Is flying season over?
As Christmas was as approaching fast, I learned that the company I started working for in September had a Christmas break. The company basically shuts down for a week between Christmas and New Year day. That unexpected vacation was certainly welcomed, and the first thing I thought of - where can I fly this time of the year. I don't want to let go of flying.
I would loved to go to Mexico, but it required a bit more planning and resources. The next logical destination was Florida. Close enough to get there by car in one day, and sunny/warm enough to have a possibility of soarable days in December.
The long term forecast wasn't too optimistic, though. High winds aloft, and some rain. But hey, it supposed to be very warm, hot even - much better than cold New England.
Natalia and I decided to drive early in the morning on Christmas day to cover as much distance as we could. Maybe even stop somewhere to do touristy things. Otherwise, not much planning went into this trip. Except I had just enough time to order a new tent - instant cabin from Coleman, and it was delivered to our home just a couple of days before the trip.
We threw all the clothes, we thought we would need in Florida, into the back of the truck (shell that I installed last year makes things so much easier), loaded the glider, and off we went.
Unfortunately, we didn't start early enough. Christmas day had a lot of traffic (I thought everyone would be celebrating!) and we also hit some very heavy thunderstorms. As the result, it took us 2 days to drive down with not much touristy things done.
We got to Quest Air Hang Gliding around 7pm. It was already dark, but fortunately Spinner was still in the office. He showed us where we could set up our tent, and where the clubhouse was.
The instant tent was really instant. Easy and fast to setup even in the dark. Very spacious, too, and good quality. Recommend.
- instant cabin
In 15 minutes we unloaded the truck, and drove into the town to have a dinner. The evening was very warm and pleasant. The food was good. Not a bad start of an unexpected vacation.
Flying
The next morning, December 27th, - forecast turned out to be right on the money - 15-20mph at 3k. Low cloud base. 10-15mph on the ground.
Quest folks were still running tandem operation, but solo flight wouldn't be much fun in those conditions.
By 4PM winds quiet down, and I went for my first tow with Joel Froehlich, tug pilot.
The tow up was easy and uneventful. My last tow was just 3 weeks ago at Tanner-Hiller, so I didn't get rusty.
The flight, however, wasn't long. I released around 3200' AGL and couldn't find anything that would keep me up. Even though sun was still picking through the clouds, the air was super smooth. Oh well, I expected as much, and it was nice to be in the air nevertheless.
- On tow over Quest Air
- Florida below
- Landing soon
The landing went OK, except I flared a bit too much for the conditions (there was still some wind around 5 mph) and glider stopped on a dime while I kept moving. It put me on my ass. But it didn't matter, I felt that I got the flare timing just right.
The rest of the flying days were very similar. I launched at different times on different days. Some tows were pretty bumpy indicating thermal activity, but the flights weren't much longer. 20 minutes on average. My longest flight was 32 minutes. My thermaling skills weren't good enough for weak December lift. Many pilots were struggling, but some were able to stay up for extended periods of time. So there was lift to be found. It was just very small and weak, requiring a lot of patience.
But not all was lost, even though my flights weren't long enough to keep me soar-happy, I found a new skill I was trying to get for long time - no stepper landings. I finally adjusted my technique and timed my flare just right. After I got the first one, I consistently landed with either a good flare or just a couple of steps (when it was still windy on the ground). Here is my first good landing at Quest Air.
Needless to say, I was pretty happy about that. Let's just hope I don't forget how to do that next season...
I also experimented with different VG setting on tow. I tried no-VG tow, 3/4 VG tow, and full VG tow. I didn't experienced any difficulties at any of those settings, and settled for towing at full VG for the rest of the week.
Here is a video compilation of my flying at Quest:
...
What else?
We spent 6 days at Quest and all 6 days I was flying. That was a nice break from winter blues.I've made new friends, and I've met old ones. I flown on the last day of the year, and I flown on the first day of the year. Awesome!
We dined at different restaurants every day to make it more vacation like for Natalia as well. She is not a pilot, but she enjoyed warm weather and not doing anything for the whole week. A few mornings we also made orange juice from fresh oranges that we picked ourselves on Quest's property. Can't beat that!
I also done a bit of photography. Not much comparing to other tips, but here are a couple of samples:
- December in Florida
- This is my spot!
Overall, an excellent trip. Very relaxing. I totally see doing it again in a couple of years.
Quest Air Flying stats: 8 flights, Airtime 2 hours 46 minutes.
2015 Season stats: 70 flights (40 of those are from aerotow), 41 flying days, Total airtime - 30:02
This was the best season for me so far. Here is again the video compilation of my season (without Florida trip as it was totally unexpected, and the video was done before that)
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