Andrew has put together another great video of us all flying around Canberra.
We’ve hit the mainstream!
July 17th, 2008
… Well, the RiotACT - But that’s mainstream for us!
I have been a long time reader of the The RiotACT, Canberra’s self proclaimed and much loved soap box. I was surprised to discover that, johnboy (forum admin), had embedded one of my videos in their site. Too cool!
To have our sport acknowledged by the non-flying community is awesome even if the soundtrack does cop a bit of flack from the masses (oopsie).
Article here:
Car Towing in Lake George
July 11th, 2008
Curt blogs about our towing adventures last weekend.
Car Towing in Lake George, Canberra | Warren Windsports Hang Gliding School NSW
Flying in Canberra - June
July 11th, 2008
The Canberra guys have been hitting it hard this winter. With some of the most favorable winter flying conditions in Australia dedicated pilots flew every weekend for the last few months.
June was not exception. Dave alone wracked up more than 20 hour in the month.
June saw us flying at Spring Hill, Lanyon, Lake George, Pig Hill, Grenfell and Binalong.
This video is a taste of what we’ve been up to.
John D and Andrew L Fly from the Lake to Tumut
July 10th, 2008
Andrew writes:
Wednesday mid morning I get a call from John asking me if I would like to join him on Saturday for a flight from the lake to Tumut in his trike. Without even having to think about it I say ‘for sure’. The offer even extended to crashing the night at John’s place which included a game of pool and some home brew!
Saturday morning we arrived at the lake around 9am. After setting up the trike, including my cheap untrained labour and a pull start, we take off and head for Tumut. In saying cheap untrained labour I am pointing to the fact that I always thought that batten clips simply snapped undone and then snapped closed again. John soon pointed out that I had been doing it wrong and weakening a number of clips! As for the pull start, well we thought we had a flat battery as the girl would not turn over (pardon the pun).
After nearly 2 hours we finally take off. 15 minutes into the flight we pass over Ngunnawal (northern most suburb of the ACT) where Trent, Deb, my parents and neighbours live. We spend 5 minutes flying around taking pictures of the houses and waving to our friends below before getting back on course to head over the Brindies through to Tumut. As we approach the tiger country I became a little nervous to say the least. The fact that we had 3 batten clips that had snapped undone made me very nervous! John kept me reassured and we head on.
Flying over the Brindies was a real eye opener as I was thinking to myself that there would be little or no landing options if you were hang gliding over the back. Unless you were really high and in air space to get through you would have to travel a little further north to ensure you had landing options within glide. That said, I am still flying a beginner glider and have no real idea of what the glide feels like when flying in a topless.
We landed in Tumut about 1 hour 20 minutes after takeoff and to my relief manage to score some new batten clips and replace our broken ones and worked out that we had to pull start the girl when we took off from the lake due to a solenoid that had broken off. This problem was solved through some soldering by Michael I with his little tool box of goodies (thanks Michael)! After heading into town with John and Bobby for some good old KFC we take off again and head for home. The trip back was much more pleasant as I was feeling much more comfortable in the fact that we now had a clean wing with no broken clips!
I must admit that I found it very nerve racking flying over the ranges. I let the little mishaps of the morning get to me which put me in a bad mind set for the day. For me it is a different feeling flying in a trike than it is flying in a hang glider. When in a trike I think you notice the turbulence more as it is not just you being throne around but the trike it self which exaggerates the pendulum feeling I suppose you could say. You are also flying a hell of a lot faster which makes the bumps feel a little more sudden. I am keen to get back up in the trike to over come the small amount of reservations that I have as I would love to learn how to fly one in the near future.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank John for the invite and taking me on a great flight and I hope to be able to fly with you again soon. He would have to be one of the nicest ‘old farts’ around I would have to say!
Happy flying - Andrew
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Scott wins pre-worlds with the C4
July 5th, 2008
He’s done it!! Scott maintained his lead to win the pre-worlds flying his Airborne C4. Congratulations from all of us and I can’t wait to have a chat to him when he returns from his successful adventure.
Results and further interviews can be seen from the pre-worlds site:
Scott maintains lead after the second task
June 30th, 2008
The organizers of the Pre-Worlds are maintaining a great little blog of competition with many great interviews and photos.
Among the interviews is Scott releasing a few more pearls of wisdom:-
Scott wins first task at the Worlds!!!
June 27th, 2008
Holly crap!!!
Nice flying Scott! He was excited about the new sail cut on the C4 - Now I can see why!
Results here
A short video of Scott lanuching here
This sport sucks…
June 26th, 2008
…. Dave writes in to convince us otherwise:-
The excitement was buzzing and the anticipation high as Karl and I headed out to Munjal to help Terry and Trent crotch about 9,000 lambs…oh and maybe a bit of flying. It is June and looks stable as but….Trent is a certified tug master. There is a trike in the hangar, and Munjal has a more than sufficient tow strip.
So put down the rusty knife Karlos, the lambs are going to have to wait. It looks good for a hep of tows and landing practice. So we went and set up while Trent sorted out some cameras for a bit of footage.
It was about my third tow and the air was smooth-as again so this time I thought I would just stay on tow until Trent waved me off. As we climbed out over Munjal, there was a blanket of cumulus type clouds to our north. Trent read my mind and headed towards them. As we got closer, I realised we were above the clouds. This was phenomenal. Trent waved me off and I was releasing higher than them.
I had a huge grin on my face as Trent and I headed single file across the top of the cloud blanket. The scenery was sublime. The top of the cloud was a shimmering incandescent white. I had a feeling of pure freedom to be gliding over the top of cloud like this in a hangie.
With the sun behind us I could see the silhouette of glider with a rainbow circling it cast against the clouds as they rolled and evolved slowly from the air movement underneath, and the drift from the prevailing wind. It was a 500ft thick white carpet with exists through vertical holes and valleys which I could see below to the paddocks and mountains, giving me know fear of being whited out. Sinking slowly I began to glide through the wispy tops of the taller stacks. I pulled on speed and dived through the cloud into the valley. With walls both sides and a clear view to the ground below, flying along this canyon of cloud, I was completely awe struck.
Trent was in front and flew left down the valley so I headed right headwind, gliding to the front of the clouds facing the south east wind. Near the end of the valley I cut the corner exploding through the cloud wall. Out in front the air was buoyant not enough to ridge soar but I got a small taste of this huge white wall as long as possible slowly descending. I cruised back into the valley gliding around surrounded by cloud, gravity slowly spoiling my unique experience. So I pulled the bar in for one final dive through the wall and out the cloud base. I was speechless as I headed back to the tow paddock. I took a look behind me at the surreal white playground. That was an experience I won’t forget for a long time.
These indescribable types of experiences are part of this awesome sport we do. And every time I think how lucky I am to fly I think of all the people involved to make it so great. I can’t put into words how much I appreciate the generosity and enthusiasm we all receive when flying at Munjal. Thanks Trish and Terry for letting monkeys share your place. And if it wasn’t for Trent’s time and passion for this sport, we wouldn’t get off the ground at all.
Cheers,
Dave
Recent posts
- Too much flying! Too much fun!
- We’ve hit the mainstream!
- Car Towing in Lake George
- Flying in Canberra - June
- John D and Andrew L Fly from the Lake to Tumut
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