Friday, July 13, 2007
Prague
Praha is one of my favorite European cities, got to hang out with Atanas (Marko's brother) and Mariana - had a great time, maxed out on complete lack of sleep and once on the plane back home all I could do is wish for the next trip to Macedonia next year! Signing off. Sander.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Home, sweet home
So, I am a bit behind on my blogging responsibilities - so here is my catch up effort...
3 days back we started by waking up at 9 am with Marko and Bobo - and heading right up to launch. 10 am and the wind was blowing right in on main launch - so without further ado we took off and enjoyed a surprising ride for a good 40 minutes - thermalling right over Krushevo and even taking a couple of pictures. Then, headed to the landing, packed up and went back to the city. But, that was just a part of the adventure - when we got to the city and started to unpack the car Marko discovered an unexpected hitchhiker - a snake was peacefully coiled on the back seat under one of the bags! Initial fright and excitement passed without any harm to the snake with bags and parts of the car taken out quickly to chase the visitor out. Marko got the reinforcements from the local computer cafe called "Hell" and soon was armed to the teeth with a broom, pair of flying gloves and a support crew of all of the attendees of the cafe. To snake's luck it managed to slip into the chassis - which gave everyone a chance to take a deep breath. A quick run to the computer upstairs revealed that our visitor is extremely unlikely to be a viper - one of the three poisonous snakes in the Balkan region - and when Marko went back down it just peacefully slipped away.
In the evening spent time at the foot of Vodno at Marko's mom's house - quite a change of pace from the days before.
Next day morning Bobo picked us up bright and early. We decided to go for just one more flight before heading home. To summarize, "we are already here" is NEVER a good reason to fly! After much turbulence and adventurous landings we were happy to head back home for the farewell party. And a good party it was! Fun was had by all.
In the morning, after a short nap we checked up on Eli and off to the airport! Ciao Macedonia till next year!
3 days back we started by waking up at 9 am with Marko and Bobo - and heading right up to launch. 10 am and the wind was blowing right in on main launch - so without further ado we took off and enjoyed a surprising ride for a good 40 minutes - thermalling right over Krushevo and even taking a couple of pictures. Then, headed to the landing, packed up and went back to the city. But, that was just a part of the adventure - when we got to the city and started to unpack the car Marko discovered an unexpected hitchhiker - a snake was peacefully coiled on the back seat under one of the bags! Initial fright and excitement passed without any harm to the snake with bags and parts of the car taken out quickly to chase the visitor out. Marko got the reinforcements from the local computer cafe called "Hell" and soon was armed to the teeth with a broom, pair of flying gloves and a support crew of all of the attendees of the cafe. To snake's luck it managed to slip into the chassis - which gave everyone a chance to take a deep breath. A quick run to the computer upstairs revealed that our visitor is extremely unlikely to be a viper - one of the three poisonous snakes in the Balkan region - and when Marko went back down it just peacefully slipped away.
In the evening spent time at the foot of Vodno at Marko's mom's house - quite a change of pace from the days before.
Next day morning Bobo picked us up bright and early. We decided to go for just one more flight before heading home. To summarize, "we are already here" is NEVER a good reason to fly! After much turbulence and adventurous landings we were happy to head back home for the farewell party. And a good party it was! Fun was had by all.
In the morning, after a short nap we checked up on Eli and off to the airport! Ciao Macedonia till next year!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Today I was entrusted with the duty of waking everyone up at 9 am. By 10 we were successfully out of the house (which is some feat with 6 loud and only moderately awake guys in the house with two showers). Had breakfast and off to launch. The usual launch did not look good with moderate backward winds. So, we strolled over to the South Launch about 3 minute walk away. The winds seemed tame with a low inversion layer promising only limited chances for cross country flying. No clouds made looking for thermals only that much harder. Smiley asked me to be a more than willing guinea pig and explore the winds on landing “but if you catch something… good luck!” It did not take long. The moment I got off the mic telling Smiley of a somewhat turbulent air near take off a sweet 4 m/s honker picked me up. It is always a show of confidence and degree of positive impression when within moments three more gliders were joining me in the air. It also seemed that the previous day’s story was about to repeat itself (albeit in a far less turbulent manner). The best flight of the day, though with about same final distance belonged to a relative beginner, Sasha. He stayed the highest the longest, gingerly working his way thought the valley and two mountain ridges. An hour and 13 km later I was landing, ahead of Sasha and Alek about 2 km short of Ribnik that we left only 12 hours ago. 5 more pilots eventually made their way to the same village while I was garnering the good will and more beer and yogurt. By 4 we were all back at Krushevo getting ready for another flight and enjoying a well earned lunch.
