Post by windsock on Sept 29, 2008 18:33:57 GMT 10
I had the opportunity to take my pull-apart Bee to Cairns last week for a holiday with the family. You wouldn’t have known that there was a slope glider in our luggage; once the plane was pulled apart and stripped down it really didn’t occupy much space.
It worked out really well as Cran Middlecoat was one of the pilots on our Jetstar flight and was up there for a few nights so we had a chance to go for a fly and to go out for dinner with Nicole and Claire.
The flight up was great, Cran gave a customised pilots’ welcome message over the intercom giving a detailed flight plan and mentioning many of the popular sloping locations that we would be flying over e.g. SC, Woody Point, Maleny, Pt Cartwright etc. He managed to come back to our seats for a mid-flight chat and made sure that we were well looked after with our baby.
Once we had landed and all of the passengers disembarked we got the chance to get up front on the flight deck. This is something that I always wanted the chance to do since I was a kid. Claire had her photo taken in the captain’s seat, which I know she will appreciate later in life.
On the Tuesday, once Cran had finished his flights for the day we headed up to a local site (Whitfield) with a great outlook over Cairns. The conditions were 10-12knts but enough to have a good flight. Below the site was a steep thick scrub, not great for any type of recovery, but the view was work the risk. Cran and I took turns with the Bee, it was a relaxing afternoon overlooking a beautiful Cairns.
Later in the week Nicole, Claire and I drove up to Port Douglas. On the way back we stopped at a site called Rex Lookout. It’s a local sloping site and is very popular for hang gliding. As you can see from the photos it has a great outlook. The wind was absolutely pumping, very gusty conditions around 25-30knts, but I had to give it a go. The flying was great but in the back of my mind was the concern of trying to land the Bee safely with tourists and the highway close by. I’m glad to report that it all ended well, a little bit messy but in one piece.
Checkout the video from Rex Lookout:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiPt7h3O8k
The last opportunity I had was on the Friday back at Whitfield. The wind was still quite gusty and hadn’t changed much since the day before. The first launch was unsuccessful and I had to retrieve it from the steep cliff - by far the hardest retrieval that I’ve ever had. It wasn’t so much thick scrub but the sheer steepness of the cliff and the lack of secure objects to help in the climb back up, there was a lot of slipping and sliding and I was covered with a lot of the local green ants.
I moved down to another area that worked better. I found the turbulence quite aggressive until I got some height. It was really enjoyable with the Bee specking out, it made for an incredible descent and a great way to finish the flying aspect of the trip.
Travelling with the plane worked out really well, it has paved the way for future trips with small detours to incredible flying locations. I’ve already hinted to Nicole the places that would be nice to visit.
I’d like to thank Cran for his hospitality while we were in Cairns, it made it more enjoyable to fly with another sloper.
Read more about the modified Bee: www.windsock.net.au/reviews/review_wing_half.html
It worked out really well as Cran Middlecoat was one of the pilots on our Jetstar flight and was up there for a few nights so we had a chance to go for a fly and to go out for dinner with Nicole and Claire.
The flight up was great, Cran gave a customised pilots’ welcome message over the intercom giving a detailed flight plan and mentioning many of the popular sloping locations that we would be flying over e.g. SC, Woody Point, Maleny, Pt Cartwright etc. He managed to come back to our seats for a mid-flight chat and made sure that we were well looked after with our baby.
Once we had landed and all of the passengers disembarked we got the chance to get up front on the flight deck. This is something that I always wanted the chance to do since I was a kid. Claire had her photo taken in the captain’s seat, which I know she will appreciate later in life.
On the Tuesday, once Cran had finished his flights for the day we headed up to a local site (Whitfield) with a great outlook over Cairns. The conditions were 10-12knts but enough to have a good flight. Below the site was a steep thick scrub, not great for any type of recovery, but the view was work the risk. Cran and I took turns with the Bee, it was a relaxing afternoon overlooking a beautiful Cairns.
Later in the week Nicole, Claire and I drove up to Port Douglas. On the way back we stopped at a site called Rex Lookout. It’s a local sloping site and is very popular for hang gliding. As you can see from the photos it has a great outlook. The wind was absolutely pumping, very gusty conditions around 25-30knts, but I had to give it a go. The flying was great but in the back of my mind was the concern of trying to land the Bee safely with tourists and the highway close by. I’m glad to report that it all ended well, a little bit messy but in one piece.
Checkout the video from Rex Lookout:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiPt7h3O8k
The last opportunity I had was on the Friday back at Whitfield. The wind was still quite gusty and hadn’t changed much since the day before. The first launch was unsuccessful and I had to retrieve it from the steep cliff - by far the hardest retrieval that I’ve ever had. It wasn’t so much thick scrub but the sheer steepness of the cliff and the lack of secure objects to help in the climb back up, there was a lot of slipping and sliding and I was covered with a lot of the local green ants.
I moved down to another area that worked better. I found the turbulence quite aggressive until I got some height. It was really enjoyable with the Bee specking out, it made for an incredible descent and a great way to finish the flying aspect of the trip.
Travelling with the plane worked out really well, it has paved the way for future trips with small detours to incredible flying locations. I’ve already hinted to Nicole the places that would be nice to visit.
I’d like to thank Cran for his hospitality while we were in Cairns, it made it more enjoyable to fly with another sloper.
Read more about the modified Bee: www.windsock.net.au/reviews/review_wing_half.html
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