Touring the Mountain: Part 2

10AM start.

Greet the lads outside the pousada and shove the glider bag into the back of the truck.

Steve mentions a rather curious find by one of his clients that got sucked into a backyard party after a long XC the year previous. A rather phallic looking bottle opener that the hosts of the party sent him home with and has since been upgraded to the 'Dick of the Day' Award. Basically the 'award' is given by the current holder to a pilot who thought some course of action was a good idea at the time but ended up with a less than optimal outcome. Pretty good way to keep the lads in line in the air, if you ask me -> hazing and peer pressure can work wonders. Simon turns out to be the lucky recipient this morning because we have to start with someone.

Pile into the truck and off to the main LZ to meet up with one of the locals.

The bus for one of the local flying clubs.

Speaking of buses: Brazilians do nothing half way, including party buses.

The drive up is uneventful and arrive to again find the peak wrapped in cloud.

A quick briefing by Dean sets the goal for a short out and return based on the winds. Slowly get ready Dean advises, we will need to wait for base to lift a bit before launching.

Simon and Dean doing a brake line swap on Simon's Sigma 9.

Base rises ever so slowly...

Phil in contemplation of the day ahead.

The tourists are not sure who is crazier
- the ones chucking themselves off the hill, or the ones chucking themselves down it?

Dean gives a call of hurry up and get ready - gather he sees something he likes (or something coming he doesn't).

First launch of the day.
Brazilian for wind dummy (aka wind tech): boi de piranha
 -> the weak cow sacrificed to the piranha.

Phil is first off and shortly after he launches someone starts keying their PTT on our channel (wind noise and a vario are all we hear). We suspect it to be Phil, but are not sure. Calls to get the senders attention go unheard (or unheeded) so we jump to the retrieve channel and hope Dean can launch quickly, catch up to Phil, and let him know to switch over. 

In the meantime, Simon and I try setting up - working around a pair of Germans who are typically German in that they have laid out their kit to take up the main part of launch and are currently walking around enjoying the sights. There are pages of discussion on this very phenomena on PGForum - one is lead to wonder if it is a key part of the German flying identity.

We manage to make do and Simon is away first. My first launch is an abort, but the second is good. Everything thus far has been forwards - the winds still haven't gotten to the strength I like for a reverse.

An Ozone Delta 2 that seems to be following me everywhere today.

I see you up there, climbin' on up, climbin' on up.

Theres about a dozen of us in the air and it is a big site - so one would expect things not to get too close. But the climbs are weak and short lived, so everyone is milking wherever they can find and pimping off of one another as much as possible. The 1110m cloud base doesn't exactly help (when the norm is 1500 to 2000m).

This is a little cozy for my liking.
Remember objects in wide angle lens are closer than they appear.

My headset is on the fritz and I can barely make out what Dean is saying. It sounds like Dean has gotten a hold of Phil and they are heading off on the original flight plan southwards. I figure I am high enough to slip past the Cauldron, hook around the west side of the mountain, catch the southern ridge line and climb up before chasing after them.

Skirting the Cauldron. The climbs in GV are butter smooth except for here.
I've had a pair of 30% asymmetric collapses while in GV - both from this thing.

Almost there.

..and clear.

The southern ridge. No sign of Dean or Phil.

I arrive at the ridge with height to spare and begin hunting along it for lift. On the radio, I find out Dean and Phil went east along the ridge rather than over the back and south.

Hunting along the ridge. Not much here lift wise.

Diving in close, I try working every bubble I can find - hoping to climb out (or at least stay up).

Backtrack a bit, get in closer.

Appears I arrived too early. Slowly sliding off the hill, I start looking for landing options. Power lines (bad), roads (good), livestock (maybe bad) are the key factors in my hunt. All of the surrounding road accessible fields are too far off without a climb but there are sections of the hillside that could work. The launch access road is within reach (and makes for an easy retrieve back to the top of the mountain for a second go - either via Steve or a passing tourist). I radio out my location (the GliderHUD s/w tracks the point of launch and shows bearing and distance to it) and intention to set down along the road to launch. Steve and Dean both reply with confirmation.

My LZ.

Easy retrieve.

Not the prettiest of landings, but down and safe.

On the ground, I ascend to the plateau and begin packing. People pass by asking if I need a lift, but Steve is already on his way. A gent pulls up and starts chatting me up about him having gotten his citizenship in the US via military service and about his return to Brazil. Everyone here loves to talk - especially with the foreigners. Even if neither of you speak the same language.

Shortly there after Steve arrives and tag teams into the conversation (freeing me up to finish packing).

"I assume you want a second go?"

"Sim."

Round 2 in Part 3

Waiting for cloudbase to lift.

Touring the Mountain: Part 1.

The first flight down, the caipirinhas consumed @ the Joa*, and a day called.

Next day looks more promising - the ground is drying out so we should be able to find a bit more lift  and perhaps a bit stronger than 0.1 m/s bubbles.

