Solo dive exit - Paul; backloop with recovery; tracking
on heading with a carving turn at the end; 360 degree turns.
How on earth am I going to have time to fit all this
in??? I didn’t even manage to start any turns before getting to 7000’ and
having to signal “no more” so how will I do this? Talked it over with Rich and worked out how
much time I probably lost with going unstable and recovering twice. Also got a tip to start the backloop on the
hill as soon as I felt stable, rather than waiting to level out. I’ve been stable on every single exit, they’re
not looking for that, they’re looking for recovery :-p And don’t hesitate
between manoeuvres, that will lose several hundred, if not a thousand feet each
time. So – dive exit, hard arch – stable
– back loop – hard arch – level, check altitude. Tracking on heading. Carving turn at end, check altitude. Wait for
Paul’s signal, then 360 degree turn and stop.
Check altitude. Possibly another
turn the other way. “no more” at 7000’.
Okaaay – nice theory, how’s it going to work in practice???
We’re not last out this time, there’s Chris and Georgie
on a tandem being videoed for Chris’s assessment on a new type of canopy. So I
will have to be aware of someone else around too. Deep breaths, it’s ok, this is fun! Honest!
Deep breaths again. Then Paul tells me
*all you have to do to pass this one is pull, that’s it! We know you can do the rest* and suddenly I
feel so much better. *oh, and you have
to smile too. Don’t forget to hard arch either – I let you off wearing the weight
belt :-)*. And then we’re in the door.
And somehow, it all went according to the plan in my
head. I absolutely nailed it! I was
still at over 11,000’ when I started my tracking – did a few seconds on heading,
then went back to hard arch. Did a couple of seconds more and carved off to the
left. Stable on heading again and Paul is in front of me looking like a
Cheshire cat, he’s grinning so hard. Big
thumbs up and I’m grinning insanely too.
He indicates turn left so I spin neatly round to face him again – still loads
of height. The other way – so round I go again.
Still 9000’, lol. What do I do now?? I’m laughing my head off and he is
too, no question that I’ve passed. I stay
on heading until 6000 just falling stable, then pull. I’m sure they heard my “yee hah” on the
ground!! :-)
I wanted to come down all by myself so Paul had
promised not to talk unless I was really looking in trouble. Having waited all day for the winds to drop
again, it was quickly apparent that I was probably very borderline for being
allowed up again as I was struggling to make any headway at all. I got to my holding area but wasn’t moving
forwards, in fact, I seemed to be drifting backwards.
I tried to spiral down faster but that lost me
a lot of ground after the first 360 degree turn so I stopped that. By 3000’, it was apparent that a downwind leg
was out of the question, I was coming in backwards! All I could do was keep facing into wind and
just keep trimming the canopy to stop any more drift away from the landing
area. I spent a lot of time looking over
my shoulder to see where I might be going to land, then crabbing sideways to
avoid a hedge and a lane. It’s going to
be a long walk back! Still nothing on
the radio so I’m probably doing the right thing – not a lot else I can do
really, and I know Pete will be watching me from the tower so they’ll know
where I land.
Down, down, back and back – how do I judge my height
going backwards?? And can I even PLF??
Turbulence at 1000’ and I’m bouncing all over the place, trying to keep
crabbing to the left to stay closer to the landing area. Down and down, not so fast backwards now –
going to land on a slope in a harvested cornfield, great, could have done
without that! Ok, legs together, this is definitely going to be a roll of some
sort. Wait for it, wait for it – Paul is
yelling *flare* on the radio but I’m definitely too high. A second after I
think I should is when I need to flare, so…. Now, steady, yes! Still flared
slightly early but very gentle landing with a tumble backwards and a hard pull
on my brake to collapse the canopy.
Managed to free the brake line and feed all the lines to the slider all
the way to the canopy so picked up the whole thing very neatly and slung it
over my shoulder. What a fabulous end to
the day!
Back to the bus and everyone is standing around,
enjoying the last of the evening sun. It
was the last lift of the day and I am the last one down. And look at Paul’s beaming face. Even better, Rich was on my load doing a
5-way, so he’s there too. One look at my
face tells it all – I’ve passed, I’m done, just 10 consols and Level 8 to
go. And Paul is still beaming!
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