Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Whispering wind

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I was on the freeway by 10am and pushing hard to do the 140km ASAP. Sometimes the speeds went higher but only when the coast was clear of highway patrols and speed cameras. The sky was dark and grey thanks to a vague and perpetual layer of cloud that dropped light drizzle during the whole trip. I forged ahead despite its threat to kill any possibility of a flight. At the halfway point the fuel icon lit up which meant I was down to the last 9 liters, probably enough to cover the rest of the trip but I wasn’t going to risk the flight because I ran out of gas. Airtime is too rare these days. I rolled into the Caltex at Swansea, 30km short, filled the tank and five minutes later I was on the road heading north into Newcastle.

The rain stopped just before I arrived at Merewether. The hill faced squarely into the cool, 18 knot SSE sea breeze while a lone hang glider meandered back and forth above the launch. The deliberate figure-of-eights and red streamer flying off the kingpost identified it as a trainer. At the edge of take-off Tony Barton stood alone, rugged-up in winter gear to beat off the cold, his hands holding a radio close to his face while he looked up to observe the student’s every move. From a distance Tony’s instructions were just a murmur as he coached his charge, then he slowly glanced around and offered a nod and a smile before returning his full attention to the student. I rolled the glider off my shoulder and didn’t slow down to set-up but I did look up once or twice to catch a glimpse of the soloing student. Each time made me grin, half in admiration of the pilots’ new found freedom, half in the anticipation of being airborne in about 15 minutes.

Just as I launched the drizzle started again so I set a course for the strongest lift in front of the eastern face. Maximum height was the ideal holding pattern to ride out the wet while the rain passed by. Tiny beads of water quickly coated the sunglasses and basebar, both good measures of how wet the Mylar got, and a look upwards revealed beading along the leading edges. As the droplets coalesced and grew on the top surface the airflow deteriorated and the wing confirmed this with a diminishing performance and poor handling. The turns insisted on being progressively flatter, and faster, and there was an increasing margin above the usual stall speed. I pulled on a full arms length of VG and the subtle and increasing tendency for the nose to 'nod' disappeared.

I eyed the full deck of grey cloud in all directions and waited for improving conditions but at the same time I already felt that inner relief tinged with euphoria, the contentment that descends the moment that last step gives a final push to launch hang glider and pilot into the air. I was no longer confined to the direction of a highway or the limit of a speed camera, or the authority of the police, or anyone else. Movement now was free and bound only by the imagination. Flying straight, turning, flying level, sedately, quietly soaring over the ocean remote from the land-based life. Freedom.

Gradually the rain stopped and the sky brightened-up as the cloud deck thinned. The glider began to dry out. Small cumuli could now be seen within the general cloud cover and soon waves of lift started appearing as lines of slightly darker water on the ocean surface, ‘sets’, that moved-in perpendicular to the wind direction, mild at first but increasing in strength over the next hour. The intermittent increase in altitude gave a stark contrast to the lower and slightly longer lulls in between the waves of lift. Good timing with each sweep of the instability allowed for a jump to and back from adjacent headlands north and south. At any one time a look out over the ocean showed three to four equally spaced, parallel lines of instability that arrived like clockwork.

I rode the waves of instability and flew into the afternoon. The lift lines continued to get thicker and more defined and now and then a bulge along the leading edge of the squall would catch the eye, so I waited from up high before spotting the next one. It was about 500m upwind so with VG 'on' I flew a course to intercept and eventually reached it at about 300’ ASL over the beach. Right away the sink slowed and smoothly reversed into solid lift of about 400’/minute. I continued straight ahead, eased off the VG and let the glider settle-in at trim and watched the headland in the distance drop away relative to the next one behind. I banked to the left and once the turn was established was 'on rails' in the smooth seabreeze. It’s the middle of winter at a cold and overcast coastal site so I expected the lift to die out before too long. But it didn't. The first few circles were telling, they connected with a constant climb rate as the glider threaded its way up to higher altitude, and well away from the cliffs and ridge lift.

I circled and drifted and watched the beach, surf and headlands drop away. The positions of the hills out to the west were a good gauge of climb and I had double launch height in short order. I re-centered a few times mainly to correct slightly upwind and watched Lake Macquarie and Speers Point, both about 10km away, come into view. The big construction cranes 5km away lined up with Mount Sugarloaf in the distance and a few more turns had them dropping out of alignment altogether. I quickly passed through the first thousand feet and the climb rate didn’t vary one bit. I looked up to gauge how far away cloud base was and felt there would be some drifting involved to make the link, and there was no coming back once committed. Today was the day for a XC from the coast. I was flying to a timetable and had other commitments so the opportunity was passed-up so the rest of the afternoon was spent staying within reach of the car. The rest of the flight was a mix of ridge soaring and biding time before circling in the next thermal, getting as high as possible before straightening-up and gliding back to the coast. Still great fun but I wish I could have gone with it.

