Free Fall Flying

Click image for more picturesThree more training tandems for Rick
Another high flight for David
And solo flights all around

Mark took a rare midweek day off and joined Rick, Lee, and I for a drive up to Mt Prevost where we met Cal and Charlie in the LZ.

The day was sunny with crystal clear visibility and not a cloud in the sky so we weren't expecting much in the way of thermal activity. The wind was strong and crossing east on Main but it straightened out enough for Charlie to launch well and he didn't lose much altitude as he headed cairn-side in search of lift. With the strength and direction of wind it was surprising that he didn't find much dynamic lift to work with but that's how it goes sometimes.

Mark was next on deck and he got a great launch window, maintaining if not gaining across the gap. He also didn't find much once he got to the east side of the cairn but worked what little lift there was and extended his flight to over 20mins. Way to go Mark!

Rick and Lee then set up for what would be Rick's 4th high tandem flight and Lee's first as a passenger-pilot. The wind started lightening at this point and turning south so, after a couple of safe aborts, we decided to give Middle a try.

Cal, meanwhile, had set up over there and, after one abort, he brought his glider up in reverse position nicely and then ran towards the mountain's edge. In our crazy sport of paragliding, it is important to not 'over correct' or 'over anticipate' and Cal got a bit ahead of himself at this point. Suffice it to say that once he got into the air he made it look a lot more textured than it actually was. Right Cal? :)

Click image for more picturesRick and Lee then launched and flew out into the smooth air together and I followed soon afterwards, giving Charlie's ol' Airwave KISS a test flight.

On the next round, David joined us in the hopes of getting another high flight. Launch conditions were established on Middle and Lee and then Mark flew solo, followed then by David who executed a solid forward launch for his second mountain flight. His wife and daughter joined me in the LZ and they got to see his entire flight, complete with a nice touchdown. Nice job David!

Rick and Cal were next on tandem and Charlie brought up the rear. High over the LZ, Rick was able to give Cal a hands-on pitch oscillation lesson which I'm sure he'll put to good use on his next solo flight.

Charlie took a short video of David's takeoff:

On the final round, Lee flew solo again while Rick took Mark for a tandem, both launches from Middle. It was getting late in the day now and the low lying sun set the fall leaves afire. Definite nature eye candy.

High above the LZ, Mark was game so Rick banked up the tandem, getting the nose down for some good G's. A definite contrast to Mark's typical Wednesday!

Looks like more sun is forecasted for the weekend so stay tuned...