Morning: Everything is charged. The most perplexing thing about Brazil are the power plugs. The old 'standard' (if you could call it that) was a blend of the Euro prong + North American blade in a single socket. If you can find one of these and your device has a built in voltage/frequency adapter in the AC-DC transformer (the boxy thing) - you are gtg. The outlets can come in either 110 or 220 V and I think are 60 Hz like NA - though I've been told 50HZ is possible in some places. Both 110 and 220 use the same plug form - but the 220 are typically marked.

Old plug. Note: both Euro and NA style socket combined.

The new standard resembles the Euro prong + a ground, but the form factor is beveled to a point at either end (so the standard rectilinear Euros won't fit). Type 'N' I think it is called. No one else in the world is using it. I imagine it might be an attempt to protect whatever appliance manufacturing there is in country (and to pull everyone together to a common standard?).

New plug. 

Breakfast: Starting to fall into a pattern at the pousada* - 7AM, fresh OJ, 3 pieces of cheese, 1 piece of ham, chocolate cake. Any place that has chocolate cake for breakfast gets a thumbs up in my book.

Breakfast layout. Meats, cheese, cereal, juices, fruit.

Let them eat cake!

'Bom dia' greets me as I take my usual spot away from all the larger tables with proper place settings (far too posh for my tastes - a simple table, chair, and fork is enough - eating is a function to me, not an experience - I am not one for sit down meals). I am sure the staff finds the quirks of this particular gringo concurrently amusing and annoying.

I just don't want to mess it up...

...so the empty table with the green chair is my preference. Need space for laptop anyways.

Back in the room, the phone rings - the front desk tries to communicate something involving 'asastyeve'. Then a 'un momento'. Then click, then nothing, then 'beep beep beep...'.

O..k..

5 minutes later - same thing.

Guess it must be important. Swing by the front desk - the lady is on the phone, she looks up and 'Maerek?' 

'Sim'

Hands phone over. Ahhh -> 'asastyeve' is Steve. I had the phone turned off overnight while charging. Word is we will be heading up the hill @ 10AM. 

Hand the phone back to the front desk lady. 

Query her: 'lavendar...'

Response: "Lavaderia? Sim." Starts flipping through the info manual - I suspect to find the price list. No dice. I had seen what might have been the price list in the info booklet in the room, but wasn't sure what it entailed. 

I point at my shirt.

'Sim.'

Then shorts.

'Sim'

Hoist leg, point at sock (I am down to my last pair - everything else is rather ripe after the coastal trip).

A laugh and a long explanation in Portuguese. That's not a good sign.

Ok, I guess only shorts and shirts? 'Obrigado' and back to the room.

A few minutes pass. 'Knock knock'.

Front desk lady. 'Lavaderia?'

Hand her the bag holding my laundry. She points at my feet. 

Socks, I guess. 'Sim', point at the bottom of the plastic bag. A nod and a smile. She and bag disappear.

Hope they don't burn my socks - have some really nice double layer hiking ones from the in-laws the Christmas before doing a month in Australia with a tent, a glider, and a sleeping bag.

Laundry out of the way and my kit is gtg. Hop into the hammock and begin typing up the first part of 'Let there be Flight'.

My writing desk.

My neighbour.

Neighbour trying to make a break for it.

Not so successful. Back into the pool you go.

9:59 - Steve appears with a  'So there you are!'.

Hey mate, I still got one minute.

'Publish', back into room, pack up laptop, grab kit and out to the truck. 

I have a feeling it's gonna be a good day.

I *REALLY* hope they don't burn my socks.

* Joa: a bar at the southern extent of the downtown core that has a degree of popularity with visiting pilots - likely due to the tables flanking both side of the sidewalk where local ladies would parade up and down every evening done up like it was Saturday Night on Granville Street. Word has it one should keep close eye on the tab as the night goes on, lest you find a few mystery drinks added to your bill.

* Pousada: Guesthouse - something larger than a BnB back home and widely varied in quality. When someone back home says a 'BnB', there is a expectation of a certain experience - here, a pousada can be anything from a rundown shanty shack with mosquito netting to a 5* luxury experience. The current place, the Jeito de Minas is much, much closer to the latter.

Onto Part 2:

Let there be flight: Part 2.

We wait.

The clouds lift and part a little.

We wait.

The slow trickle of tourists continue.

Dean gives a short briefing - effectively, this is a clearing day, the ground is wet, the thermals are weak - try to stay up.

We kit up quickly and layout on the north facing launch. Phil is first away, followed by myself, then Simon. Dean keeps watch on each of our launches and thus will be last.

Phil is off.

Dean lending a hand.

Simon in the background getting his Sigma 9 squared away. Get used to having an audience if you want to fly here - we are part of the attraction.

While we are getting ready, Phil makes a go at trying to climb out - pushing out further to maximize his distance over ground and have a better chance of locating a well formed thermal.

