The Perfect Thermal

All righty then. Ive been putting off writting this little epic, but after just getting off the phone to Lee feel its time. I was a little dissapointed with a couple of aspects of the last days flying but Lee made me feel a whole lot better and put my mind at ease. Silly really, considering i class it as one of my best flights thus far.

Well Well Well, it all started last Monday when i went to Tambo for a fly. I had made plans with Kieth to crash at his house that evenning and fly the following day also. Getting to the hill was fine and i met up with Derk. After Derk launched Warick and Kathy drove up followed soon after by Kieth. The day looked awesome and we started setting up. Derk found it very easy to get on the ridge seeing that the winds were slowly getting stronger and stronger.

Unfortunately they got to strong and both Warrick and myself ended up not flying and packing up. But not before going to one of the top landing paddocks id not seen before for a look. It looked a bit dodgy but i think if you can land at Beachmont then the Long Road paddock shoud be fine. I think the fact it has a barely visible electric fence running through the middle of it was bit of a turn off but think ill give it a go one day.

As things turned out Warick and Kath stayed the night as well which totally rocked. I had taken what seemed my whole kitchen with me and later that night started on preparing a famous Singh curry. Im pretty sure everyone lliked it, but unfortunately Warrick found it all a bit hot and i thought he was going to die after the first bite (and i didnt even put chilli in it!). To his credit he finally got through it though, but not before a ten minute wait between bites for his mouth to recover. Anyway as it turned out it didnt get to much better for Warrick, he also wasnt able to eat the ice creams later for desert for fear the cold would hurt his teeth. Im actually laughing my head off reminising about all this. He did call himself a whimp that night (or fragile? cant remember exactly). But i think what he lacks in his dinning is made up by the fact he fly's exilarating Hang gliders. Something that is described by most as one of the most dangerously cool activities imaginable. Good on ya mate! and dont worry not many people read this blog.

Anyway the following day arrived and i was the first one to leave for launch. Arriving i was met by Josh and then soon after by my slumber party Buddies. Jay was also getting ready for a tandem. Soon after Lee and Kat rocked up and it was all one big reunion. I hadnt seen Lee and his fam for a couple of weeks due to Dalby Big Air and Inglewood. I also met the Managing director of the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia whom i had briefly met the day prior. We all set up and Josh was the first to launch. Kieth was next to follow and i think Warrick after him. I was lucky last.

Both Josh and warrick found it easy enough to get on the ridge, but unfortunately Kieth didnt last too long and started his approach to the bombout as i launched. Running off was good and i found lift immediately and thermaled a little in front of launch. I circled once then headed off to the right. It was then i made my first and only mistake of that flight. I turned to sharp in towards the mountain before getting appropriate height to clear any trees i may hit. After turning as sharp as i did i immediately new i might be in trouuble and quickly made the call to pull the bar in for as much speed as i could get and follow through with a very tight controlled turn. I pulled it off quite well but not before almost soiling my harness.

This has played on my mind for a while this week but after speeking to Lee was told i handled the situation extreemly well and its probably not something ill be doing again in a hurry. Actually he brushed it off quite easily making me think ive probably been over thinking it and building it up into more than it is. The fact that Josh immidiately got on the radio from above and screamed he thought i was going to die, as well as going on about it later that day didnt help either.

Anyway it took me quite a few minutes to compose myself and to get my heart rate down. I immediately hit lift and got to about 2500 feet in a matter of moments. The day was awesome and the relatively strong headwinds made for a pretty easy ridge soar. Not only that but there seemed to be alot of other lift around (thermals). Both Warick and i soared like legends and it was great to have the mountain to ourselves. We were also able to really talk over the radio with out fear of cluttering up the airspace. It was great to have a chat and help one another into lift and i was immediately reminded of when i hadnt had my license, watching, listening to other pilots flying with their friends, thinking how cool it would be to do that. Well now im living the dream. Ahhh shut up Ant! , get a life man!

Poor Josh stayed low alot of the flight but managed to get higher later towards the end. Im not sure what it was about the day but i ended up flying 1 hour 40 minutes before landing, and i landed not because i was tiered and uncomfortable but because i just though it was a good time.

Anyway a little after Kieth landed Kathy drove down to pick him up, but not before i said to Warrick, " hey if Kathy's going down would you like to see if we can go cross country and at least make the model airplane field?" That sounded good to Warrick and we both set our sights to getting as much height as we could before our arduose journy into the strong headwinds.
At one instance we got pretty close to one another at about 3 and a half grand. Warrick was the first to venture off the ridge a looked to be doing well before i decided to take the plunge. We managed to get out towards the bombout before i began loosing presious height.

I ended up getting extreemly low and had unzipped my harness to come in for a landing when i hit a little lift. I thought i had only just enough height to do one last circle and if i fell out then that was it. I was lucky enough to not loose any height and gradually started rising. I really worked that little thermal and within about 5 minutes had managed to core it beautifully. I went from being 350 feet above the bombout to almost 4000 feet above launch. It was a miracle save! Before launching i had put on for the first time a black silk balaklava in the hope it would stop my hair from getting ripped out by my harness. Well it did more than that! It also seemed to keep my face warm, especially when i breathed. It would in the cold atmosphere above act like a mini heater with every breath i took. A real good $20 spent there.

