I've been itching to do my first cross country flight and decided today was going to be the day. I towed up at Highland at 2:45 and cut off at 2100' since Windsor found a nice thermal for me. Of course, once I cut off it wasn't as nice as it seemed on tow, but I was able to fight with it up to 3600'. By now I was reaching the point of no return and decided to go for it. I pulled on full VG and flew downwind for about 10 minutes before finding more lift at 2100'. It was a small core but when I was able to stay in it I registered 650 up on my vario. I managed to stick with it to 4100' when the lift disappeared. This time when I took off downwind, I hit some major sink. A look at my vario showed 1000 down at one point, and even with veering slighly left or right, I couldn't find much better than 500 down.
Next thing I knew, I was at 1500', which is where I decided preflight that I was going to set up for landing. I found a nice, long field next to a highway with a dense row of trees on the other side. As I passed 1000', my 360's showed the wind was blowing 90 degrees off--which would put me right in the wind shadow of the trees. Thankfully, I already had a backup field picked out, so I pulled on full VG and made sure I had enough glide to cross the power lines on the way. I got to the field with plenty of room to spare. On my base I saw the most beautiful sight of the flight--a great big American flag confirming my estimations of wind direction. As I decended, it was also apparant that I picked a great field when I saw that it was all dirt with 1/4" high who knows what growing out of it. When I landed, I realized just how big the field was because it took me 5 minutes to carry my glider to the road while trying to avoid stepping on the crops. Thankfully, no irate landowner came out.
The distance turned out to be 10 miles--nothing earth shattering but I was thrilled, especially when I realized I had crossed the Delaware line. Thanks to everyone at Highland for all of your tips, advice, etc. for making my first XC safe and enjoyable!
Breaking the tether [long]
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Great story! I love accounts like this, because the only reason I began hang gliding was to fly XC. I'm still far from "breaking the tether," but stories like yours just keep me stoked about my first XC someday!
Scott
PS - When I was a little kid (sometime in the late 60s/early 70s) I saw a Walt Disney television special about a little kid (who, of course, I thought was just like me) who learned to fly a sailplane. The climax of the show was when this kid earned his Diamond badge with a 500km flight, flying down mountain ridges.
At the time, I don't think I even knew what a hang glider was, much less ever imagined I'd fly one (or a sailplane, for that matter). But that show fired my imagination like nothing else...and I think permanently set the dream in my head to soar long distances.
I wish I could track down that show, dig it up from the Disney archives. It might seem silly if I watched it today, but as a kid, it was very powerful!
Scott
PS - When I was a little kid (sometime in the late 60s/early 70s) I saw a Walt Disney television special about a little kid (who, of course, I thought was just like me) who learned to fly a sailplane. The climax of the show was when this kid earned his Diamond badge with a 500km flight, flying down mountain ridges.
At the time, I don't think I even knew what a hang glider was, much less ever imagined I'd fly one (or a sailplane, for that matter). But that show fired my imagination like nothing else...and I think permanently set the dream in my head to soar long distances.
I wish I could track down that show, dig it up from the Disney archives. It might seem silly if I watched it today, but as a kid, it was very powerful!
