Session #17

Site: Kiwanda

Conditions: started out 10 then 12-14 then last was 20+

Harness configuration: bare glider

Assistance: none

Launch: not comfortable with directional control so no attempt to swing up.

Number of flights: 3

Landing: OK, not great, nothing touched the ground.

First flight was from the top of the first bench in what I recall was about 10mph. I did a poor job of controlling direction and basically swung my legs to nudge right and left. Not sure if I’m doing this because the rudder sleeves are hard to access when hanging vs when up in the cage. Kept up my airspeed and had a reasonable landing but needed to run it on a bit. The second flight I went a bit further up toward the top but not past the summit bench. Wind was about the same and my flight was slightly better but still not even thinking about kicking up. Just not comfortable yet with directional control or airspeed. I believe it was 11:15 when I finished my second flight which was captured by someone watching. The last flight the wind had picked up for sure and I was kiting up the hill at least partially. I went on up past the summit bench to where I had been launching from last year and it had to be blowing 18-22. There was a fair west component so the launch was mainly an issue of picking a point where I felt I had directional stability. It took me a while. With that much wind I don’t get to run really at all. Must have been tense on directional control because I soon found that I couldn’t get the glider to turn right. I finally looked out at the right rudder to confirm it was deploying and it was. I immediately concluded I had unintentionally twisted the left rudder and was holding it as I tried to go right. When I released it the glider responded right away since I also was having to work at keeping my airspeed up during this turning attempt. It came around quickly and I had to correct to keep from over turning. Came in hot and a bit hard on my feet but no bruised heels.

Take aways today are;

1. More than 5-8 mph smooth, steady air is too much for me to work on kicking up. I am totally overwhelmed just maintaining directional and pitch control.

2. The times I have managed to get into the cage were very light (less than 5, ref. Last year) and then a guess of 12mph for session #13 which was the first time I tried bare glider config.

3. Footage shot from tourist shows me attempting to control direction by swinging my legs all over the place. Really need to get back my confidence and muscle memory of depending on the rudders.