Full Condition

green: hike up,  blue: flight

As forecast, a strongish NE wind was blowing across the mountain today.  Eager to train some, I hiked up to the launch (31:08, new record with pack), not sure whether I would fly or just stash the gear at the launch for tomorrow and hike down.  Observing the wind for a while I saw it was pretty strong but relatively steady in both direction and strength, which is unusual for a NE wind breaking over the ridge.  So I decided to fly down.

At around 10°C, today was one of the first cold days of the season, and the light was accordingly stark and beautiful.  I managed to stay up against the Yahazu ridge for a total flight time of 11 minutes. My vario would not turn on, so I spent this short while listening to the changing sound of the wind while actively piloting my Delta 2, a good choice for a day like today.

Landing was a little tricky with the surface wind blowing all over the place, but with many of the fields fallow at this time of year, there was enough room for a low-precision landing.  (The crops visible are lettuce.)

In spite of the conditions I thought I was quite relaxed and had things under good control.  However, looking at my stats it was interesting to see two distinct peaks in my heart rate, both at around 130 bpm, one at takeoff, and one at landing!  I guess it was a little exciting after all!