I got the boys to school yesterday morning then was on my way to Saltese by 9am. I wanted to miss the school zones and morning commuters and did a good job of it. Had to wait for the high school marching band to cross the street was the only real delay.

Got to Saltese by 9:30 and soon was hiking the hill to the top.

It was about a mile hike up and I got to the top with the wind blowing from the north, east, then west, then back to north.

Saltese hike.JPG

It was 10am and I was waiting on the winds to pickup as forecast so I did some kiting of my wing at launch for a while, when the winds would allow. I waited for 40 minutes before the wind finally began to turn. I was tired of waiting so with one of the first bigger gusts I got launched.

I had to run 4 times before I got into the air, the slope was constant and it took getting to the slope change for the wing to catch and lift me.

In the air I could tell instantly that the wing is different than my old one. This one pulled up easily through the power band and responds very quickly to my inputs.

The wing loading is much much better now that I am in the middle of the wing's weight range. I've lost 10 pounds and now all up my weight is under the Evora.

This spot I hit a bit of lift and the difference was clear as day to me. The wing caught the lift and pulled solidly, I watched the wing go back and looked over at my shadow as I checked the shoot coming forward.

I was eyeing the inner field but as I weight shifted towards the ridge I caught enough lift to carry me over the road and power lines. A fire truck was coded and full blast sirens as I flew over it. Kinda nifty.

I crossed the road and headed to land in the field.

The first landing was a perfect one in most regards. I did come down a bit to fast though, the angle of descent needs to be lowered to give myself more glide time to dissipate the energy of the wing before flaring to land. I stomped the landing though and tried to drop the wing right but it nosed over on me.

A short but VERY informative flight. I am very happy to have my 100th flight be with my new wing, at the same spot I flew my Evora for the first time May 30 2023, almost 2 years ago.

flight 100 Garmin.JPG

flight 100 vario.JPG

flight 100 xctrack.JPG

I called it good with the one flight and headed for home. As I drove north the monster flags popped as the winds shifted and began to be perfect on the hill... Of course.

I got home and had some food to eat, grabbed my light harness and some snacks and then was back in the car heading north to Inkler's.

I was driving through Valley and could see Steve's hang glider in the air and Chris and Kim's paragliders over the hill. As I got closer I saw Steve vanish and pulled into the lz to see he had landed. I grabbed my wing and harness and walked out into the lz to kite. Not long later Kim came in to land.

Steve has been flying since 1978 and Kim since 1995 I think, both have mounds of flight experience.

After a bit Chris came into land as I was kiting my wing. I would love to have flown but the entire point was to just kite the wing. I spent the next 45 minutes kiting and got such good info about the wing's reactions. I got a few 30-40% collapses that I was able to work out while keeping the wing overhead. The wing launches quite easily and it WAY WAY WAY easier for me to kite than my Evora.

I took a quick break for a snack and water while the 3 took off for lunch at the casino. Another 20 or so minutes of kiting and by 2pm I was headed for home.

My dumbass forgot to turn down Swenson to go around the fucking road work north of Deer Park so got stuck waiting in the long line for about 15 minutes.... So enraging when I would have been home already.

I got home shortly before the boys and after a while J wanted to go out to the glass studio so I got him setup so he could do some learning. The only way to learn is to get the glass in the flame and watch what happens.

I was out checking the garden and found we have seeds popping all over. I stopped by the greenhouse and found the swallowtail was not figuring out to go down to go out. So I caught it gently and took it outside where it flew off quickly.

Playoff hockey is great. The most intense games of the year and the most on the line. Toronto went OFF, the rink was super loud the announcers brought it up many times in surprise.

Out to soak after my bastard shoulder pinched again and sent me into severe pain. I can do the most dynamic shit all day long but the most innocuous movement as I go to reach for something and the thing spazzes out.

Today looks flyable but I have to see, maybe Inkler's again... I'll get the boys to school soon, get morning chores done, then I want to go on a bike ride early, PDC is on, Utd will play, I have to get the fence up on the peas row, pick the boys up from STEM, and more work around the farm.