P2

As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking about my experience in Baja, and how much I wanted to fly: not to go flying but to be in the air. Baja was 2 hours of torture and 15 minutes of ecstasy, more than enough to make it all worth it (obvious comments about sex withheld ).

At about 8:35 my very supportive wife called to ask me to get quarters for our cleaning lady who would be in my office all morning. Hmm, I can't work with the cleaning lady in Del Mar. That apparently was all I needed. I dutifully got $20 worth of quarters for Venusia and, with all my equipment still in the back of the SUV, booked to Torrey. It was just before 9 when I arrived and I spotted 2 pilots in the sky as I approached.

My intentions were very good: I was going to work on my laptop in the dining area of the Torrey cafe using my ev-do connection for the 2 or so hours Venusia was cleaning our condo. When I saw those wings in the sky that went out the window. Bill was instructing. As I walked out on the hill he told me they'd been flying since 8. Amazing. What a morning.

Bill asked me what my goals were: I said landings. There were 2 other guys there that day getting their p2's. He asked me if I had mine. I said no. He said "Why not?" I said, "Because I'm always flying with my friends." He said he needed to see big ears and some s-turns and I was good for a P2.

The reality is I was P2 months ago, but I don't really care about the rating. It doesn't hold back anything I do at Torrey or in San Diego. I'm almost always flying with Gabe. Still, the thought of getting the rating was exciting. Bill asked, "How long will you be here today?" I hesitated and said, "I'll be here until I get my P2."

What does one do when the early morning conditions are near perfect at Torrey: Log 12 or so flights in a few hours. I'm tempted not to list this entry as flights 32 to 44, but that's what it was.

The air at Torrey is remarkably consistent. It comes off of the ocean in a near perfect liftband with very few rotors on top. My last half dozen flights have been at extremely challenging sites - La Salina really kicked my ass – and I wasn't used to how responsive my wing was in light conditions. I took off of that ridge like I had 10 feet of launch space, aggressively pushing to the ledge. Bill politely called it a "bunny hop". OK, I know better than that.

Back in the air above Torrey so early in the morning was a wonderful experience, like the first time you have a massage first thing in the morning (obvious comments about sex withheld ). I noticed some sort of carcass on the the beach. It turned out the be a beached seal. Poor thing. The local fauna was taking care of the remains.

The sea air was fresh and clean. It was very overcast. In San Diego we call that marine layer "May Gray" and "June Gloom" as that's how just about every morning starts for two months. Nothing changes that dark experience quite like getting lift.

I did 2 north landings and 1 south. I performed some spot landings for my P2, pulled my big ears and did some s-turns. I was tempted to do a wing-over, but I withheld.

After 5 flights Bill asked all the students to come in and he showed us how to throw our reserve. Having been through the SIV clinic a lot of the information was redundant, but it was very useful to strap into the simulator and actually pull and throw the reserve.

Then we did some parachute landing falls (PLFs). Having done martial arts for 12 years doing a PLF is really no big deal. It's pretty much the way you always fall: like a wet rag. The major difference is when you roll out you grab control of your wing.

After that Bill signed all my paperwork. I still need to mail in the certification to the ushga. I also had to sign up for p3 training which gives me a right to be on that hill as is my current addiction. I also got a Suunto X6. I wanted to have an altimeter I can get wet for the next tow clinic.

After some lunch I took 6 flights just to get practice. I turned the record button on on my vario - a flytec 4020. The air was getting a bit softer and and one point I had to scrape for lift. I've never recovered from going below the horizon at Torrey. I've always been too fearful of controlling the wing so close to the ridge. Not today. I got right in there. Of course the lift is so consistent here, especially compared to La Salina, I was really able to trust myself and my wing. After just one pass on the ridge I got back over the top and came in for a button-hook landing.

I took another small break to check in with my phone messages. I had been in the air pretty much from 9 to 1. As I sat in the cafe solidly on ground I still felt like I was moving in 3 dimensions. I'm not sure what that experience is called, but it was almost making me sea sick to be on solid ground.

My only obligation of the day now was to pick up my girls from school at 3:30. I got back in my harness and had 5 more flights.

My goals of the day were better landings, and my landings got much better, but it's hard to really say I got 12 flights in. So many other days each single flight was a lot of work. These all seemed so easy. Oh what the hell, there it is. I'll count this as 12.