Sunday, January 29, 2012

Beautiful January Flying

Today, after 3 months, I finally got to fly again. NE wind predictions gave a decent chance to be able to fly in Beauraing (N ridge) and with predictions for 3 to 4 Bft, I hit the road.

Upon arrival, the situation looked different. 1-2 Bft and more than 45 degrees cross wind. That was not going to do it. A bit of waiting and conditions seemed to improve slightly. A bit later, Rudy arrived, while 1 paraglider pilot was about to attempt launch. Rudy had much more confidence about the lift than I had and he turned out to be right.

We flew under a dark grey sky, now and than we were hit by just a bit of snow and we even had some very light thermals. It just was good to be in the air. Halfway through the flight I realized it probably was my last flight with my Aeros Combat 14.2. It's my first topless glider and it's been a trustworthy and fast companion for the last 2 years. Damn, I even noticed some emotional attachment to the bird while derigging it...

7 comments:

  1. Are you giving up with aeros or only with your old 14.2 ?

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  2. No no, the 13.5 is coming my way :-)

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  3. And stop insulting my glider, it's not old, it even had a new skin just a year ago ;-)

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  4. What do you think ist the optimal body-weight or hook-in-weight for the Combat 14,2 in your opinium? I personally look after a new glider for the 2012 season.

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    1. Hallo Jürgen! I flew the glider with a hook-in weight from 97 kg up to 110 kg. 97 kg definitely was light on the glider, because I was on top of the stack in light conditions with that, but struggled a bit in turbulent conditions and didn't have the same high speed glide as others did. 105 to 110 kg is the optimum range for competition flying, I guess. Schönen Gruss!

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  5. Vielen Dank,
    now my hook-in weight is 110 kg (and hope it will further sink this year). I am a little surprised because aeros indicates an optimal clip weight of 95 kg and for the 14,9 of 100 kg and I thought it would be difficult with the 14.2 with my weight in light conditions. I will test the 14,2. Thank you. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland.
    Jürgen

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  6. Glad for you :) It has been 2 and half months since my last flight and I really miss it! Please let us know how you like your new glider, I am considering aeros when I move on to a topless wing.

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