Just sitting here in the Kingsford Smith departure terminal after another amazing adventure flying in OZ. It's hard to even know where to start after so much has happened. I didn't have reliable net access so I'm the entire trip behind but this comp has been another life highlight, for sure. Another problem (or excuse) causing for a lack of posts was that my camera shorted after getting submerged during a violent and wet storm on day 3 so I have next to no photos from the trip, just good memories.



I arrived on the 31st and met up with friends from around the world to bring in the new year and to celebrate being in a beautiful place for another comp to remember. When ever I think of racing my hang glider in Forbes, strong climbs, fast glides and long tasks are the dominating thoughts. The temps were forecast to be hot (up to 111 F) and that only meant one thing for sure, we were going to get what we came for.



Days were saturated with the tasks at hand. We would wake early to stretch off the previous days aches and pains and try to get loaded up on fluids and fuel before racing into town for the briefing. The paddock was nice a green this year so towing, although active and strong at times, was quite pleasant. The best part of Forbes is the professionalism displayed by the organizers from the Moyes family and pilots. The field is so strong and racing with the top pilots that seem to show up each year makes becoming a better pilot a tangible opportunity.



I was rusty and anxious on the first day of the comp and ended up on the deck. Because flying fast down a course line is so confidence based it was not a good way to start off. After shaking some of the cobb webbs off I started to feel the rhythm and began to feel stronger and more in phase as the days rolled on. Flying is very perspective based. I heard an analogy once that seems applicable. When you drive down the road and look out the window at a stand of trees whizzing by, from one point of view they look like a thick and randomly spaced "mess" of trees. But, if viewed from the right place, you are able to see deep into the forest realizing that the trees are planted in perfect rows, all lining up perfectly. Sometimes, my perspective in a comp just needs a little adjustment to have things line up for a more clear picture.



One of the highlights of the trip was a barn burner, 112 mile out and return with up to a 25k head wind on the return. Zippy and I took the 3rd start because we seemed to be out of phase for the first two, which added an hour to our airtime before even getting started. It felt so good to be that tired after a 6.5 hour flight, standing next to the car right where we had left it earlier that morning. Watching the sun set that evening brought back memories when OB and I had a very similar flight a few years ago. The strong feeling of satisfaction after such a difficult task was a stark reminder that we are so lucky to get to do what we do.



The comp ended and the party was good. I got to see Curt and Lou for my last night in Sydney and was lucky enough to see a photo of their newest family member when they returned from Lou's ultrasound this morning. Good flying, great weather and even better friends. Life is good

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What's in the bag??


Finished the latest prototype and have learned enough to feel confident that within the next 1 or 2 protos, I should be ready for production. Spring still feels realistic and I plan to have a couple at the Wills Wing Demo days, if possible, for people to try on and fly in. The changes necessary are minor and involve sizing which is "learning me" on how to be proficient in the process required to change the pattern to effect size without changing the lines of the harness. There are also a few cosmetic and finish work changes that I will make but all together, I'm happy with the progress.





The harness is very comfortable and getting upright is reliable and easy. The slider box that we have designed seems to function how we intended and is overbuilt in terms of strength. I have ripped the chutes out several times and the deployment system is quick, easy and replacing the chutes is simple and retains a clean fit. Dustin's carbon components are beautiful and sound. We have begun the testing phase for the screamers that connect the chute bridles to the harness structure, the carbon back plate and other applicable components which should allow real data relating to the structural limits of the harness. I like the idea of the piece of mind gained from things being overbuilt without sacrificing functionality and style.





I will keep updating as progress continues toward the production phase. So far, the frontal profile makes me smile.

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Been going hard to get this proto done. I'm trying to build a close, working example of what will eventually be the comp production model before I leave at the end of the month for Forbes, OZ. It's been a fun process solving problems realized on the last try and designing a way for a pile of textiles and components to turn into a tool for the greatest possible performance advantage in a harness. It's a goal and work in progress but so far, the results are encouraging.



After Adams free fall deployment in Australia a few weeks ago, I am exploring the idea of using load limiting "screamers" for a connection between the harness and chute bridle. My hope is to reduce the impact force and make a safer deployment situation without reducing opening time. I've used screamers for years while climbing ice or any time the gear is "light" and believe in their effectiveness from experience. Pearson has had interaction with the folks at Yates over the years and after I built an example of the screamer I would like to use in the harness, he sent it to the Yates facility who were extremely gracious, agreeing to test it for us and to give us the valuable information derived from a test to failure.



