cabin fever
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
cabin fever
Somebody send in a flying story or something.? I's suffering froom a serious case of cabin fever here as I bet we all are.? Where's Lauren when we need her??
Re: cabin fever
I got the chance to fly four different sites in the past week (Albuquerque, Flagstaff and 2 near Vegas). Temperatures were warm. I brought back a scooter tow system.Dan T wrote:Somebody send in a flying story or something.? I's suffering froom a serious case of cabin fever here as I bet we all are.? Where's Lauren when we need her??
Just took delivery of two new Ozone gliders. I plan to try one out tomorrow.
Next weekend, if winds do not cooperate for flying a mountain and it is not rainin' or snowing, I'll be scooter towing.
What's cabin fever?
'Spark
'Spark
cabin fever
Carlos posted that there would be aerotow at Manquin, so I roused
myself from seasonal-affective-disorder-induced lethargy and made the
haul down there to pick up my repaired (again!) glider and test fly
it. Carlos is towing his new U2 without a strap-on fin and working
on damping oscillations on tow and landing this glider which is a big
step up from his Pulse. I'm in much the same boat. After all the
practice at Quest three weeks ago, towing in the calm air was pretty
easy (except for the big yaw that unaccountably occurred when I took
one hand off the bar to put my visor down!) and my landings were much
improved although a little long. The glider flies straight after
another beautiful (and economical) repair job by Steve Wendt.
Alas, this may have been Tex Forrest's last day towing at Manquin -
he just can't justify losing money on what is supposed to be an
aerotow business (vs. charity) anymore after six years straight, so
he's selling the Flitestar. We may see more of him in the mountains
as a fellow hang-glider pilot again. Blue Sky will still have
aerotow available with a trike while Steve begins assembling a new
Dragonfly! Blue Sky is going upscale, having now been connected to
the power grid. Can the techno music, jacuzzi, and cocktail lounge
with scantily-clad waitresses be far behind? - Hugh
myself from seasonal-affective-disorder-induced lethargy and made the
haul down there to pick up my repaired (again!) glider and test fly
it. Carlos is towing his new U2 without a strap-on fin and working
on damping oscillations on tow and landing this glider which is a big
step up from his Pulse. I'm in much the same boat. After all the
practice at Quest three weeks ago, towing in the calm air was pretty
easy (except for the big yaw that unaccountably occurred when I took
one hand off the bar to put my visor down!) and my landings were much
improved although a little long. The glider flies straight after
another beautiful (and economical) repair job by Steve Wendt.
Alas, this may have been Tex Forrest's last day towing at Manquin -
he just can't justify losing money on what is supposed to be an
aerotow business (vs. charity) anymore after six years straight, so
he's selling the Flitestar. We may see more of him in the mountains
as a fellow hang-glider pilot again. Blue Sky will still have
aerotow available with a trike while Steve begins assembling a new
Dragonfly! Blue Sky is going upscale, having now been connected to
the power grid. Can the techno music, jacuzzi, and cocktail lounge
with scantily-clad waitresses be far behind? - Hugh
-
Richard Hays
- Posts: 315
- Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:13 am
- Location: Baltimore, Maryland
cabin fever
So cabin fever is setting in? Well, let me tell you all about today !!! My
god, what a flight!!!
Great flying day today!!!! With some reservation, I went out to the new
hill ( Cow Pie ) figuring it would be too cross, but upon arrival I found
the winds blowing in steadily. I quickly set up and found the air to be a
surprising 10-14 mph straight in.
As I picked the glider up, it felt surprisingly bouyant, tugging at my
harness mains with increasing vigor. Birds circling overhead confirmed that
lift was everywhere, even with this mundane winter type day. Holding the
nose as low as I could, I pushed off with an aggressive run and was quickly
pulled skyward. Wow....what lift off a small hill !!
To my surprise, as I glided down the hillside, I continued to gain altitude.
Up, up, up I went, fearful of turning off course at my rapidly increasing
altitude. Freaked me out. I'd never gotten this high off this hill before.
I kept waiting for the bottom to fall out, but it never did.
At 70 feet, and with the overall temperment of the lift friendly, I thought
I better do a 180 degree turn, or commit to having to fly across the stream
ahead of me which...I'd never done before. No one had. So... I banked my
Falcon 225 quickly left...then right. I was still going up !!!
