Feel the joy
Midsummer brings with it the chance for more flying adventures, whether that’s getting up early to hike-and-fly before work or eking out your flight as the late afternoon seems to extend forever.
Having joined a few guided XC groups in my time one of the things that always impressed me was how the guides get the most out of the flying day. I don’t mean flying XC for 10 hours, I mean matching the conditions and the skills of the pilots and thinking “Let’s do this, this’ll be great.”
In the French Alps that might mean a sled ride or scratchy thermals in the morning followed by flying XC in the afternoon and then evening soaring until almost dark. In Bucaramanga, Colombia, it meant thermal flying before midday, taking a long lunch until about 4pm, and then flying all afternoon until top-landing as the trees became silhouettes before packing in the dark.
In Bassano on midsummer’s night it meant driving all the way to the highest launch and forward launching 800m above the valley at 9pm, laughing all the way. I’m still to fly the far north, where pilots in Scandinavia head out under the 24-hour sun and fly at midnight.
Beyond the importance, the meat of the main XC flying day, there is fun to be had and lessons to be learned. Midsummer allows you to say, OK, I’ve bombed out, but I can make it back to the hill to fly again. I remember one such flight when launching for a second time at 5pm saw me climbing out on my own in the best climb of the day. What followed was the sweetest 50km I’d ever flown.
We do get enthralled by the big numbers and the record-breaking flights, I grant you that. But the most important numbers are the number of pilots on the hill, the numbers out flying that day, the number of first-day students the instructors help guide into the air, the number of friends you’re with – missing ones leave big holes – and the amount of time you spend smiling and feeling the sheer joy that flying can bring.
Wherever you are this month, whether you’re enjoying midsummer flying or hanging out through midwinter in the south, make the most of those moments you can grab in the air.
Enjoy the issue!
Ed Ewing, editor
Features
The Essential Role of SIV
“It’s not optional – it’s a foundation for safer flying.” SIV instructor Dilan Benedetti dives into SIV
Highland Fling
Kieran Campbell answered the call of the clan to chase the weather and reel in the big flights
Rendezvous Paralpine
“No, it was not like the X-Alps!” Ed Ewing meets award-winning filmmaker Guillaume Funck
Flight From Yayamari
Ruth Jessop and the late Franz Schilter bond on a trip to climb-and-fly a 6,000m mountain in Peru
Jordanian Air
“Should we go?” Photographer Matias Nombarasco and Emilia Plak head to Jordan for a flying tour
In the Core: People, news and insight
Himalayan Dreaming
François Ragolski on what he learnt after two months and 2,400km vol-biv
On launch with: César Arevalo
César Arevalo on how he dodged law school to become a full-time pilot
Flying IQ: Helping you fly better
Fundamentals: When to adjust your riser loops
Russell Ogden on what you need to know about your new line set
Weather: High Mountain Launches
Honza Rejmanek on what to look out for on your next high mountain launch
Life Lessons from the Sky
New Zealand adventure pilot Nick Neynens has written an inspirational book about his adventures on the wing
The UK’s Amazing May
May saw some of the best spring flying weather the UK has ever seen – two pilots share their inspirational stories
Kitlist: Design insight
Design Insight: Gin GTO 3
“Attention to detail and precise trimming.” Marcus King talks to Gin Seok Song about Gin’s new EN-C
The Arc of Happiness
“You know it when you see it.” Bastienne Wentzel goes looking for an answer to the question, ‘What is arc?’
Flymaster’s Live One Pro
Light and small this new tracker is proving a hit. Marcus King uses one for XC and in competition
This article was first published in Cross Country 258