Then, the lauded soaring in Krushevo. We stayed up for hours, flying in generous evening thermals and ridge soaring and I even got to show off a SAT and some asymmetric spirals high above the hills. Marko and myself even had time to take a breather, top land, take some pictures and head back out again for an extremely easy and relaxing flight. At some point we both felt as if we are in a scene of some James Bond flick, flying in and out the hills, taking pictures and generally feeling on top of the world… with sun and hills and winds and our friends patiently waiting below while mercilessly being consumed by some of the most vicious representatives of the mosquito family this side of the Atlantic. Then, with usual yelps of joy we returned back to Krushevo for a huge pile of grilled meat. Our adventure is once again coming to the close… but not before we fly again tomorrow. Over and out.
Then, the lauded soaring in Krushevo. We stayed up for hours, flying in generous evening thermals and ridge soaring and I even got to show off a SAT and some asymmetric spirals high above the hills. Marko and myself even had time to take a breather, top land, take some pictures and head back out again for an extremely easy and relaxing flight. At some point we both felt as if we are in a scene of some James Bond flick, flying in and out the hills, taking pictures and generally feeling on top of the world… with sun and hills and winds and our friends patiently waiting below while mercilessly being consumed by some of the most vicious representatives of the mosquito family this side of the Atlantic. Then, with usual yelps of joy we returned back to Krushevo for a huge pile of grilled meat. Our adventure is once again coming to the close… but not before we fly again tomorrow. Over and out.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Wow. These two days have been filled to the brim and describing all that is going to take some energy… which is all nearly gone. Between flying and having general fun not too much time left to sleep, and even less to work on the blog… but duty calls!
Yesterday started slow enough (note: the story will go to the correct day with the correct pictures but all are getting written at midnight on Saturday), strong winds in the wrong direction did not promise much but for the sake of trying we piled in to our Toyota Land Rover and headed out to the far end of the valley covering much of this part of Macedonia. When we arrived to Slivnik about an hour later the local pilots were already there to greet us. With the usual cheer they explained that it might be a little strong but not to worry – and in show of faith two of the locals took off first. Their flights looked peaceful enough and Smiley and myself were the first to set up and go. Two things were clear in short order. One – safety in numbers and the altitude is your friend. Let me explain. In hairy conditions it is always reassuring to see other pilots coping and having a good time. Well, other than Smiley, myself and a local pilot there was no one else having a good time. That is NOT good. The good, however, came with the first strong thermal that did not wait for itself to show it’s full colors for long. Within minutes my double gortex jacket that seemed like such a burden at 1300 m ASL was barely keeping me from shivering at over 2600 m ASL. Once I put that distance between myself and the ground the decision needed to be made as to what’s next. Flying down to the valley winds did not seem like the funnest option, especially watching the rest of the crew screaming down in extreme sled rides – Marko on his Omega7 hitting the record 4 m/s down – I decided to head out. With tail winds of up to 20 km/h I easily clocked as fast as 55 km/h downwind only tapping on my speed bar. Smiley was flying the parallel course over the hills on the left and was encountering serious turbulence. That I could see in the brief moments I was able to take my eyes off my own glider. Doing multiple maneuvers clinics and practicing Acro when I can was certainly paying off on this flight giving me an extra edge of calm in this very textured air.
