My Flying

Ever have one of those weird days where things don't quite feel right? Nothing is wrong, but you are there, but not there, if you know what I mean. Today was one of them. I was there, the day passed and now I'm home, with some stuff in between.

First launch was from 26L where the winch promptly decided to die just as the ground roll started. Caught me unawares and I needed to duck as the parachute opened and narrowly missed the canopy.

The second launch was excellent practice at a slow launch, and I mean really slow. Best I could do was to keep the plane between 80 and 90 km/h. I dared not signal too slow (level off and rock wings - don't tell the SSSA) as we were going way too slow and were very low. Back on the ground, after a glide down from 700 feet, the instructor F(1) informed me that he wasn't happy as I should have kept the plane at least at 100 km/h in the climb, especially during the initial climb. Fair enough; it didn't seem as if I was climbing to steeply.

Landings one and two went off very well, but my circuit planning was not great. I miss judged things a bit and landed very deep. For my third flight we moved runways to 16L. Shortly after the launch to 900 feet I found some lift over the winch and was eager to explore it. The wind however kept pushing me over the circuit and the ridge. As I was there to practice circuits, I joined and landed.

Today my landings went off very well, but my circuit planning was not as good as it should have been. Again, three steps forward and two (ok, one) back. Three flights, 17 minutes ZAR135,60.