp???) I think.... maybe flyable there. At least we'll see more of Italy today.

Later....

2008-07-20T04:40:00.002-04:00

Okay, so Italy is like a picture postcard of what you would THINK Italy would look like. Getting my glider, car, phone and money was an adventure, but accomplishing all of that was akin to jumping out of an airplane for me. It made me feel INVINCIBLE!!!! And driving through Rome at rush hour cemented the experience. I did have the aid of part of the Rome police force (head of the sniper team!) to secure my glider and put me on an express train to the Vatican to get the car. Once I hit the countryside, it got a little less chaotic, but driving and navigating while nursing my aching back and fighting to stay awake kept it interesting. I found the town of Torgiano and my friend's wife greeted me with my money and a cell phone. She also led me to the road to Sigillo, and seeing how tired I was at 9pm, she continued driving right into town so I could follow. The road was liek Jacob's ladder and the full moon lit the way. Very cool. Very nice of Vittoria to take the drive for me. Lisa called as she boarded a plane in Utah to say she would be in Rome at 8:30 am, just as I headed to Sigillo behind Vittoria. So turning back in the early hours was way too much for me to think about just then; I checked into the hotel and passed out at midnight, only to awaken at 2am stressed out about how to get Lisa from Rome to Sigillo. Flavio (meet organiser) had no suggestions, but Nicole saved the day and took my car and headed to Rome at around 11am Saturady to get Lisa. I hooked up with Brian Porter and Manfred Ruhmer and after much dicking around at lunch eating, we headed up the mountain. By the time we made the last switchback in the road to launch, I was laughing like a maniac at the fact that I HAD ARRIVED!!!! My glider was in perfect condition thanks to my Nene Rotor travel bag, and Davide helped me assemble the glider from it's short-packed condition when I expressed frustration at completing the task. It took a long time and conditions OD'd in the meantime. But I got a good launch and scratched around and even had a low save that took me above launch so it wasn't a wasted flight. I also has a great landing but notived afterwards that I had VG more than half on... hmmm. So I am all registered and all my things are centrally located now- car, glider, phone, driver... so I am ready to fly again. Too bad it looks like a lot of wind today but we will go up anyhow.
More later. Hopefully with pictures.
Dana I will try to call you tonight. Go see your siblings this week....

2008-07-09T07:01:00.003-04:00

How I spent my summer vacation... (Before Italy, that is)

Mario Luppa waiting for a cycle at Indian Cliffs

Well I have flown some since the ECC, just not much. I had an XC out of Bristol, I have taken sledders there and at Harris, and had a very short flight at Mossy Banks. However, I did soar it for a few minutes on the 4th of July. But the weather, when it has been decent, happened on days where I couldn't escape work. But mostly the weather here has just sucked for flying. The forecast for the 4th of July weekend looked stellar. But the lift was elusive in the mountains of New York. There were reports of soaring at the defunct flight park, but only 2 people had the luxury of exploiting it there. I chased the almost nonexistant wind to Indian Cliffs on July 5th, after Mark and I taught a visiting H2 pilot to foot launch, and had a 3 minute sledder that cost me an $80 down tube. But the good news that day was that my student had three great foot launches and three great landings and was ready the next day to fly Italy Valley, which was actually soarable from time to time. Mark changed my downtube Sunday morning and we headed to Italy with no dog and hopes of a decent flight to end the holiday weekend. Karl Link got very high (2000' over) after a few scratchy PG flights by Evo and Alex, and I couldnt get into my harness fast enough- only to wait and wait and wait for a repeat of the conditions Karl (who was now on the ground) had had. Mario and Mark were in line behind me and I took my time. Finally it got more consistant and I launched into a cycle that got me a little over and then I was a few hundred feet above inviting Mario to launch. His launch was reportedly like mine and Mark's, I found out later- we all got pushed to the left side of the slot due to a SW cross, but he managed it very well and soon he was S-turning and climbing up to me. Mark joined us and the three of us searched for something bigger. Mark and I could explore a bit more with the topless gliders and Mario stayed in whatever he could find nearer the ridge. It got a bit scratchy and Mark went to land after we all duked it out low. A better cycle came through and we survived the little flush, but then it looked like Mario and I would be on the ground soon when I saw two hawks way to the east (near the old LZ) and decided to make a run for them. As Mario sank lower near the launch, I made it to the birds and for the first time all weekend, following birds worked for me and I got a nice climb. Mark and I urged Mario not to try to reach me, as landing options suck over there, and it was a good thing he didn't try because when I left that climb my vario's sink alarm sounded for a solid minute as I tried to get to where Mario was now getting above the launch again. Soon a bald eagle joined us and I got my best altiude of the flight, but not enough to beat Karl's height. Another flush cycle claimed us and I watched Mario land well in the tight LZ with switchy wind and I figured, hell I can do that. I had a less than perfect landing ( I cant run anything out anymore) but I didn't hurt my back any more so I considered it a huge success. The grin on Mario's face- his first ridge soaring and restricted landing in a hang glider- awesome! So we packed up and went to Bristol and threw him off there in a slight tail wind just to give him perspective and a pulled hamstring to round out his foot launch-mountain flying weekend. A beer at the Lock, Stock, and Barrel and a good ending to a fun, if not hugely soarable, holiday weekend.

Flights: 3

Airtime: 6, 3, and 45 minutes

Alt above launch: 200, 0, 1200

2008-06-12T09:03:00.008-04:00

Meemee getting busted sneaking a nap on the double high queen mattress in our tent....

Launch Line Task 4- my beautiful Barney colored glider is in there!

