Monthly Archives: July 2003

Hanggliding

Sao Paulo

I drove down from Vaagaa, arriving in Oslo at 03:00, and slept for a few hours before getting up at 7:30 to repack my bags. I loaded the glider box back on the car and picked up Fredrik, after 7 hours of driving through sweden in massive rain we crossed over the Oeresund bridge and arrived in Denmark. After making the day a little interesting for the check-in crew at Copenhagen airport with my glider box we got on the flight. I paid US$360 extra for exess size, and 15 hours later in Sao Paulo we pick up our bags and find the glider looking fine. It was entertaining to manouver the 4.2 meter long box through the X-ray machine in customs…

I put Fredrik to watch over the bags, while I got our connecting tickets and found the Varig cargo departement. The glider have to goe as air-freight the last leg to Brasilia. After getting sendt around different offices, where people speaked very little english I finally meet the right man to arrange everything for me. We went back to the terminal in a VW bus, and shoved the glider in the back door, it does not fit more than halfway so I sit and hold while he drove the few km back to the cargo terminal. After arranging papers for freight and insurance everything is OK. (Insurance is highly recommended after watching the forklift drivers rally around the terminal with cargo)

The central bank had a huge money shipment with Varig this morning, so suddenly a caravan of armoured cards, motorbikes with police, and jeeps with armed soldiers arrive in true Hollywood style. Officers with pilot sunglasses, and some serious looking private security guards with long black coats over bulletproof vests carrying sub-machine guns. Interesting show, I always thought it was like this only in the movies with North American heros fighting South American drug cartels.

So, only 8 more hours to kill in the airport, getting bored, internet access is 20 reals per hour, which is about NOK 50, not too bad actually, could buy another few hours and catch up on work email.

Competitions

Nationals Day 8

More rain. Last day today, cancelled.

Weather’s been crap with 2 good days out of 8. The week before the comp was perfect, heard that one before?

On the last task Robin chrashed on landing near Otta, we do not know the details as he broke his jaw in two places and was scheduled for an operation yesterday. No other serious injuries as we know. His glider had some damage, but nothing that can’t be fixed. It’s very uncertain if he’ll recover enough to fly the worlds though.

Tonight I’ll short pack my glider, and head back to Oslo. Tomorrow morning Fredrik and I drive to Copenhagen and fly to Sao Paulo, and from there to Brasilia to fly the Brasilian nationals and the World championships with the rest of the team after that. I hope to be able to update these pages with news during our stay in Brasil

Competitions

Nationals Day 5-6

Yesterday we finally got some reasonable good weather, with some sun and light winds. We set a one way task to goal at Frya. I took off early, and waited in cloudbase to take a little later start time as some pilots started on course. I watched them glide for a long time, and disappear over the edge at Lalm, never to be seen again. I decided to take another course over Otta, and glided from 2300 meters above Gråhøe over all the triggerpoints, and ended up low in the infamous Nord Sel, where I finaly found some weak lift and gained a few hundred meters together with Erik Vermas. It soon fell apart, and I glided out to land south of Otta. Why o why did I not go to Lalm and get up with the others, everyone who went that way got to goal. I lost 400 points and fell down to 4. place with slim chances of catching up. Tor Erik won the day again, and now have a strong lead.

Today we were optimistic, and set a task to Kvam and back from Salknappen, but suprisingly strong winds and overcast sky made it hard. Noone got any good flying, and the longest flight was Nils Åges 20 km to Otta. Tor Erik and I talked on the radio and tried to cooperate to get back up, but it was simply too windy and overcast. I landed in Nord Sel after 17 km, going back to the small patch of sun instead of gliding out to Otta, thus losing 10 points and fell down to 5. place.

Forecast is basicly crap for tomorow, with a slight chance of improvment Saturday.

Competitions

Nationals Day 1-2

The first day of the Norwegian Nationals was canned, we got overdevelopment and rain after setting up at Salknappen.

