As you can probably tell by reading through the posts, us Atlanta people have been a little bothered by the lack of good weather on the weekends. It's been heavy winds and often from the wrong direction. Guess what.... this weekend looks the same too, but yesterday the forecast for Thursday looked about as good as it could ever get for a beginner.... 0 to 6mph from the NW, all day, and a 70 degree high. Oh yeah, on Wednesday, I suddenly came air sickness and told my work that I'd be taking thursday off to fly.
Because it had been more than 4 days since my last flights, I had to re-clear from the training hills. I was asked to perform the standard stuff: Reversing 45 degree turns, reversing 90 degree turns, and a speed run. Once I finished, the instructor cleared me and sent me up to the top of the mountain.
Once at the top I was told I'd have to take the "Mountain Test". This is a test that talks about the difference between flying from the training hill and from the mountain. It covered a lot about speeds to fly, what to do if this or that happens, and the flight plan and landing approach. They give you a hand-out to read before you take the test so it's pretty easy.
After passing the test, I was told to pull a WW Falcon out of the hangar and get it set up. I did this in record speed. It was about 11am at this time and the sun was really shining. With a daytime high fo 70 and a night time low in the 30's, I knew it was only a matter of time before the thermals started forming and if that happened, they wouldn't let me fly.
During my setup, a handful of spectators showed up and stood by watching. When I used to think about my first flight, I was always worried about spectators making me nervous, but you know what, I was so busy doing what I was doing that I didn't even notice them nor was I bothered by them.
After setting up, the instructor and I went over my flight plan again. Fly straight out away from the mountain, find trim speed, fly over the red-roofed house, then over the wind sock in the landing field, then into a box pattern. Once I was at a certain height, I would exit the box pattern and enter my downwind leg, then base leg, then final. The downwind leg is when you fly down wind, parallel with the runway. The base leg is a 90 degree turn from there, and the final is when you turn into the wind and glide to the ground. I was told to begin each phase when I was "x tree lengths high"... the trees in question were the ones surrounding the field. I wasn't so sure about this since it's tough to judge altitude when you are new.
So there I was, hooked in, had my hang-check and standing on the ramp. The instructor helped me set my angle of attack (angle of the nose to the horizon) and backed away from the glider. I was to focus on a spot on the horizon, just like on the training hill, and then launch. The spectators gathered round but I didn't care or pay any attention. I took a deep breath, reminded myself that it was really no different then on the training hills, then began jogging, then running down the ramp. After just a few steps, I was airborne (the ramp is very steep).
Due to the short run, I picked up a lot of speed fast so I held the bar in and let it gradually ease out so I wouldn't balloon up into a stall. This worked fine. I started to look below me at the trees and scenery but as I did, I noticed I had to make a lot of turn corrections so I went back to staring at the spot on the horizon and was easily able to stay on track. On the way down I hit a few bumps here and there, nothing too exciting. I flew over the red house, then the windsock, then began my box approach based on the direction the windsock was blowing.
I had only completed 1 box before I realized I was around 3 tree-heights so I began my downwind. Shortly after, I realized I was pretty low.... that whole 3-tree lengths thing didn't really work for me! So I basically skipped the base leg and did a 180 onto final. Now I was really low and was hitting a few bumps too so I made sure I pulled in for a little extra speed. After doing all I could to level out, I noticed I was flying right toward the wind sock pole... AHHHHH!!!! I was too low to try turning, but my wing was already banked AWAY from the windsock pole, yet I was still heading for it. At this point I realized there was nothing more I could do but hit it and hope for the best. I thought I might even miss it because I was a little ways to the left of it. I flared to clear one of the support cables that holds the pole up... and did miss that, but then the right wing hit the pole and caused me to do a 180, but after the 180 I landed right on my feet. The glider wasn't damaged and the only thing damaged of mine was my pride. I wanted a perfect first flight and was so close! But hey, at least I landed on my feet right?
Tony, didn't you hit the windsock too? I thought I remember you saying you hit something.