I'm going to try to write up the last comp day, the day after the comp, and some post-comp reflections in between tasks at work today. Things get forgotten and I really want to get it all down before that happens, but my ADHD might prevent a cohesive story. Oh well- here goes:

Coming back home late Sunday night with poison ivy, sunburn, a big bruise, a tick bite, a healing strained back muscle- sounds like a regular hang gliding comp! Not like the lap of luxury we enjoyed (despite the dust) at the Arizona meet. Dana and Meesha, the great rabbit hunting dog, cashed in all their fun tickets at Ridgely and were snoozing and limping (well, the dog was, anyhow) all the way back to Rochester. The unGodly heat from the day was dissipating as we left Maryland and everyone was too tired to chat.

Getting ready to do the last task- It was HOT!

The last Task of the meet began slowly. The wind technicians were not staying up but Ric and I got ready to be certain not to get stuck too far back in the line. But it happened anyhow and as the gaggle was leaving the airport, I was like 10-15 gliders behind in a very slow launch line. I knew that this would be a bad thing overall but since Jamie was in line behind me, I settled on just covering her to take the lead in the women's division. I got left in very little lift and watched as Jamie got towed up. I stayed above her for a while and knew that was all I had to do. I got stupid and tried to leave with the Phantom, but couldn't keep up and went back to the airport, only to find myself BELOW Jamie now. She stayed on top of me until I got impatient enough to leave, then she and the rest of the field followed. I got low- to 900' but got a little beep over a big field and started climbing. Campbell and Jamie and I climbed out but every other glider decked it right there. Jamie, still above me... we topped this thing out at 3000', me just below her, and I see her pull her VG like she is going to go on glide. Then as I turn, I lose her. I keep turning and wait. Where the hell did she go? I scan the horizon for her hard-to-see smoke sail. I decide then that I will just hang out a while instead of blasting off and that pays off when I get a glimpse of her still above me. Tricky!!! I think she just got bored waiting for me to go and finally she headed off. I went on glide and got a little ahead of her and found a climb, but she passed it up and went to where Campbell was. We parted ways here and I was kicking myself for not following her. And a couple more thermals was all I got, and I passed one up at 2500' on glide, then I tried to get up again from down low at the edge of a forest with no where to land. I knew it was over and tried to get a few more kilometers out of it and set up in a shitty little field. The weeds were tall and grabbing my base bar- I flared too high and pounded in some (hence the big bruise on my thigh). It was so hot on the ground as I began packing up. I turned my phone on and decided to listen to a message before calling Dana. It was from Mark, who landed with Jamie a few miles back, and they watched as I flew over their heads!!! So I didn't have to stress all the way back about where I scored anyways. I heard a bunch of people made goal and I wasn't surprised that it was possible-even with the slow climbs and low base. I heard the fast guys went way to the north and had clouds there. Ah well. Live and learn. The biggest mistake was not being in front of the launch line and going with them.

On our drive back to Ridgely for the feast and awards, I spotted a turtle on the side of the road-obviously a painter and possibly laying eggs. We left her alone.

The meal was provided by the culinary institute over in Dover. It was absolutely the best free meal I have ever had at a hang gliding meet. They had the most amazing side dishes (along with all the meat) and to my delight, some great vegetarian stuff. Finally!!! I had picked up some sushi on the way back expecting nothing but ribs and macaroni salad. I was glad to be wrong and I left the sushi in the cooler for breakfast the next day! Last year I had such a hard time finding decent food at the ECC, this year we enjoyed crabs near the beach, and gourmet food at Harry's, and steamed shrimp at Dave's in Ridgely... so not really an abyss after all. Having Mark along, and our own driver, really improved on the dining choices. Plus Sonny made a huge effort to have great food at the awards.

The awards ceremony was like all awards ceremonies- David Glover throwing shirts at everyone. We were busy deciding what to do the next day to fly on the way home. Late that night I decided that if I could get Kevin Carter to tune my glider, it would be worth hanging around. At the convenience store in the morning, Glover told me he was still around, so we got both my gliders all set up in the 98 degree heat and Kevin got them flying SWEET! I flew in just a bikini and socks and sneakers- making a fashion statement once again. I figure if all the melting people there couldn't handle a 44 yr-old woman flying hang gliders in a bikini- well, screw 'em. The flight park had 30+ tandems scheduled that day but they worked us in and got us all in the air. I had a chance to fly both gliders after Kevin left and landed when I wanted. I am so happy to have a back-up recreational glider, to save wear and tear on my new sail. I will pack that baby away until Italy next month. Oh and Dustin was the tow pilot for my last flight there, and neither of us died!

So, The ECC 2008.... Weird conditions. Slower and lower than last year. Dustin beat Jonny. Jamie gave me a run for my money. The heat was similar. The rain was incredible. The social atmosphere was the best I have ever enjoyed at a comp. My mental attitude was relaxed and happy, even if I wasn't scoring high. I actually thought I would be out of competition when I pulled my back out the day we arrived. I didn't jump off the bridge because of my back but it healed enough in time for me to wake-board on the new lake by our tent. Dana was so great about her responsibilities as driver and never left us waiting. She got to do some really cool airplane/Dragonfly flights. It was just such a great time. I don't know when I will see all of my comp friends again, since I won't be at Big Spring, but I really enjoyed my time with them here in Maryland. It was cool to have Rick and Mandy and Ron and Bob (and Daniel) around- our own little Rochester contingent. Dana and I found TONS of 4 leaf clovers. and went running together.... what else? We fit a lot into that weeklong trip.