Soon I caught up and overtook a local pilot flying a lower performance wing. For some reason I was getting a distinct feeling that he was not having have the fun I was. I later found out that he was a beginner on his 6th high altitude flight. That kinda puts it into perspective! Anyhow, to make the long story a bit shorter – 21 km on a straight line for points for speed and a bit of a triangular path all added on to the credit of 31 open distance km. Not bad for a bad day! Smiley, on his superior flying machine and far superior skills made it to the target city of Prilep a few kilometers ahead of me. I landed in a huge flat farm field and made acquaintance with some local farmers – check out Radko and the gang in the picture section. Radko told me all about his family and his 10 eu per day job as on the combine collecting “psheniza” and he still insisted in treating me for a beer (or a yogurt in my case). The hospitality of the people is incredible here.
Then, after being collected by our omnipresent Land Rover we were off to Ribnik for the late evening soaring again. It is incredible how much you can learn goofing around on a barren hill with smooth winds… and I cant even start raving about the picture ops!
So, finally we got home and after a big dinner some of us went to sleep. “Karolina, oh Karolina…”
Yesterday started slow enough (note: the story will go to the correct day with the correct pictures but all are getting written at midnight on Saturday), strong winds in the wrong direction did not promise much but for the sake of trying we piled in to our Toyota Land Rover and headed out to the far end of the valley covering much of this part of Macedonia. When we arrived to Slivnik about an hour later the local pilots were already there to greet us. With the usual cheer they explained that it might be a little strong but not to worry – and in show of faith two of the locals took off first. Their flights looked peaceful enough and Smiley and myself were the first to set up and go. Two things were clear in short order. One – safety in numbers and the altitude is your friend. Let me explain. In hairy conditions it is always reassuring to see other pilots coping and having a good time. Well, other than Smiley, myself and a local pilot there was no one else having a good time. That is NOT good. The good, however, came with the first strong thermal that did not wait for itself to show it’s full colors for long. Within minutes my double gortex jacket that seemed like such a burden at 1300 m ASL was barely keeping me from shivering at over 2600 m ASL. Once I put that distance between myself and the ground the decision needed to be made as to what’s next. Flying down to the valley winds did not seem like the funnest option, especially watching the rest of the crew screaming down in extreme sled rides – Marko on his Omega7 hitting the record 4 m/s down – I decided to head out. With tail winds of up to 20 km/h I easily clocked as fast as 55 km/h downwind only tapping on my speed bar. Smiley was flying the parallel course over the hills on the left and was encountering serious turbulence. That I could see in the brief moments I was able to take my eyes off my own glider. Doing multiple maneuvers clinics and practicing Acro when I can was certainly paying off on this flight giving me an extra edge of calm in this very textured air.
Soon I caught up and overtook a local pilot flying a lower performance wing. For some reason I was getting a distinct feeling that he was not having have the fun I was. I later found out that he was a beginner on his 6th high altitude flight. That kinda puts it into perspective! Anyhow, to make the long story a bit shorter – 21 km on a straight line for points for speed and a bit of a triangular path all added on to the credit of 31 open distance km. Not bad for a bad day! Smiley, on his superior flying machine and far superior skills made it to the target city of Prilep a few kilometers ahead of me. I landed in a huge flat farm field and made acquaintance with some local farmers – check out Radko and the gang in the picture section. Radko told me all about his family and his 10 eu per day job as on the combine collecting “psheniza” and he still insisted in treating me for a beer (or a yogurt in my case). The hospitality of the people is incredible here.
Then, after being collected by our omnipresent Land Rover we were off to Ribnik for the late evening soaring again. It is incredible how much you can learn goofing around on a barren hill with smooth winds… and I cant even start raving about the picture ops!
So, finally we got home and after a big dinner some of us went to sleep. “Karolina, oh Karolina…”
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
A break.
Today we woke up a bit later, looked around the sky and decided to head out back to Krushevo. As we were driving the winds kept picking up and our hopes for flying waned. Got back to the house we usually stay in, with it's beatiful views of the mountains and the red-shingled roofs and I went to take a good nap. Meanwhile, Marko went for a photo tour of the town with his fixers. The light was perfect, the wind was cool - and my nap long!
