XC Course Day 5 again (the day)

Now you can also see what we did before and after the flight, not to forget the launches, and how to communicate with horses and Russians ;-)

Ager hot and dry

Just something while I'm working on the last video's of the XC Course. A nice flight in hot and dry Ager (Spain) of last month.



What a splash!

XC Course day 5

SORRY I FORGOT TO SET THE VIDEO TO 'PUBLIC' ;-))

The wind on Monte Cucco was a lot stronger than the day before. We waited until 15.00 before everybody launched. At first it wasn’t very easy to get up, but some of the pilots made 3350 m! The task was to the south to the biggest factoryroof in Umbria. On the way we crossed the windmills and it was a very nice flight as we flew most of the task together.

Watch Aaron, Harry, Makbule and Dimitry fly the task of day 5

Please be patient, the other movies will be online in a few days... Getting back to work :-(

My flight on day 4

XC Course day 4

Monte Cucco South Launch was THE place to be! We launched from 13.30 hrs but the first part of the flight scared most of us! I even checked if I had forgotten to close some zippers, or to put the nosecap on as my glider had a mind of it’s own. The house thermal was pretty angry and it was even the nastiest thermal Dennis was in for a long long time.

Most of the pilots flew the whole task: Monte Cucco – Scheggia – wind turbines – Monte Cucco – Gubbio – Monte Cucco. Cloudbase moved from 2700 m to 3400 m with some nice clouds. Most pilots had ‘first’ experiences: flying in a team, following other pilots, XC flight, distance, time (up to 5 hours!), VG handling (or not being able to use it: @Elsard ;-), long sink periods, crazy thermals, etc.


There were a lot of gliders in the air, not always thermalling the same turn direction :-(

5 pilots even made it back and landed on the mountain: Dimitry, Andrey, Koos, Harm and myself, altough it took me several times to finally land.

XC Course: look who's flying!

XC course 2012 participants

Harry / WW Talon 140

Petrovich (Andrey) / Aeros Discus

Eugene / Aeros Stealth 14W3

Dimitry / Moyes Litesport 4

Andrey / Aeros Combat L13

Jack / Wills Wing U2

Erik / Styl+

Rene / Eillipse Fuji

Christopher / Aeros Discus C

Elsard / Solar Wings Scandel XK-R

Makbule / Aeros Discus B13









And of course:

Dennis

Harm

Annet

Koos

Daphne

Jouette

XC Course day 3

In the morning we go over yesterday’s flight and play the game: how many thermal indicators can you think of. Once you can’t come up with a new one, you’ve landed!

As it looks good at Monte Cucco South, we check out the landing possibilities and rigg. There are light winds and some local pilots launch after having waited for a good moment. And then the seabreeze comes in and we are $@&$#*@%!! It only get’s hotter and we even have to deal with an uninvited dustdevil (on film!) that makes everybody nervous.

So don't forget your groundhook on Monte Cucco! Dustdevils are rare, but you better be prepared.

Later in de afternoon we check out the north launch, but it doesn’t look very good so nobody get’s to fly.

So it’s swimmingpool time!



But if you want to see some (last week) flying in the area: this is what it looks like!

XC Course day 2

We start the day by watching the launches that Annet filmed. What a great way to give and get feedback on your launch! Do you start from a stable position and how many steps do you make? Do you keep your hands in grapevine long enough to avoid the nose from going up? Are your hands sliding down for better control? Check it out!

We also see how Dimitry toplands and Petrovich shows us how the Russians learn how to make an emergency landing.

The task for today is to count the number of seconds it takes to make a 360 turn. It’s thermalling today!

Another trick is to check the bank by checking where your front wire / sail touches the horizon.

At Tre Pizzi (again) we have east wind 20 km/h, max altitude of the day approx. 1500 m (inversion).

Harm’s group (Harry, Erik, Rene and Elsard, Jack can't fly today unfortunately) flies up and down the Tre Pizzi ridge and 3 of them make it to Matelica and back.

Koos’ group plans to cross the gap, fly to Metalica and back. Unfortunately the group falls apart and in the end Koos, Aaron and I cross the gap but can’t make it to Metalica.

Dennis’ group makes it to the gap and back, except for Petrovich, who flies a 19 km triangle out to Matelica.

In most groups there are problems with radio’s which makes it difficult to communicate.

Don't worry about Andrey, they found him behind the mountain.

The XC Course is on!

After some days of free flying at Monte Cucco and Tre Pizzi, we drive to Villa Pascolo (Costacciaro, Italy) for the XC course to meet Dennis, Jouette, Aaron and Harm and Annette. Some activities can't wait and thanks to some helpful Italians the Aeros dealer arrives early enough for the necessary repairs.

All the participants arrive at Villa Pascolo at 18.00 for the first meeting. We sit in the nice garden while everybody introduces themselves and we get an idea of their experience and learning objectives.

The group consists of 5 Dutch pilots (Harry, Erik, Rene, Elsard and Jack), 4 Russians (2 x Andrey, Dimitry and Eugene) and 2 pilots from Turkey (Makbule and Christopher). The instructors are of course Dennis, Koos and Harm and I will be assisting Koos group. Annet has taken care of the organization (great job!) and will assist at launch and Jouette will also assist during the course (and hopefully gets to go to Assissi ;-).

We discuss retrieve, landing and take-off and the programme for the week. Afterwards we have a nice dinner at Villa Pascolo.

The following morning we meet at Ostello del Volo in Villa Scirca for the first lessons on communication and landing.

Because the wind is very strong NE, we have to go to Tre Pizzi for the first day. We first check out the landing field, and after having looked at it on Google Earth the real field is something different! The task will probably be along the rigde, so we check out the landing possibilities. As they are not too bad, everybody decides to rigg. The wind is still very strong, but the first group of pilots launches as soon as they are ready and the rest follows in the next hour when also the paragliders can take off.



Everybody lands safely and we see a lot of happy faces!

2012 Campitello

Na een heerlijk verblijf in Zuid Duitsland bij Hans en Christine, vertrekken we samen met Christine naar de Dolomieten. We maken een stop in Campitello, een waanzinnig mooie plek waar je zeer comfortabel met een grote gondel naar boven gaat. Het is even zoeken waar we moeten starten en in welke richting. Uiteindelijk dwingt de wind ons naar de noord kant waar Koos en ik beiden starten. Christine wandelt de berg af. Het uitzicht is werkelijk prachtig eenmaal op wolkenbasis, 3300 meter. Helaas zitten er donkere regenwolken ten noorden en ten westen van ons en haast ik me over de berg die ik in ieder geval van dichtbij gezien wil hebben om daarna snel te landen. Een stek om zeker naar terug te keren.