Smooth sailing

I did some of the nicest glider flying I've done so far on Sunday.  It was totally overcast, so there wasn't a spec of lift around, but it meant that the air was as smooth as silk......extremely nice conditions for flying :-)  Off the winch, trim for 40kts and just cruise.  The flights are short, but man oh man is it nice while it lasts!

A couple of weekends ago I got to do the hangar flight.  The hangar flight is the last flight of the day and we had been taking off from the Southern end of the main strip, so in order to get the glider back to the hangar, you simply fly it up the strip and land it at that end.  The awesome part about that is the fact that you're cruising up the strip at 50+kts and only a few metres off the ground in 'ground effect'.  Very, very cool :-)

Hmmmm

Well, Mother Nature hasn't done anywhere near as much cooperating as I'd hoped. In fact, I think I'm going to officially call this the worst season I've had kiting since I started. Of course, it's not ALL her fault, but on the times when I've been able to actually get to the beach, she's been sending all the wind to Tarifa or somewhere......

I've recently taken up full size gliding and I must say, it's provided me with a whole new thing to be addicted to. It's *very* good fun and comparatively cheap when compared to flying powered aircraft. Add to that the lack of engine noise and vibration and the spectacular visibility afforded by a glider cockpit and....well....I can't imagine why you'd want to fly anything else really!  This is where I'm learning to fly.  If you've never flown in a glider, I highly recommend taking the opportunity if it ever presents itself.