2008-06-07T08:11:00.003-04:00

ECC day whatever- Friday June 6
Day 5 was a waffle just inside the start circle after two launches. Hardly seemed worth the effort or the few points it got us all. But the day was low validity and I will soon be finding out the difference a few (4) points makes!!!
Thursday night I had a chance to fly my old glider after Jonny did and I remembered how much I loved the way that thing handled. I mean, the sail is really flappy and noisy (trailing edge stretch) but the glider just handles so nicely. I'm so glad I put the old sail on it so I will have a recreational glider to play with.
Day 6 was the same forecast as Day 5, with lower base (like 1600'!!!) and I took a tow as one of the first flexies off after Davis. I was just hot on the ground and I really didn't think the day would amount to much more than yesterday. I flew around in light lift and then a gaggle appeared and I was at the bottom of the stack. We were turning right, my least favorite direction, and since I was so far below at like 100', I changed to left and gained just a bit. Then I had company and changed back, only to find myself on the bottom again. I was trying to match anyone else's circles and stay in the climb and I was just falling out the bottom. What gives??? Looking back I have seen this pattern with this glider since I got it. I gave up when it seemed the rest of the gaggle did and I followed Jamie back to the airport. I landed and really thought the day was done. Then everyone starts lining up again after landing so I stayed out on the launch line a while. Mark landed and I asked if he would change my CG back one hole so I would have at least an excuse to go fly again- to at least accomplish more than just a dive from 2000' tow to wherever I landed in the start circle! Jamie was re-flying so I knew I should stay on her tail to try to close the gap between our scores. She had me by like 50 points from yesterday when she made it out of the start circle.
So I tow back up with my new configuration and Zack takes me towards the N. When he starts climbing through 2100' I pinned off so no one would bitch about tow altitudes. I pulled the string all the way, got smallish, and glided. In the haze I saw a gaggle- one glider had an Elvis fin... hmmm Jamie! So I pulled in behind her, said hello to Elvis and just figured I'd keep turning as long as she did. I noticed right away that I was climbing the same, if not better, than the other gliders in the gaggle. I had the bar pushed out some and it felt really nice. Jamie left and a few others (Tom) took off down course and I saw another glider climbing over the forest so I stayed where I was and watched. Jamie just got pretty low and when I finally left, I felt like I had a good line and soon hooked up with the glider that was over the woods. It was Mark, and I watched while Lauren landed below me, and then Mark and I climbed out together over an awful lot of gliders in a field below. I scanned the field for the smoke sail that looks like mine and didn't see it, and just kept turning. It was such a light climb but I was keeping up with Mark and we were very slowly wafting down courseline. At 15 miles to go, I went on a desperate search before a forest and some skinny deep wheat fields. I got down to like 500' and I looked above me- Mark was totally specked out at around 800' and I had to land since I ran out of landing options. I had a NICE landing. Hmm. Just like with my old glider. Not like my earlier landing today BEFORE I changed my CG.... Hmm...
So I start to pack up and Dana was on her way but I noticed I was getting eaten alive by killer mosquitoes and I told her not to come get me (she was a mile away) but to go to a store and get some Off! before coming. Just as I was telling her this, a guy comes down the little lane I am on and his eyes are huge looking at my glider. I jump out in front of him and wave him to stop. Got any bug spray???? I ask, but he is too freaked out by the glider in the road and some half dressed chick jumping around slapping herself to answer right away. Then he startes to nod as he digs through his tool box and finds some Deet. He douses me with the stuff and drives off. Weird!!!! Dana shows up but I tell her not to even get out of the car, and then this guy comes back when he wakes up out of his stupor... He sprayed Dana down and then talked while we broke down. Nice guy- everyone from around here seems really nice- not like Florida :-)
We drove to get Mark a few miles down the road and the Dragonflies were making a low pass coming back from goal. We flagged them down and Dana got a ride back to Ridgely on one and Mark and I headed back in the car. What a fun day! It turned out that Mark took first place this task and I got second. Great for launching at 5pm.... and it was worth 67 points for me... still 4 behind Jamie!!!!
So, about my glider... I think I have never really liked this one as much as the old one. I also think it has always been trimmed this way. I also think that now I am going to LOVE my glider now and maybe, just maybe, I will be able to launch and land it without scaring the shit out of everyone... .MAYBE!!!

2008-06-04T07:35:00.005-04:00

ECC Day 3 (Tuesday June 3)

No flying today- too windy cross to the runway. Jonny and Dustin were the only ones smart enough to not set up...

I will try to get some relevant and not-so relevant pics up..... We went to the local swimming hole and watched "Stupid Human Tricks" for a while. I talked Mary Spier into swimming across to the "sunny side" of the river with me, only to have a rather large snake slither out of the water next to us there and freak us all out when it tried to rub the glob of watery moss off it's head in an irritated dance.... A few pilots were contemplating jumping off the 30ft railway bridge, even after a few guys had good hard smacks on the water's surface... I yelled to them to get the sand out of their pussies and a few of them actually jumped, thinking that if me and Mary made it down there that way, surely they could... Soon the rope swing caught everyone's attention and people in canoes came by in a steady stream to laugh at our stupidity. I went up to the railway bridge and of course my own dog is smart enough not to try to cross it. Some ties are missing and the gaps are pretty wide. I froze more than once while trying to get out to the jump-off part. I was just making my way back to safety when I hear Mandy Brown yelling at Dana - reminding her that she's supposed to be "the good daughter"... I watched as my 20yr old leapt off the tracks to the snake infested waters below... well there goes my driver for the rest of the meet!!!! But no, she entered the water perfectly and swam to the shore, unfazed by the experience. We left the poison ivy/tick ridden swimming hole and got dinner. Later the rain came but we actually stayed pretty dry last night. I kept imagining ticks on me, even as I tried to sleep. My boss was spending the evening in the ER in Rochester with my other daughter, who was having a chest-cold induced asthma attack. This morning at 5am they finally got home. So, excitement to be had by everyone, everywhere!

Here is a picture of my injury, however. Since this blog is really all about me... I'm sure it will elicit all sorts of sympathy. Thanks to Jamie for providing the lovely band-aid...

2008-06-02T22:13:00.007-04:00

Day 2 ECC Monday June 2nd

Since I'm flying pretty poorly, I'll have to entertain my readers more with tales of what we do when we aren't flying....

First off there was the Lake Highland (a temporary phenomenon) after the storms on Saturday... and Meesha enjoying it...

Then today, the wait on the launch line was maddening when conditions started to look good. Dana, a most extraordinary driver, was busy taking some of these shots.

