...And Flight 3

Wednesday was a very good day for gliding- the sun was strong, the clouds were small and high, and there weren't many customers booked in for glider rides. One of the members went flying with Darren in 008 (007's twin), to try and break a national record (300km out-and-return in a two seater), however they returned pretty promptly when they realised that their GPS logger, required for proof of the flight, wasn't working.

I went up with Trevor again in 007, and had a good hour's very fast flight to the North of the club. This time, we hugged the sun-facing ridges, bouncing off the very strong (12kts+) lift and rarely stopping to circle. It was going great, however Trevor had a call from the base saying that some customers had turned up wanting a glider ride, so we had to cut short our adventure. However, I was still able to take some photos.



Windemere Lake from directly over the airport

Romping up the valley... And back down again.

You may have noticed that I can only take pictures out of the right side of the canopy- that's because Trevor insisted that all cameras are attached to the glider's camera mount, which is a very good idea in the choppy air of the mountains, and in the back seat where Trevor can't keep an eye on what's happening.

Sharn on approach in the Pawnee. The rope has just been dropped onto the undershoot of the runway- I think this reduces wear on the rope and decreases the turn-around time for launching.

I had found a member who was travelling to Calgary on this evening, and had offered me a lift back to Okotoks, so after he landed I helped put his glider away (in Invermere, everyone has hangars and don't need to de-rig their gliders all the time...), and then I said my farewells. Most regrettably, Trevor was still in the air with his customer but we had to leave, so I wasn't able to thank him face-to-face for what had (eventually) turned out to be an excellent trip. However, I bought a polo shirt so I've still got a souvenir, and I was still able to thank him as soon as he landed (by phone).

After nearly 8 months abroad, I began my journey home.