Apron landings and relationships

I arrived early at Torrey today, around 10. Bill and Ki were milling about the office eating breakfast and preparing for the day. Jackie offered cheery Hello. Suzie, the new girl, offered the same. She always very warm and welcoming. The wind was far too light, 4 mph.

I mentioned to Bill that it's been a long time since I had a lecture. I'm certain I've had every lecture they offer but I feel like I need a reminder. He said, "You can always go back and read the book." "RTFM" I said, and we laughed. He put a video on about alpine thermaling which was very good. After that I opened up my laptop and went back to work. There was a noticable wave of warm air, then 15 minutes or so later the wind started to pick up.

I took a break at one point to hang out on the ridge and just admire the ocean. There were 4 whales playing out in the water, just playing. It was beautiful. Robin's son was there doing all kinds of crazy maneuvers in light wind, 4-8 mph. He always seemed to get back up.

The main thing is I'm working on my landings. Bill drilled me all day. I probably had 12 flights, but they were literally launch, turn, land.

I worked on an "apron landing" which is more of a mountain landing. The idea is to turn in and ride the ridge. If you're high, come in deep, if you're low, ride the ridge without committing, then turn in and back to the wind to land. Sounds simple, but it took nearly all day to get it right. I got it towards the end of the day. I got in at least a dozen landings. I was counting on my vario to record everything, but the batteries went dead. I need to some extras. I noticed Antonelle's arrival as i was doing my landings, but for the most part the LZ was empty.


Launch, rinse, repeat.

Towards the end of the day it got light. I was the only one on the ridge for a very long time. At one point Bill told me to stay aware of the airspace. Even though no one is up with you you don't want to get complacent. I went to the far north over the golf course then headed for the beach. I landed near a knockout beautiful nude blonde on the beach. It made me wonder why I'm so reluctant to land on the beach.

My buddy Joe DeBriyn showed up late in the day. He brought my HDV camera back from his SIV clinic. One of the guys on this clinic fell in his canvas and 2 threw their reserves. I can't wait to see these tapes. I'll post them when their up. You can see the video from the last SIV clinic here.

I found a worth reading article with Gabe here.

My friend Gal directed me to a fall into a tree that didn't end well here at ifilm. It's worth a watch. The bottom line is fly within your abilities. It's been a day of multiples: multiple landings and multiple relationships. It's been a great day.