it's all about flying
© Greg Hamerton 2006.
FRESH AIR is published whenever I feel like it.
Making the most of light wind days
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I thought I'd see if an FAI triangle was possible.
Getting up nice and high from launch (1800m asl) showed me there was a light westerly blowing, and I drifted out along the gravel road to Misverstand to get my next turnpoint. Conditions were mild, even though it was a scorcher of a day. When I got within 500m of the ground I could feel the air warming significantly. The thermals had narrow strong cores, but there were some long glides in between, so I topped up on everything I could find. I didn't fancy walking out in that heat.
Getting out over Misverstand Dam is a surreal experience, with the waterskiers and boats scribing little designs on the river beneath your feet. It's such a wide open plain here, quite picturesque.
I thought I'd pushed out far enough into the valley to place a turnpoint, but I see in hindsight that I needed to go another k or two into the flatlands. There's a nice road out here that runs parallel to the river on the eastern side, makes for easy retrieve. I cruised along the road, picking up a good climb downwind of the big grey quarry at
Piketberg. Now I was high enough to attempt the big into-wind glide to the south side of the Picketberg mountain.
Flying there was tricky, with the Westerly wind increasing and causing parts of the mountain to kick off turbulence. I pushed upwind as far as I dared, then turned out at the settlement and followed the tar road
towards Koringberg. Then it really started to get hard, with an increasing Westerly and the ground covered with vineyards (eating all the sunlight). I scrabbled around and landed after soaring a line of pine trees for about half a km.
Huh? I landed? You were expecting a triumph.
How can I write about a flight which didn't make it?
Well I heard a great quote yesterday, from a rock climber.
"If you aren't failing, you aren't pushing the boat out far enough."
So here's my speed on course : 14.5km/h
and here's the current world Record speed for a 50km triangle : 36km/h*
Clearly I have a lot to learn about flying triangles fast. But it was a lot of fun to try, and it was stress-free low-risk flying. It did make me realise just how good the world record-holder is, though.
So next time the wind is light, consider the triangle. It's a very challenging kind of flight, but it will hone your skills.
Speed over a triangular course of 50 km : 36.07 km/h
Date of flight: 26/07/2006
Pilot: Charles CAZAUX (France)
Course/place: St Hilaire du Touvet (France)
Paraglider: Gin Gliders Boomerang 4
Fly high, fly far
Greg Hamerton
ETERNITY PRESS
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