Yesterday we got perfect conditions with cloudbase above 2000 meters and weak winds. The task was set to be a 82.8km out and retur, Vole – Kvam – Otta – Vågå centre – Vågå landing. It was slow going in the beginning, I found a nice 4 m/s termal over “bekken” after takeoff, and took the 13:30 startgate with Nils Åge and Erik Vermaas. We glided towards Vågåruste, I stopped and took a weak thermal after a few km, Nils åge went on and gotstuck low in Vågåruste. Erik and I got to cloudbase after a while, and we stopped a few more times before gliding over to Heidal, where Erik got stuck low below me. I stayed high and followed the clouds until the first TP at kvam where the air was dead. I searched around for lift in the whole area, wasting 800 meters before I took the TP and found some weak lift in the shade below Torgeirkampen. I met the gaggle getting back up, and got kicked around in a violent thermal near Otta. I saw Robin coming back low over Torgeirkampen after the TP, but I was still far ahead of him.

After taking the TP over Otta i got back up to 2000 meters above Ottaplatået, and went on glide 19 km out from the last TP, my Galileo told me I would have plenty of height, but I suspected headwind, and also had to calculate in the 3 km final glide from Vågå center to goal. I got a reasonable glide in weak headwind, but decided to stop and tank up some safety altitude behind Lalm, from there in it was a fast glide. I knew Tor Erik was maybe 15 minutes behind, but with with a later start time as well. I was first in goal, Tor Erik second, he had a minute faster time, but I won the day on departure and arrival points. Johnny was third, Olav, Robin, and Nils Åge next. A total of 10 pilots made goal, with the rest spread out nicely – a perfect day scoring wise.
Results at http://www.kkpg.no/index.php3?id=408

Sadly the weather forecast was dead on today, overcast and rain. Tomorrow might be nice though.

Hanggliding

Triangle

Robin emailed that it would be towing at Trøgstad on Sunday, I was at work all day Saturday, and had to get back to work on Sunday eveneing as well. I planned and declared a 50 km FAI triangle, where the flight took me northeast along the Gardermoen TA, south and back northwest to the airstrip. Åge towed Robin up a few times first, as Åge was learning to be aerotow pilot on the trike. Roger towed me up, best tow I ever had, smooth and efficient. Robin’s trike seems to climb good as well.

It was slow going after releasing at 700 meters, and I decided to float around locally as I could not go XC. While I was climbing slowly the clouds improved and started to form streets, so I reconsidered and went for the task. I did the stupid mistake of not thinking about going back to take the start point again, guess I’m too used to big start circles in the comps. To set a record the whole task must be flown after release from the tow, I had towed out of the start TP.

There was good lift over the radiotower, and I could jump between clouds after getting to base at 1450m. I had to cross over a lake and into forested areas for the next TP. The area was in shade from a good looking cloud, I went for it a little to early, and got drilled on the way in. Got seriously low over forest on the way back, but got a low save from 200 meters over a clearing in the forest, that was too close, so I blessed the thermal and hung on all the way to cloudbase in good strong lift. Heading south under a cloudstreet I thought the tailwind would make the rest of the leg easy, but the seabreeze came in and gave me 10 km headwind. Still it was quite easy following a nice street and only turning in the best lift. From the last cloudbase at 1500 meters I glided through the last TP and towards goal, with a nice tailwind the 19 km glide should be easy, pointing my toes and enjoying the glide. But halfway there I met headwind from the west again and had to speed up. I had to deviate around the last hill, and landed 200 meters from the airstrip, gliding under the power lines to get inside the goal circle.

If I only had gone back to the TP I would have set a Norwegian record (Easy since no one have declared one before :-)), the mean speed was 28,6 km/h including the tow up.

SeeYou screenshot of the task.

Hanggliding

Booooring

All work and no flying lately, and more to come as I’ll be upgrading a network at a customer site this weekend. We were supposed to do it last weekend, but some equipment got delayed. Today seemed like a perfect day for flying, but I was in a meeting all day. Otto and Johnny did declare a O&R Vågå – Frya – Vågå, but they had met strong headwind, and landed back in Vågå.

There will be a lot of flying soon though. The Norwegian Nationals start next weekend, and I go directly to Brazil for the Worlds the day after the comp is finished. I’m really looking forward to having some time off work and get some time in the air.