I tightened the turn to a full 360, waiting for the inevitable fall out. It
didn't happen. I continued to rise! Holy shit.....I was thermalling out of
this little training hill !!! One turn led to another and another and
another and another. I couldn't believe it ! Visions of Eddie Miller
thermalling out of Smithsburg encouraged me to hang with it.
At about 200 feet the thermal increased. I ( of course ) didn't have my
vario, but I guess from previous experience it was about 300 up. I held my
breath and kept turning, as the ground shrunk beneath me. Be cool.....hang
with it. Keep turning. Don't freak !!
The valley of Long Green began to open up as I climbed higher and higher. I
was drifting easterly due to the westerly winds and I crossed over Long
Green Hilll and continued into Harford County. I was now about 1500 feet
and still climbing !!!
At that altitude, I realized I didnt' have my parachute. I was only in my
training hill knee 'banger harness. No vario, no altimeter, no chute.
And.........climbing. I couldn't believe it!! Reminded me of the time I
launched off of Cape Henelopen and soared the dune at about 100-200 feet
over. I remember feeling "naked" without my chute and vario. Like now, and
I didn't like the feeling.
The ground shrank away. Baltimore city could be seen in the distance, as
could the northern reaches of the Chesapeake Bay to the SE. The landscape
was barren looking without the usual green of summer. But it was beautiful
non-the less. God I was getting high !! Nobody is going to believe this.
Arrrrrgh.
At 3000' feet ( guessing ) the lift subsided. I wasn't really sure what to
do. Do I go on a glide for distance? Or boat around and try and head back
to familiar landing options?
I continued to drift, as I thought of how unreal this whole situation was.
I was cold. Thank god it was a relatively warm day vs. the past week.
The thermal re-energized and I was once again crankin' and bankin' skyward.
By now I had commited to going wherever the wind would take me. Screw the
odds.......just roll with it !!! The mongo Falcon handled ever so sweetly
and I was grinning from ear to ear !! Thoughts of being on the cover of
Hanggliding magazine swept thru my head with each revolution of the wing in
the ever increasing lift. Yeah.....this was an epic flight.
By the time the thermal topped out, I must have been at least 5 k.
Visability was really good considering, and I was heading out across Harford
County. Or Baltimore County. Not really sure with the WSW drift.
The whole time I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for the ride to
end in a rush of sink. With each circle upward it was like buying time, or
life. Life life itself, should I wander off course in quest of greater
things or keep the course and stay in the security of known lift?
An old Telluride pilot buddy once told me; "Never leave lift" so.....I heard
Pauls' words and kept where I was. The lift was still there, but began to
weaken. I figured it was over, relaxed and looked around for the first time
in well........I'm not sure how long. You know how it is when you're
thermalling and going xc? When you hook your ride, you sometimes' don't
want to jinx it by relaxing and looking around. Well........I finally did
and got the jinx I was afraid of.
I guess by no longer focusing on my thermalling, I drove out of the thermal.
I glided for awhile in apparent zero "sink" but then......as I feared it
would, the bottom fell out.
The sink factor was pretty evident, even without a vario. You can just feel
the "drop" even though you know you're still gliding. Down, down, down I
went, losing altitude as quick as I had gained it.
I looked around for a suitable field to land in while I decended. The
partially snow covered landscape detailed the terrain exceptionally well,
but the terrain looked altogether different from the landscape I had taken
off from. It looked more like something from a National Geographic
magazine. Stark, completely snow covered and nothing civilized for as far as
the eye could see.
I set up an landing as best I could, and somewhat "Thumped" into the snowy
field. Embarressed, I stood up and checked for any damage to self or glider.
All was fine. I unhooked and looked about for a landing witness or other
such signs of civilization. There was only a lone figure standing off in
the distance, applauding my obvious less than perfect landing.
I squinted to see who my witness in the distance might be. He appeared to
be short, bearded and somewhat rotund. Next to him where a team of ( horses?
) or some type of beast of burden. As I squinted, I heard a hearty laugh,
as he seemed to enjoy my less than perfect landing in the snow.
The figure drew closer, as I collapsed my wing to prevent it from being
blown over in the surface wind. I swear I heard the faint jingle of bells
as they approached. That, and and that ever persistant laugh. Kinda like a
"ho, ho, ho".
