Saturday, 22nd January 2011
Posted by Judith on 22 Jan 2011 at 09:16 pm | Tagged as: Flying
Less windy today and the high pressure is getting closer… good Santa Brigida conditions. And so it was. We got there to find it packed. Nearly all the Niviuk staff seemed to be having a day out and were flying all sorts of different machines, as well as Dominique flying the new Niviuk proto harness. It looks like (and is probably as aerodynamic as) a kayak. Apparently you can sit up in it without creating as much drag as an open harness. It certainly seemed to carve through the air pretty smoothly.
It was a bit up and down at first and then, as usual, it just got better and better. By 2.30pm the thermals were well established, pleasant and took you through the inversion. It was cold up there though. We have a cold weather warning (cold by Spanish standards, anyway), and despite my seven layers and three gloves I got cold above 800′ ATO, so I stayed below that, although others headed up and around a triangle.
It was flyable all day, and it was a really sociable day with so many people out.
[10pm edit] Just heard from Oriol, they went to Bellmunt and got up to 2200m AMSL in thermals and then hit convergence. Some landed in Olot. Never thought that Bellmunt would work in north wind. Amazing. Spring has really started.
6 Responses to “Saturday, 22nd January 2011”
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How cold was it – if you have 7 layers and 3 gloves then it’s either -40c or your clothes are not doing their job. All I’m wearing is an Ozee suit and a thin summer jacket underneath, and a big pair of very old thinsulate mitts. I do have a full face helmet and visor though and that makes a big difference. Lovely and warm while flying over here and well below zero – probably about -5. Have to be careful ground handling in the mitts but in the air it’s fine and ok to grab the C’s to land in too.
Any sign of the Artik3 on the hill? From what I have heard should easily eclipse the Delta.
Dave – probably about +2 on the ground, but obviously colder higher. My body isn’t cold, it’s my face and especially my hands. I have bad circulation at the best of times, but with hands up in the brakes, it gets much worse. I never suffered so much with hang gliding, when hands are below. When skiing or flying in winter in the high mountains, I use hand warmers.
I wasn’t the only one with cold fingers yesterday. There were a few folk wincing and shaking their hands when you get that horrible pain of the blood flowing back down. Let’s face it… we’re all not used to the cold here – it was +22C only last week. You see German women sunbathing topless on the beach with Spanish women in fur coats and hats looking on with horror. On the other hand, everyone in the UK starts moaning about the heat when the temperatures just about get acceptable!
Oh, and I gave up flying suits years ago… they are less practical for women, if you get my drift.
Dougie – I’ll ask the guys and will post photos here as soon as I clap my eyes on one. We were lucky to get one of the first Artik IIs to test fly when it came out. I’ll see if we can get lucky again.
Cheers,
Judith
Ok, I asked Xiliu about the Artik III. He says the designers are working on it, along with the Koyot II, Hook III, Icepeak VI, etc. It will be released when they have the best product they can make, however long it takes. So a little longer yet…
Cool, thanks. I still fly the first Artik, which I love to bits oh and a Takoo which I also adore