I finally got off the ground, and since it was a right turn day, I felt like my glider was wrapping some in the light thermals and I was having a tough time climbing. I kept cutting inside of Jamie and after most likely pissing her off for a while, I just hung back to get a grip and mentally re-center. The big gaggle left me behind and I was climbing weakly near the start. Pretty soon I wasn't climbing at all, so I began a glide towards the others. I got so low I thought I might start-circle (and I guess only Davis gets to break down, drive back, set back up, and relight when he bombs out) so I got into desperation mode at 900' agl and held onto some 50fpm up for a while. This would prove to be the half hour or better that would put me behind everyone else, and keep me alone and in a much more conservative mode than was necessary for the day. Fly and learn.... But this thing finally turned on and I got pretty high when Campbell joined me (and climbed right through me!) but I was staying higher and finding good climbs til the goal. Campbell and I took different paths but pretty much everyone was in goal when I got there. I had a slower than ideal landing but held the nose out of the grass...

Dana came and got us all and we saw this on the way back to Ridgely.

PK begged us to stop...

We thought we knew how to do crabs...

PK had us all beat...

Maybe that will hurt his sink rate tomorrow. He's been kicking some ass!!

2008-06-02T07:25:00.003-04:00

ECC Day 1 (Sunday June 1)

No one was launching 15 minutes after the window opened. Sonny said everyone was waiting for me to launch, so I did. I got a smooth tow and waved off into nothing. Yuck. So I pulled the string and headed under some clouds and got a little something. The cloud looked nice so I knew it would get good- but it didn't. The whole time I was in the air I thought for sure I would hit something I could get a full lifting turn in. Never happened. So the patience game begins! I waffled along and left the range of the field. A few rigids joined me and I was in contact with Dan Spier who was nearby. There was someone else keyed up on our frequency so I had to kill my radio a lot, but sometimes I got some useful info: like no one was climbing very well. The wind was reading 18-24mph and almost 90 cross. I kept pushing upwind and finally just pushed too hard. I wound up below 1000' and it was just impossible to get up in the broken lift. I landed in a corn field (the corn here is just s few inches high) and Dana came by the time I was almost finished packing up. It takes me a little longer with my back but at least I dont feel it much in the air. I watched as Lauren drifted on by, and a little later an entire army of gliders climbed out over my head. ARGH!!! So I think I left a little early, got a little impatient with the lift, and didn't saty with other gliders. Never during my flight did I get over 3100' and I heard others didn't get much higher than 4K. The day didn't score fully, so not too much damage was done. But I need to get my back loosened up some more and fly my ass off today. Christy and Rich, Dan and Mary, and Bob and Dana joined us for a really nice dinner last night. There actually IS a good restaraunt in Greensboro..... I am off in search of scrapple this morning...

2008-06-01T10:51:00.002-04:00

So we're at the ECC- first day here it rained like crazy- hail and electricity. Our tent got SOAKED... I am in a hurry to get to the launch line, and moving stiffly. The first thing I did Saturday after getting the tent set up (just in time for the storm to hit it) was pull out my lower back. I spent the afternoon doped up on my last Flexaril and tons of Ibuprofen. So this morning things are a little looser so I will attempt to fly. But damn.... what timing. Later I will try to get some pics up. Meesha is having a blast!

2008-05-29T09:37:00.003-04:00

Hammondsport, Wednesday May 28th
I left work to tend to my ailing daughter, only to find the little shit was really just playing hooky. So I played hooky myself!!! I arrived at H-port to find Bob in the LZ at around 3:30. When we went up top, we were staring down the mouth of the windsock! For a while it just swirled around, no real direction- what happened to the strong N- NNW wind that was forecasted??? After one cycle wafted in a little straight, I decided to trust that the conditions would magically match the forecast and set up my shiny crispy glider. I was glad that I double checked my VG - it had taken a wrap around the cross bar- something that I have experienced a few times and don't really want to re-visit in-air.
I launched first, using a superstitious slant on this day- usually I let someone else go first- consequently I haven't had too many great flights this year.... I scratched a little after my somewhat weak launch, got up some, then told Bob to go whenever since I felt like it was solid. He joined me and proceeded to kick my ass a bit, then I thought I'd be crafty and find a boomer out in the valley- but all I found was sink and I was back to scratching below launch. I thought that I'd be at the church parking lot before long but suddenly things got better. We were boating around at 600-900' over, very comfortably, and I was thinking the only thing I could ask for in addition to this very sweet easy air was like another 1000' so I could wander around more. Well, ask and you shall receive... because pretty soon the two of us were climbing really well over the tower on top and before long I was at 2K over and then Bob sort of lost it. Then I was 3K over and cold as hell... I watched him come way out over the forests searching in back and he looked so low, then I saw him squeak over the trees to land in the top field. Damn, there goes my thermal marker! If not for him I would have lost that one much sooner and maybe would have landed too. But now I had room and altitude to play and I pulled my string 3/4 on and raced back to the valley- I got to 54 mph before I hit some bumps and let the VG off. Okay, now I know that this glider has some range even at 3/4 or so. And I can still control it- all good! I meandered around the valley now, ran the ridge to the north, then visited the car dealership and the prison. It was so easy to go anywhere, everywhere. The hardest part was staying warm. That meant staying low and that was the hard thing to do! I thought it was a wonderwind but as Bob was packing up, I got to around 600' over- low by tonight's standards- but then found another thermal, intending to take it just high enough to top land, but it was such a nice one-handed ride up and at 7pm it was going up at 300fpm... I took it instead to 3300' over and ditched it only because I WAS FREEZING!!! I was getting anxious about landing- my arms and hands were numb and I haven't really landed this glider well lately. I went to the airport and saw that it was running straight out of the north down there. That would be easy, but a lonely break down since no one is ever there. Plus I might get yelled at since it would be obvious I was scoping it out from up high for a while. So I headed over to the church to decide and saw it was blowing straight NW, or across Rt 54. That meant that setting up along that driveway would be okay (no potato chip behind the church for me anymore). I finally found some air going down slowly and started turning in it to lose height. The wind just about totally died when I was on final, and I thought I was going to overshoot now and wind up in this tall rough patch of weeds- kind of a hump- not good. I slowed up instead, lost too much speed to get over it that I had nothing left to flare with. Whacked. Again. Yuck. But I was right next to Bob's truck, so where I landed was so much better than how I landed. My wrist hurt and I was worried while I tried to use my useless hands to unsuit that I had done some lasting damage. But after I thawed out, it was just a little bit tender and today it seems just fine. Right around the time I started packing up Bob came down to help and said that Gary Ward was up top, mowing. I had seen someone up there and assumed it was the landowner. Thanks, Gary... Got home by 9:30, sated some, FINALLY...
Flights: 1
Airtime: 1:56
Alt over launch: 3300'
Truly the sweetest air I've flown in this year!

