[axo]

Yesterday was amazing. Personal record on altitude and flight duration.
1 hour 11 minutes, 4800 feet top, 8000 feet gain haha! what a noob you might think.
I flew with 4 or 5 more pilots, in the same clouds. Epic experience and feelings.

We, (me and my friend) got at the park at 11am and flew in dead air. Stable conditions. Other pilots also flew for the sled ride and packed, then left. I was upset but saw the clouds coming in the distant so i heard other pilots talking about a front coming our way. So i waited and in one more hour, we got hit by this front and conditions turned to be amazing.

I enjoyed the flight A LOT and learned even more.

I learned it gets chilly when you are higher and suddenly you want to pee, but then you have a cocoon harness and jeans, so it sucks not to be able to produce some rain to the houses below.

I played with strong thermals and got spit out of them quickly cuz i still suck.

This group of clouds were drifting slowly and all of us away from the park, so at some point i saw i was on the edge of it and then blue sky in the direction of the landing field, with the next group of clouds very far away. I saw all the other guys were in higher performance wings so i thought, "these guys keep drifting away without worrying because they will be have better glide than me to come back" so i started to wonder if i was gonna make it with my single surface wing. I got paranoid and left the fun zone. Came back finding lots of spots with sinking air -600+ fpm... but still made it ok above the park with around 1200 feet of altitude.

So without a GPS, how do you know if you are getting too far from the LZ to come back? It is just practice or it is better to get a GPS just in case? I do not want to end up having to land elsewhere because i got distracted drifting away playing with the thermals. I consider getting a GPS a distraction for me too. I think its too soon.

I guess i could do some math with the polars and measure spots close to the LZ in google earth to give me an idea of how much altitude i need before starting to get too far away? Not that i will TRY to get as far as i can every time but now i think i need at least a visual reference so i kind of know the limits.

I got my neck and back tired too, i need more work out.

It was a sweet day for me. And flying gets more interesting and full of new things and "first time's" every time.

HG rocks!

[noman]

congrats axo.You will figure out your glide slope,just keep at it.I still underestimate my glide slope and i have flown the combat for 7 years.1 hell of a view ay,my friend

[Redbeard]

right on AXO !!!!!

[day dreamer]

..

[wilburleft]

Axo were you at the Ridge? Dammit I should have gone yesterday instead of being responsible...crap. Glad you got you some!

[PilotGuy]

Axo, congrats on your flight. It's awesome to get some real air time, and to do it with other pilots in the air is always exciting.

As for learning how far you can go from the LZ, it's experience that will help you. Don't rely on a GPS because someday you'll be flying with one and the batteries will poop out or something.

The farthest point you can reach in calm air will always be at the same angle below the horizon. So tow up on a calm morning and pick a spot below the horizon, let's say 30 degrees (90 degrees being straight below you, 0 degrees being the horizon itself). Fly at your best glide speed for a few minutes and determine if you are going to be able to glide to that spot that you picked out. If it moves lower in your field of view, down closer to 40 degrees, then 50 degrees below the horizon, you're going to make it. If it moves up closer to the horizon you're not going to make it, and if it stays in the same relative spot, then it's the point your going to land on.

Once you learn this point you'll be able to reasonably judge how far you can glide, but of course you don't want to glide as far as possible, you want to end up above your landing field with a safe enough altitude to look at wind indicators and set up an approach.

Also, once you've learned how far your glider glides you'll have to adjust your mental picture in each different condition like headwinds and tailwinds, and also keep in mind that if you hit sink you're not going to make it as far as you hope.

Anyway, keep flying! I had my best flight ever recently and I'm still thinking about it!

[Pete B]

Sooweeet
Sound advice. Fly where the clouds are
Pete

[red]

[Nibs]

Good job Axo!

As for glide path, as others have mentioned, you will just get the hang of it. Most people tend to UNDERestimate their glide so this keeps them from having to land out. Don't worry about the GPS for now, instead focus on your landing approaches and spot landings. This way if you ever have to land out (and if you plan on going XC you obviously will), you will be able to put it down in a lot of places without having to worry. I prefer landing out because I can usually pick a field BETTER than my own (though Wallaby is about as good of an LZ as I could hope for).

[John C]

Good for you, axo. Excellent write up. I am hoping to get me sum on Tues. I hope it will be as good.

[knumbknuts]

[skypimp]

You flew 15 times longer than I did today and I feel like I could walk on water !

[skypimp]

Let me change that last part to - I''m feeling vary good with my flight today.
SP

[CHassan]

I'll go with what the others have said too!
Nice flight!

Don't worry about the GPS. Let your eyes be the gauge for how far you can go. You may get it wrong once or twice. (always try to error in a way you get back higher than you thought! Don't need to hear about a HG pilot being eaten by alligators, because you came up short and landed in a swamp!)

I just recently turned on the feature in my GPS that shows my glide, and the required glide to my goal. These are not good features to rely on. The glide to goal stays fairly constant, but the current glide jumps from ---:1 to 249:1 way to fast!

[John C]

[Pete B]

[TomGalvin]

[axo]

Hey guys thanks a lot for the input.
I will start experimenting the techniques you posted here. Now that you mentioned it, i think i read something about that on the Pagen's books. Rusty memory mine. Time to grab those books again and re read the stuff i need now.

So yeah.. the idea is never make a mistake and land somewhere that i will be juicy meat and bones (actually more bones than meat) for the green buddies with big teeth.

Nah.. i think it is safe around here. But having to call to get rescued must suck.

Hey Bill! Wuzzup. i never see ya there. I'll let you know next time and pick you up if you want. Saludos a tu señora!

[skypimp]

The first landing was so so but I just keep on nailing them after that.
SP

Video of my last flight on the thread "Ed Levin 2 firsts for 2 pilots for 2 days"

[skypimp]

Oh---I forgot take offs, Rich has honed our takeoff skills to Rock Solid