Practice makes perfect

The dreaded admin day!

We fronted early to get it over with, although the forecast was windy and unflyable so in theory there wasn't any hurry.

Brian, Che and I sneaked through unscathed, but KK was missing his FAI card and the bureaucracy was stubborn, Brian fired up the HGFA and I used my official voice on the organiser guy "The federation will deliver it to you by email" - "oh, ok".

After the admin, some tandems were lobbing off the hill so we trucked over to the lift in the team Delica and went for a fly, the hill was pretty ratty so everyone jetted out into the flats for a bit more practice and then landed so we can go and learn how to be safe at the mandatory briefing.

Luckily Trene is on the ball and has forward through KK's paperwork!

Pics for the day:

KK running man

Aussie House

The hill from the flats

Worlds bonus coverage - mystery meat

Tonights menu as pictured here

contained one of the following:

But what was it? Extra prize of loot from the worlds to the correct guess in the comments section...

Practice day reboot

Up the hill earlier today with big development over the range to the west. Running reverse in cycle which was blocking the generally over the back drift. Did a quick down the Ridge for about 7 km then the thunder in the distance triggered a practice full speed final glide to the town lz. About an hour of zooming around high on bar to get acclimatized to pushing hard.

The task was canned shortly after and the sky was full off spirals and big ears. Most got in before the gust front but I saw one boom 9 deposited in the trees. And there was a pile of gliders trying to squirrel into alternative spots.  I'm currently sitting at the lz Cafe eating bratwurst. Best walk home before the rain!

Brians tip of the day: beware the gust front

Before and after shots of the hill!

Training Days

Nice first xc in Bulgaria and for the season:

http://www.paratothepeople.com.au/sopot/

Che

First flying day

After a LONG trip our gracious host Kiril met me at the airport for the 2 hour trip to Sopot. All along the way the sky looked awesome but as we rolled up to the house there still wasnt anyone in the air. I quickly threw most of my clothes on the floor of my room and got a lift over to the lift.

The reason no one was flying was that the chairlift was stopped. ..and the aussie team was sitting under a tree with blogging legend Ivan and Nick Scurlock.

So after a slight delay we went up to launch where the guys doing the Bulgarian Open had a briefing and Nick and Che and I went higher to find a spot without a glider on it (150 pilots in the comp).

Launched before the comp and quickly climbed out to 2300. Fantastic views, mountains up the back are about 2500m high, all grassy with big gorges. Day was excellent flying with 2-3m climbs, Che and I headed the opposite way to the comp, doing a lap of the ridge in the other direction, then catching the comp coming back from the first turnpoint and tagging along for a while, since i hadn't slept for several days, I called it a day after 2 hours and 50+ km and Che came into the LZ shortly after for about 60km.

In the Bulgarian Open, Brian made goal and Dave landed at the last turnpoint.

Brian tip of the day: Take out speedbar pulleys for that extra few km/hr.

I'll take my camera flying today for some more scenery pictures.

Preparation in Spain

My training regime for xc, by not flying xc:

http://www.paratothepeople.com.au/organya-life/

I will be trying to post regularly on my own blog at paratothepeople.com.au and will post the links up here when I do.

Che

Last Minute Prep

Hi all,

I'm going to try and do a daily update, cause it's winter and i know how much internet flying goes on during the cold dark months! Lucky everyone has the xalps to watch!

Went for a trip to Blackheath yesterday for a last minute training run, there was about 20 gliders enjoying the winter air with base about 1900m and up to 3m/s climbs later in the day. Practised scratching from out in front, patience to get to base, glide out into the valley and start again. Great views, but cold hands, I wonder what the flying temp will be like in Bulgaria, i'm prepared for arctic puffy jacket or Brian style short sleeves, so we'll see. The GoPro on head with remote on risers works well, but my full face (certified) comp helmet has nowhere to put it...

Home to make a big pile of clothes, flying gear and instruments on the floor of the living room. Seems like a lot of gear to pack into the airline limit of 23k

g, considering that the glider/harness/reserve*2 are at least 11-12kg of that. It's the electronics that hurt in the weight stakes.

Brian has settled into Team Australia House in Sopot and has sent back a request for vegemite, i'm assuming that is to sucker our hosts into trying it rather than a real desire for a black gooey hit...

Dave should be leaving today and I'm leaving tomorrow to arrive on Wednesday with Che.

Thanks to JJ for the spare Flymaster and Gav for the spare reserve, plus all the local flying guys for support and parawaiting company.

Off we go!

G