| Flight details: | I had always thought that rigid wing hang gliders needed pilots of sky god skill so it took some persuasion from Southern Club friends for me to believe that even with my modest ability I'd find them a joy to fly. With the idea that I could fly one planted in my head, it took a few months for the idea to grow into an obsession, and then a couple more months of scheming before I acquired my "new" secondhand Atos VR.
I collected it on Thursday and hardly slept for the next two nights with the anxiety and anticipation of not just my first flight but my first attempt at rigging it! Steve Elkins of Avian Hang Gliders, from whom I bought it, advised waiting for a nice light wind day to make the rigging easier and so that I could be all the more amazed by its impressive sink rate. I couldn't wait. My nerves were shredding and I had to get out and just do it.
So I arrived at Bo Peep this morning, on a less than ideal day, in a mixed state of trepidation and determination. Luckily for me Miles was there to give invaluable and generous assistance with rigging (thanks Miles, I owe you several more pints); and Cookie was there to offer coaching and gentle encouragement (thanks Steve, I owe you a few too).
Most of the usual suspects were there and, after rigging, most of us spent the next half an hour shivering in the car park while a snow shower blew through, then another half hour huddled in Miles's van, waiting for conditions to improve. Which, eventually, they did although it was still mostly grey and blustery with just the odd patch of sunshine on the fields out the front.
After my final preparations, Steve carried the glider to launch for me (I could get used to having a slave) and with a few more words of encouragement and a deep breath I launched. I needn't have worried. It was almost immediately apparent that everything they said about flying this glider was true. It is so easy! Launching, turning, speeding along in a dead straight line, riding th |
