Lots more tunnel time :-)

Tunnel time with Mayhem lived up to the team name again - still no larger than 4-way groups though most people are looking a lot more stable now.  Had great fun practising swooping on Chris, though I was a bit hesitant to really put the speed on at first.  He insisted that Jeff and I wound it up so we actually got some pretty fast dives in.  Despite wearing 8lbs of lead, I still found the wind speed quite floaty so a quick flare was enough to put the brakes on very rapidly for me :-) 

The drills were useful in improving individual skills and I'm getting much better at flying my slot strongly.  I can actually counter some of the combat docking now, though I'm hoping that won't actually be so necessary in the air next season, lol.  

Next session for Mayhem will be towards the end of January - with a bit of luck, I'll have my camper by then so it won't be such a slog to get to Bedford as I can go up earlier and chill out in comfort, then stay overnight instead of fighting roadworks and road closures all the way home again!

Aeronauts coached session with Tarn was hard work and we definitely made some massive improvements as a team.  We gradually built up the wind speed and I am tunnel-fit enough to have been able to keep my arch on right to the end of the hour (4 x 15 min sessions spread over a few hours).  That did mean I had to keep popping back up to stay on level with the guys though, which is something I have to work on.  I'm still experimenting with the amount of lead that I need to wear - since I'm pretty flexible, it looks like I can get away with less than I thought, which is great news for my back!  The last session did end up with me cradling the weight belt like a pregnancy bump to ease my back when we weren't actually flying...!!  
I'm currently flying Point but now that Niels has declared he definitely won't make it to the POPS meet in Cahors, I think I'd like to go back to IC for that competition and have whoever substitutes take Point. Have suggested it to Jeff as the two of us could practice IC/OC together at 4-way Friday sessions to see if it works for us.