Yeah......you guessed it. I wacked a landing right in front of the man
himself. Good old Santa and his eight somewhat tiny reindeer. Gee....what
luck. Scorned by a flying elf. Such is my luck. But....none the less I
had quite the flight of fancy, as is this story.
And such is flying a hangglider. A true flight of fancy. A dream quest.
Something that is real yet unreal. Kinda like childhoold or....our memories
of it. With every launch it is like a dream or story of ones' self driven
quest for doing something that only most dream of. Hanggliding is...and
always will be, a flight of fancy. A dream like fantasy like Christmas
itself.
And you know...thats' a good thing. Believing in the unbelievable is how and
why we have been able to achiieve our personal flights of fancy; Each and
every time we head out with gear atop our motorized sleighs in quest of our
flying dreams. Never stop being a kid, and dream vivid dreams of flight.
Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy New Year!
Richard Hays
( dreamer )
>From: Wuffo1@aol.com
>Reply-To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: cabin fever
>Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 17:08:00 -0500
>
>Somebody send in a flying story or something.? I's suffering froom a
>serious case of cabin fever here as I bet we all are.? Where's Lauren when
>we need her??
god, what a flight!!!
Great flying day today!!!! With some reservation, I went out to the new
hill ( Cow Pie ) figuring it would be too cross, but upon arrival I found
the winds blowing in steadily. I quickly set up and found the air to be a
surprising 10-14 mph straight in.
As I picked the glider up, it felt surprisingly bouyant, tugging at my
harness mains with increasing vigor. Birds circling overhead confirmed that
lift was everywhere, even with this mundane winter type day. Holding the
nose as low as I could, I pushed off with an aggressive run and was quickly
pulled skyward. Wow....what lift off a small hill !!
To my surprise, as I glided down the hillside, I continued to gain altitude.
Up, up, up I went, fearful of turning off course at my rapidly increasing
altitude. Freaked me out. I'd never gotten this high off this hill before.
I kept waiting for the bottom to fall out, but it never did.
At 70 feet, and with the overall temperment of the lift friendly, I thought
I better do a 180 degree turn, or commit to having to fly across the stream
ahead of me which...I'd never done before. No one had. So... I banked my
Falcon 225 quickly left...then right. I was still going up !!!
I tightened the turn to a full 360, waiting for the inevitable fall out. It
didn't happen. I continued to rise! Holy shit.....I was thermalling out of
this little training hill !!! One turn led to another and another and
another and another. I couldn't believe it ! Visions of Eddie Miller
thermalling out of Smithsburg encouraged me to hang with it.
At about 200 feet the thermal increased. I ( of course ) didn't have my
vario, but I guess from previous experience it was about 300 up. I held my
breath and kept turning, as the ground shrunk beneath me. Be cool.....hang
with it. Keep turning. Don't freak !!
The valley of Long Green began to open up as I climbed higher and higher. I
was drifting easterly due to the westerly winds and I crossed over Long
Green Hilll and continued into Harford County. I was now about 1500 feet
and still climbing !!!
At that altitude, I realized I didnt' have my parachute. I was only in my
training hill knee 'banger harness. No vario, no altimeter, no chute.
And.........climbing. I couldn't believe it!! Reminded me of the time I
launched off of Cape Henelopen and soared the dune at about 100-200 feet
over. I remember feeling "naked" without my chute and vario. Like now, and
I didn't like the feeling.
The ground shrank away. Baltimore city could be seen in the distance, as
could the northern reaches of the Chesapeake Bay to the SE. The landscape
was barren looking without the usual green of summer. But it was beautiful
non-the less. God I was getting high !! Nobody is going to believe this.
Arrrrrgh.
At 3000' feet ( guessing ) the lift subsided. I wasn't really sure what to
do. Do I go on a glide for distance? Or boat around and try and head back
to familiar landing options?
I continued to drift, as I thought of how unreal this whole situation was.
I was cold. Thank god it was a relatively warm day vs. the past week.
The thermal re-energized and I was once again crankin' and bankin' skyward.
By now I had commited to going wherever the wind would take me. Screw the
odds.......just roll with it !!! The mongo Falcon handled ever so sweetly
and I was grinning from ear to ear !! Thoughts of being on the cover of
Hanggliding magazine swept thru my head with each revolution of the wing in
the ever increasing lift. Yeah.....this was an epic flight.
