Finally, 4 months of waiting is rewarded

Today was a good day because today was a flying day!

Like yesterday the wind charts were looking grim but we chanced it anyway and low a behold I got to Big Collin mountain and there were two pilots flying. So rather urgently I took up the same position on the hill as the previous day. Completed my daily check in a swift and efficient manor. Nearly ready to go when the batteries died in one of the radios.

Bertie (my instructor) ran down to where the cars were parked to get fresh batteries and at this point I was sure the wind would pick up to unwieldy levels, fortunately they didn't.

My first flight was just a case of getting a simple top to bottom in to bring up the confidence levels. Although I hadn't quite managed to sit in the harness properly I was all smiles, the climb back up the hill soon sorted that out.
Second flight was from further up the hill, third further still and the last flight was from the top. As I moved further up the hill the difference in wind speed between the top and the bottom of the hill became more pronounced.

The wind in the landing area was next to nothing so plenty of break was needed to slow my touchdown and I am quite pleased to say the landings came rather natural and matter of fact without having to think about them. I mentioned this to Bertie and he flew down after my last flight taking a wrap on his controls (wrapping the control lines around his hands to give him more breaking ability) to land a bit slower than I did. Although I have seen people taking a wrap before it just hadn't occurred to me to do that just before landing.

The wing seemed very slow to respond when I was making turns. I later realised that this was probably because I was only able to push my self half the way back into the harness on all of the flights (despite adjustments being made) and therefore not able to shift my weight effectively in the harness. So I intend to practice getting my self fully back into the harness in the comfort of my garage by suspending my harness from ropes.