| FLYGIRL is going hunting....in De Aar |
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 Snork happy to see flygirl after strng wind flight And so I have returned to the Fairest Cape, not a little sad. I really planned to go out and fly hard and I did try the first 4 or 5 days. However the 160km I was looking for did not come my way. I failed to fly even 100kms. The others had great flights despite the fact that De Aar is still so uncharacteristically green and wet. Young Damien , an ex-student of the Pansi's flew his first 100kms and so did SOLboy - in fact SOLboy went and did it twice the same week. Ulf also flew good mileage as always, including his own 119kms. And what happened to Flygirl? Over the next few days I hope to put some words to internet and upload more images. It is a sad day when flying 70km and 80km flights fail to satisfy. I am quite distressed about this attitude and hope to find out where I went wrong - forgetting the journey and only looking forward to the Goal and then being disappointed by missing it by a long way. It is telling that my best most enjoyable flight of the whole week was a 34km wander around the Karoo for an hour and a half. I flew with vultures for the first time ever in De Aar which was as absolutely fantastic as flying with their brethren in Piedrahita...but it was such a lovely flight even before that. What made the difference? I endured long walkouts and even longer retrieves - this habit of mine not following the main roads is really quite exhausting. Cellphone reception was worse than I can remember it ever being and I really am going to be working hard at finding an alternative to this dilemma. It can ruin a good days flying not to mention being dangerous. But the lack of cellphone reception was not the problem. The problem was my mind as always. You have to be so strong for the long distance game. Just look at Rafael in Brazil. He is still going out there and flying 200 and 300 almost 400km flights weekly. How does he do it? Flygirl wants 160km plus BAD, but I messed up over and over. I cracked under pressure. When I flew those 100km plus flights in the past, I was out having fun. I was enjoying myself and just going with the flow. And that, I now realise, is when I fly well. Setting myself a fixed target of 160kms and settling for nothing less was a big mistake. Anything less than a 160kms flight for me was worthless in my mind. How could I wander off the path so badly? The 34km flight was an anomaly. It was the only flight I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a day I decided was impossible for me to crack 160kms so I just went out and flew for fun. Without the pressure I had a ball. I did not care that it was only 34kms at the end of the flight. I had fun and was in seventh heaven for the whole flight. When the Golden 2 proto unloaded on half speedbar exiting a thermal I whooped in excitement. When two vultures came in and joined MY thermal followed by three, four and then seven all thermalling with me, I was ecstatic. I was sad when I landed but I also had a great big smile on my face. You would have thought I had just flown 100kms. That flight made me realise a few things....but it was the next one that really brought it home. The next day I was back on the Shaolin. The wind was strong and forecast to pick up even more during the day. The thermals were powerful but there were lulls in between and they were long enough to launch a glider and get onto tow. Jaco got away first. Earl and I were hesitent to follow as the conditions were strengthening all the time. But neither one of us backed down and it was Earl who launched next. He released low with the tow vehicle hardly down the runway. It was too low in the strong wind and he never got up. Instead he landed behind the fence and was dragged. I was next. I had made the decision to go and I stopped all emotions right there and then in order to do so. I knew that the lulls were still long enough for a launch, but there was no doubt in my mind or anyone elses, that I was going to hit the big thermal that was blocking the wind whilst on tow. I launched cleanly and as I cleared the runway the winch began to scream and I was going up fast. I held and held until I felt I was near the upwind side of the thermal and then released. It was a good climb. Rough but not unmanageable. In fact I was quite surprised at how benign the air was considering the wind and thermal strength and was thinking that this record attempting thing was not so bad after all. Up high the air was fine, almost smooth. But low down....... aikona! I had a save at about 20kms on the Hanover tarred road that made me feel icy all over for the first time in the flight. I was suddenly very aware that I was flying in conditions I had never experienced before. The wind was increasing and at this point I found myself blown away from the tarred road towards a parallel dirt road and lots of powerlines, although they were still far below me. I was unhappy about leaving the 'safety' of the tarred road as that was where Martin was shadowing me in my car and keeping contact with me on radio. The air was just so BIG. I started to feel that I was caught up in something much larger than myself and that I had perhaps invited myself to a party that was more than I could handle. I felt on the verge of losing what little control I had over my own destiny. Instead I should have seen it as being on the verge of taking hold of my destiny. It was without doubt a day to harness the air and go for the SA Ladies Record - if my mind was strong enough for it and I could work with the elements. I did experience a wariness about landing. Jaco had already landed at Hanover, deciding to call it quits warning of strong wind on the ground. I was the only one still flying. Was I being stupid? I knew that this was the wind that gave a pilot an opportunity to fly far fast. But I also knew that this direction, Hanover, led to the mountains at 90-100kms and I would have to go over them if I wanted 160ms. I am afraid of mountains and I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that I was not going anywhere near them in this wind. I did not want to land when I did land. I missed a thermal over a farmhouse because I was overly concerned with not being trapped in powerline territory whilst working a low save. The wind was tracking me fast. I felt the thermal to the left of me, but chose instead to fly forward of it into a clear area of veld where I landed fast, messing up my quick releases again but still being lucky enough to dump the glider in the 'velcro' Karoo bush and then grab a wing before the full force of the thermal hit me. 50kms in one hour. My fastest flight. An interesting experience that I have to think more upon. Later. These were my Open Distance flights for the week: 06 November 2007 - 68.9 km Leonardo Light wind day. Cold but great flying, Earl did 100km plus.
Des about 50km. She had not intended to fly as she has a really bad cold, but I think seeing me get away and radioing in my progress may have spurred her on :-) Arnold about 30kms Martin landed at Hydra Not sure where Johan flew. His glider is on its last legs which might be worrying him. New holes keep appearing as the fabric tears. He has ordered a new glider. Earls landed around 6pm - we flew all day - no wind to speak of - very reminicent of Manilla - lovely air. 07 November 2007 Ulf flew 69.1 kms today on his Swing Arcus 4.30 and it was also his turn to have the best flight of the day :-) Leonardo Czech pilot Martin flew just short of 60kms to near Hanover. Earl and I messed up our flights in our first thermal and did not get a chance to do a second take off. Flygirls Tracklog on Leonardo We both thought long and hard before deciding to follow the other two. First time I have launched on winch and been blown backwards whilst still attached. Good experience. Not too bad if you change mind set and decide that it is perfectly normal and you are going up (like how you view a thermal) The air was fine so I just hung in there whilst Des paid out the line, felt a stronger part of the thermal and released into it. Nice climb. Air was actually not bad although I did spend the majority of my flight looking up at my wing. Both Earl and I got bounced quite a bit and I had one big collapse. Martin spun his glider cranking it into a thermal high (he said the glider would not bite into a strong thermal) He flies a Gradient Avax SR7. Fell for awhile putting it all back together again. Then wandered around before flying on. I landed going backwards and messed up with my quick releases and ended up running fast to catch my wing :-) Got to practice my quick release landings under pressure. Thank goodness for karoo velcro :-) Later on the photos and stories - gotta do some work now!
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