Air Coming Straight Up Out of the Ground

As I feared, I woke up sore and stiff this morning. I guess I need to fly more often. ;-)

We had another blue day with a light southeast wind that was predicted to be more southwest north of here. Aside from Bo and Davis on the single surface gliders, the rest of us decided to give the Quest – Wallaby – Deen Still and Route 33 – Quest triangle a another try. Paul and Ron Gleason launched before me and were already topped out when I released from tow; dang here I go playing catch-up again! I was a thermal behind until I spotted Ron flying back downwind to my climb. Ron and I then spent most of the flight together. Ron kept me off the deck with a quick “over here” message when I was getting ready to land near a quarry. We centered up in a strong climb that put us both back into the game. Once at Wallaby Ranch, Ron suggested we head straight back since the sky was quickly filling with cirrus and the climbs were getting weak. Paul tried to shame us into joining him on the way to Deen Still and Route 33, but we decided to wimp out and head back to reduce the chance of landing out.

The return trip was quick and easy and we were soon floating over Quest with Paul, Greg, and another half dozen pilots. The windsock was swinging all over the place and the air all around the LZ was going up. I have never had so much trouble loosing altitude in the flatlands before. (This is common in mountain valleys). One by one we fought our way down and landed. I took the chance to do some high speed glides in the rising air and did some wangs to the south with Keith. I finally worked my way down and had a nice landing near the rotating wind sock. The flight record is online.

Greg Crawford and a couple other pilots showed up from Wallaby shortly after we landed. Julie and Marilyn launched later as I was carrying my harness back to camp. After all the pictures Julie has taken of other pilots, I finally got some of her in action. I missed Marilyn’s approach and landing, but I heard it was first-class. It was a fine day for flying in Florida.

We had a nice meal in the clubhouse this evening and then everyone headed off to finish up chores and get ready for tomorrow, which looks as good or better than today.

Back in the Air, Finally

I moved from Wallaby Ranch to Quest Air yesterday. Pilots were already setup and ready to go when I pulled into the driveway. Marilyn Nichols, Dave, and Julie offered to help me rush to get ready, but I politely turned down their offer so I could pitch my tent, get some groceries, sign the necessary waivers, and anything else I needed to take care of so I could fly for the rest of the week. I watched the gang launch and float over the horizon. I found out later Russell and Campbell landed at the Florida Ridge, Bo landed near Fort Pierce, and Stan landed in Sebring Falls.

After a nice run this morning, I setup and launched after Paul Tjaden. Paul and I planned to fly Wallaby Ranch, to the intersection of Deen Still Road and Route 33, and back to Quest. We knew it might be tough with the east-northeast wind. Paul and I were climbing well until I made a bone-headed move and lost the climb while stowing my tow bridal. After floundering awhile I landed and launched again. By that time I lost track of Paul, who was having radio problems. I decided to hang around the park and play with birds and other pilots in the air. I latter found out Paul never left the area either and landed back at Quest. I flew for a little over 3.5 hours and had plenty of time to practice of number of things before landing at 5pm so we could go eat Thai food. I’m sure I’ll be sore in the morning, but I’ll manage. ;-)

(Thanks for the pictures Julie.)

Florida

My flying season is about to begin.

I awoke at Wallaby Ranch today after a “leisurely” 19.5 hour 1320 mile trip from Littleton Massachusetts to Orlando Florida yesterday. I left at 4:00am, saw the sun rise somewhere near New York City, watched spring unfold before my eyes in a single day, and nearly got blown off a very high bridge along with the tractor-trailer rig behind me. Other than that, it was an uneventful trip and I even had enough energy left at the end of the day to chat with Aric Paulson before setting up my tent.

It rained today, so no flying and it looks blown out for the next couple of days. I got a tour of Steve Arndt’s new hut and caught up with a lot of friends.

I hope the weather cooperates soon so I can end my longest “grounding” to date. I hope I can remember how to fly. ;-)

Birds

There is an ongoing discussion on the New England Paragliding & Hang Gliding Club Flyline about changing national park rules to allow motor-less flight by default. Currently, flying is disallowed unless pilots can convince the local manager to go through a long procedure to get an exception. I tossed a short comment into that discussion about our environmental impact on birds.

I, like many other slow-speed motor-less pilots, encounter birds on most flights. However, since I don't skim along the ground through the grass, dodge in and out of the forest canopy, or drag my feet through wetlands the number of species I encounter is limited. The species I fly with, for the most part, fly over large areas and routinely encounter other fliers on their daily or seasonal travel. Furthermore, most of these birds use thermals just like I do. Unless I unknowingly get too close to an active nesting site along a mountain side most birds act more like glider pilots than animals fleeing for their safety or defending their territory. Birds routinely join me when I mark thermals and I routinely join them when they mark thermals. I believe birds discount the threat when they see me circle in the same way they do; just another flier trying to get a free lift. I have climbed right up through groups or individual birds without scaring them off. Of course they open their circle, but close up once I am above them; just like I do when another glider or bird out climbs me. Since most of these birds are hunters or scavengers they don't seem shy; they will fly right up next to me and climb to cloud base wing-tip to wing-tip.

I am an avid outdoorsman, a member of the Audubon Society, and contribute a good deal of money to organizations like the Nature Conservancy. I don'’t see any conflict in being an environmentalist and a hang glider pilot, especially when I am flying. (I do worry about the amount of fuel I consume driving to flying sites. That is why I try to carpool and do other things to reduce my driving). I, like many other soaring pilots, have a deep respect and admiration for the birds we share the air with. There are very few places on this planet where humans can share beautiful, invigorating, and even humorous experiences with wildlife in their environment and on their terms. I have been lucky to play with fledgling hawks that would repeatedly fly over to me so we could take turns chasing each other through the sky. I have been stared-down by mature bald eagles as they climb right up through me in thermals. They don'’t alter their circle an inch; they expect me to move aside and I do. I have climbed with flocks of migrating birds so large that I couldn'’t see the ground below me. I have gone on many long glides with vultures were all of us use our senses to seek out the best lift lines and our next climb. I have also flown with vultures that were so unskilled and clumsy I wondered how they survived. And yes, I have been warned and even attacked when I was apparently flying too low and too close to a nest. I did what any good neighbor would, I left the area.

I will not argue that my flying with these birds make their lives better. However, I will argue with people that say my flying causes more problems than hikers, mountain bikers, campers, horseback riders, snowmobilers, motorcyclers, and 4-wheelers. If an area is open to low-impact human enjoyment then there is usually no reason to exclude motor-less flight.

2005 Stats

Since it is nearly impossible to fly around here in the winter, I spent some time reviewing my flight logs from last season. I logged over 170 hours of flight time in 67 flights in Australia, Florida, New England, Maryland, and Texas. 45 of my launches were behind a tug and the remaining 22 were by running starts.

I flew 1766 linear miles (straight line distance from start to finish), 2789 optimized miles, and 5700 protected miles.

On average I covered 41 miles in 2.5 hours, for a speed of 16.4 mph.

All my flights used the identical set of equipment; a Moyes Litespeed 4S, an old Moyes Matrix harness, and a Flytec 5030.