HG Training 16 NOV 09

A MUCH BETTER WEEKEND!!!!   I finally started to make some real progress, and I was excited about it.  I do know that I have to do a better job of keeping loose and stretching while training, since it's a whole different set of muscles than what I use cycling.

Hey Gang, As part of my series on "Wuffo to Birdman" I have to relate this weeks training at LMFP. Last week was a bit of a let down http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=14318 but this week was MUCH Better. One of the things I did last week was to really watch the other students as they made their practice flights. Not just watch to go "OH GOOD JOB" but concentrate on what they were doing, what the glider was doing, how things worked. Had a few AH-HA moments. The first one is that the big old condor gliders we use on the little hill REALLY REALLY want to fly. As soon as somebody took just a couple of steps, the side wires came tight, the wing took shape and it wanted to lift. Gripping it tight just killed it, but if you simply used your hands to 'guide' it, it would just fly nicely as can be. Second thing is that the short bunny hill REALLY forces you to have a good launch, since there isn't really enough altitude or time to do much if you didn't launch well. All but one of my launches were acceptable, and most were pretty good. The one really bad one, I stepped into a small hole on the run, then a bigger one, than the glider and I went sliding down the hill together. Lesson, look carefully at your chosen path for problems BEFORE you start to run. One problem I have to work in is that I was pulling in a bit too much after launch, carrying too much speed, but am about ready to start working on landings I think. My legs just got too tight on Sunday to do more than about 6 good runs, I figured that it was better to do fewer but really concentrate on each one, have a plan on what I wanted to focus on rather than just go thru the motions and not learn anything (or worse, learn bad habits). Really stoked now, I've upgraded from the weekend package to the VIP one, (lots of tandem rides as has been suggested by many here). At some point, the mountain is in my future, but it's been there for a couple of million years, it will be there for a few more months... but I'll get there. The quality of the training has been first rate. The instructors (Gorden, Dan, Scott) have all done a great job of explaining what a student did right / wrong, keeping the attitude light, helping us learn.

Explanations... the weekend package that I started with wasn't designed to get you certified, it was just an intro, included a couple of tandem rides, the VIP package that I upgraded to gives me all the time on the training hills I want / need, a ton of tandem rides, the equipment rental for my first 5 mountain flights, a years membership in the parent organization for hang gliding (for the insurance and things like that).  They gave me a very good deal, I've been quite impressed with how they have treated me.

Steve