4 flights in one day!

  Bucaramanga, Colombia
Friday, February 1, 2008

Michel flying over Bucarmanga

Well, I never thought I'd say it... But... I AM FLOWN OUT! I flew so much today that I had to come down volountarily this evening because the ridge was getting crowded and I was just too tired to keep fighting my way back up around the traffic. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll be ready for a new day of flying tomorrow morning! Hehehe.

To sum things up, this morning, I had a nice broken thermal flight followed by a perfect top landing followed by another flight where I had to land in the landing zone at the bottom of the hill because I got flushed out just before the launch zone. Then, everyone went for lunch... EXCEPT Michel and I. And guess what? The wind was abnormally "calm" and the clouds near perfect puffy cotton balls in full expansion around 13:00... So Michel and I took the initiative and jumped into some of the best straight up thermals we've ever flown and flew all the way to cloud base, into the valley, etc. for 2 hours. It was fantastic and we had the whole sky to ourselves. Michel managed a top landing and I had to land at the landing zone again. Thankfully, everyone was back by then so I didn't have to wait too long for a truck to pick me up. I was super tired by then and decided to call it quits, but seeing everyone jump into the dynamic evening flight made me want to join them, so I did. But people were flying low next to the ridge and aside from a hot air pocket flying up every now and then, the lift was rather week and the ridge pretty crowded. The tandems and students also come out in the evening which is nice, but keeps the launch zone busy and top landings must be timed properly. I did finally manage to find a window to top land after a few passes and it went great. Everyone was still flying, but for the first time ever, I was too tired to fly anymore. So here I am on my blog, sending you stories and pictures instead! No one is on the computer because they are all in the sky! HAHA!

Pilots enjoying the afternoon magic

Till tomorrow.

Minor update: Unfortunately, Michel noticed that one of his big ears A lines was cut right through the core and holding only by a thread AFTER having landed... He will mend it in the morning with some extra lines he brought. It wouldn't have been a super huge deal if it snapped, but it's not a good thing. I also got a few sunset pictures which I just added to this entry.