Learning to Fly!
Learning to fly has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. My father fueled this dream with stories of his time as a glider instructor just after the war.
Last summer I took a couple of lessons in a small single engined plane but I decided I wanted a simpler form of flight. I wanted to soar, to fly like the birds I'd watch, scribing lazy circles across the sky. I tried a tandem flight in a hang glider - that was better - but paragliding was the choice for me. I think it has changed my life!
Rush hour on Blue Grouse Mountain, 1500 feet above our landing zone on the lake side. My green Samba lies waiting.
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I take off and fly out from Coopers. From here I did my first cross country on my 20th flight, landing an hour later 8km up the next valley. What a feeling, to feel the rise of a thermal, to pull that wing into a tight turn and be whisked straight up like an elevator. What a feeling, to fly away like a bird and alight somewhere completely new! What a feeling, to be free!
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Kenan, another student, takes off from Blue Grouse. On the right, Kenan again, taking off from Mara Lake, 3000 feet above the LZ on the lake. From here I did two more 20 km cross country flights.
On saturday afternoon I got up to 6800 feet and headed south down the valley, using my height to cover as much distance as possible then thermalling back up over a hot clearcut logging area or a ridge or a rocky hillside. I landed in Endirby two hours and forty minutes after launch and Doug and Alf picked me up and took me back to our camp.
The next afternoon I took off and found I had a tangle in my lines - my brake line was mixed up with my "D" riser, causing my wing to fly as if I had applied right brake. Having to apply left brake to compensate meant my forward speed was reduced and I didn't feel as comfortable as I should. However, lift was good and I thermalled up to 9500 feet - wow what a view from up there! I tried to clear my tangle, lost 2000 feet then decided to go cross country anyway and as the glider wanted to go right, I let it. All the way to Sicamous, again jumping from thermal to thermal and topping up the height as I made my way north along the lake. In Sicamous I left the mountains and glided across the town looking for a safe place to land. I selected a school playing field again and landed without incident - school's out for the summer so the place was deserted. Somewhat sad that no one had seen my fine landing, I gathered up my wing and repacked it in the shade. Fifteen minutes later I was on the road with my thumb out, looking for a ride back down the lake. It took me an hour to get a ride! Nice cleancut guy like me!!?? What's the matter with this world!!
Flying Mara Lake marked the end of my ten day certification course with Paraglide Canada. I chose them as they came well recommended and I figured the weather would be better there than on the coast of BC. Glenn, the main man, and Wayne, his second in command, have vast experience and skill in the sport and were thorough with us in their pledge to turn out "thinking pilots". Until we were profficient we always had an instructor on the launch and landing zones to talk us through the flight by radio. Two additional instructors, Mike and Holly were on hand to assist with this part of the operation. Theory of flight and weather were well covered as we gathered on the ground or as we rode the truck back up to launch at one of the many local sites. Thanks guys, for getting me from zero to cross country in ten days!
Here's me flaring the wing for a landing at King Eddy.
What's
next? Well, I'm back on Vancouver island building the best outhouse in Black Creek, but
when that's finished I'm going flying again. August - should be good in Golden then ......
Well, that was written in summer 2000, for my latest paragliding exploits, check my latest news section
Where's
Pete now?