Second Solo Flight

I spent a lot of time on the ground kiting after that first solo flight. It occurred to me that being in the air is pretty easy. Being on the ground took some work and real understanding of the wing.

I showed up at Torrey pretty early on my third day. My friends were gone, went back to San Francisco. Being alone made me a bit more sensitive to all the issues I had gone through on my first 2 days. There would be no one to egg me on, no one to help back the wing, no one to share the thoughts and experiences with. No big deal. It was another beautiful day.

Torrey has a pretty consistent 10 MPH wind coming off of the ocean. The venturi at the ridge can boost that for your initial lift.

There was a new instructor that day too. Very cool guy, long hair. Didn’t talk very much. Reminded me quite a bit of the network administrator at my last company. After watching me kite for 5 minutes he said in his laconic way, “Want to fly today?” I said, “That’s what I came here for.” The truth was I could have just kited that whole day. I wasn’t feeling very much in control of the thing. I must have had enough thought to give this instructor some confidence.

I made my way to the ledge and launched. I turned toward the ridge without instruction. In fact, the instructor wasn’t saying a word. On my first flight Ki was almost always giving me some kind of input, which I was fighting to hear over the rush of my emotions. Now I was wondering, “Is the radio working?”

The view from Torrey is spectacular.

I had to remind myself to breathe. All I could hear was that beautiful silence again – but it wasn’t all silence. There was the sound of the ocean break, some wind. Little things. Nature is actually quite noisy. This was all natural sounds – no human issues filling the air with their garbage. 300 feet above the beach I thought, “I love this. Who wouldn’t love this, it’s amazing”.

I heard for a second time, “OK turn”, and went into my second turn. As I started to straighten out I heard, “Keep turning.” He wanted me closer to the ridge for more lift. As I approached the ridge it looked dangerous. My friend Gal said to me on the 1st day, “Of course it’s scary. It’s not natural for humans to fly.”

This was the first time I actually felt scared. I didn’t know how to steer this thing well enough to get any closer to that ridge, so I turned parallel to the ridge. One more turn and it was time for my landing approach.

I landed and started packing, but not before walking to the ocean and putting some water in my hair. “Is there any better way to enjoy California?”, I thought.

It’s frustrating that the communication is all one way on those radios. I was thinking if I could speak back I’d ask some questions. I’d tell him I wasn’t comfortable that close to the cliff.

When I got back up top I talked to the instructor a bit and told him my concerns. He said, “You’re the pilot. What you say goes. All I could have done is get you a little further down the beach, closer to the trail.” I thought perhaps he was trying to get me back up above the ridge for an LZ landing. He said no.

The first 3 or so flights at Torrey are sled rides, no matter what. It’s better to get your confidence up with some smooth beach landings. Makes sense. My next flight was another ride to the beach. I was really starting to get to know that ridge trail.