Ok, lack of lengthy and numerous posts can mean only one thing - we finally started flying like we were supposed to! 3 flıghts today, new frıends and new pıctures. Wıll have to keep thıs message somewhat short because I am usıng a Turkısh keyboard and some letters and punctuatıon are dıfferent - ever so slıghtly but enough to really screw wıth my touch typıng...
Were up at 8 and on the shuttle headıng up the mountain at 9. Took the first nıce flıght of the day from the stunnıng 6500 ft takeoff on top of the famed Babadag mountaın. After chattıng Steve up on the radıo to get hım to do some nıce spırals proceeded to warm up wıth seriously big wingovers. ; After gettıng a few collapses and apprecıatıng fınally realizing what a real wingover is supposed to look like started gaining a wee bit of conrol, winding up some nice spirals and generally feeling out the wing after the 2 months in New York with nearly no flying at all.
After a landing right near the camera man and ending up with my mug on the usual evening screening at the Cloud 9 was ready to head back up the hill... only to realize that my wing had a weard rip on it! The rip looked like someone stepped on it. With three sharp toenails. After a bit of investigative reasoning we figured it out - Clifford! Yes, the last time the wing saw any real action was at Fred's and Daniel's wedding in New York some month and a half ago when their dog Clifford ran into my wing and apparently left quite a mark! SO, now a bit of patch work and 10 Turkish lira later I was ready to go again.
This time the top was getting clouded in and we decided to take the shuttle to the lower launch, only (!) 3000 ft. ...and even that came with it's share of clouds... but after a short wait and hanging out with some visiting Russian pilots we were in business again. One of the pilots was a girl by the name of Yulia - when I add pictures you'd be able to appreciate this to the fullest extent. In short - she is an amputee with her left arm going just past her elbow. She uses a custom made prosthesis with a carabiner on the end of it to hold on to the steering toggle. Incredible. Watching her make a perfect take off and landing in pretty difficult conditions is quite a treat. She quickly made friends with our Blue Gorrila (once again, will add pictures soon!)
Some of the old faces Seçıl - the photographer from the last year's AirGames, Mendo - the Macedonian acro guru and a few others made their appearences.
Third flight was probably the funnest of the bunch - we drove up the mountain on the last truck going up, nearly the full complement of club Vertigo - driving thru massive clouds at 2000 ft and finally coming above the cloud base just a few hundred feet below launch. But that's where the situation was a bit more challenging. At any given moment, for nearly an hour and a half we could either see where we are going thru the clouds below... or have the right wind to go. Finally after the wait and running from one side of the hill to the other in the first window off I go! Incredible to fly out in the day... and be over the town in the night. The usual 30-40 minute flight lasted just enough to enjoy a beautiful sunset from the sky and land... only to realize that nearly everyone else was able to launch after me... So, now things got really interesting as the sky progressed to be darker and darker and several of the students finally made it to the dark beach with lights of the beach restaurants serving as the landing strip. Bobo and Joka were last. Well, Bobo had a bit of an interesting landing - with his feet touching ground just about 10 ft into the surf. His wing, reserve and him got soaked but he was quickly out of the water.
Joka on the other hand seemed in no hurry to land. His yellow and white glider was lit up by the town lights and cruised thru the starry sky - incredible. Finally all on the ground we had to go wash Bobo's glider and after a few false starts we finally accomplished the task... stuffing the wing in Marko's bathtub!
Ok, it's time to go sleep - the truck up is at 8 am tomorrow!
About Me
- Sander
- What are we but miniscule specs in the face of a city of millions like New York City. What does our personal happiness - or dissatisfaction - matter on a grand scheme of things for all the millions of other insignificant specs? In reality - not much. So, once again, on the grand scheme of things, the only person who would even notice what you do - outside of your mother - is yourself. This is the only court you have to hope to ever satisfy. Committing acts of forged happiness will never bother any other soul - other than yourself. So, no reason not to be honestly feeling whatever you are feeling - fess up, speak up and die honest. And then, if you are lucky you might even die happy.
1 comment:
Awesome. Can't wait to see the pics. Post them soon!
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