Hang gliding at last!

Louisa helping a pilot control his glider in the wind

The weather hadn't been conducive for much flying after David got a suitable set of wheels, but an instructor (Curt Warren) was planning a trip up to Lake George on Tuesday (8 February), making possible the "check flight" which is actually a prerequisite for hang glider pilots to fly legally here, and the weather looked promising.  So that flight transpired without incident at the Collector site (see http://www.acthpa.org/home/files/ACTHPA_Site_Guide.kmz for the Google Earth view of the local sites) in the afternoon.  Then it was off to Geary's, another Lake George site, for an evening flight in the sea breezes that often penetrate this far inland at this time of year, in the glider borrowed from Nic Welbourn (the previously mentioned club VP).  That flight turned out to be a bit wild as the wind picked up pretty fiercely, but it was still easy to get out to the lake (which is vast and dry) safely for a gentle touchdown with no flare.

In the pictures here, Louisa is shown helping another pilot get to launch (she also drove David's car down to the landing "paddock", affectionately known as the Collector "bomb-out" or BO for short), and a student pilot is shown being pursued by an eagle, probably a wedge-tail.

Eagle chases hang glider!