The wind is nil. Forward is the word of the day in my books. The thermals like to pop off out front Steve had warned us - so don't expect much wind on take off - even mid day (except when the high summer sun cooks both sides of the mountain to result in a dust devil spawning mass of churn).

This will be the inaugural flight for my custom PG HUD software on the Recon Instruments Snow 2. The Snow 2 were built specifically for skiing/snowboarding and run on a custom fork of Android OS Rev 16. Having been the Android guru for one of the local tech start ups - seemed like a no brainer to give it a go at writing an app that would better suit my needs.

Lower left is flight duration.
Above it is altitude in meters.

Lower right is ground speed.

Lower Center is a MFD (MultiFunction Display) that flips based on context between vario, glide ratio, and height above launch. In time it will also include the thermal 'dot' to mark guesstimated location of the core.

Middle is the compass.

Above the compass are a variety of bearing/distance markers. The green inverted arrow above is the direction and distance to launch in km. There are also markers for guesstimated wind direction and strength (in kph), line of travel, and direction/distance to next turn point (if a task/waypoint list is uploaded).

Connectivity with a XCTracer Bluetooth vario is underway and looks promising. But today I am running strictly based off of the internal GPS and gyro/accelerometer built into the goggles.

The focus of this flight is of course familiarity with GV but I will also be looking at testing the apps ability to display correct ground speed, heading and altitude (as compared to a Flymaster NAV). Distance/direction to launch will also be looked at.

Launched and away.

In the pod, check for traffic, settle in. A glance at the goggles and one at the Flymaster - altitude within 50m of one another, speed spot on. Heading looks ok. A turn east and a glance back to launch - yep the green arrow shows launch where I came from and 0.3 km away. Sweet. Test done. Time to get to work trying to stay up.

And work it is. There are 0.1 m/s bumps of a second or so duration, but aside from that - nothing with any meat to it. The flatland fliers from the UK would make short work of this stuff - but those of us 'raised' in the mountains are going to get a quick lesson in down shifting.

Simon dropping in for a visit. Bet he is loving this stuff.

I push out like Phil ahead and below me. I am hoping he will mark a climb while I am still high enough to capitalize on it. I see him circling and climbing ever so slowly. Then the Urubu appear. The Urubu are the answer to the glider pilots prayer for a mobile thermal marker. These large black vultures are completely unbothered by gliders, have a similar sink rate and are lazy (they only take good climbs). Steve pointed out - watch the Urubu - where they are coming from and where they are going and remember that there are only two reasons for them to circle - a thermal or carrion.

A gaggle of Urubu form to my right, time to pay them a visit.

I slot in with the birds as best I can (Dean mentioned they don't aways pay the best attention to us - especially our lines - so make sure they are aware of you - including shouting at them if they get too close). More close in to bring our little gaggle to a dozen or so. Together we climb. And then as quickly - they are gone.

And so is my lift.

Phil is down in Jurassic Park and it looks like Simon might be on his way there. There is no chance of making it across the river and with no birds in sight - best to figure out LZ options now. Steve made it clear to have the LZ sorted out up high here - especially when it comes to power lines -> make sure there are none before committing to a particular LZ. Options - have many.

Jurassic Park below.

Touch down to find Steve already waiting with the truck running and the AC on full. To the local pilots bar across the river we go in search of cold caipirinhas and debrief by Dean.

Flight one down and the HUD software is showing promise. 

Finally.

Continue with 'Touring the Mountain'

Tiny launch.

Hows your Sunday?

Let there be flight: Part 1

The night before, the faintest glow of a sunset - could the clouds be departing?

This morning, mostly overcast but with blue patches. Me thinks we might be getting some airtime today.

Word is Steve will be by @ 10. There is no rush as we will wait for things to clear up - the launch on Ibituruna is still in cloud. This gives us time to do a scout of the three LZs - the main, Feria da Paz on the north side of the river and the two bailouts - 'Jurassic Park' (more officially known as the Municipal Park) and the 'Tick Field' (due to the need for long pants if hiking out).

The Main LZ - lower left across the river. This is officially the only place one can fly over the river due to the approach/departure vector from the airport. Height limited to 1,000 feet.

BailOut # 1 - 'Jurassic Park's light concrete parking lot to the right.

BailOut #2 - the 'Tick Field' to the right of centre beside the river. It is to the East of Jurassic Park. The brown hints it is inundated due to the unusually heavy rains recently.

Upon arriving up top of Ibituruna, I can now claim I reached cloudbase in GV.

Burn (off) baby, burn (off).

Thankfully one of the local HG pilots set up a small bar to help pilots kill time and cater to the stream of tourists wanting to get the best view around....

Bar to the right.

They have drinks and wifi, what else do you need - aside from sun.

Quite happy to run up and down the HG ramp (ending in a rather large drop off), but strap a wing on - not a chance they say.

The first flight of the day - by a quadcopter/drone.

all under a watchful eye...

Come and lay out your wing.

Onto Part 2