These were rare conditions. It only happens a few times a year and usually at the change of season but to get really good climbs like today is special. The thermals were most consistent and strongest at about 2pm. At that time the drift direction had improved and gave a tailwind of about 30kph. Inland the clouds looked flat bottomed, tall and about 7000-8000’ AGL. A three hour flight with a conservative pace would have given a fantastic tour of the Hunter Valley, despite the early twilight at this time of the year. That would have been something really good to write about.

I landed, packed the glider and harness, loaded up the car and drove out of the carpark. Soon I was back on the freeway.

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Air Europe

Here is my latest video, to watch click on the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7134W_G7Tpg
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Winter is all but here and the flying has thinned out, plus our video camera stopped working a while ago so I am out of footage to edit. No more clips until next season I guess.

I have always liked the music from the French duo Air. I first heard their songs on a cassette player in a German hire van in 2000 while traveling through Europe with two buddies; Mick and Al. We traveled through Austria, Italy, France and a little of Germany in the Buchbinder van with our hang gliders strapped to the roof. Mick had brought some really good music. Apart from Air I also remember listening to a lot of Tonic, The Verve and Powderfinger. Driving over the Ferker Pass in Switzerland at 2am under a full moon, along the Italian Aps or through Bavaria, there was almost always some music to accompany the moment. Sometimes it was front and centre and loud, other times it was subtle and quietly playing in the background, other times it was turned 'off'. We all had similar appreciation for the music and the appropriate time when to 'turn it up', turn it down', or to have none at all.
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Breakfast in a French B&B: bagettes, beurre frais, confiture, et cafe (bien sur).


It was my first taste of cross country flying and I had two very experienced and skilled mates to show me how it was done. For more than two months the three of us traveled through Europe flying at some very spectacular sites and meeting a lot of people along the way. I literally had about 5 inland flights under my belt when we took off in the 747 from Sydney, I had never been to Europe and we were going to some of the worlds best flying sites. But my inexperience didn't prevent me from realizing I was diving in at the deep end. I did however have a heap of hours flying on the coast and I was confident with launching and landing so I was thinking I was pretty safe. Besides, I had Mick and Al to help me out but nevertheless I was still filled with a lot of anticipation. And as traveling companions these two guys were the best.

Glienkersee, Windischgarsten, in Austria.


Mick is a very funny guy and we discovered his sense of humour transcended any language and cultural barrier. Many a night we found ourselves dining as guests of local pilots and often enough Mick had everyone in fits of laughter. He is a very skilled pilot and does everything with aplomb; aerobatics, crosscountry flying, instructing students, landing in a tight spot... You see him fly and something catches your eye. All of these photos are from Mick's photo album.

The LZ in front of the 'Flyers Bar' at the base of Kossen, Austria.


Al's dry sense of humour was a perfect counterpoint to Mick's flamboyant take on things. Al has been flying for decades and has achieved atleast one world first in a hang glider. He is a doctor by trade and speaks with a lot of understatement so it took me a while to really appreciate the exploits of his pioneering spirit. He was one of the first to open-up the reknown Borah/Manilla site in NSW but Al's most notable achievement took place in the 1990's when he was the first person to soar the morning glory in northern Australia. As we traveled from village to village, and flew each new launch, and as we met other European pilots I slowly recognised how inspirational Al's flights on the morning glory were to a lot of people around the world. The Europeans knew of Al and his unique flights long before we arrived and many rolled out the red carpet in honour of his accomplishment.

High over Larangne, France.


Those two months went by quickly. We flew as much as possible. Above central France, Larangne, and Chamonix in the French Alps; Bassano at the foot of the Italian Alps to Monte Cucco near the Mediterranean; to the top of The Wilder Kaiser, 'The Kings Teeth', in Kossen and Windischgarsten in Austria. We saw Europe from the air. We nearly lost Mick and Al forever due to some lethal, continental sized cloud suck over Castelluccio, Italy. I phoned my dad (who was in bed back in Australia) from 12,444' over France, a height I never ever dreamed of after only a few years of low altitude coastal flying. And there were so many more good times like these.

The sign says it all...


We, the three of us and everyone we met, were initially drawn together because of our common pursuit of flying but flying also served as the ice breaker. It was a common passion that quickly connected us to many other people. Experiencing the cultural differences was a unexpected reward for our travels and worth the trip on its own.

Soaring over Monte Cucco, Italy.


As the three of us meandered though Europe we left a wake of good times, spectacular flying and new friends. All the while Micks tapes filled der Buchbinder with memorable music where ever we went. Those songs and instrumental tracks still take me back to the places we visited and remind me of those special times.

I have combined the track All I Need with footage of a classic day of where it all began for me, soaring over the east coast of Australia.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=7134W_G7Tpg



Air, their first album

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