Then, we checked the hill again, the wind was howling, so we'll be content sorting pictures, watching flying videos and hoping for a better day tomorrow!
Then, we checked the hill again, the wind was howling, so we'll be content sorting pictures, watching flying videos and hoping for a better day tomorrow!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Two flights and a lot of sleep.
What do you do on a day when you think you can't fly... but really want to? Well, first of all you don't believe the forecast, of course! Second, you hedge your bets!
The funny thing is on the days that you expect big clouds and overdevelopment those things don't crop up till later in the day. So, getting out of the house at 430 am turns out to be just early enough! Trust me, pictures would tell a better tale!
We were up on top of Vodno overlooking the city of Skopje, next to the largest cross in the world at 545 am. Set up, goofed around in front of the camera and took off! The smoothest, calmest air ever, just playing around, taking pictures of the Omegas that Marko and Joka were flying - all that before the city even thought of waking up! Landed 3 blocks away from Marko's appartment and went to sleep! Woke up, cleaned the post party appartment (oh, yes, there was a reason why we were STILL up at 430am) and went up again, this time to Skopska - the wind was over the back - so we took off over the back too! Flew toward Kosova - yes, here you have to be careful to land in the same country you took off in! - turned into a ravine and off to the landing zone - a 10-15 min glide in the evening air... and more pictures to come.
Then, collected ourselves and headed to Joka'a parents for a home-made meal. Could not wish for a better conclusion for the day. Tomorrow - Krushevo!
The funny thing is on the days that you expect big clouds and overdevelopment those things don't crop up till later in the day. So, getting out of the house at 430 am turns out to be just early enough! Trust me, pictures would tell a better tale!
We were up on top of Vodno overlooking the city of Skopje, next to the largest cross in the world at 545 am. Set up, goofed around in front of the camera and took off! The smoothest, calmest air ever, just playing around, taking pictures of the Omegas that Marko and Joka were flying - all that before the city even thought of waking up! Landed 3 blocks away from Marko's appartment and went to sleep! Woke up, cleaned the post party appartment (oh, yes, there was a reason why we were STILL up at 430am) and went up again, this time to Skopska - the wind was over the back - so we took off over the back too! Flew toward Kosova - yes, here you have to be careful to land in the same country you took off in! - turned into a ravine and off to the landing zone - a 10-15 min glide in the evening air... and more pictures to come.
Then, collected ourselves and headed to Joka'a parents for a home-made meal. Could not wish for a better conclusion for the day. Tomorrow - Krushevo!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Sunday flying.
Well, here is another day of fun - this one is mostly in pictures - so check out the slide show below or click to see the mapped gallery - a google map will actually show you were the pictures were taken to get an even better sense of where and when!
We started by with an early flight around 1130 am with conditions still developing and after 30 minutes of hard work landed in the landing zone at the foot of the mountain in Krushevo. After taking a short ride back to the top we were ready for the goal of the day - Bitola 40 km away.
The flight started simple enough with Smiley being a sacrificial lamb on his Omega6. He managed to make it a few kilometers away putting him down in the valley to have a perfect, albeit a ground, view of things to come. Next up was Marko on his brand new Omega7. I followed close behind. But after only a few turns it looked like Marko's flight is not going to be much longer then the first one. He continued down and down as I tried hard to stick to the hill near launch in slightly turbulent air. Little by little I was able to climb to about the height of the launch itself - about 1450 m ASL (above sea level) or around 800 m AGL (above ground level). Then Dima on a Titan II, Bobo on a Jazz and Alek on his Jalpa joined the fray. As they came out to see what's going on where I was my luck began to run out and I headed down the ridge.
