These are my people.
Now that I've got over 90 flights I'm preparing for the written P3 test. It's going to be nice to be a P3 as I won't need permission from an instructor any more to launch at Torrey. There are still clearly a few more things I need to know before that happens.
The problem with my approach to getting my next rating is I'll only study the stuff that's required from the book just before the test. I did that with my P1 and P2 and I'm doing it again on my P3. I never looked at the USHGA requirements before yesterday even though they're clearly written right inside my student's log. I'm going to try to change that for my P4 by continuing my book study for the next few weeks. In fact, I'm going to go back and redo all the tests. They're online here: click
In fact, it's a bit difficult. The information is given pretty much without narrative in the book. For example, one of the most basic questions concerns detecting stall. The book says something like: "Using a lot of brakes and very shallow turns to get the best possible sink rate can induce a stall." It couldn't be more casual. I might say something like that followed by. You could fall backwards into your canopy and die. That would get my attention.
In fact, the only way to get some sensitivity to that is to soar in the mountains. You need to thermal which you just can't do at Torrey.
Most of the P3 test is about mountain conditions: reading sectional airspace maps, terrain and cloud conditions, active piloting.
One thing I need to start keeping track of is hours. Most of the folks at Marshal talked about their flying time, not flights. That makes a lot more sense. More like piloting an airplane. I'm going to go through my blog and estimate where I'm at today then add it to each blog entry from here on.
Gal in new wing and harness.
Gal has a new harness that I wanted to try on for size, a Woody Valley. I have been feeling less and less comfortable in my harness and want to check out some new ones. The best feature of the Woody Valley is the airbag. They've eliminated the need for a bulky foam protector under your ass by installing a self-filling airbig. I tried it on but it didn't feel that much better. It was a large. I think my whole problem is I need an extra large.
I hooked my harness up to the simulator and started making adjustments. Jerome, a phenomenal acro pilot, saw me struggling and came by to make some adjustments. He pull the shoulder straps way down. I didn't even know they were there. It did feel much better in flight, but now on land and launch I feel like I'm being squeezed. I can't even stand up straight. I'm not sure what to do about this.
As I was hanging there struggling in the simulator Gabe joined Gal, Jeremy and me, and soon after Eric and Megan. Eric and Megan are the most interesting couple I know. They're both good-looking (Megan is a knock-out), awesome pilots and they make glass eyes for a living. I had only heard this from Gal so I asked, "Gal told me you guys make fake eyes." "Yup" was pretty much the response. They are easily the coolest couple I know. Joe DeBriyn soon arrived. That made it a full house. These are my favorite paragliders at Torrey.
7 flights today.
Flight 93 - 27 minutes:
Bill said, "You're going to be a P3 now so I want you to start watching the traffic and judging for yourself when you're going to launch and land. Cool. I took off and flew the north ridge for a half hour.
Flight 94 - 2 minutes
Bill asked for some spot landings so I ran out, lost some altitude and came right back in. I got a pop at the ridge so it was easy.
Flight 95 - 19 minutes
I wanted to do another spot landing but the air just turned on. After I launched there was a line of paragliders taking off. I made my way north and optimized for lift. I tried making slow efficient turns. I never made it to 500, but it's good practice. Before landing I went way out over the ocean dropping from 425 to 350 for my final approach.
My glove is here somewhere. Do you see it?
Flight 96 - 30 minutes
Now I headed north to find my glove. I lost a glove on a beach landing. Ki saw it drop and I knew exactly where I landed thanks to my new gps. Of course, the question was if I saw it from the air was it really worth a beach landing to go get it. It's a yellow glove so it should be easy to spot. No luck. I had tons of altitude though and the whole north ridge to myself. I saw Eric doing some awesome wingovers into the canyon at the north edge of the golf course.
I took lunch and talked a bit with Gal and Gabe. Gabe described how he was hit by an RC plane once doing a tandem. He was giving a large high school student a tandem when a plane went right trough the left side of his wing. "I knew I was in trouble when I looked up and saw the sun right through the wing." He stalled and re-inflated the right side to make a straight path to the beach. On landing the kid knocked Gabe's head and Gabe went out cold for 20 minutes. When he awoke the kid was saying, "I thought I killed you dude!"
You've got to wonder why the RC mound it right in the middle of the action there. I suppose it's because they want to be seen.
Flight 97 - 33 minutes
Before launch I grabbed my camera. I went on another search for my glove this time taking more daring runs over the sand. Still no sign. I did catch Megan carving out the valley at the end of the golf course with some awesome wingovers. I was thinking she's going to love this video. When she finished her run I looked at the display on the camera. It said, "No card present." Hmm. I must have left it in the computer.
Then I wanted to do some wingovers. I wanted to be in front of the window so I could come back in when I was done. I didn't know you weren't allowed to do wingovers in front of the window. I'm still not sure about the window. I thought the window extended to the ocean. I was well over the ocean, but Bill still warned me. I'll just avoid the window entirely from now on.
Torrey LZ on landing approach.
Flight 98 - 50 minutes
I put down my wing to go get the card out of the computer which was in my car. I wanted to get some more photos of Gal. It was his last day after all. After landing I ran to my car to get my camera and launched right away. I chased Gal a bit and got a few shots. But he seemed to keep going in the opposite direction of me. Joe DeBriyn was pulling some good moves with his orange Merlin. I caught a few shots of that. For the most part I was just enjoying my last ride. It was a perfect day.
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