Even after I sent it off, I couldn't resist building one to test myself with a 5' static drop. The screamer did exactly what it was supposed to, reducing the impact force on a fall that would have normally broke me in half;-) After some laughs with Gibisch, I jumped and responded to the result with one word.......Cool!



Old photo of "seam welded" chute zippers. The welder has involved a learning curve but it sure makes for clean lines

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I had the pleasure of meeting Terry and his wife Chris Reynolds while we were in Texas at the Big Spring comp. Through some of the initial conversation, I learned that Terry and Chris both shared my facination and admiration for raptors and the practice of falconry. Because I have been devoting most of my time and energy in the development of the new comp harness, I've been living falconry vicariously through their adventures with their Red Tail, Bud.



It's funny. I've been the lucky observer of some of the most sizzeling stoops by Peregrins while training them to hunt pheasants and I always love to watch my birds "roll over" at the beginning of the stoop so that they can get vertical without taking their eyes off their prey.


Bud "on approach"

This is a great series of their Red Tail, Bud, making such a stoop on a "bagged" pheasant. Seeing a hawk make this type of approach gives me hope that one day, we might learn how to make a hang glider do it;-) You never know.








Pheasant for lunch;-)

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Sunday was going to be bluebird and it had been quite a while since I had the time and opportunity to climb in the mountains with Gibisch. We hung out the friday before and after some shit talk, hatched a plan to spend a short day in Blodget Canyon to do a quick route in the sun. It was supposed to stay between 20-30 degrees F on Sunday and the canyon forms a venturi that can bite in the winter so we were into doing something that we could move fast on to stay warm.





We met up for coffee late morning (Missoula alpine start;-) and made it to the trail head around 11. The parking lot and trail are on the shady side of the canyon and there was still a dusting from a snow shower the day before. Seemed like we might have cold hands in our future.



Blodget is one of the unique features close to Missoula that draws me to this place. It's lined on one side with South exposed walls and spires of granite. The routes have an "alpine rock" feel, contain sections that sometimes require adventurous route finding, and are high quality in terms of exposure and experience.





I always find high value in hanging out with Chris in the mountains. Even though I was admittedly a little rusty, it felt like old times and it felt great to be on a route in the winter in Montana. Even though the climbing was mellow, we enjoyed every minute of it.



We topped out and scrambled down snow covered ledges until we were able to rappel the rest of the way to the deck. Walking the 45 minutes or so back to the truck in the dusk was satisfying and familiar. Just what I needed to recharge the batteries.

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I'm sitting in a hotel room in Guayaquil, looking at a full moon out our window rising over the city and thinking back on what an amazing adventure this trip has been. The diverse contrast of our time here seems like several different trips seamlessly connected. We spent time in the city, over the mountains, driving through the green farm land and on the coast listening to the surf pound and the sea breeze blow. We got to see animals that are so different than I see in Montana. Aunt Eaters mixed in with the occasional Iguana crossing the road. The uniqueness of Ecuador and this part of the world is an experience that I will remember for my lifetime.






One of the things that stands out the most about this trip was the amazing people. Most here seem to live their lives with simplicity in mind, by choice or by necessity. O'Brien and I talked in the car on the way back from the coast today about how in all but very few communities here, there are no grocery stores..... no convenience stores. If a family wants to eat they kill a chicken, cook it's eggs and mash corn from the field into tonight's dinner. I saw smiles in the heart of what appeared to be suffering and people living happy with hardly any material possessions. I also saw people living without basic needs to survive in reasonable health, people that had no opportunity to better their situation in the long term or on a day to day basis. As a person who is privileged in comparison, it was hard to see, smell and listen to. What I feel like is the important perspective to take away from this trip is to never take any ounce of opportunity, any laugh or friend, any of what I consider part of a normal day, for granted. We are so lucky to live the lives that we do.

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We drove in last night after dark and even though the sea breeze and the sound of pounding surf wakened me to the fact that we were finally at the coast, I was really looking forward to seeing the ocean. I woke up and walked out onto the beach to see that this place is exactly what Dustin and O'brien had described, paradise.



After a briefing, we piled into a few trucks and drove the short road to the lower launch. It was blowing on shore (a little from the south) and felt strong on launch. The launch is well manicured but there was some tall bushes that caused for a little mechanical turbulence. Launch was sporty and I ended up getting off in a bit of a turn. Never out of hand but it kept me on my toes before climbing out in smooth lift over launch. I began my flight with a little tour about 2/3rds of the way to the southern turn point with John Hesch before we both pushed out and played around at base for a few turns.


