First XC (Cross Country) flights!

Finally, the real GV day that we have been waiting for! Approximate tally - Marko 45km, Joka 35km, myself - measly 15km. I suck. But there is always another day, hopefully I´d do better next time.

Not to say that 15k was not well earned and fun today either. The day was very light and one had to really work it to stay up and out. The key on a day like today is to stay high and move cautiously. NOT what I did. I have forgotten some of the XC skills given my recent fascination with acro.

At some point I got as low as 200 meters off the ground, radioed to Marko and Joka that I am about to land... only to manage to climb out to the cloudbase of approximately 1,000 meters up. Too bad that I spent so much energy and patience for this safe I did not seem to have much of it left and squandered all that altitude on an impossible glide down to 100m, then back to 450m (after once again announcing that I am landing!) and finally landed in a bog!!! Well, it did not LOOK like a bog, it looked nice and welcoming except when my feet touched the... not so solid ground and sunk to my ankles in mud. You see the picture here - well, the mountain far in the background is where we take off... 15 km away!

Carol had two great flights today, one a bit longer than other but on the second she was all on her own and did great! I am very proud of her. Steve was a bit of a sacrificial lamb today and did not fly - his ankle got a bit bruised yesterday and he stayed on the ground today. He is doing much better already and I am sure he will be happily airborne tomorrow! Will be back after dinner to post some pictures!

Ok, I am back, but the picture is more fun than I expected... it has been some years since I´ve done any Capoeira, but today was the day to remember the old tricks! Marko went to photograph the performance and I was translating - and just ¨happened¨ to mention that I used to do Capoeira - well, picture speaks for itself!