Dan DeLeo launched first in variable winds and was soon on his way. I was up next. A fellow pilot held the drogue chute on the tow line to prevent it tangling under my feet. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he insisted on helping. Ok, no big deal. I waited for the wind to blow in a reasonable direction as I stood ready to do a reverse launch. After a few minutes pulled up my wing. The glider shifted to my right (east) and I was getting ready to take a couple steps to get back under it when Neil started pulling. I was pulled around before I was able to shift so the wing continued arcing to the east while I was pulled north. I was prematurely airborne with the wing going the wrong direction and not really flying. Essentially a low lockout. I followed the same arc as the glider about 1.5 meters above the ground. I landed on my side on the road and was briefly dragged on the asphalt before Neil dumped tension and I released.
(Later Neil and I talked about what happened. Neil saw the wing come up, but couldn't see me because the other "helpful" pilot blocked his view. He saw the wing come up, thought he saw me turning and doing a running reverse, so started rolling. His quick glance away was all the time I needed to swing onto the road and when he saw the carnage behind he quickly dumped pressure. The biggest thing I learned was to not allow anyone to get between me and the driver. I will politely insist no one hold the drogue chute (line) for me. If faced with the same situation again, I might also wait for a lull and do a forward launch; if the winds are more variable in velocity than in direction.)
Gus, and a parade of other pilots launched while I reviewed the damage. My flight computer, new GoPro 7 camera, iPhone, harness, and my clothing were badly damaged. The glider seemed untouched and I got away with just a couple fabric burns. The camera isn't necessary and the flight computer and iPhone still worked in spite of their looks. My clothing looked like I was just dragged down the road. ;-) Three layers on my shoulder were wore away with frayed edges flapping in the breeze. Good enough for me. The harness however, was another story. The pod was torn in multiple spots and the equipment pouch that holds my instruments and phone was ripped to shreds. George came to my rescue with a roll of color coordinated (black) duct tape. Duct-tape engineering ensued and, as we say in aviation, "it will probably work".
I composed myself, double-checked the conditions and my wing, and decided to give it another go. However, it was now at least an hour later and my chances of getting to Wallaby were becoming more of a dream than a goal.
I had an uneventful tow with Neil, quickly found a climb, and was on my way. Rob and I bounced around base as we approached the area we call the "triangle of doom" due to its lack of retrieval roads. Rob turned back as I ventured north.
I was 2/3 of the way across when Tom and another pilot approached from the south. They found a climb and I backtracked to get some of that goodness. Around here the duct tape started coming loose and I had to put up with constant flapping for the rest of the day. The three of us roughly flew together until we approached Lake Placid. My timing was off and entered the Lake Placid area as the clouds had overdeveloped and shaded the ground. My wingmen were a bit higher and sneaked away leaving me to grovel for far too long until the area heated up again.
The trip to Sebring was quick, but once again, I was greeted with dying clouds and shaded ground. David Prentice was holding an SIV clinic on the big lake in town and I could hear them on the radio and see them over the water. I considered landing at their LZ, but just couldn't give up on the long convergence line forming just north of town. I had to get up.
I pushed upwind of the lake and found a climb that got me across the lake but left me in the lake shadow downwind of the lake. I had an LZ picked out but found an area of weak lift that slowly got me high enough to move on. I was thrilled to fly past the airport at Avon Park where I landed many times when flying hang gliders south from the Orlando area.
I was finally cruising the convergence line just as the day was dying. The climbs got weak and buttery, the clouds dissipated, and my hopes of reaching goal were extinguished. However, it was still nice flying and I used about 700m of altitude to play around in the smooth evening air before landing at the intersection of Route 27 and Route 98 in Frostproof at 6:40pm.
Gus, touching down at roughly the same time as me, landed in Clermont after flying past Wallaby Ranch for 200km! I got several texts asking if I was the paragliding flying past Wallaby. Alas, I was not. Dan, who was beating himself up over his recent flights, set a new personal best 100+ km flight that was at least 4 times greater than his previous best. Way to "knock it out of the park"! Tom landed in his friends back yard in Lake Wales. Indeed, a good day.
Audry and a load of happy pilots picked me up on their way back to Sebring, where we shared dinner and drinks with David's SIV students before heading back to NeverLand.
Although I didn't get to make the flight I was hoping, I was lucky that only equipment and not flesh was damaged and I was still able to enjoy a good day in the air (and in the SUV on the way back) with friends. Next time. ;-)
Details available on Leonardo.
Flights: 2, Duration: 5:03, Distance: 119km
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