John Hesch

After pushing a little harder on the way back, Davis, John, OB and I had a go at the north cliffs. After a nice glide over the town of Canoa, the cliff band starts and turns N NW into the ocean. The cliffs drop into the sea for a ways until you reach long and remote beach. The clouds started forming right on the coast line and we surfed up into and eventually above the clouds at the northern point of the cliffs. Racing back and taking pictures of my shadow in the clouds below was something I will remember for a lifetime or more.




Davis Straub


OB

I spent the rest of the day making runs up and down the course line with Dustin, Jeff and others trying to figure out altitudes and strategy at the turn points. It was cool flying fast with the boys but you could tell, no one was really going for it yet. There were sections of the ridge that we would go hard but....no one has all their lead in.......or do they? It's a fun game. it will be very interesting when it's on.




Looking back at some of the course line

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Well, I have been having some issues getting on line for some reason, coupled with getting settled and have yet to get a blog post together so sorry for the consolidation.
I arrived at the airport (thanks Steve) with plenty of time and it turned out to be a good thing because it turned into a bit of an effort to convince the folks at the counter that the glider would indeed fit on the plane. It's so funny, the process of traveling with a glider is so much less about the rules and regulations and much more about your people skills. I was lucky to be at a counter by myself talking to a nice woman while (unknown to me) Craig, Alex and John were 5 counters down having difficulties, struggling with what looked like an unhappy woman. Only when a handler came down and told the woman helping me that they are "turning down" gliders and mine would also not be going on the plane did I realize there might be an issue. In the end, it turned out to be no issue at all and I paid my fees and took my wing to the TSA door. Turns out that in the confusion, we basically all paid different amounts. Crazy.
We had a nice flight and arrived into a press filled airport, doing interviews for the local news and trying to get organized after checking through customs. It's amazing how well the local pilots are taking care of us. They picked up 10 pilots and 11 gliders, drove us to our hotel (that they had arranged for us) and have made the transition into their beautiful country as easy as it could be.
A couple of great flying days have followed. Jeff and others are doing a great job documenting so hopefully I am not being too redundant with my photos. Instead I wanted to write a little about the flying here.


We have had the option to either foot launch from a very well manicured launch site or to aero tow from the LZ behind a trike owned by Raul. The conditions are overcast and it would seem that the flying would not be that good but it is just the opposite. The air is so nice and the thermals are smooth. We climb over a variety of terrain ranging from equatorial forest to shrimp fields and rivers to full on city.


Yesterday, we all drove up the hill to launch from the mountain. Raul launched first and found a climb over the LZ. Jeff and I decided to launch next. My plan was to run off the hill 5 seconds after OB so that we could work together to find lift. After he got into the air, I walked up and said clear. One of the local Para pilots must not have heard me because 3 steps into it, I heard a loud bonk and felt the glider yaw a bit. The Montana pilot in me kicked in and I powered through it and got off the hill, no worries. I actually felt bad that I kinda clobbered the guy in the back of the head;-) We had launched into light conditions and right away, it seemed like the lift was lee side. We both scratched hard but ended up in the LZ in less than 20 minutes which stung a bit so when we could get a tow back into the air about 40 mins later, we were both keen.
Our second flight ended up being one to remember, we got up above launch and started to get to know the area a little better. We flew together locally and only ventured up the range short distances, taking turns strafing launch and making skimming tree top runs occasionally ringing up tip to tip. One particular climb, Jeff and I were turning tight and he later told me that he was staring at my top surface the whole time which ended up making hem feel a tad air sick. I just kept him in a spot where I couldn't see him through my sail, spinning round and round knowing that he was less than 100 feet away on the other side of my wing. We climbed like that for so long, I started to doubt whether he was still there or not and would look around a little only to see a sliver of him pop out from my leading edge quite close. It was really fun and we ended up climbing in "glass off" like conditions almost to cloud base where we hooked up with a gaggle of black vultures. I took a couple of photos of Jeff flying with the gang of birds but the images turned out blurry. It's really too bad because it was one of those moments that would have been magic to capture. There was 6-8 vultures and Jeff's bright wing all turning in a tight circle and it really encompassed what I feel when I'm climbing in a hang glider. I got to within 10 feet of vultures several times and was satiated by the end of the flight which turned out to be almost 2.5 hours. We had a nice dinner with the group and crashed out after a couple of "big days". Two more days here in Guayaquil and then off to the coast for the ridge race.

