Hurray for new fan belts!

Sneaky ninja owl! "Silent but deadly."

"Silent but deadly"... I don't think NightOwl is a fart.

No, he is not.

I cut the sides of a BoT out today. )

Really?!? You actually worked on a <gasp> airplane?!

Congrats... maybe you should get sick more often if it helps you build.

In line for tickets to "Burning Man". Wish me luck!

Kirk (it's a really long line) out

^ No need to stand in line. I've got a gasoline can...

There'sa line for tickets to Burning Man?

I thought you just showed up in the Black Rock desert and got drunk & burned stuff down?

Today was an amazing day. I got rid of an entire week's stress in just an afternoon.

First light wind at the slope, flew a combat wing...

Then the wing picked up, flew my paraglider for an hour, landed...

And then an hour of heavy-air, in-your-face combat wing acro flying with the rates turned way up.

Ahhh...

-Alex

U got your license Alex?!?!?! How much is it for a wing and training where you are?? I've already soloed and tandemed so I just need to get my license...

Uh oh.... now I'm gonna have to start calling you "Jelly Jordan"

I could carry your plane up and drop it from high altitude. No combat though ...

I've got the Student Pilot license and will upgrade to Pilot at 50 hours log time.

I got the training for free (as most of the things I do)... just talking to pilots, watching what they do, borrowing old equipment to practice my groundhandling. R/C gives you most of the know-how and the "gut feeling" you need.

Right now I fly a rented sail, I rent it from a friend of mine for a very low price, the only condition is that I help him out if there are passengers (he's a tandem pilot) and to fold and store the equipment.

Do you already fly solo, or have you flown a tandem from the passenger seat? I learned to fly on a tandem, taking the controls from the passenger's seat.

The sail I'm using is a Niviuk Hook, DHV 1-2 rating. Today I flew an Advance Alpha, a DHV-1. The harness I use is a Niviuk Hamak with reserve parachute.

That said, paragliding is only complementing my R/C! I've found some pretty cool light-lift spots on my slope when trying to fly in light conditions. When I later tried out these spots with an R/C plane, I had lots of fun when no one else was flying.

Wow I never knew you could rent sails! I was told here in the states you need to go through training with an instructor before you could get your license. I flew tandem when I was 8 for my birthday and the pilot let me use the controls. I then went to a paragliding traning program for my 12th birthday and I got to go through the basics and had small solo flights off a small hill (no I have not soloed off a slope yet if that's what you meant).

Originally Posted by Alex.Schweig

I've got the Student Pilot license and will upgrade to Pilot at 50 hours log time.

I got the training for free (as most of the things I do)... just talking to pilots, watching what they do, borrowing old equipment to practice my groundhandling.

Right now I fly a rented sail, I rent it from a friend of mine for a very low price, the only condition is that I help him out if there are passengers (he's a tandem pilot) and to fold and store the equipment.

Do you already fly solo, or have you flown a tandem from the passenger seat? I learned to fly on a tandem, taking the controls from the passenger's seat.

The sail I'm using is a Niviuk Hook, DHV 1-2 rating. Today I flew an Advance Alpha, a DHV-1.

So you've done the basic training and flown downhill on a smooth, relatively flat slope. This is the "descent" flight, which you usually do on a flat slope or dune.

That's the very first part of the training. You really need to learn groundhandling, which is everything from the moment you open your sail on the ground to just before taking off. Controlling the glider on the ground is really, really important.

I did groundhandling in every possible condition for about a month before my first solo flight on a slope. Before my solo, I had already flown with an instructor (tandem) for about 3 hours total (me on the controls).

The most important thing is, you need to know what the sail is doing without looking at it. At the beginning, when you ground-handle, you will always be looking at the sail (and you neck will hurt). Later, you will learn to feel what the glider is doing by feeling the tension on the harness. In the air it's the same. Let the glider fly, feel what it wants to do, then apply whatever means you need to keep it flying smoothly.

I would really recommend you take a full course with an instructor. Even if it's expensive, remember, it's your life you're risking if you learn wrong. There's no walk of shame to pick up your broken plane here. Bad stuff happens when pilots panic in the air.

You're lucky you live in CA. I'd like to fly Torrey Pines someday, both PG and R/C.