2008-05-15T20:27:00.005-04:00

When I returned home from flying Hammondsport today, my dog greeted me- not with her usual unquestioning jubilence- but by glumly raising her head for half a second and giving her tail half a thump, before returning to her sprawled out position on the living room floor. I know she saw the gliders on the car when I left this morning, and I've been telling her it's a special spring time deer hunting season... but she's no longer buying it. I found THIS on my pillow addressed to the RAF....

And H-port was truly ON today. Right off launch a sweet climb to 3K over and later a little higher in the valley. I flew for just under an hour and thermalled right over the south end of the lake- very cool flying over water! It suddenly got really rough, so I left the lake, but only to find even trashier air wherever I went. It was NE up high, NW just over the ridge, and W on the ground some places and N on the ground in other places. Strange... I decided to land and gave myself the big airport in which to do so. One of the airport owner's employees came over and was really welcoming- I have heard his boss can be okay, and then not okay about us landing there so I didn't know which greeting I would get- but it was all okay. I got home by 5:30....

Flights: 1

Airtime: 56 min

Alt2: 3330'

XC miles: 0 (but not a ridge monkey!)

2008-05-12T15:33:00.006-04:00

Saturday, May 10th 2008

The forecast was perfect for Hammondsport (NNW) and although we got a conflicting report from Doug Stoner that it was blowing in at the Cliffs (NE), we stayed on track. Once set up at H-port, Mark launched and reported a pretty good cross. Twice he got low and I unsuited to go get him. But he had a nice save by the pond and was getting up again, so I went back to launch and waited until I got a straight cycle. I never really got one, but I picked something that at least wasn't blowing DOWN, and launched. I don't think I have ever had that short a flight at Hammondsport before. I headed toward the airport, mainly looking for a fat thermal tracking straight down the valley. All I got was rotor off the mountain: it was blowing the east side of the treetops that I flew low over on my way to try to make a field... I barely made it to the bovines. They sort of stampeded and then immediately marched in my direction once I touched down. They were very very bold and I was a little concerned about them licking my new sail or stepping on a batten. But after a few confident moves in my direction, they just as quickly dispersed to the woods out of my view. Later I found out that the farmer's son had thrown some hay out to keep them out of my hair while I packed up. It worked. So Matt came down and helped me get packed up and told me Mark was on his way to Harris. So we decided to fly the Cliffs and Bob R packed up on launch to join us.

At the Cliffs it was really honking. Dan was the only one in the air and I set up. No one else went and I waited a long time to launch. I've never flown the Cliffs in a lot of wind before (or if I have, my self-preservation mode has erased my memory of it) and I was a little freaked out by the intensity. Consequently, Mark, who I had picked up at the Harris LZ, got a lot of pictures of me just standing on launch... When I finally did launch, the glider got way ahead of me, like a ramp-sucky sort of thing, and the pictures show me fully stretched, reaching to stay with it, feet off the ground like I am falling on my face, then the next frame I have caught up and am running again. The time spent on launch should have clued me in to such an event. It felt funny and not loaded most of the times I picked up the glider. Even walking down the launch some didn't prevent this. When I left the slot, I got hit with that Cliffs "wall of air" and almost lost control once again, but I straightened out and just stayed AWAY from the ridge. A big bald eagle joined me and we climbed to about 1000' over in a lot of wind (16mph, too much for the Cliffs, I think). I hung around for a little while, and was going to try to wait out the wind, but after 20 minutes I was feeling like the fun factor was lacking so I went to the Harris LZ to land. Everything was going up over there and I got a chance to fly with a bald eagle again (same one?) and park the glider right over the state troopers who were doing a road check on Rte 352. So my landing was less than stellar, I landed in a cross, strong wind, and my back was screaming from over use. Mark and I got his new glider from Jack and met Doug and Dan for dinner. I dont know if anyone else ever launched after we left...

Flights: 2

Airtime: 4 minutes and 25 minutes

XC miles: 0

Alt2: 0 and 998'

Not a stellar day for me!!!!

2008-05-09T10:15:00.006-04:00

I added up miles and hours for Santa Cruz... 243 miles, and 19 hours. Not bad for a week's work!
We had a really fun flight (although shorter than I would have liked!) at Bristol on May 5th. I got to try out my new sail (crispy!) and my freshly washed harness (no more Arizona dust) and 50% of my gear was great! Right after stepping off into a BIG ONE, I started climbing immediately and when I felt comfortable enough to take a hand off the control bar, I tried to zip up. No go. Not a budge. For the entire climb, almost 2K, I dicked around trying to get zipped up. I figured I would be in the air a while and I wanted to be nice and comfy while I played with my mostly new glider. I have no idea where Bob was except he was above me somewhere so I hoped he was paying attention while I focused all my energy on getting zipped. When I finally found that it wasnt the zipper, but a knot in the pull on the wrong side of the eyelet, I reached inside the harness and got it mostly up with the string. Okay so 15 minutes have passed and I see that I am not climbing very well anymore, so I look around for Bob. Well he is way out on the valley and lower so I go searching for something like what I had just had. NOthing doing, not a scrap of lift and we both searched the whole valley. I whacked in a landing (!) and Bob was right behind. We watched as we packed up and saw Karl have the shortest PG flight in history, and then when Mark launched for his second flight (first one was a doozy in a strong N cross) we figured he would be joining us soon. But no, Mark stepped into something and spent almost an hour taunting us. When I realized the keys to all the cars were in the cars on top, while Mark's car (with no keys) was in the LZ, I started looking at the ski resort for a ride up to no avail. Bob called his partner Tom and he gave us a lift to the top- thank God!

