My First Hang-Gliding Lesson
I have a recurring dream in which I can do weightless leaping like you see in wuxia movies: I jump, and glide for a long way, then land and jump again. In the dream, this is something I'd always been able to do, but I'd forgotten how and am only now remembering.
Of course, I think. Of course I can fly. I just need to remember how to do it.
When I wake up, there's always a period in which it's very hard for me to believe that it's not that I've temporarily forgotten how to fly, it's that it's physically impossible. It always feels as if I should be able to.
I recently learned that there is a paragliding and hang gliding launch site a five minute drive or one hour hike from my house. I've always wanted to try it, so I contacted a local hang gliding instructor, Dan. He was dubious due to the season (winter is mostly too rainy or snowy) but I asked him if he'd let me know if there was a clear day when he was available.
The day before yesterday I hiked to the launch site just in time to spot a paraglider coming in for a landing. I went and chatted her up, and she strongly recommended a tandem flight to see if I like it.
I was (and am) a bit nervous about a tandem flight. I get motion sick in boats, I get motion sick in the back seat of cars on windy roads, I got put off flying small aircraft for years and years because I got sick in a small (two person) plane after begging to be given a flight, and a tandem flight seemed more likely to be a problem as I wouldn't be controlling it. But I said sure, maybe in a couple weeks when the weather is better and I've had time to experiment with Dramamine.
Then I hiked back home. It's a 4-mile, 2 hour hike up a very steep hill, and I was carrying a weighted backpack because I was trying to train for carrying a glider. I got home and found a text from Dan asking if I was interested in doing a hang gliding lesson on the training hill in San Bernardino. Tomorrow morning. I texted back YES PLEASE.
Yesterday I drove to the training hill in San Berarndino and met Dan and his adorable dog Beena. We drove around in an ATV and set up his glider while he told me all the names of the parts, 90% of which I've now forgotten; I shall study a diagram. The actual setup is a little awkward, largely because a glider or at least this particular glider is BIG, but not that complicated. I was using a student glider, which has landing wheels and is designed to be easy to fly and forgiving of crashes.
As we set it up, Dan explained a lot about aerodynamics, most of which went over my head. After all the time I spent memorizing pitch, roll, and yaw, I was slightly disappointed that none of those came up. Instead, I got a lot about the "angle of attack" which I'm still not sure I fully understand despite having read about it before, getting a whole lecture on it, and looking it up afterward. Hopefully it will make more intuitive sense once I manage to get a glider in the air for more than three seconds at a time.
This is how you launch a glider:
1. Lug it up a hill. We mostly did that in the ATV.
2. Clip in and lock the carabiner. Make sure you're clipped in and locked. Make sure again.
3. Balance the glider on your shoulders. This is difficult and awkward, especially if you're short like me.
4. Take a step downhill, then walk, then jog, then run. If you keep the glider balanced while doing this, it will lift off your shoulders, then lift you off your feet.
5. You're gliding! Move your hands to the control positions if you haven't done so already. You can now control the glider. In theory.
6. Once you're leveled out over flat ground, push the control bar up to flare. The glider will stall and gently drop, and you will land gracefully on your feet.
This is how it actually went:
1 - 3: This went basically as above.
4. A few crashes when I didn't go fast enough and failed to achieve lift-off.
5: Me (mentally): I'M FLYING, I'M FLYING, THIS IS THE BEST THING EV--
Dan (over radio): "Flare! Flare!"
Me: Oh righ--
Glider: CRASH!
I did not manage a decent (ie, deliberate) landing once, out of maybe eight or so launches.
On the last one I managed to crash into a mud puddle, the glider skidded and dragged me all the way through it, and I twisted my knee and bruised my foot and ankle.
So that was it for the launch part of the lesson, since I could no longer run. However, it was supposed to be three hours and when I left I found that it had been four, so I don't think I missed too many launch chances.
Hopefully my knee will be OK after a few days. I'm giving it the RICE treatment. This morning my knee is a bit better, but I'll stay off my feet as much as possible for the next day or so. A giant storm is coming, so it's not like I can do another lesson for another week anyway.
Also this morning, I feel like I got hit by a train. Literally everything hurts, including weird places like my upper inner thighs, which I've only ever experienced before after horseback riding, and under my arms, which I think is bruising from holding the glider balanced for launch.
Flying is amazing. For the three seconds I was in the air before I crashed, that is. The first time I managed to get airborne, I don't think I heard a single thing Dan said to me for the next five minutes because the inside of my head was completely occupied by I FLEW! I FLEW! I WAS IN THE AIR AND I WAS FLYYYYYYYYYING!
comments
Of course, I think. Of course I can fly. I just need to remember how to do it.
