By cleanpants:
There I was- resting in the morning hours of the day on a soft tuft of grass and enjoying the warm rays coming from the sun. The previous day, I had, with Helmet Girl and Cookie Girl, a couple of sled rides from the ramp at Dunlap. Both were uneventful flights with good landings. Now, I was falling in and out of sleep. Listening to the soft sounds of nature all around me. Completely content, I watched as sunbeams dance on...
There I was- resting in the morning hours of the day on a soft tuft of grass and enjoying the warm rays coming from the sun. The previous day, I had, with Helmet Girl and Cookie Girl, a couple of sled rides from the ramp at Dunlap. Both were uneventful flights with good landings. Now, I was falling in and out of sleep. Listening to the soft sounds of nature all around me. Completely content, I watched as sunbeams dance on...
HONK HONK
I think I lost my hat when the glider truck honked at me to get up. With Ryan's help, I was up at launch in no time. Helmet Girl got off first and had a nice launch. I launched about 10 minutes later. Ryan coached me until I was inline with the LZ, coaching me over my new PTT system and helping me to hook a thermal. Anyway, knowing Helmet Girl was still in the air, I looked around, but couldn't find her. I decided to cross the gap and get to the ridge behind last chance. Then- I saw her; about 500 feet ahead of me and about 50 feet down! She had made much better use of the lift than I had, so if I had continued straight, I may have come up to her at her level or below! I decided to do passes higher up on the ridge while she 360'ed above Last Chance. She couldn't stay up over there and soon landed. I, on the other hand, managed to maintain for a little bit. And then, I started to go up!
Doing passes on the ridge, I managed to creep up to launch height (4 times according to Cookie Girl). Once I realized that I could stay up, I started venturing out a little bit and I started making a mental map of the lift along the ridge (medium lift above those rocks...stronger lift above that knob...on and off lift above the house...strong thermal just off the ridge...etc.). After a while, my arms became very tired, and I was confronted by a terrible dilemma. Only recently, I had horribly overshot the spot because my arms were so tired, I couldn't dive. But with the site turning on, I knew that the LZ was going to be ripping thermals left and right with the newly cut grass. So...do I land now into a bumpy LZ while I'm only a little bit tired or wait until things calm down and land while I'm alot tired? I decided to keep flying...I realized that I'm more prone now and that I'm using slightly different muscles flying versus landing.
Anyway, I kept exploring around the ridge, but I played around too much. I eventually got below the ridge. I tried to get back up unsuccessfully, so I went to the LZ. Like I thought, there were fairly strong thermals above the LZ and I managed to maintain for a while. Eventually, I got low enough that I started my box approach, but I lost alot of altitude turning into final. Now, instead of worrying about overshooting, I was worried about making the LZ at all! I would have been fine, except for a solitary tree in the middle of the strip! I maintained best glide until I was past the tree (missing it by 10-20 feet!) at which point I started to dive. I didn't get much speed from diving...but I managed to keep my wings level. Once I was a couple of feet above the ground, I tried to round out, but my glider kept going down. The wheels caught the ground (but they didn't turn), and I wacked. Helmet Girl came and helped me carry my glider...but I forgot to go on the radio and tell everyone I was okay! I caused needless worry. I won't make that combination of mistakes again!
By cookie girl (or camera girl nowadays?):
Dunlap Take Two was my Take One or Leave It :-o) First mountain experience, and as such a mixture of exciting, scary, unforgettable, nervous, happy, you name it. I only have one thing to say really, perpetrated by something I just read in the hang gliding magazine. A guy who learned to fly in college describes his first mountain experience. He's sitting at launch, doubting himself creatively "Was I really about to run off a mountain with a giant kite strapped to my back?" My thoughts were a lot simpler than that - "Really Gergana? Really?"
Location: Dunlap, launch altitude 4600 ft, LZ at 2000 ft
Weather: Light wind, lifty, sinky, rolling clouds
Log: cleanpants (3 flights); helmet girl (3 flights); cookie girl (2 sled rides, 1st mountain experience)
By cookie girl (or camera girl nowadays?):
Dunlap Take Two was my Take One or Leave It :-o) First mountain experience, and as such a mixture of exciting, scary, unforgettable, nervous, happy, you name it. I only have one thing to say really, perpetrated by something I just read in the hang gliding magazine. A guy who learned to fly in college describes his first mountain experience. He's sitting at launch, doubting himself creatively "Was I really about to run off a mountain with a giant kite strapped to my back?" My thoughts were a lot simpler than that - "Really Gergana? Really?"
Location: Dunlap, launch altitude 4600 ft, LZ at 2000 ft
Weather: Light wind, lifty, sinky, rolling clouds
Log: cleanpants (3 flights); helmet girl (3 flights); cookie girl (2 sled rides, 1st mountain experience)
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