So at least I got to try my glider a little bit, even though I was distracted by the strong air and the zipper pull. And any day out flying is better than hanging out at work...
Oh and that's just a picture of my neighbor's house. Rochester is blooming right now...

Alt2: 2100'

Airtime: ? 20 min??

2008-04-30T10:11:00.005-04:00

I have been refelecting for a few days about the Santa Cruz Flats Race and wanted to add a few things that I missed while blogging during the meet. Plus I wanted to put up this ridiculous picture of Lauren...

First of all, the generosity of the people, local pilots and staff at the hotel, was a really wonderful surprise. They bought T-shirts like crazy and treated us all like they were glad we were there. There were nights when the wait staff was seriously over worked, but they did the best they could and let us pitch in without getting upset. I had a waitress every morning who saw to it that my coffee cup was never empty or even luke warm and she made sure I had an outlet for my computer right away. Like I said, they treated us all like they were glad we were there- that is absent so often in many service-oriented businesses these days.

Internet access was expensive, however, and next year the hotel promises to have a different arrangement. They are also willing to work with the tow field- maybe grow grass or find another solution to the dust we were pulling through. I wonder how I would have gotten along without a visor on my helmet, or if I had been wearing contacts like last year??? Even though I heard and read a lot about the dust, I don't think it was a deterrant at all, just something different than what us east coast pilots are used to. I was so very glad to have my sail swapped out at the end of the meet, instead of the practice day, however. I would have stressed out about the wear and tear, and had a hell of a time folding a stiff new wing up out in the desert somewhere. The dirt and UV in Arizona are pretty harsh, no doubt.

I liked the way the days went- up before dawn (on east coast time) and the sun comes up EARLY there- coffee and blogging/internet at 6:30- set up and run glider out to field at 8:30-breakfast and pilot's meeting at 10:00- chill and snack at the pool til 11:30- get gear on and get towed at 12:30 or so- fly til 5pm.... I could get used to that!

The flying was pretty good, not as high consistantly as last year, but still good. I was getting from 4400' to 9000' agl, more of the 4400' days though. My tows and landings were all very good. My retrieves, with the exception of one late night, were great. Mike McFadden was awesome and capable and very helpful.

Okay so for my mental attitude... I had a great start. I was dialed in and even dealing with a horrible turn in the glider, I still stayed in the front of the pack as far as scores. The 4th day was a turning point for the worse. I was racing along and even though I had thought the day would be shitty, it was getting booming good. So I cranked it up and pulled the string a lot. And so suddenly my flight was over after a very long glide straight to the ground. I dug deep to find a reason, a lesson, something to take home with me, and I could find none. There were no second chances on this flight- I was at 8K then I was on the ground. Bad line? There didn't seem to be a good one since Mark sampled an adjacent line and found nothing as well. But then Lauren had better luck way far to the west, which later led me to believe that the terrain near Picacho Peak was a sink hole. But two days before it was completely the opposite in a similar wind direction... hmmm. More than a day later I decided that it was timing, bad timing. The earth was breathing in instead of exhaling at that time.....Best glide would have been a better choice than balls-to-the-wall, and I needed to be more cautious even though racing had been working for me. Different day, different strategy...

The next day was called due to high wind (and lack of pilot motivation, I think). I was raring to go, but even though they may have been able to launch us safely, landing in the high winds, like the day before, out in the middle of God-knows-where, is always an issue. So a better forecast was in store for Friday, but after towing up, I saw 25mph (and heard 22mph from Chris) on my vario. The relight took a lot out of me and I really blew it that day. Again, I raced when I should have slowed up and thought things through a little better. I did have an opportunity to excercise my tenacity that day, with a long struggle from 300-800' off the ground... I still have it in me!!!

So the last day, the BBQ task downwind... well I finally slowed up and played it cautious! On the WRONG DAY! I knew it was good, and I was getting high and the thermals were regular and close together. The problem was that we would be passing right by Picacho Peak again... I was going to get past that place without getting my ass handed to me or winding up in the dirt this time! Consequently I was like 34th into goal..... ah well, at least I made it. I do regret not just sticking original plan (before the meet even started) of just going balls to the wall no matter what.

So... what will I do different next meet? Well for one, I will fly with a team. No more of this "on my own" thing. I will find a few people who fly like I wish I could, and get on the same frequency as them, and team fly. This will be something pretty new and different for me. I did experience it some at the Women's Worlds, and it was very helpful. I have a reliable radio, with a good 'shut the f*ck up' switch and I always wire it up, so why not make use of it?

Also, I will do more to see what the forecast is for myself. I know Davis is good at weather, but so am I and I need to be a little more pro-active for myself there. Top of lift and wind direction/speed... very important when planning the flight. And important for just taking ownership of the task, in a way. During this meet I just launched and followed the arrow and wind sock indicator. I will look at Google Earth and other maps for terrain too.

Follow the good pilots. Stay with them in the start circle, go when they go. Improve my glide, clean up drag on my harness and glider, get my head down, pull the string as much as I can without losing control of the glider, get my elbows in, go fast, don't stop for crap unless its all there is.