Once above the ridge i again decided to try my luck penetrating the Westerly. I did get a little further but i once more found myself in a flight saving thermal. This time i cored it like i've cored know other. I actually got into this turn where i didnt have to work the glider at all. I just found the perfect angle to bank and didnt move a bit. The glider just seemed to rotate by itself as i screamed up. It was actually the best thermal id been in (or i had just managed to core it better than the rest) It was a totally different feeling and i yelled over the radio that "this is the best thermal ive ever been in!" Unfortunately i forgot about poor Kieth in the bombout and i immediately heard a "shutup Ant!" come over the air waves. "Sorry mate" i said, "but it is!"

Anyway by this time Warrick had managed to do extreemly well and was about a kilometer or two infront of me. I decided that it was now or never and decided to pull out of my Perfect thermal before getting to far over the ridge again. I flew for a while longer before trying yet again to punch out. "hey Warrick" i yelled over the radio, "if you have landed and see me coming towards you talk me over because im not sure where im going". I was so commited to going on my first cross country i was a little disappointed when i realised it wasnt going to happen. Actually in the end i was more than relieved when i had made the decision to land in the bomb out.

Before landing Jay got on the radio form launch and said what are you two (Josh and I) doing? Are you going cross country or what? "Im landing" i said, "Im getting tierd of going out, loosing height then scratching my way to base again" and with that i found myself at the far end of the bomb out. I judged my height well and flew on my down wind leg of my aproach while at the same time unzipping and getting into prone. I turned just before the tree into final before seeing Josh do the same thing on the other side of the paddock. I pulled on the speed and gave a little flare knowing the wind was quite breezy on the ground. I effortlessly glided in for a perfect landing. What an awesome way to end an awesome flight. I looked around to see Kathy watching me and i was exstatic! Finally! Someone saw me have a perfect landing! And its a blue eyed blonde! Sweet!! "That was perfect Ant!" were the first words out of her mouth.

After landing both Kathy and Kieth went off to pick up Warrick, while both Josh and i packed up. Josh immediately called his girlfriend on the phone and organised a few thing with his work, while i just lay as stunned as a mullet shaded under my wing thinking of what an awesome flight i had just had. You couldnt wipe the grin off my face, and when seeing Warrick drive up and get out of the car it was like when Luke Skywalker saw Han Solo for the first time in 'Star Wars' after they had blown up the Death star. It was awesome! We had so much to talk about and we all immediately started reliving what we had just done. Even Kieth said "i may have bombed out straight away but hell! i enjoyed being in the bombout for 1 and a half hours watching you guys fly!"

Twenty minutes later we found our selve having lunch at the Outpost Cafe in Canungra. Half an hour after that we were back on Tambo. The other guys decided to go for another fly but i wasnt convinced. Knowing from previous experience that when i have had a good flight i should leave it at that. A little peer preassure from Warrick and Kieth and i found myself setting up once more.

Josh launched first and we watched as he went straigh down. Well i think this is going to be short and sweet i thought to myself. I was next in line but had to wait a while before going. The wind went to nill and even briefly started coming over the back. Eventually i got off. I headed the opposite way as Josh and managed to find a little lift but only for a few turns. I headed straight out to the bombout as i heard Josh say "now Ant i want to see one of those perfect landings ive only heard about but never witnessed."

I started my aircraft style approch with tonnes of height and noticed that the sock below was blowing East. This should be interesting i thought, ive never landed from that direction before. Josh in the meantime was giving us all kind of landing advice saying, "its not very windy down heare so you all better do a real hard flare."

Now its been a while since ive flown Velvet and i thought id have a bit of fun with it. To loose height i pulled the bar in real far and spiraled down real quick (probably about 6 tight turns). I thought what a great opportunity it would be to do one of those effortless Jonny Junior landings. I rode the base bare in on final and thought id do what Jonny does with ease but at the last second it all got a bit ahead of me and i stuffed it big time. I landed on my feet but ended up running and noseing the glider in. I felt like a real wanker and Josh managed to make me feel even worse.

Both warrick and Kieth came in for perfect landings thus leaving me wish i had stayed up the top. But then if i had stayed up the top i wouldnt have got to share in Kieths excitement on nailing his landing. Something he hasnt been able to do for sometime. Not only did he nail it perfectly but he also worked out as to why he's been having so much trouble. Well done mate!

After packing up we all got back to launch and packed our cars. After more congrats and hugs we all went our seperate ways. Unfortunately at the time i was still in bit of a bummer mood so i didnt enjoy the car ride home as much as i would have if i had not stuffed my previous landing. But im feeling a little better now and am focusing more on what a bought out of the day. I think i learnt more thermaling on that 1st flight than i did in the previos 3 put together, and my 1st landing was the best ive ever done as well. It was a perfect way to end an almost blemish free, almost perfect flight.

All up 1hour 50 minutes