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Post by ding on Aug 19, 2007 7:37:53 GMT 10
I don't think customer service as a term is applicable at all. They really were the fun police when we were there. I'm perplexed - how is one supposed to cook whilst camping wtihout fire? Eat cold SPAM!
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Post by thevon on Aug 20, 2007 7:27:31 GMT 10
(sorry I've also put this on the "who's flying where" thread but it belongs here!)
When I found those ridges and put the pics on the forum, I thought Ezza and Sean would be interested, and I hoped that when they flew there, I’d be able to go. But I didn't realize it would happen so fast!! So I further strained my marital relationship by disappearing for the day today. Jase and I left home at 7:30. Ezza was already up there and we met up, packed our backpacks and with various planes and a mountain of gear including warm clothes, radar gun, video and camera set off to hike up the steep ridge. Sean arrived about an hour later after an unintended detour and Michael (Swoopdown) and his friend Ian got there after midday. Ezza was forced to fly his Mum's M60 (yes, that's right, his mum’s!!) until Michael brought his Reaper back, which he’d kindly repaired o/nite. Ezza also took his new Opus but we didn’t have the conditions for it today. Now that’s a scary looking slick machine - very solid stiff carbon, very sleek (and we’re hoping it will soon break the Aust DS speed record). Sean had the new Griffon Reaper but didn’t risk it today as the grass was all wet and that beautiful sharp wooden nose isn’t painted. But we all had a look at it. The quality of the finish on the wing is incredible – I don’t think anyone in the world has done a better job, seriously. And it’s stiff. Up on the ridge, we soon got pinned down by rain and more big patches of light rain kept hanging around. We wondered if this was going to be a dead loss. But we were actually very lucky and hardly got wet. We later found that further south it rained lots so we were glad we hadn’t gone to Mt Mee or Maleny. However the wet grass was a pain - I hate landing in wet grass all the time. Initially the wind was light but it picked up to a stiff breeze, but strangely the lift was inconsistent and weak, so you couldn’t gain much height. We played around with different sections of the slope until Ezza and Sean found a good DS groove and for a while I held the radar gun and stood on the backside with the max recorded speed being 92mph for Sean's Bat. When Michael and Ian turned up with a pair of JW60's, a Destiny and the repaired Reaper I headed off exploring for a better working ridge. The way I saw it my reason for the trip was to see the DS masters really in their element! The slope we were on has a perfect shape but we were realizing that the airflow over it is disturbed by the valley and another ridge in front. So although the wind direction was really perfect, there was never very good lift on the ridge today, and the shear layer was quite flukey and turbulent. I wanted to find a slope that would have the guys sizzling and singing. I circled the closer ridges with no success then drove down the road a bit to strike up to a faraway high razorback ridge. When I got there after a long trudge it was spectacular and great for DS, but not with today’s wind direction. Looking back I could see the guys as specks on the main ridge, and the glint of planes circling. I kept exploring, with lots of steep ups and downs and jumping fences, throwing the Ozprey off at a few more spots with no great success. A couple of times I rang Sean and told him where I was, and waved my yellow raincoat till he picked me out in the distance. By the time I got back to the car I was weary and my boots were totally waterlogged! So I missed a lot of the flying, but the guys said it was pretty marginal. But when I was walking back waaaay down on the road in the valley it was nice to occasionally hear the planes whining. We then tinkered around at a higher slope - very spectacular spot and again, some spectacular DSing. But the wind was still a bit confused and with the day getting away we headed for home, and got stuck in an enormous traffic jam for about 45mins on the way home - yuk. So in summary it was a good day but my hopes of seeing some really serious DS didn’t eventuate. The quest for good DS ridges must continue!
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Post by thevon on Aug 20, 2007 9:22:45 GMT 10
Guys here are some pics from yesterday. Unfortunately due to my wanderings I didn't stay to take many pics so I have to apologise to Michael and Ian for the lack of photos, and for being so unsociable as to disappear when you arrived! My apologies. I would have liked to chat with you guys, watch the flying and get some photos of you and Sean too. Next time! AvB (thevon) and Jase with the gear - Ezza holding up the Opus and talking on the mobile further along the ridge. Ezza DSing Mum's M60 Jase and the Bee
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