Well thought i would share with you guys, had my second day of lessons on saturday and my first discovery of a weak and unorganized thermal. Was
towed up to about 375 ft which under calm conditions would have been about a 2 minute flight- descend rate is about 200 ft per minute; But was able to
turn it into a 4 1/2 minute flight by catching a weak thermal over a pile of haybales. Entering and exiting the thermal was pretty bumpy and a little
unnerving but once in it, i could actually feel the descent rate stop was able to enter and exit it several times. I was hooopin and holler it was so
much fun. Also did several carving turns after a tow that took me up about 550 ft, super intense feeling when i could see/feel the glider more to the
side of me than above me:wee: For anyone interested in paragliding, i have to say that it is not nearly as similiar to kiting as I expected, and would
relate it more to my whitewater paddling days except that the "wind river" is invisible. Instead of the wing pulling you along it is holding you up.
I am looking forward to the day i can jump off the mountain and catch a thermal to cloud base at 5-6k feet starting at 1500 ft.
Actualy did get a little more video with the gopro on my head during a short flight will post in the next couple of days.
scottherc - 20-8-2012 at 06:25 AM
Quote:
Also did several carving turns during a tow that took me up about 550 ft, super intense feeling when i could see/feel the glider more to the side of
me than above me
really during the tow? you did "carving turns" while connected to the towing rope ? thats highly dangerous ! do you know about the
"lockout effect" ? during tow, your goal is to fly straight towards the winch, and nothing else ! http://archive.org/details/AlexWParaglidingTowLockout
(luckily for the pilot in the video, the rope broke before he would have inevitably crashed into the ground due to lockout...)
otherwise, congrats to your first thermal ! thermalling is pure joy ! you need to buy yourself a variometer, asap! could happen that you get your
first 30 minutes flight quite soon in these hot summer days..flyguy0101 - 20-8-2012 at 06:30 AM
Herc,
That was after having disconnected from the towline- matter of fact my instructor is adamant about following the tow up or he will stop the tow
immediately.
Scottsnowspider - 20-8-2012 at 07:34 AM
As the boys from Wildwood have been known to say "close your eyes...you can feel it"
Very cool! Congats!herc - 20-8-2012 at 08:05 AM
ah ok! and sorry for me beeing a smart-aleck.
enjoy the flying as much as you can. its imho even better than kiting and you
never stop discovering new things.
last week i was soaring a cliff in denmark at the north-sea. cliff soaring is simply amazing ! so smooth air, and hours of flying... just a short
video fragment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg2A3Ub53Ds (but its hard to capture the joy of flying with a video.. almost not possible to describe the feeling
flying close to the terrain, hunting for the best updraft..)Flyfish - 20-8-2012 at 08:37 AM
Right on Scott!
That's insane start! Like snow spider said, no vario needed if you just feel it.
I'm kinda a minimalist, some people have rediculus amount of gadgets, but all I have is this little solar powered vario attached to my helmet. http://xtremebigair.com/Renschler-SOLARIO-Vario-P402.aspx
Keep it safe! Just remind yourself, it's a long way to fall.flyguy0101 - 20-8-2012 at 08:39 AM
Herc- not smart aleck at all- I appreciate any feedback since all of my learning is coming form the instructor and always like a "second opinion" from
other more experienced pilots
thanks
scottKober - 20-8-2012 at 08:23 PM
Scott ..... Bring a wing to Wildwood ... we will tow you with buggy .... lol .....
Congrats again .....Kamikuza - 20-8-2012 at 09:42 PM
Herc - the cameraman's whistling is really creepy herc - 20-8-2012 at 11:20 PM
its even worse in other videos ;-) if i ever manage to cut together my danmark flying video, there MUST be proper background music...
and you
never stop discovering new things.