My first Cross Country flight Paragliding! Blossom Valley to El Cap! Highest altitude yet (Video)
The winds were a little strong for my liking, but there was good lift. We found a good thermal, followed it back behind the launch. Phil comes on the radio and says "Come on lets go to Cap. Lets go!"
I was so excited! This is one of the mile stones in a free flight paraglider's book. First XC Flight
There were a hand full of us in the air that day. Phil had went to El Cap and back when I first launched. The report predicted that we were going to be 2500 over launch. It was correct.
To make it to El Cap you need to be at 2400 AMSL. I don't have any instruments when I fly yet because I haven't got my flight deck together.
If it wasn't for Phil, I would not have gone over there. He pointed out the spine that you need to reach to get the altitude you need to get back to the launch. I haven't done the math yet, but I know that the flight is a couple miles there and back.
It was intense on the way back. I am flying a very inefficient wing. Its 13 years old, and is a little out of trim I am sure. The flight back required me to be on full speed bar for the most part.
If you can't watch the video now, its worth watching when you have time. I posted this video and my dad texted me right away to tell me how excited he was watching it.
Hope you enjoy!
https://steemit.com/paragliding/@captainobviou3/paragliding-tips-and-tricks-10
My friend,
That was fantastic, thrilling, terrifying, and beautiful! I desperately want to join you up there. Thanks for taking me along visually and audibly.
Congratulations on your amazing milestone. :D
😄😇😄
Thanks for coming along my friend!
I would still very much love to meet you in person and see you fly one of these days... I hope we may be able to figure out some way for that to happen. I know in the past you've mentioned some of your flying sites and plans, and so I guess I'll just watch for those... ;)
I am on track to get my certification up to level P3. This means that I will be able to fly at Torrey Pines glider port. I am just guessing, but I am thinking one month from now and I will be able to fly there. That is such a cool place to watch. They have a snack bar, and some benches. The real kicker is that there are guys that fly tandems. This means that you could go flying with one of the guys/girls. I will keep you posted as my sign off day gets closer.
One of the other things you could do if you really want to get in good with the local pilots is shuttle. There is a site called Palomar that is at the base of Palomar mountain not too far from the Pala Casino. You can give a lift up to the launch, or take someone else's car down after they fly ect. This was something that was recommended to me when I first started flying in March.
Thanks again for stoping by, and thanks for your generous up vote! See you in the air.
I've been to the Torrey Pines glider port many times, and love watching the flying.
Thanks for the tip about helping with shuttling... I'll keep that in mind.
Excellent adventure! You are much braver than I my friend... I love flying but somehow paragliding has always been just waaaaay to radical for me! LOL... I used to see a couple of folks paragliding above the Sierra Nevada Mountains south of Columbia California at an altitude of 12,000 ft. It was stunning to see them that high up... very cool! Fly safe my friend.
Thanks man! Coming from a great adventurer like yourself that means a lot! I am really looking forward to the 17999 amsl flights in the spring. There is a group of guys that did a 100 mile flight last spring all the way from north of San Diego to like palm springs somewhere. I need to get my instrument panel together before I do that one tho.
By the way, I bet with your knowledge you would do excellent #paragliding.
Thanks for the love. See you in the air! 17999😜
Whey Hey!!!! Well done Cap't! That's a nice achievement :) I bet you was 'buzzin' big time after that?
I wouldn't worry about the glider being 13 years old, check out MurrayHay's youtube channel. I've meet him a couple of times when he's been down from Scotland. Sam and I have watched him do some amazing soaring on his channel and usually on +15 year old gliders. Sam and I always joke how Murray can get lift off a beach pebble lol. He's done a recent video of him flying along a beach, his take off is on a slope that I'm 99% sure I wouldn't be able to soar on.
That is super cool! I have been watching his videos since I before I first started flying. He is inspiring for sure!