Marshall 750 scratch at 1pm !
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:47 pmHad a fun 2 day session at Marshall, AJX this weekend 7/25-26/2015.
Winds were from 0 to 15 at different times during the day, in typical daylight cycle. S / SW... Clear skys, so plenty of thermalling.
Saturday: 1 launch from 750 at 1pm, 2 flights (with top landing) for 25 min, then 1 flight for 1:15 hr.
Sunday: 1 flight at 3:30 for 1:30 hr ? ish.
Super fun and thermic weekend, lots of airtime cutting my teeth- practicing the things I know I need to, learning some new lessons, and realigning my expectations of things like bump tolerance, active flying/smooth flying, thermal selection (all thermals are not created equal), launchin in strong cycles (we're not at Bates anymore toto), and distance/height estimation (ur, especially when the wind doubles and you are on a bit to low).
Bonus lesson: Setting up (or not) your GPS to fly a comp. route, which was my first step on that road. [i]Spoiler alert: I didn't fly the route at all since I forgot to pack the flight deck, and didn't feel like trying to duct tape my GPS onto my leg (though did pawn some tape from the 10 deltas setting up with me and Dave on Marshall Peak at the time..who says we can't live together in the same airspace after all).[/i]
Tops for the pros was like 7000 ft. i think I heard. Plus, watched the most spectacular save from about 300 feet AGL... to over 5,000, yeah, one thermal, not kidding... dang it's good to be a local and know the best spots.
Anyways, I guess one of the highlight lessons/adventures was:
- Scratching up (attempting to) from the 750 launch at 1pm. Since we missed a ride up on Saturday morning, I drove my van up to the 750 launch. We got off ok, but it was pretty punchy, being down low, and it being in the beginnings of the punchier part of the day. I had a valiant attempt? and benched up a couple figure-8s
, then decided that the effort and proximity to the terrain wasn't worth the rest of the ride, so ended up landing...and waiting till the day got a bit more organized, and when we could ride to top and enter the air in more 'organized' thermals.
Eventually, we got the bus up, launched and I got my first 'semi parachutal, stall thing'... came back and top landed thinking maybe it's too strong for me. But, got up again. Top landed one more time. Then flew for another 1:15 hr. I discovered my altitude limit... i psych myself out at 5500 usually...over about 1,500 to 2,000 feet over launch. Wierd, and I'm seeking expert advice and psychotherapy for it. Honestly, there's lots of ParaglidingForum topic threads on the very subject of beginner bump tolerance... and altitude fear...
All in all a successful weekend at Marshall. We even got to celebrate a birthday in the LZ, have our customary beers and say our goodbuys to friends.
Winds were from 0 to 15 at different times during the day, in typical daylight cycle. S / SW... Clear skys, so plenty of thermalling.
Saturday: 1 launch from 750 at 1pm, 2 flights (with top landing) for 25 min, then 1 flight for 1:15 hr.
Sunday: 1 flight at 3:30 for 1:30 hr ? ish.
Super fun and thermic weekend, lots of airtime cutting my teeth- practicing the things I know I need to, learning some new lessons, and realigning my expectations of things like bump tolerance, active flying/smooth flying, thermal selection (all thermals are not created equal), launchin in strong cycles (we're not at Bates anymore toto), and distance/height estimation (ur, especially when the wind doubles and you are on a bit to low).
Bonus lesson: Setting up (or not) your GPS to fly a comp. route, which was my first step on that road. [i]Spoiler alert: I didn't fly the route at all since I forgot to pack the flight deck, and didn't feel like trying to duct tape my GPS onto my leg (though did pawn some tape from the 10 deltas setting up with me and Dave on Marshall Peak at the time..who says we can't live together in the same airspace after all).[/i]
Tops for the pros was like 7000 ft. i think I heard. Plus, watched the most spectacular save from about 300 feet AGL... to over 5,000, yeah, one thermal, not kidding... dang it's good to be a local and know the best spots.
Anyways, I guess one of the highlight lessons/adventures was:
- Scratching up (attempting to) from the 750 launch at 1pm. Since we missed a ride up on Saturday morning, I drove my van up to the 750 launch. We got off ok, but it was pretty punchy, being down low, and it being in the beginnings of the punchier part of the day. I had a valiant attempt? and benched up a couple figure-8s
- 750 drive and launch at 1 pm
Eventually, we got the bus up, launched and I got my first 'semi parachutal, stall thing'... came back and top landed thinking maybe it's too strong for me. But, got up again. Top landed one more time. Then flew for another 1:15 hr. I discovered my altitude limit... i psych myself out at 5500 usually...over about 1,500 to 2,000 feet over launch. Wierd, and I'm seeking expert advice and psychotherapy for it. Honestly, there's lots of ParaglidingForum topic threads on the very subject of beginner bump tolerance... and altitude fear...
- therm/top land
All in all a successful weekend at Marshall. We even got to celebrate a birthday in the LZ, have our customary beers and say our goodbuys to friends.
)
