WOW, what a day! Mother Nature threw us a curve ball with a fog situation that didn't lift till 11AM. Lots of "1st times", ie new glider, new harness, v-bridle, a 15 year break, had me so nervous I was prancing around the hanger like a three year hold who needed to go pee! After triple checking all the mechanical aspects and asking Willie 47 "what if" questions, we decided it was time to "git er dun". I looked at the clock and thought to myself, "An hour from now, we'll be laughing/celebrating or Willie will be trying to figure out how to hide my dead carcass from the authorities".
Willie and I were the only ones around, and I kept hoping SOMEBODY would show up. I would have slipped a homeless person a ten spot just to hang around and help spot the first launch.
As soon as I left the cart, I thought "How did the release trigger already?" There was minimal/nil bar pressure! I felt like I was free flying. I was having flashbacks to those days when ATing a Super Sport started with a 10 minute tricep press excercise.
I was pleasantly surprised at how the glider towed like it was on rails, no yawing or fighting to stay behind the trike. I honestly felt like I could have flown hands off, and did practice reaching for all my releases, zipper pulls, and parachute handle while still on tow. Cloud base was at 2500, and we actually flew around a cloud to avoid going thru it.
After hitting 3K, I decided I would release. I was so focused on my altimeter that I failed to notice we were a mile downwind of the field. Silly me! Still made it back with gobs of altitude, but note to self, don't do that next time.
After a 25 minute extended sled ride, I landed and told Willie, "Let's take a ten minute brake, critique, and we'll do it again". That's when it happened, something I haven't experienced in a long time: an adrenaline bonk. I felt mentally/physically drained. we laughed and giggled for a while and decided to call it a great day.
In summary, it was a great learning experience. I'm looking forward to being able to tow/fly with the big dogs now, and look forward to chasing you fellers to cloudbase.
08-01-2016, 06:23 PM
Tuesday: 8-2-16
Larry B 
Linear Mode
