outkast Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 well chaps, I have just logged on after a 2 hour drive, a nice hot bath, a chinese takeaway washed down with a nice large bottle of becks, wich was just enough to make my tummy happy first off, Ben down get disheartened mate you came so close to getting it nailed, you will get there mate just get as much groundhandling in as you can. I drove down to the flagpole early this morning through the thick fog hoping the weather would cheer up, it did and I Met Simon at the entrance road about 9.30, we managed to get his vehicle up the hill and get ourselves sorted, started off by doing some groundhandling wich went well and was starting to feel real good about the days procedings, after some time Simon asked me if I wanted to do some with the motor on my back, so I strapped on the Parajet and did a pretty good forward launch with the motor off, gathered my wing and struggled back to the top of the hill, it was at that point Simon said, you mite as well go for a fly then and said I would be better off doing a reverse due to the windspeed, no pressure then , I put on my head set and got sorted, well the wing came up pretty square with Simon telling me I only needed a bit of left brake, I turned and hit full throttle, I must have made no more than five steps and I was airbourne and climbing fast, right thats the launch sorted time to get comfortable, one problem, no matter how hard i tried I could not get seated, I managed to get half way in but that was less comfortable than hanging in the leg straps, I even let go of the left brake and tried pushing myself in but it just was not going to happen, so by this point i was about halfway around a right hand circiut of the field, Simon came on the radio telling me to back off the throttle a bit and aim for level flight, he asked if I wanted to land or carry on, I so wanted to carry on but without beig seated I opted to land, Simon giuded me down towards him,my wing being quite a slow on was surprisingly stable when gliding down, I flared at about 15 feet from the ground, a little early but got away with it by landing nicely on my feet, but I had forgot to turn and the wind caught the wing and pulled my down on my bum I wont try and convey how I felt during the flight or how I feel now as I dont think there are any words that can realy capture it, its one of those things you just have to experience Big thanks to Simon and Colin for all your help today and thanks also to the other guys there with their words of encouragement, big congrats also to the guy with the Bailey who I understand was on his first flight too. I think Ben took some pics so hopefully he will post them up soon. Now its back to the fridge to get that second bottle of Becks MMMMMMMMHHHH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer1981 Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Well done david!!! Great news and all them hours have paid off! ill have a beer on you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted December 14, 2008 Author Share Posted December 14, 2008 Cheers mate, that second bottle is sliding down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardc Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Well done Dave, bet you are glad to get off the ground at last. Never occured to me that it would be flyable today! Just need to get Ben up now and the 'three Amigos' will be sorted! Eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer1981 Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 ARRRIBA!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantheman Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Well done buddy, next time you will be seated Im sure - try to squat your bum into the seat just before you kite the wing, that way everything is ready to be scooped up when the harness lifts you up off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Thanks chaps, next time will be much better I am sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huffhuff Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Have you filled in your first flight log? Not sure how many seconds I was in the air for...t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Great news Outkast. You now know what that 'feeling' everyone talks about is like, well done. Good just doesn't cover it A lot of my training flights were hanging from the leg straps, I couldn't get into the seat easily. Now I usually wait till I'm at 4 to 500 feet then give a good tug on the seat to get sorted. Maybe its the shape of my ar*e The next flights get better and better Safe flying, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcs Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Ah, well done buddy, that first flight is something special regardless of how bad it was but it gets better each time. I had some trouble seating but now I launch with all the straps pretty loose and I'm comfortable from 10 feet upwards then I just idle at about 400 foot and kick up and strap in and its cushty all the way! Good luck with number 2!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Thanks lads, if I could have just got in the seat it would have been perfect, dont get me wrong it was still awesome, cant wait to get back up there now, I have spent all day today telling everybody I know every little detail of my "heroic trip" LOL, it made all those days trudging up and down the field at westmill worth it, it was kinda strange when it happened as I thought I may have been more nervous but I think the fact I got into a positive mind state helped a lot, for all those newbies who are at the ground handling stage and are itching to fly I can say only one thing, dont ever give up because the reward far outwieghs the effort you have put in to get there. Keep reaching for the skys fellas Safe flying Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 just like to add a big thanks to Nick wood,(woody) who taught me how to ground handle, cheers mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer1981 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 just like to add a big thanks to Nick wood,(woody) who taught me how to ground handle, cheers mate. I would also like to second that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coggie49 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Well dome mate, always enjoy your posts, really pleased to read todays, i know how you feel, and like they say "you never forget your first time" David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_jones Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Hello all, that guy mentioned in Daves post (with the Bailey) was me - Funny reading it I was thinking gosh that sounds like the day I took off, I also could not get into the seat. I have since done a few flights. My last was from Croydon where I spent 30 mins circling in the bitter cold @ 2000ft. Looking forward to the warm weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Me too with the warm weather.. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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