Sunny and Adam could not have been more helpful to me. Sunny assisted me with the set up, which despite numerous manual readings does not prepare one adequately ("the cam lever on the wing tip wands will take your fingertips off so keep the palms open" was left out of the manual.....) He even put the wheels on and replaced the keel nut with the replacement parts provided.
Now this is where a flight park like Highland Aerosports really demonstrates its commitment to the sport and to its patrons: anyone can tow you up. It takes dedication to make sure that the folk you are towing up are as prepared as they can possibly be, and to make sure that it the stepping stones to preparation for a higher performing glider are adequate. Thank God for Highland Aerosports! Thank you Sunny and Adam!
Yes, I could have worked my way through the set-up on my own, taking 9/10's of the day to do so, but Sunny made sure that I had all the tips I would need to do it better than well. At break down, Sunny even advised me on how to pack my new-to-me sport2 neatly into it's glider bag (those curved tips and mylar leading edge being a bit of a bear to get neatly stowed.)
Adam advised and kept tabs on the flyability of the conditions, and got me into the air as soon as the thermal activity slowed down. Am I a Kevin Carter of the Hang Gliding community? No, sad to have to report.
There is no magical ability there. I need lots of work on my landings. But my launches were quite nice, and approaches were halfway decent, considering I've been stuffing the bar on my falcon approaches.Suddenly, everything Danny had warned me to watch out for, came about! "Your falcon approaches are too fast, and stuffing the bar will serve you poorly when you transition to a higher performing glider." Well, now I know what he was saying. Hard to imagine it, but yeah, stuffing the bar shoots you across the field in the spifffin' sport2! Whoa baby!
But is that Sport2 ever a nice glider! I towed an Eagle and a Sonic, and that Sport 2 is as sweet as as a sports car after driving a 14 wheel truck! And with power steering to boot! What a nice light touch, and what response time! Stable, fast, easy, and most of all, enjoyable! Of course, my falcon standard is more ragged out than most, but still. I enjoyed the ride, the increased sound of the wind speed past my helmet, the delicate response, the VG: you name it. The wings are crisp and the leading edge a deep, penetrating intense blue. What a pleasure! It is like the difference between driving the tandem (with Sunny aboard, versus flying solo in a single.)
I cannot wait to repeat the multiple tows (more if the winds are light enough) and to improve my approaches and landings. I feel like I've joined the real world of Hang Gliding (but I felt that way when I recieved my Hang 2 sign-off also - so here we go again).
At all costs though, the Hang 3 syndrome is to be avoided. Please don't hesitate to comment if I seem to be going over the edge of sanity. I welcome your comments while sanely on the ground, but but I'm sure to ignore you with my harness hooked in...
See you down below me....look for that deep blue leading edge above! Whoo Whoo!
