A year and a half of doctors, specialists, insurance intermediaries, and drug coordinators to finally be able to have this view:
Health was slowly but surely worsening, bringing flying to a halt at the end of last season (the season in itself became more or less a write off after France). A brief respite was offered last Fall with one drug but with side effects it was not destined to become a long term solution.
But then hope. A drug regimen that could bring back a quality of life not known since mid 2013. There are risks (some potentially fatal), but what is the point to quantity of life if there is no quality. So here I am, plugged into an IV and getting pumped full of chemicals with one plan in mind - getting back into the air.
Cut to the following morning. FlyBC is the immediate target, the launch on Mt.Woodside is the ultimate goal. Upon arrival, things are little slow starting - the crew are awaiting students and tandems alike. It doesn't take for Jim and I to cross paths. Jim passes on that the Carrera+ line set kit should be in within a week. Aside from a few quirks - the initial brake travel deflects the centre trailing edge while leaving the tips unaffected (making it difficult to sense collapses without going well into the brakes) along the extremely short amount of play between the B+C risers (making A+C launches in strong conditions tricky) - I'd be singing praises to the moon about this wing with the feedback, handling and performance it has for a B. That said, rumblings from the interwebz hint that the kit might have swung the pendulum too far the other way - taming the tiger to the point of making it a house cat. For a few hundred dollars, I'm willing to take the chance.
Lounging in the barn, eyeing the launch webcam.
Looks like Degas is already up top and launching a pair of self landing students. The early days of being under instruction and having to be up at 5AM. Don't worry chaps - it gets easier (both with respect to flying and not having to be up before sunrise).
Then a 'Here!'
A dark mass hurtles my way.
A t-shirt. A new load of FlyBC branded wear just arrived. 'Shut up and Fly' remarks the back. Be in the moment, not a detached bystander I take it to mean. Very fitting in our social media age where posting about the event tends to trump the experience. Yes, I see the irony.
People filter in, the van fills, and we're off.
At launch, nary a wind this morning.
Oh well.
Tandems first, students second, then moi. I'm not being polite, just pragmatic. Students make good thermal markers - send enough of them out, they are sure to find something.
A few good launches, a few amazing launches (funny how you can spot the gifted ones fairly early) and Jim heads off to start collecting everyone at the LZ.
I hear a truck making its way up the road. This early in the day, odds are another school.
I like to think of schools as coming from one of two trains of thought - the German or the French.
The German school will lay the unattached wing out in the centre of launch and check every individual line from karabiner to attachment. Then they will clip in, perform their 15th preflight check, and wait. And wait. And wait. The elusive perfect cycle is out there.
The French on the other hand will preflight the harness and wing before packing it away. Then pull everything out, still attached, don the kit at the back of launch, preflight it again, and carry their rosetted wing out. The mass is tossed mid launch. The wind is used to work the wing into shape. The wing is then pulled over head, kited, and checked. If everything looks ok, they are gone.
Why do I mention this -> If a French school pilot gets in front of you - its no big deal, they will be in the air in a minute or less. If a German school pilot gets in front, break out a novel because its gonna be a while. The German school pilots are more commonly known in these parts as launch potatoes (I admit I am a reforming launch potato).
I fear this school might be of the German mindset and quickly get kit ready. The trucks pull into the parking lot. A FJ? I recognize it as belonging to Martina. Sigh of relief. No launch potatoes.
An entourage follows Martina up. Friends/family of a neighbour of hers who is going tandem.
A lesson in why kiting is an important part of launching soon follows.
Health was slowly but surely worsening, bringing flying to a halt at the end of last season (the season in itself became more or less a write off after France). A brief respite was offered last Fall with one drug but with side effects it was not destined to become a long term solution.
But then hope. A drug regimen that could bring back a quality of life not known since mid 2013. There are risks (some potentially fatal), but what is the point to quantity of life if there is no quality. So here I am, plugged into an IV and getting pumped full of chemicals with one plan in mind - getting back into the air.
Cut to the following morning. FlyBC is the immediate target, the launch on Mt.Woodside is the ultimate goal. Upon arrival, things are little slow starting - the crew are awaiting students and tandems alike. It doesn't take for Jim and I to cross paths. Jim passes on that the Carrera+ line set kit should be in within a week. Aside from a few quirks - the initial brake travel deflects the centre trailing edge while leaving the tips unaffected (making it difficult to sense collapses without going well into the brakes) along the extremely short amount of play between the B+C risers (making A+C launches in strong conditions tricky) - I'd be singing praises to the moon about this wing with the feedback, handling and performance it has for a B. That said, rumblings from the interwebz hint that the kit might have swung the pendulum too far the other way - taming the tiger to the point of making it a house cat. For a few hundred dollars, I'm willing to take the chance.
Lounging in the barn, eyeing the launch webcam.
Looks like Degas is already up top and launching a pair of self landing students. The early days of being under instruction and having to be up at 5AM. Don't worry chaps - it gets easier (both with respect to flying and not having to be up before sunrise).
Then a 'Here!'
A dark mass hurtles my way.
A t-shirt. A new load of FlyBC branded wear just arrived. 'Shut up and Fly' remarks the back. Be in the moment, not a detached bystander I take it to mean. Very fitting in our social media age where posting about the event tends to trump the experience. Yes, I see the irony.
People filter in, the van fills, and we're off.
At launch, nary a wind this morning.
Oh well.
Tandems first, students second, then moi. I'm not being polite, just pragmatic. Students make good thermal markers - send enough of them out, they are sure to find something.
A few good launches, a few amazing launches (funny how you can spot the gifted ones fairly early) and Jim heads off to start collecting everyone at the LZ.
I hear a truck making its way up the road. This early in the day, odds are another school.
I like to think of schools as coming from one of two trains of thought - the German or the French.
The German school will lay the unattached wing out in the centre of launch and check every individual line from karabiner to attachment. Then they will clip in, perform their 15th preflight check, and wait. And wait. And wait. The elusive perfect cycle is out there.
The French on the other hand will preflight the harness and wing before packing it away. Then pull everything out, still attached, don the kit at the back of launch, preflight it again, and carry their rosetted wing out. The mass is tossed mid launch. The wind is used to work the wing into shape. The wing is then pulled over head, kited, and checked. If everything looks ok, they are gone.
Why do I mention this -> If a French school pilot gets in front of you - its no big deal, they will be in the air in a minute or less. If a German school pilot gets in front, break out a novel because its gonna be a while. The German school pilots are more commonly known in these parts as launch potatoes (I admit I am a reforming launch potato).
I fear this school might be of the German mindset and quickly get kit ready. The trucks pull into the parking lot. A FJ? I recognize it as belonging to Martina. Sigh of relief. No launch potatoes.
An entourage follows Martina up. Friends/family of a neighbour of hers who is going tandem.
 |
| No pressure. You only have your mentor and entourage watching. |
A lesson in why kiting is an important part of launching soon follows.
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