Stay positive, start each day anew, don't let other people erode your confidence, psych you out, or sap your energy. Rest, eat healthy. What am I forgetting?

Anyhow, it was so good to see all of my friends again, and better still to know that I will see them all again in a few short weeks. It had been 10 months since my last comp and I am glad for the frequency and spacing of these two. I'll be posting pics of my new wing once I get it back but here is one for now...

2008-04-27T11:40:00.002-04:00

Day 6 Task 5 Santa Cruz Flats Race

Corey towed me to a strong themal after a really long wait on the ground, relights and reflights kept the line from moving AT ALL. Finally in the air, I saw 25mph on my windspeed indicator and knew the day would be tougher than we thought. The first leg of our figure 8 task was into the wind, and the wind was a big issue now. I got low on the other side of the golf course, and desperate for a climb, I worked down to 600' and couldn't get back up before being blown out of range. I was swearing and spitting and praying. I thought I was toast and I did a stupid low glide just over the tops of the trees in the golf course to go relight. I was trying to figure out what green was wide enough to land on, but the trees were so tall... I slipped in barely touching the edge of the trees to get back in to re-tow.. . I was exhausted all ready after my half hour flight and Jim Prahl towed me back up high nearer to courseline. I yo-yo'ed for a while, and ever time I thought I had made some progress in a climb, I would see the resort right there behind me. There seemed now to be no getting away from it. I cought up with who I thought was Mark but since his radio wasn't working again, I wasn't sure. There are a lot of red white and blue T2s. After flying with this one for a while I decided to leave since I was trying to go fast and he was only turning left. I saw a gaggle ahead but they left when I got to the airport they were over, and I got no climb. At 500', I saw a dusty and by the time I got to it, I realized it was taller than I was high... I grabbed hold of it and saw my vario- 278' agl... climbing... I had 700', 850', then 900'.. then no lift. This thing was drifting and broken and I chased it across 3 fields at 400' now... turning, turning, turning... finally landing. I was only 7 miles away from the resort after 90 minutes of struggling!!! Mark Dowsett and Bruce Busby witnessed this excercise in futility (well, they recognized it as futile long before I did!). My mantra was, "flight ain't over until my feet are actually ON the ground" again. Mike retrieved me really fast and I was all showered and clean by the time Mark called after landing. What a frustrating flying day for me. I knew I had to make a big mental shift to stay positive about my performance here this year. I had made a change in my usual flying style and was leaving crap sooner and pulling in the bar more than I was used to. But it was paying off only some of the time. The real lesson to learn will be when to fly like a bat out of hell, and when to go into turtle mode.
Flight time: (2), 30 minutes and 1:30
Alt2: 4000?
XC miles: 7.3

2008-04-27T11:28:00.004-04:00

Day 7 Task 6 Santa Cruz Flats Race

BBQ task- downwind 49 miles. There was a death gaggle at the start, no one seemed to be climbing at all (they weren't) but after the long long line I waited in the day before, I wanted to be up in the air. I got a great tow behind Corey in the trike ( I don't know why some people have such a hard time behind trikes- it must be a psychological thing) and he dumped me on top of the gaggle. These guys were barely climbing and so close together. I tried to spread out and find a little pop here and there, but when I did, it would get so crowded. One guy even reversed his turns, forcing me out and then I had to follow suit til I caught back up to the rest of the gaggle. Time to go and leave this mess. We started getting a little higher and then it got pretty good. I glided past the first mountain to the SE and had Greg Dinauer along with me, then a few of us got stupid low and had to hang onto a dusty until we got back up. Then the stragglers caught up and we all got high. The rest of the race was easy, big strong coherent lift to over 6000'. I was determined today to play it safe- the last two days I pushed, I dirted early. So after flying with a big gaggle of vultures and Sonny Veneski, I got to goal with over 1000' and it was blowing pretty good there. Lots of gliders on the ground, I was 33rd in!!! Ah well, at least everyone was smiling, and Jonny and Kraig ran over and grabbed my glider and began taking the sail off... I will post pics later of the new one. It is very sweet but today I won't be flying it today. It was blown out since 7am...

This is Campbell Bowen supervising the sail swap...

2008-04-25T11:00:00.002-04:00

Santa Cruz Flats Race Day 5 Cancelled
The wind was forecast for less than Day 4, it was blowing less than day 4... but the day got called due to high wind, low ceiling. Campbell Bowen reported some big alt gains later as the rigids completed a task. Oh well...
So we went to the Casa Grande Ruins, which are not really in Casa Grande, but around 20 miles away. We saw all the places on the ground that we see from the air on task- the highlights of which include dirt mounds, prisons, and feed lots. I gave Mark my camera so at least some of the vacation pics would be a surprise to me.. He decided to take a picture that would end any of the controversy over a suspicious picture posted on the internet a while back... but for some reason right now I cant upload pictures... More later...
Today will be an awesome day to fly: light wind, high 'base'....

2008-04-24T10:28:00.002-04:00

Santa Cruz Flats Race Day 4 Task 4
Windy windy windy! But great lift, so if you could get towed into or near something, you could get up, and get up high. And we did, in 1000fpm lift, to over 12K (for some, not me). I was racing hard, sitting pretty way up wind of course line, getting over 8K, and thinking, "this is gonna be easy"... Lauren was nearby and she was staying upwind too, Mark was right on courseline, and PK was pretty far up ahead (he launched well before we did). When the first TP was 10 miles almost directly down wind, I went on a glide over Picacho and refused to stop for some of the 200fpm stuff I hit along the way until I got to 4K. Then I started hunting and found NOTHING!!! Down to 2K, nothing... then I see a small gaggle on the TP and I don't know if I can make it. I tuck in and try to get small and I am totally focused on them. Then I look down, and I see have around 200ft of altitude!! I am over a nice field and I get a pop so I start turning. I get two 360's in and next thing I know I am on the ground- fully zipped in and still trying to get up!!!! It was HOWLING in this field, and it took me a very long time to secure my glider (carry it backwards 200 yards behind a trailer) and go back to get my stuff that was blown all over the place. Mark went overhead low, and landed in the next field. What I would like to know is WHERE DID ALL THAT LIFT GO???? Mark took a completely different path, that ended up at my same point, but his 10-15 mile glide from 9K found him no lift either. Lauren took a path more westerly than mine, and stopped for some weak lift, so she squeezed out some extra miles. When Mike picked us up, we went to goal to get the others and went through Saguaro National park. Very cool cacti. Lots of different kinds... jeez, I wish I had a picture to post...
Airtime: 1:58
Alt2: 8000?
XC miles: 32

