I'm back!

Rob and PK were pushing hard to get me join them for the Wills Wing demo days at Wallaby Ranch but last weekend, but I resisted ... at least until Wednesday night at 10 PM when I finally purchased airline tickets and started tossing long-forgotten flying equipment into my new never-flown Matrix Race harness.  I surprised PK at the Manchester NH airport Thursday morning.  Meanwhile I was calling Rob on the phone trying to keep him alert as he drove 24 hours non-stop to Florida.  Once PK and I arrived in Orlando, I gave Rob a call and discovered he was just a few miles from the airport!  I told him that PK could use a ride and surprised him as well when he pulled in to pickup PK.

  Later that evening I suited up and had my first flight since I busted my arm last spring.  I hooked into a brand new Sport 2 and aside from the oscillation I introduced trying to fly the Sport 2 like a topless glider, the flight was totally uneventful.  YES!  I was once again a pilot!  I snagged another flight on a 170 Falcon 3 to prove it wasn't a fluke.  It felt very good to be flying again; despite what the doctors recommended.

 Wallaby was packed with old friends, new toys, and great weather.  I flew a 144 T2-C on Friday for an hour and had to core sink to land before my chariot turned into a pumpkin.  (Demo flights on the T2s were supposed to only last for an hour).  I flew another 144 T2-C on Saturday and got to put it through its paces.  Towing was a no-brainer, but I was only on tow for 1000 feet both days since I pinned off early in obvious lift.  The glider is well behaved and feels lighter than my Litespeed 4S.  (I would like to fly in rowdy air to see how solid it feels.)  I yanked the VG on, grabbed the inner grips on the awesome carbon base-bar, pulled the bar back, tucked my arms under the neoprene fairing on the harness, and zoomed across the sky.  Wills Wing should be thankful that I didn't pack that base-bar in my bag for the trip home; it is sweet!

Many pilots cruised across the countryside on Friday and Saturday; mostly closed courses that returned to the ranch for dinner and late night partying.  Speaking of partying, Rob had a quad delivered to the ranch and we all made sure it was properly "tested".  Needless to say, riding through the swamps at midnight in an overload quad was much rougher on my healing arm than any flight!  The formal program included Chris Wills showing vintage hang gliding video on Friday night and Wills Wing treating everyone to a great barbeque dinner and short program on Saturday night.  On Sunday morning Erin and Yuan (spelling?) drove PK and I away from our little paradise and dropped us off at the real-world airport for our trip back north.