This past April 17th – 23rd was the 2nd Annual Rob Kells Hang Gliding comp in southern Florida…way Southern FL at The Florida Ridge Flight Park in a little town called LaBelle.  Frances and I arrived the morning of the 16th hoping to fly but it was blown out.  The next 2 days were canceled due to rain but the last five days of the comp were on!  For those of you new to this stuff the comp works like this.  We (the pilots) are given a specific course to fly depending on the days weather and conditions.  We follow this course with a GPS in the air, making sure to “tag” all the turn points, which are various size “virtual” cylinders at each turn point.  The pilot with the fastest time for the task wins the day based on an elaborate scoring system…don’t ask me how it works!

There are 3 classes for the comp; Open, Sport, and Rigid wing.  Open is all the best pilots, Sport is for pilots new to comps with generally lesser performing wings, and Rigid wings are a different type of hang glider than what you might imagine.  They are wider and thinner than typical “flex” wing hang gliders.  So, I was in sport class as this was my first comp.  Sport class is also set up so we can learn a lot from the more experienced pilots and man I learned a lot.  There were pilots from around the world including the tip #1 and #2 guys along with some of the best in the US.  I really enjoyed meeting, hanging and flying with them.  Well, when I say flying with, I mean the few minutes they were thermaling with me  and then watching them race off in front of me!

Ok the flying…like I said we flew the last 5 days and I ended up 5th in Sport class out of 16 or 17 ppl.  I made some mistakes that held me back but I learned a bunch form them.  My 2 worst days went like this…

Day 1 – I made GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL! but I didn’t record my tracklog so I didn’t get the full amount of points.  Lesson — Turn on your instruments and make sure they are ready when you launch.

Day 4 – I only went 10km.  I was overly anxious to get out front and in doing so I flew myself right to the ground.  Lesson — Patience on tough days or sections.  Need to switch gears when the conditions demand it.

Over all it was an awesome experience.  I got to fly 5 days in a row and I had 2 flights over 20 miles.  My previous personal best was about 25 miles and on the last day I have a 31.5 mile flight!  I was pumped!  Frances had a great time driving retrieve for the pilots , made killer $$ doing that too.  She also got 5 instructional tandems towards here Hang 1 rating.  One with Jonny Durrand and the other with Jeff Shapiro.  She was stoked to get to fly with those guys as they are both incredible pilots and great people.  Check out her post about the comp HERE.

Ok enough…Pics.  First check these out taken by others…I’m in a few.

Day 1 GOAL – (before I figured out my GPS didn’t record the flight…dooooh).  Whatever, I was stoked!

Day 3 landing spot with Brandon.

5 mins after the pic above…Most Expensive umbrella ever!

Who just flew a personal best…this guy!  31.5 miles WoooHooo

My track log for my Day 5 Flight.  31.5 miles  1:57 hrs Flight time

Blue is high (4700′) and Red is low (50′).

Not more than 30 mins on the way home…guess sometimes you gotta pay to play.

Now that I have 1 big comp under my belt I’m totally hooked!  Frances and I are looking forward to Big Spring, TX in August.  I’ve been told its great air, long flights and big miles!  Who knows…maybe I will go 100 miles, I got a new best to beat!

Flights: 5

Flight time: 7 hrs

The video is from my first flight.  Scratched around ridge height for 30 mins before I finally caught the thermal that took me to cloud base.  By the time I was up I couldn’t feel my fingers so I had to go land.  Once I was down my fingers felt like they were on Fire!   I need some warmer gloves next winter.

Flight time: 1 hr

Got to fly again on the the 20th and had some friends come out to watch.  My buddy Dave and his family came as did my friend Brian Walton.  Brian is a talented photographer and you can view his website and work HERE.  I’m glad he got to come out.  Here are some of the shots he took.  Click on the pics for the bigger version.  If you have Google Earth you can click on the HERE to download and see my flight in 3D.  This was recorded by the GPS I fly with.  You can download Google Earth here for free.

Ready to go!

Off the Ramp and right into a Thermal!

Just off launch and climbing.

Nick launched after me but didn’t find anything till he was low over the LZ.  He fought with it and gained 3-400′ back but it slipped away and he had to deck it.

