Gliders are home

We would not be flying for a few months due to visits by our parents, hence we got our gliders home. A homemade rack worked out pretty decently for our falcons.

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Rush hour dream

All of last year I dismissed the idea of commuting 50 miles one-way to my office in San Francisco on my motorcycle. I assumed the traffic would be hell and I would be stressed every day from that. This year, I got tired of the multi-modal commute (car+train+bicycle) and decided to give my motorcycle a try.

It kind of worked. Not sure how. Maybe the thoughts of past flights and daydreams of the more exciting ones in the future. As the scenary rushed by at 70 mph today, a crisp clear spring day, I looked up and smiled. Puffy cumulus clouds forming all over the city. I could visualize how the thermals are working and how I could ride them up. Except not today, but the visions build up subconscious knowledge anyway. The hour long ride feels relaxing. I start to enjoy and be at peace with the reality that I have.

A few days back, in the hang gliding forum, a 16 yo boy asked for advice on conquering the usual obstacles of life to gain access to this freedom. He got a wonderful note which strikes so well with me, I must share it here: http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=265849#265849

Life is useless without a dream.

Epic soaring day at Hollister

I had my longest (so far) flight today. Released from towline at 1500′ AGL, then cored some thermals up to 2300′ AGL. Given that the LZ is at 700′ MSL, I was up at 3000′ on this flight. A falcon flew by, and just hanged out with me for a while. I only dreamed about this stuff when I took up hang gliding, and I still can’t believe it is already a reality.

The scenary is mind blowing from high above. I giggled like a baby everytime I felt the buoyant lift taking me higher as I made coordinated 360 degree turns. The increasing altitude on the brand new Flytec 6015 vario was sweet to watch. I could smell the fields way below, and could see a gaggle of birds enjoying the same thermal. I could see Priti sitting on the hill and her glider looked like a cute little toy. Chasing lift is a fun game that I don’t think I can ever get tired of. I soon lost the lift and had to come back down, with a 17 minute airtime.

Now to think that not too long ago a 10 second flight from the hill was exhilerating. The scale of growth and the reward in this sport is truly extraordinary. I am forever grateful to having Dave Yount, Pat Denevan and Harold Johnson as my instructors and mentors at Mission Soaring. I am also thankful to my ever energetic wife and her taking part in this sport, otherwise this kind of commitment might not have been a reality in the first place. And I can’t wait for her to soar with me.

Trying my hand at Final Cut Pro X to edit the videos. Should be up soon.

Priti’s tow progress

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Priti has been doing great with tows. Two weekends ago Pat let her do double 45 degree turns. She did great but on ground skim she flared a bit early and did the typical newbie crash on the right downtube, snapping it immediately. She got out without any injury so that is all good. Pat got the downtube replaced in no time.

Following weekend she went back to the hills for some launch and landing practices. Towing can make one a bit rusty on launches, but thanks to Arturo’s coaching she started doing very well. Before H1 she was still dealing with too many new skills. These practices finally let her understand the real reason of pulling in and letting go when doing foot launches. Landings are also getting better for her and soon she will be back to the tow line.

First soaring as a new H2

Week before, I got my Hang 2 from Pat Denevan. And last Sunday I towed from cart first time, and also soared in my first thermal. I cored a few 360 degrees and could not really believe that I actually gained some altitude, however small it was (about 70 ft). A dream come true moment.

A few months ago, I was elated to have a long 10 second flight from the bunny hill. And now a 10 min long flight makes me that much happy. I wonder what is next. Friends at the hang gliding forum tell me there is no cure for this disease except more and more airtime. I think I would happily oblige.

Priti’s first tow release

First flights to 1000 ft

2012 started pretty well for me. First flight of the year – went up to 1000 ft and did prone flying first time. What a helluva day towing with Harold.

Above is a technical video, with 2 flights back to back without skipping, and no music, for my own study to learn from mistakes. I will make a composite video later showcasing launch and landings from several flights.

Flying higher and better

Last Sunday turned out to be a super productive flying day for both of us. I flew as high as 400ft and did 3 consecutive personal best tow flights. I could feel the building up of addiction the higher and longer I was up in the air. The rush was indescribable. I grinned ear to ear and even laughed hysterically. The 360 degree view, the murmur of crisp morning air, and the slow moving ground – it was such sensation I would not give up for anything in the world.

Pat graduated me to the 90 degree turns. I can’t wait to do the 180 degrees so I can do more flights and less walking. I can’t imagine how it will feel to get my H2 and fly the 1750 ft peak at Ed Levin park, a stone’s throw from my home.

Priti did her first tow flights. She was uneasy at first, but did very well on her last flight of the day.

The morning was a different story altogether. The cold temps and the catabatic wind at 9am was very disappointing. Priti set her glider up, but I refused to touch mine until the wind turned the other way. Little did we know what a great flying day was ahead. At around 11 the wind suddenly became anabatic, just as Pat predicted. I hurried set mine up and headed up the hill for some warm up practice. Rusty as I was from 3 non-flying weeks, the landings were very well.

The fun didn’t stop when the gliders were packed up at the end of the day. We joined with Pat, Dave and a few others to dine at the Tres Pinos Inn. What a blast it was. Got to know that Jeff made his own homemade aircraft. Now that is some cool thing to check out soon.

In short, a great weekend. And the takeaway lesson is to never ever assume anything related to weather when it comes to flying. This long drive is always worth, at least to hang out with some of the coolest folks.

Priti is a pilot, too

We both had been waiting for the day we could call ourselves a hang glider pilot couple. The moment arrived last Sunday after Priti’s training lessons. I didn’t fly that day due to still recovering from fever, but it turned out a good decision. I could assist her pushing the glider back up the hill, so she could take a bunch more flights than usual. Got to remember the way her face lit up when Dave told her to fill up the Hang-1 license paperwork. The satisfaction of earning this rating goes beyond many other achievements. More than a dozen lessons of 4+ hours, the 120 mile roundtrip each time, and the setup/breakdown of gliders. All seem to be worth now. Time to fly her brand new glider and start the tow trainings for Hang-2.

FWIW, it should be pointed out that none of this could ever happen, if we followed the society-mandated life script, aka settled down with offsprings and a white picket fence, so to say. I am not saying personal ambitions are impossible to realize in that case, only 1000 times harder. Hard enough to just fuggetaboutit and live a monotonous “normal” life.

Days like these are memorable, they are celebrations of the small victories we achieve against the powerful force of society to make everyone conform. There is no better joy than to live life in your own terms, relentlessly chase your dreams, and ignore all the noise there is.

I am a pilot

Happy to report that from today I can call myself a certified pilot. A hang glider pilot for that matter. Shortly after my last hill flight last Friday, Dave, my instructor congratulated me saying I did it. It sounded like the sweetest word in the world. I had been waiting for a while to hear him say it and there I had it. My life changed forever.

After I passed the written test on Saturday morning, Pat Denevan handed me an unofficial rating card. I could not wait to ride down to Hollister for a whole afternoon of freedom – flying without waiting for my turn as a student. And what a freedom it was, added to some magical wind. I finished 23 hill flights under 4 hours, first 8 of them from the 40ft hill to warm up and rest from the 70ft one. I could make my landings quite a lot better by those back to back flights.

The weekend of fun did not end there. On Sunday, Pat setup a booth of Mission Soaring at the Berkeley annual street fair and we both showed up to promote this wonderful sport. Sales pitches and demo on a glider simulator – the day went by in a flash.

What a wonderful weekend. Can’t wait for Priti to get her hang one and practise with me. I will get to tow soon, as Pat says. Can’t wait for this weekend to begin.