So anyway, that's it. My first solo. I have 9 more to go until I don't have to re-clear after not flying for 4 days. I can't wait!
I hope this story will encourage more people to take up this amazing sport. It's so cheap, fun and unlike anything else. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a private message and I'd be happy to help out in any way I can.
Sweet Nibs! Don't you hate it when those windsocks jump out right in front of you? Seriously, sounds good. Great feeling to be 1,000 feet up.
You're right about the height being hard to judge as a beginner, but doing 1 box before turning downwind sounds about right in the Falcon. In my glider I can easily make 2 before going downwind. You said you were a bit low when coming into final, whereas I and others have felt like we were high, but did you notice how that Falcon comes down like an elevator when you pull in the bar?
I'm surprised you landed on your feet after doing a windsock 180. Sounds good, too bad I missed it. Just one flight today?
Which direction was your final, northish or southish?
Congratulations!
Last edited by PilotGuy on Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
Yeah, only one flight. I had to wait like an hour in the LZ after breaking down because there was no one around to give me a lift. A really nice guy named Tom landed after I was waiting a while and actually drove me up top before packing his glider when he found out I was trying to get flight #2 in before the thermals started popping. I got up top, setup the glider, but then the instructor told me I couldn't fly due to the thermal conditions. He said they'd probably calm down in the evening but I had to get back into town by 4pm to take care of some business so I had to pass
I can't wait to get back up there!! Saturday it's going to rain (72% chance they say) but Sunday actually looks good from 7am to 1pm from what I see so far. Might be back up there then!
Don't worry brother when I was still running on the ground with a glider (before I ever flew) I ran directly into the wind sock talk about being humiliated.
_________________ "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." - Theodor Seuss Geisel "
H2, FL, ST, FSL
Wings: Falcon 2 195, Formula 154
Harness, High Energy, Rotor Kick Ass
http://www.hanggliding.org/wiki/User:Tomsterner
[img]http://www.hanggliding.org/images/banners/hgbob.jpg[/img]
Don't worry brother when I was still running on the ground with a glider (before I ever flew) I ran directly into the wind sock talk about being humiliated.
Don't worry brother when I was still running on the ground with a glider (before I ever flew) I ran directly into the wind sock talk about being humiliated.
_________________ "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." - Theodor Seuss Geisel "
H2, FL, ST, FSL
Wings: Falcon 2 195, Formula 154
Harness, High Energy, Rotor Kick Ass
http://www.hanggliding.org/wiki/User:Tomsterner
[img]http://www.hanggliding.org/images/banners/hgbob.jpg[/img]
awsome nibs didn't run into anything. I just felt I was too high when I was on my final so I mushed it down, which wasn't necessary. If you just pull in bit more, the falcon sinks really fast. I dont think there would been a way to outrun the half mile runway that you have. But trying to think of that in the air on your first flight can be difficult. well hopefully the weather is good sunday and we'll get to do our second flights.
Thanks SG. Yeah, I will put it in there. I have a video and will wait to post to the blog until I edit the video so I can link to it. I will also post the video here. It isn't very exciting because it basically only covers the launch and a straight flight out away from the mountain, but its still fun to re-live the moment!
Hahaha, that looks like what my dog does when I haven't taken him for a walk in a couple of days.
I would have jumped around if it weren't for the "windsock incident". I was happy, don't get me wrong, but felt a little guilty I nailed a wing that didn't belong to me... especially while everyone was watching. Not that I wouldn't have felt guilty about it if no one was watching
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." - Hunter S. Thompson
Hahaha, that looks like what my dog does when I haven't taken him for a walk in a couple of days.
I would have jumped around if it weren't for the "windsock incident". I was happy, don't get me wrong, but felt a little guilty I nailed a wing that didn't belong to me... especially while everyone was watching. Not that I wouldn't have felt guilty about it if no one was watching
You had fun and walked away on your own unbroken legs, so it was a good flight.
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