Finally I make it to Club Pilot

The forecasts leading up today have been particularly erratic, it seems over the past couple of days the wind has been predicted to come from all points of the compass. I phoned Bertie to see where we were going and eventually it was decided to go to Robin Youngs hill which takes a N/E wind. I had been to this site before but never flown it. I arrived to see Bertie take off from the top and fly about a bit. I got my kit together and started to walk up the slope towards take off and about halfway up Bertie came down and landed next to me. He said that I should definitely get my last top landing in today so excitedly I shot up to the top of the hill to do my daily checks.

Robin Youngs hill

A couple of false starts later I had launched off the top of the hill. I flew several beats back and forth slowly loosing height quite enjoying myself. I finished off by heading to a top landing next to the car park. I wasn't far enough back when I turned into wind for my final approach so had to do a bit of turning before I landed.

After a few seconds Bertie came on the radio to congratulate me. I carefully laid my wing out amongst what the sheep had left in the field and started to pack it away. Bertie's work with me was done so as he had a new student that was starting he shook my hand and went off to another hill a few miles away which is much better suited to training first day students.

Martin flying

 After I had packed everything away I stood on the hill on my own for quite a while. I was half tempted to walk up to the top and fly down again but as I watched another paraglider that had launched get thrown about a wee bit I decided against it.

It seems good news travels fast because when I got back to the car park I was greeted by the club secretary who immediately extended his hand to congratulate me. I stood for a while and chatted with other club members before driving around to the training hill.

I have seen pilots inflate their wings above their head only to drop the wing back down again. I have seen them standing with the wing above their head then walk about the hill talking to each other I have seen them come in for a top landing only to start to take off as soon as they set down.What looked like pilots messing around when I first started training I have now come to realise is actually pilots honing their skills.

I climbed to the top and prepared my kit. I was pleasantly surprised that a bit of ground handling came very easy. I am guessing that this was because the wind was quite gentle, but also because everything I was doing was at my own pace. I am not saying that Bertie put me under any pressure while training, I probably did that myself. I was to able leisurely inflate the canopy and turn and stand with it above my head several on several occasions and sometimes for upwards of a minute. As I raised and lowered the canopy I was able to manipulate it using the controls and risers regardless of how it landed, only once did I end up with it in a state where I was unable to rescue it and had to actually walk up to it and move it around by pulling at the fabric.

Up to this point the two most testing obstacles have been the weather here in Northern Ireland and ground handling. I think I am getting better at ground handling but it will be a while yet before I am captain canopy. The weather I can do nothing about but try to improve my interpretation of it.

Club Pilot(Novice), what does it mean, what can I do? It means I am qualified to make my own decisions on when and more importantly if I fly.It also means I can now join a club, make use of their club coaches for guidance. I am already a member of the Ulster Hang gliding and Paragliding Club (UHPC) so I can turn my attention to torturing them instead of Bertie.

What next? I have thought about little else for so long I am not really sure. I want to put plenty of practice into what I already know but I am also keen that I don't get stuck a rut where I am just doing the same things over and over. I have been told that it is a good idea to set yourself goals to keep yourself improving, even if it just trying to land on a particular spot. I am of course keen to fly but am a little apprehensive about doing it on my own or under the eye of a club coach. I'll of course only go out when there are others around.