By the time the thermal topped out, I must have been at least 5 k.
Visability was really good considering, and I was heading out across Harford
County. Or Baltimore County. Not really sure with the WSW drift.
The whole time I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for the ride to
end in a rush of sink. With each circle upward it was like buying time, or
life. Life life itself, should I wander off course in quest of greater
things or keep the course and stay in the security of known lift?
An old Telluride pilot buddy once told me; "Never leave lift" so.....I heard
Pauls' words and kept where I was. The lift was still there, but began to
weaken. I figured it was over, relaxed and looked around for the first time
in well........I'm not sure how long. You know how it is when you're
thermalling and going xc? When you hook your ride, you sometimes' don't
want to jinx it by relaxing and looking around. Well........I finally did
and got the jinx I was afraid of.
I guess by no longer focusing on my thermalling, I drove out of the thermal.
I glided for awhile in apparent zero "sink" but then......as I feared it
would, the bottom fell out.
The sink factor was pretty evident, even without a vario. You can just feel
the "drop" even though you know you're still gliding. Down, down, down I
went, losing altitude as quick as I had gained it.
I looked around for a suitable field to land in while I decended. The
partially snow covered landscape detailed the terrain exceptionally well,
but the terrain looked altogether different from the landscape I had taken
off from. It looked more like something from a National Geographic
magazine. Stark, completely snow covered and nothing civilized for as far as
the eye could see.
I set up an landing as best I could, and somewhat "Thumped" into the snowy
field. Embarressed, I stood up and checked for any damage to self or glider.
All was fine. I unhooked and looked about for a landing witness or other
such signs of civilization. There was only a lone figure standing off in
the distance, applauding my obvious less than perfect landing.
I squinted to see who my witness in the distance might be. He appeared to
be short, bearded and somewhat rotund. Next to him where a team of ( horses?
) or some type of beast of burden. As I squinted, I heard a hearty laugh,
as he seemed to enjoy my less than perfect landing in the snow.
The figure drew closer, as I collapsed my wing to prevent it from being
blown over in the surface wind. I swear I heard the faint jingle of bells
as they approached. That, and and that ever persistant laugh. Kinda like a
"ho, ho, ho".
Yeah......you guessed it. I wacked a landing right in front of the man
himself. Good old Santa and his eight somewhat tiny reindeer. Gee....what
luck. Scorned by a flying elf. Such is my luck. But....none the less I
had quite the flight of fancy, as is this story.
And such is flying a hangglider. A true flight of fancy. A dream quest.
Something that is real yet unreal. Kinda like childhoold or....our memories
of it. With every launch it is like a dream or story of ones' self driven
quest for doing something that only most dream of. Hanggliding is...and
always will be, a flight of fancy. A dream like fantasy like Christmas
itself.
And you know...thats' a good thing. Believing in the unbelievable is how and
why we have been able to achiieve our personal flights of fancy; Each and
every time we head out with gear atop our motorized sleighs in quest of our
flying dreams. Never stop being a kid, and dream vivid dreams of flight.
Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy New Year!
Richard Hays
( dreamer )
>From: Wuffo1@aol.com
>Reply-To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: cabin fever
>Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 17:08:00 -0500
>
>Somebody send in a flying story or something.? I's suffering froom a
>serious case of cabin fever here as I bet we all are.? Where's Lauren when
>we need her??
flight of delight
BRAVO!!!!!!! Rich.....
Excellent writing, I could picture every detail.....
Hope to catch back up with you for more
training.......
'til then M
Excellent writing, I could picture every detail.....
Hope to catch back up with you for more
training.......
'til then M
Mike Lee
How 'Bout That
How 'Bout That
cabin fever
In a message dated 12/17/05 10:19:57 PM, mshgflyer@hotmail.com writes:
Thanks Richard, we needed that!? Merry Christmas to all and to all a good flight.
Dan T
So cabin fever is setting in?? Well, let me tell you all about today !!!? My
god, what a flight!!!
Thanks Richard, we needed that!? Merry Christmas to all and to all a good flight.
Dan T
cabin fever
Hurray, Richard! Thanks for the story, Dad - and the moral at the
end! - Hugh
end! - Hugh