Meanwhile, I was on my way up to 4050′ over launch.

Monty launched next and had some fun in front of launch for the cameras before thermaling up.

Frances was taking pics and filming launches.  I can’t wait till she is up there flying with us!

Monty wanted to say hello to the plane also!  Seriously, this was close.  I was 1km away but Monty was pretty much right there with the plane.  One of those “Holy Shit did you see that?!?!” moments!

Apparently I haven’t paid dues to the Aluminum gods lately.  The LZ was really tricky and I got knocked all over the place.  I think I was still knocking some of the winters rust off.

Flight Time: 1:30 hrs

I’ll be heading down to Wallaby Ranch in Florida next week.  Wills Wing is doing their 13th annual fly-in and party that I have been wanting to go to for years.  It will be good to go down and get some practice in before the Rob Kells comp in the middle of April.  I will have a lot going on for the next 2 months so I (hopefully) be posting more often.  Spring Time!!!  WOOOOHOOOO!

When we got up to the top it was blowing pretty straight in during the thermal cycles.  I took a few moments to watch the cycles and see how long they lasted and how strong they were.  It all looked good so I set up and got ready to launch around 3pm.  I picked a nice cycle…”CLEAR”…and 3 seconds later I am free.   Flew for about an hour and gained 2000′ over the top of the mtn.

OK so everyone wants pics…here are some of the better ones today.

]]> http://flyinbarker.com/wp_cms/145/feed/ 2 http://flyinbarker.com/wp_cms/team-challenge-2009/ http://flyinbarker.com/wp_cms/team-challenge-2009/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:24:27 +0000 Matt http://flyinbarker.com/wp_cms/?p=56 Well…I said I would write and I didn’t.  I have no delusions that you all have been waiting around for an update…or maybe you have!

Well then…Let’s get right to the meat of it.  Team Challenge was a blast.  Awesome people, fun format, and all around good time.  The TC is a “learning” competition for H3 Intermediate pilots who are new to cross country flying.  A number of top pilots were in attendance to help all of us fledglings who flounder below them.  Seminars were held daily on subjects ranging from weather, flight computer use, XC landing skills, soaring, and lots more.  It almost felt like Hang Gliding school for a week.  Yes I loved it…

I will have more to put up soon but here is a short video of me crossing over the powerlines south of Hensons Gap.  I get a bit of PIO but not bad.  It was bumpy crossing the lines and I should have slowed down and worked the lift that was kicking me around.  I guess I was just in GO mode.  Check out the pack of 4 gliders that passes under me.

Flight Time: 1:55hrs     Mileage: 17.1

The weather is looking pretty good for the week at this point and I can’t wait to get in the air!!

My flying gear below.

What’s that lying on my harness???  Is it…oh yes it is!!  Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic tickets for the day after the comp!!  I can’t think a much better way to wrap the week up.  I think I’m gonna have HAPPY FEET!

So I’ve been wanting to get a blog going for some time now and thanks to my friend Jeff, I finally have it live.  SO…what is this all about?  Well everything I guess but mostly Hang Gliding.  Along the way I will undoubtedly get to talking about something other than flying but I love to fly and now I really get to share it with you!  So here’s to my first post and thanks for checking out my site!

This past August I picked up my brand spankin’ new WillsWing U2 160 hang glider from Lookout Mountain Flight Park.  Previously I was flying a 10M Pulse.  For those of you who don’t know…there is a BIG difference in the performance of a Pulse and a U2.  The U2 is faster, glides further, and gets a better sink rate.  Basically, lots more fun!!

Here is a clip of my second launch.  It was blowing in around 12-17mph and I gained 1000′ right off of launch.  “Elevator to the top floor please!”

Big Ups!!

Below is a pic right after my first landing.  I am in love with this new wing!

If your grinnin' your winnin'

So thanks for checking out the new site.  Stay tuned cuz there is gonna be lots more.  In fact this coming weekend is the beginning of the Tennesse Tree Toppers Team Challenge.  It is a hang gliding comp designed around the idea of teaching intermediate pilots XC (cross country) and competition skills.  I am stoked to go and learn and fly and learn and fly!!  Next year I am planning on attending some of the bigger comps around the country.

Can’t wait.