Only about half a click down my glide I hit gold. A solid thermal pillar that took me to 2555 m ASL (nope, you don't need oxygen there :-)) Smiley from his ground control position advised me that I am in a perfect spot to get ready for the valley crossing. This was consistent with what Marko was telling me about the lay of the land. The mountains and hills were starting to look like the "foot prints" in Marko's schematic in the dirt... and I was definitely getting high enough when the mountains that would take hours to scale are looking like "foot prints!" At that point in time I could still see Marko scrounging for lift in the valley and Bobo, Diman and Alek were starting to catch up from their position at the start. I got on my speed bar and went forward. Soon after there was another thermal to carry me back to a respectable altitude to make the big leap over the sinky valley. Alek hung back building altitude, Marko and Dima finally found something good in the valley East of my position over the mountains but Bobo decided to plow ahead. This, proved to be a miscalculation. Very soon Smiley was busy trying to "air traffic control" Bobo back to the pack... but it was too late. He was the first to drop out from what was becoming a very exciting flight.
Meanwhile, I was across the valley with thousands of meters of altitude to spare but getting a bit worried about a massive cloud building up ahead. With big clouds come big lifts, big shadows and big winds. I checked in with Smiley and he reassured me that the cloud did not look scary and all was clear but I was still a bit tentative... which cost me my place in the mini-race. Though I was still gaining height and doing well when a suggestion to come out to join Marko and Dima came over the radio I did not think twice and ran... despite a big shadow and breaking a cardinal rule of cross country flying - never leave a good lift - unless assured of something better. In the corner I saw Alek fly just to the position I left a moment ago... and my flight was irreversible lost.
Next things happened fast. Marko radioed that he is sinking and may be landing soon, Alek proceeding to go higher and higher easily riding the winds from the cloud sitting above the mountain and Dima rode his last glide to the valley ahead. I tried to turn back to the hill and even considered flying back to launch which would have been a great fun too, that just to maintain position until the cloud moves along and then... Well, let's just say they don't make easily accessible facilities in the sky for paraglider pilots. This overriding need sealed my decision. I found an absolutely perfect landing zone with short green grass and huge "topol" trees indicating the wind direction. My landing was perfect and easy - but the local farmers may still wonder why a paraglider pilot would run so hard right after the landing to the nearest trees.
All this was just half the tale - Marko did not land after all! He found a massive thermal that took him to over 2000 m in minutes, and rode those unruly thermals past the goal as far as 42 km on a straight line. Alek landed in Bitola itself after his successful decision just couple of kilometers short of Marko.
Joka guided the retrieval. Yep, his conversation with his Omega7 left him somewhat unhappy. Always a better day ahead!
After the pick up we all gathered at a good local eater and partied to our heart's content. Then a short ride back to Krushevo to pick up a tandem passenger and we were off for the third flight of the day.
Yeah, you read it right! Third flight! At this point we all felt the need to relax a bit. Marko borrowed Alek's Jalpa and with my Sigma6 our wings were closely matched in speed and performance. This allowed for a bit of wing walking by Marko, well, more like a wing kicking but who cares, and an entire flight where we flew so close that talking in the normal voice was completely within reason. In conclusion, while Marko was circling and getting for the landing I was carefully counting the number of turns it took him to get down. Then, it was SAT time in perfectly smooth evening air and in a few moments I was joining Marko on the ground.
Alek enjoyed a fine tandem time for the first time... with the minor matter of an acro turn. Smiley and Joka did an unthinkable just a few years before gliding down a 2 km loop on pure glide capitalizing on the incredible leaps in technology of Omega7 and Bobo with Dima just free flew. Good day all in all!
We started by with an early flight around 1130 am with conditions still developing and after 30 minutes of hard work landed in the landing zone at the foot of the mountain in Krushevo. After taking a short ride back to the top we were ready for the goal of the day - Bitola 40 km away.
