Yes it certainly was a great weekend. I arrived around 730 on Friday night followed shortly after by Trent Deb and Makayla. Once we were all there Dave treated us to a pyrotechnics show that one would only dream of seeing at New Years Eve in Sydney. Without going into to much detail the crackers were crazy and any towns within 100km that were sleeping at the time were rudely awaken by the bangs that could be heard echoing down the valleys! Terry’s dog even had enough and decided to run awy for the night and not return til the morning!
Saturday morning was kicked off with Trent, Steve and myself flying our R/C planes. We have recently all become R/C addicts buying cheap stuff on line and having a ball flying our flying machine wonders! Shortly after we were out on the airstrip setting up for some towing action. The weather looked great with some small cu’s forming around the place with a light wind from the north and 20 degrees. We spent the morning towing and attempting to cut toilet paper with our wings that we dropped as we glided down. This proved to be harder than I thought as I only managed to get within about a meter of the paper once. The main issue was getting the paper to unroll and leave a nice long strand of paper behind. This is something we will have to master at a later date – perhaps at the lake come summer J. Around lunch time we stopped for a short break and filled the tank up in the Trike. I was first to tow after lunch and was dropped a kilometre or so NW of Munjal Hill. I circled around where I was in zeros for a while trying to find where stronger lift was. As Dave was being towed up I decided to head straight for Munjal Hill and was treated to a 250ft/min climb. After a few turns when I had realised I was in possibly the climb of the day I jumped on the radio to let Trent know to tow Dave my way. As they approach an eagle that had attacked Dave and Steve earlier in the day was climbing up from underneath me and making a hell of a racket. As he got within about 10m of me I pulled on speed to head out towards the Trike as I was hoping he would bugger off. Thankfully he did and I turned back into the thermal as Trent dropped Dave off in the climb. We both climbed up working together to get the most out of the lift. We managed to get to about 4600ftasl when we left and head ESE for a bigger range a few km’s away. Dave got there first and nailed another good climb. As I got there I struggled to take hold of the climb. In the mean time Steve had been towed up and released underneath me. We were both finding it hard to grab the lift and in the end being a little lower than I was Steve chose to head back to the airstrip. I eventually grabbed the climb and got myself up to 5200ftasl. When I got there I looked SE to where Dave had gone on glide. He was now a few km’s in front of me which I didn’t mind as I was hoping that he would mark our next climb J. While on glide following the general direction that Dave had flown I managed to find another climb and gain a few hundred feet. This thermal seemed to be broken and every turn I did I was only gaining small amounts of height. Back on glide I got a call from Trent asking me where I was. I looked back and saw Trent towing Steve a few km’s behind me. Steve not long after released and started his flight. He flew slightly west of me on the edge of the ridge that I was flying straight over. When I got to the end of the ridge I saw that Dave had landed and just as I got to the end of the ridge I found some more lift although this time only managed to keep myself at the height I was. As I circled I saw that Steve had found some lift and was heading for the paddock Dave landed in. As he got near me he was lower and unable to climb back up. Trent all the while was buzzing around in the Trike and then got on the radio and said that we was going to fly a few km’s south to and airstrip and say G’day to the guys there. I decided to follow Trent and went on my final glide. I pulled on full VG and got myself into the most streamlined position I could and made it to the airstrip with a few hundred feet to spare. All in all a bloody top flight. I learnt a lot from this flight as in the weak conditions I flew as efficiently as I could and tried to feel every input the glider was giving me. This should serve me well come the summer months!
Back to Munjal we headed for dinner and a few beers. Again Dave treated us to a pyrotechnics display and this time Terry tied up his dog ‘Grumpy’. After the fireworks spectacular we went back to the house when Terry put his hand in the box and said that Grumpy was gone. We all laughed thinking he was joking when in fact the little bugger had broken his lead and once again disappeared for the evening to return in the morning. After hours of chatting it was time for some sleep, although sleeping in the pool room with Dave and Wilson meant I wasn’t going to get much sleep at all bahahahaha.
Sunday saw high cloud covering the sun and a northerly wind picking up. We all set up and began to tow. The first few tows weren’t to bad but this was to change. After Dave released from a tow we saw him near the Munjal Hill being battered by turbulence and landing a paddock short of the airstrip. We all thought he had simply pushed his glide out to much and not been able to make it back. I then towed and as we flew over Dave I could see him on the ground pointing west. I wasn’t sure what he was on about but figured he meant go west. As I reached for my mic button I saw Trent and the Trike drop left all of a sudden in a massive turbulent knock. I immediately released and as I turned right the turbulence threw my wing over and pointed me towards the airstrip. It was at this point that I realised the Dave had encountered the turbulence and was telling us to get away from it. Trent and I landed and that was it for flying for the day. Once packed up and all back together Dave told us that he had tried to soar Munjal Hill and was thrown around like a toy by the turbulence and felt at one point that he was going to tumble and that his goal was to simply stay under the glider. Exciting stuff and certainly a worthy lesson that mechanical turbulence even at a distance can be bloody rough!!!
All in all a great weekend and a bucket load of fun. I would like to say a big thankyou to Terry for letting us come out for the weekend and enjoy ourselves. Terry and Trish’ hospitality is always second to none and I can speak for us all to say that we are more than grateful. I would also like to thank Anet for cooking meals up for us over the weekend to kept us going. A big thanks to all those that I enjoyed my weekend with for the laughs and good times. Hang Gliding is not only about the flying it is also about the people that help us fly in many different ways and enjoy sitting down and having a few good laughs along the way. For me this is what makes the sport of hang gliding all the more appealing and enjoyable. See you all again soon!
Thief >:-)