When I wake up, there's always a period in which it's very hard for me to believe that it's not that I've temporarily forgotten how to fly, it's that it's physically impossible. It always feels as if I should be able to.
I recently learned that there is a paragliding and hang gliding launch site a five minute drive or one hour hike from my house. I've always wanted to try it, so I contacted a local hang gliding instructor, Dan. He was dubious due to the season (winter is mostly too rainy or snowy) but I asked him if he'd let me know if there was a clear day when he was available.
The day before yesterday I hiked to the launch site just in time to spot a paraglider coming in for a landing. I went and chatted her up, and she strongly recommended a tandem flight to see if I like it.
I was (and am) a bit nervous about a tandem flight. I get motion sick in boats, I get motion sick in the back seat of cars on windy roads, I got put off flying small aircraft for years and years because I got sick in a small (two person) plane after begging to be given a flight, and a tandem flight seemed more likely to be a problem as I wouldn't be controlling it. But I said sure, maybe in a couple weeks when the weather is better and I've had time to experiment with Dramamine.
Then I hiked back home. It's a 4-mile, 2 hour hike up a very steep hill, and I was carrying a weighted backpack because I was trying to train for carrying a glider. I got home and found a text from Dan asking if I was interested in doing a hang gliding lesson on the training hill in San Bernardino. Tomorrow morning. I texted back YES PLEASE.
Yesterday I drove to the training hill in San Berarndino and met Dan and his adorable dog Beena. We drove around in an ATV and set up his glider while he told me all the names of the parts, 90% of which I've now forgotten; I shall study a diagram. The actual setup is a little awkward, largely because a glider or at least this particular glider is BIG, but not that complicated. I was using a student glider, which has landing wheels and is designed to be easy to fly and forgiving of crashes.
As we set it up, Dan explained a lot about aerodynamics, most of which went over my head. After all the time I spent memorizing pitch, roll, and yaw, I was slightly disappointed that none of those came up. Instead, I got a lot about the "angle of attack" which I'm still not sure I fully understand despite having read about it before, getting a whole lecture on it, and looking it up afterward. Hopefully it will make more intuitive sense once I manage to get a glider in the air for more than three seconds at a time.
This is how you launch a glider:
1. Lug it up a hill. We mostly did that in the ATV.
2. Clip in and lock the carabiner. Make sure you're clipped in and locked. Make sure again.
3. Balance the glider on your shoulders. This is difficult and awkward, especially if you're short like me.
4. Take a step downhill, then walk, then jog, then run. If you keep the glider balanced while doing this, it will lift off your shoulders, then lift you off your feet.
5. You're gliding! Move your hands to the control positions if you haven't done so already. You can now control the glider. In theory.
6. Once you're leveled out over flat ground, push the control bar up to flare. The glider will stall and gently drop, and you will land gracefully on your feet.
This is how it actually went:
1 - 3: This went basically as above.
4. A few crashes when I didn't go fast enough and failed to achieve lift-off.
5: Me (mentally): I'M FLYING, I'M FLYING, THIS IS THE BEST THING EV--
Dan (over radio): "Flare! Flare!"
Me: Oh righ--
Glider: CRASH!
I did not manage a decent (ie, deliberate) landing once, out of maybe eight or so launches.
On the last one I managed to crash into a mud puddle, the glider skidded and dragged me all the way through it, and I twisted my knee and bruised my foot and ankle.
So that was it for the launch part of the lesson, since I could no longer run. However, it was supposed to be three hours and when I left I found that it had been four, so I don't think I missed too many launch chances.
Hopefully my knee will be OK after a few days. I'm giving it the RICE treatment. This morning my knee is a bit better, but I'll stay off my feet as much as possible for the next day or so. A giant storm is coming, so it's not like I can do another lesson for another week anyway.
Also this morning, I feel like I got hit by a train. Literally everything hurts, including weird places like my upper inner thighs, which I've only ever experienced before after horseback riding, and under my arms, which I think is bruising from holding the glider balanced for launch.
Flying is amazing. For the three seconds I was in the air before I crashed, that is. The first time I managed to get airborne, I don't think I heard a single thing Dan said to me for the next five minutes because the inside of my head was completely occupied by I FLEW! I FLEW! I WAS IN THE AIR AND I WAS FLYYYYYYYYYING!
comments
No comments have been added yet.