2008-04-23T10:23:00.002-04:00

Day 3 Task 3 Santa Cruz Flats Race
I'm getting tired and whiny but I will arrange to rectify that in a little bit with a swim and some introspection.... Yesterday the forecast was for an even better day, but again, it didn't live up to expectation. I got dropped off the trike (not Laura's) at 1200' way too far away from the field to make it back, and not in any measurable lift. I guess since I was under a huge gaggle, the assumption was that I would get up.... well after a little glide, I did find enough to sustain flight. But I couldn't get very high. Frustrated, I left the safety of the hotel with 3000'. Big mistake!!! I grovelled over Casa Grande with 700' to spare, cursing, until I got a beep and it turned into something fairly decent. I never got very high all the way across town, but then a few of us busted through the inversion near the mountains to the north and got high and stayed high til the first TP. I even got a nice climb just before it that drifted me into the "happy sound". After that, it wasn't so good. The huge swamp on courseline was a big barrier, and the smart guys went to the left, I went right. I saw lots of gliders on the ground, and soon after I climbed out of a hole with like 50 vultures, I watched Mark land. I made my way past the prison, between 2 and 3000 feet, and then just went on a slow steady glide to land 4 miles short of the second TP. I knew it wasn't all that great for the day, but it was what it was and some really nice train conductor who sat in his train and watched me land came over and brought me water. I got back to the hotel when it was still light out so that was good, but I got a chance to see all the pilots who made it further on course and then to goal. I wondered if I lost my priority staging... 10th place was nice while it lasted!!!
My sister had a great story about how she took the power out at the whole resort by running the tow line of the trike across the power lines. Then she heard that the whole town of Casa Grande was in the dark.... but it turned out that coincidentally the middle school had an unrelated power failure... Pretty funny.
Now for that swim and meditation.
Airtime: 3:45
ALT2: 5600'
XC miles: I dont know

2008-04-22T10:08:00.002-04:00

Task 2 Day 2 Santa Cruz Flats Race
So I think I still have no score at all, but that should be rectified. The task turned out to be an over-call, but fun flying nonetheless. The tow was one of the roughest I have ever endured, and immediately off tow I regretted not having tuned out that slight left turn that was now a HARD left turn in my glider. Left was the direction of the start circle turns, and I just couldn't stay in the crazy-ass lift with weird feedback from my glider. I left and found a piece of lift that I could turn right in (= no other gliders) but as soon as it became a good climb, I'd have friends that wanted to turn left..... This pattern was repeated thoughout my flight... ah well...
So the beginning of the flight found me west of Casa Grande at the start, and I got into a thermal that smelled like food. Before I had launched I realized my stomach was grumbling (forgot to eat lunch), and so I thought this thermal might be a manifestationm of my hunger. At the west side of Casa Grande, I got into a "feed lot" thermal, and that took care of any appetite I might have. This time Rob Clarkson joined me, and instead of trying to kill me like he was near the start, he got into the climb with me and went to the moon. It was a screamer of a climb and he just put so much separation between us I was amazed. Every time I reported about him last year, it was always followed by, "he was really really low". Well now, as he punched through the inversion, I struggled to stay in the climb. The first TP was easy enough, and then it got really bad heading south. Grovelling at 1000', I stayed there for more than an hour, between 1 and 2k. The left hand turners were all with me..... oh boy! I felt like a bowling ball blasting through a set of pins!!!! I'm sure none of them appreciated my scary thermalling, especially down low... One by one they either left or landed and I continued my slow drift towards Rte 10 and the big pass between the mountains (Picachu and something else). No where to land for a little while, all desert scrub, so I hung on to whatever I could find, and then it got really really good. All the way through the pass I had the best climbs of the day. 600fpm to 900fpm solid. Mark was just behind and just getting to the good part, and at one point, I had 3 vultures climbing all around me, the sun was shining on the west face of these majestic jutting rocks, as I climbed up through the pass. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen and I was so thankful that I had hung on through the shit to get to this point. Really, I thought, who ever gets to have these moments? We are so blessed. I didn't have too long to revel in the beauty because I very suddenly got my ass handed to me in a thousand different ways. The turbulence made me conscious of where my 'chute handle was and I reported back to Mark once I was sure I was through it, that I would rather eat my own feces than have to go through that pass on the way to the 3rd TP...
So after tagging the second TP, I chose to go left around Picachu, and saw that I had an 18mph reading on my wind indicator. I pushed up wind as long as I could, over totally unlandable (or just unreachable) area and finally gave up the ghost just at the edge of a somewhat clear piece of desert. I saw a couple of gliders had landed just ahead and saw too that they already had a vehicle to retrieve. It took me some time to pack up and walk to the nearest farm. The mosquitoes ( in Arizona???) were ferocious; they made the Quest mosquitoes look like amatuers...
Anyhow, I was retrieved after dark, like 3 hours later... I was sooooo hungry... but I found out that no one made goal, or even the 3rd TP... so once I find Jamie and get pinned in, I think I will be in a good position. I have to go now, find Kraig or Jonny, and get that turn tuned out. The forecast is : sunny....
Airtime: 4:18
Alt2: ? 5K maybe???
XC miles: I dont know yet...