The flight started simple enough with Smiley being a sacrificial lamb on his Omega6. He managed to make it a few kilometers away putting him down in the valley to have a perfect, albeit a ground, view of things to come. Next up was Marko on his brand new Omega7. I followed close behind. But after only a few turns it looked like Marko's flight is not going to be much longer then the first one. He continued down and down as I tried hard to stick to the hill near launch in slightly turbulent air. Little by little I was able to climb to about the height of the launch itself - about 1450 m ASL (above sea level) or around 800 m AGL (above ground level). Then Dima on a Titan II, Bobo on a Jazz and Alek on his Jalpa joined the fray. As they came out to see what's going on where I was my luck began to run out and I headed down the ridge.
Only about half a click down my glide I hit gold. A solid thermal pillar that took me to 2555 m ASL (nope, you don't need oxygen there :-)) Smiley from his ground control position advised me that I am in a perfect spot to get ready for the valley crossing. This was consistent with what Marko was telling me about the lay of the land. The mountains and hills were starting to look like the "foot prints" in Marko's schematic in the dirt... and I was definitely getting high enough when the mountains that would take hours to scale are looking like "foot prints!" At that point in time I could still see Marko scrounging for lift in the valley and Bobo, Diman and Alek were starting to catch up from their position at the start. I got on my speed bar and went forward. Soon after there was another thermal to carry me back to a respectable altitude to make the big leap over the sinky valley. Alek hung back building altitude, Marko and Dima finally found something good in the valley East of my position over the mountains but Bobo decided to plow ahead. This, proved to be a miscalculation. Very soon Smiley was busy trying to "air traffic control" Bobo back to the pack... but it was too late. He was the first to drop out from what was becoming a very exciting flight.
Meanwhile, I was across the valley with thousands of meters of altitude to spare but getting a bit worried about a massive cloud building up ahead. With big clouds come big lifts, big shadows and big winds. I checked in with Smiley and he reassured me that the cloud did not look scary and all was clear but I was still a bit tentative... which cost me my place in the mini-race. Though I was still gaining height and doing well when a suggestion to come out to join Marko and Dima came over the radio I did not think twice and ran... despite a big shadow and breaking a cardinal rule of cross country flying - never leave a good lift - unless assured of something better. In the corner I saw Alek fly just to the position I left a moment ago... and my flight was irreversible lost.
Next things happened fast. Marko radioed that he is sinking and may be landing soon, Alek proceeding to go higher and higher easily riding the winds from the cloud sitting above the mountain and Dima rode his last glide to the valley ahead. I tried to turn back to the hill and even considered flying back to launch which would have been a great fun too, that just to maintain position until the cloud moves along and then... Well, let's just say they don't make easily accessible facilities in the sky for paraglider pilots. This overriding need sealed my decision. I found an absolutely perfect landing zone with short green grass and huge "topol" trees indicating the wind direction. My landing was perfect and easy - but the local farmers may still wonder why a paraglider pilot would run so hard right after the landing to the nearest trees.
All this was just half the tale - Marko did not land after all! He found a massive thermal that took him to over 2000 m in minutes, and rode those unruly thermals past the goal as far as 42 km on a straight line. Alek landed in Bitola itself after his successful decision just couple of kilometers short of Marko.
Joka guided the retrieval. Yep, his conversation with his Omega7 left him somewhat unhappy. Always a better day ahead!
After the pick up we all gathered at a good local eater and partied to our heart's content. Then a short ride back to Krushevo to pick up a tandem passenger and we were off for the third flight of the day.
Yeah, you read it right! Third flight! At this point we all felt the need to relax a bit. Marko borrowed Alek's Jalpa and with my Sigma6 our wings were closely matched in speed and performance. This allowed for a bit of wing walking by Marko, well, more like a wing kicking but who cares, and an entire flight where we flew so close that talking in the normal voice was completely within reason. In conclusion, while Marko was circling and getting for the landing I was carefully counting the number of turns it took him to get down. Then, it was SAT time in perfectly smooth evening air and in a few moments I was joining Marko on the ground.
Alek enjoyed a fine tandem time for the first time... with the minor matter of an acro turn. Smiley and Joka did an unthinkable just a few years before gliding down a 2 km loop on pure glide capitalizing on the incredible leaps in technology of Omega7 and Bobo with Dima just free flew. Good day all in all!
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