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Ever since we have decided to go "full on" with getting a premium harness done and available to pilots internationally, I have been sleeping and waking, eating and drinking harness design. I'm at the stage where every element of the harness; textile choices, manufacturing methods and construction sequence to create efficiency is constantly running through my head and are being defined and refined almost daily. It's been a cool process and has been yet another opportunity to meet and develop relationships with people from around the world related to "gear manufacturing". I have to say, it has been a great and educational experience working with and seeing the results of Steve's (Pearson) level of skill and experience. Working with him and seeing what he can do (and the resource he can provide) has not only made for a solid foundation for the success of this project but has been a constant class room for me to educate myself about the process and numerous people involved in developing the latest in hang gliding equipment. I'm certainly thankful.



With all of this dominating my life lately, climbing in the home "cave" and running have provided a relaxing shift in focus. I have been into running distance for the solitude that it provides. I can think clearly when alone and miles away, with the cold, crisp air filling my lungs. I went for a moderate run the other evening and was running home just after dark. Something caught my eye and I recognized it as a Great Horned Owl. It landed in the flexible, top branches of a tree just off the gravel road and the tree bent and swayed under the massive bird's weight. I ran slowly, breathing through my nose, past it and as I said out loud "hey brother" the bird cocked it's head, blinked it's large yellow eyes and hooted at me. I ran away into the darkening evening smiling.



This reminded me of something. It reminded me of the days that followed Hawkeye's death at King Mountain. As Lisa V played her tribute to him on her trumpet during the closing ceremonies, a Great Horned Owl landed in the tree overlooking the pavilion and watched us all in the sun filled morning. When her song was done it flew off. That was, for me, a moment in time that had impact. I tumbled and had a hour of "difficulty" the following year which cemented a few things in my life as defining lessons and as a reminder that our lives are strewn with opportunity and inspiration. Inspiration comes from all directions if you pay attention. It comes from everything and everyone and most importantly, it comes from deep within.



There have been people in my life that have inspired me. Inspired me to be better, to try harder, to be more tolerant of the difficulties and occasional suffering necessary to accomplish grand things. The world around us.... watching a huge, semi trailer sized piece of ice break off and fall silently to the slopes below while high on a route. The sun setting over the horizon while flying a tandem with the "newest" of passengers. The energy gained by sitting in fresh, green grass early in the morning. Listening to the unbelievable silence while sitting in the snow watching silver dollar sized flakes fall to the mountains slopes. These things inspire.







What remembering Chris's death and the retrospection that came from it, accompanied by the satisfying experience of returning from a 20 mile run that night did for me was to remind me of those important moments of realization and personal enlightenment. Inspiration and the ability to inspire is inside you. We all have a daily opportunity. The opportunity is different for each of us but can be equally categorized as the opportunity to make the choice to be happy.....to live life in a way that feels positive and positively effects those around us. Be inspired by your friends, teachers, the physical world and all that's in it but remember to be inspired by your own dreams and aspirations. Live each day with the recognition that along with inevitable change, there is inevitable opportunity. Today maybe your day. Go!

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Flux Capacitor units all require 21 Jigawatts. Everyone knows that. Most also know that the only way to generate 21 Jigawatts is to harness a bolt of lightning. So, I've spent the last 4 days building a trick, new lightning rod for the top of my house to effectively operate my new Flux Capacitor.



This morning, the weather was particularly bad (or good in my case) and the lightning rod did it's job. After a full charge, I was able to use the stored energy to weld a zipper and a very abrasion resistant cover film onto a textile that I'm going to try for the next prototype's outer skin.



I wanted to "mock up" something similar to what my application requires, just to test how strong the bond is and how the zipper end finishes. It was evident that problems with the terminated zipper ends at the parachute handle (for example) are quite solved with these materials and this method of attachment. The bond has tested to be extremely strong and provides an ideal, seamless connection of the textiles, making for an aerodynamic and clean finish. I'm stoked with the result. The layout is far from figured out but the process is effective and really cool;-)



Thanks to friend and pilot, Richard Siberell, for helping me get tooled up properly to building harnesses. He has spent many years doing prototype work for companies like Patagonia and is responsible for many of the clean and well built products that we all drool over in the local gear shop.

Stay tuned

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