Jamie Wanders

Crackneck

2012-01-28T04:40:00.000-06:00

Finally got to fly the central coast today. Cruised around with the Mojo in beautifully light, smooth air. Sometimes the silliest little flights can put the biggest smile on my face.

(I'm pretty sure this is illegal in California)

We've golden soil and wealth for toil

2012-01-26T19:38:00.002-06:00

Glen and I had a fun Australia day out in Sydney with Dave and Kathryn....and about 10 billion others at Darling Harbor. I'm not sure anyone knows how to do fireworks better than the Aussies!

Swimming in it...

2012-01-22T14:50:00.000-06:00

Forbes - Last Day Pictures

2012-01-15T20:06:00.000-06:00

Fun at Launch

2012-01-13T22:10:00.000-06:00

Last day of the comp and everyone is finally lightening up a bit.

Kate Takes to the Sky

2012-01-13T21:53:00.000-06:00

We finally got Kate up to see a pilot's view of Forbes!

Pictures - Task 7

2012-01-13T15:30:00.002-06:00

Task 7 - Goal Crossing

2012-01-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

Gerolf had a fantastically close goal crossing yesterday, which Dave May caught on his GoPro. There was quite a lot of laughter - and yes, from Gerolf as well.

Our Mountain

2012-01-10T23:48:00.000-06:00

Hug your tug pilot tomorrow! We would but stuck gazing longingly at the beautiful Forbes sky with our feet firmly on the ground if not for them. Some of the very best in the world are here to do nothing more than make sure we get in the air.

Thanks guys...we love you!

Morning tug briefing.

The armada lined up and ready to go.

Tug pilots' work, all laid out for them!

Smiles

2012-01-09T05:27:00.000-06:00

It's funny that no matter how many comps you've been in and how many times you're at goal, the celebration is always the same, especially when so many people make it in. Goal makes those hours of driving all worth it.

NoRest Day

2012-01-08T19:04:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the Heany Family for a great afternoon out on the river. There is some amazing talent in that family - and our little world of hang gliding in general. In addition to the all pro tricks from Torrey and Hannah, amateur Glen McFarlane impressed big time! Hadewych wins the persistence award...as usual!

Photos Day 3

2012-01-07T06:57:00.000-06:00

Winning on the Sick

2012-01-07T06:17:00.000-06:00

Big John took Jonny down to the hospital around 3am this morning. Seemed he had the same stomach bug Big John was stricken with earlier in the week. Big John had also spent a night in the Forbes hospital and it did him a world of good. Overnight on an IV works wonders. Anyway, it looked like Jonny wasn't going to make it out to today's task. When I spoke to him around 10am he was still in terrible shape. But, once the task was set, apparently Dave May called him up to make sure he knew the task was the very one Jonny had won two years ago. He just couldn't resist giving it a try. He called me at 12:35 to come get him out of the hospital - in his mind, there was no harm in trying.

Well, there certainly was no harm in it. Despite a rough start with Jonny radio'ing down to me that he was at 3000 ft over the field and was just going to head out on a death glide passed Forbes, the 3 liters they pumped in through his IV did the trick. As the task went on, he gained enough energy to race through the course and perhaps win the day with a time of about 2 hours and 33 minutes (give or take). He landed in pain, feeling completely spent, but I suspect he's back in the game!

Here are the ambulance drivers chatting with Jonny as he suited up to fly.

He landed with the IV patches still on his hands.

Goal Photos - Day 2

2012-01-07T05:29:00.002-06:00

Jr. & Sr.

2012-01-05T22:54:00.000-06:00

The Durand men haven't felt the greatest the last few days. Big John had to check himself out of the hospital the morning of the first task - still flew it, of course. Now the stomach bug he had seems to have moved onto Jr. He was throwing up on course all day yesterday (and still managed to be in the day winner prize money). Today the Golden Boy was feeling much less than golden and spent most of the morning lying in the car bundled up in the 36 degree heat. We rigged his glider and he just hopped in and will likely win the task, as he tends to do when he's sick.

They're a couple of badasses for sure!

Here's Big John derigging after landing short yesterday.

Photos - Goal Day 1

2012-01-05T03:24:00.002-06:00

Photos - Launch Day 1

2012-01-05T03:18:00.000-06:00

The Day in Clouds

2012-01-05T02:34:00.000-06:00

Gorgeous sky today - in all directions. I couldn't help stopping the car over and over again on the way to goal to hop out and shoot a few more. I wish I could make them look through the lens, the way they look through my eyes. Not necessarily ideal conditions for the perfect task, but they still managed to get one in, and a good one. No one came into goal because things finally exploded just over it, but Jonny, Curt, Eduardo, Primoz and Rohan made it fairly close. Curt and Eduardo landed in the same field and wrestled for the win. Looks like Curt got it....along with a bit of mud all over his t-shirt.

Practice Day - Pictures

2012-01-04T04:04:00.002-06:00

Practice

2012-01-04T03:52:00.000-06:00

Despite a forecast that wasn't nearly as nice as we've had for the past week, they called a little dogleg task for the official practice day today. Funny how the weather tends to work - gorgeous conditions for a week straight, then when we need it be good, it may be time for a little rest.

They're trying some cool new ideas this year that I'm excited about. If they go well, we may consider incorporating them into the Rally and/or Santa Cruz Flats. First, they've got an ordered launch, which keeps things really simple. I know not everyone likes it (especially those at the front and the back), but it sure it nice to know when you're going to launch and not have to be suited up in the 40 degree heat any longer than absolutely necessary. In addition to launch being ordered, the staging lanes (2) don't move. Instead, the actual launch lines move as pilots take off and get out of the line. This is also fantastic for pilots not having to carry their gliders through a long line in the heat out here. So, as more pilots take off, the staging lines shrink and the launch corridors move away from each other. I think it's a cool new idea.

Another thing they tried today was a start gate system that gave pilots their actual start time (2:19, for instance), rather than having starts only at 15 or 20 minutes intervals. So, for the first half an hour, your start time is the actual time you leave the cylinder. After the first half hour, starts are at 15 or 20 minute intervals. So, for instance, from 2:00 - 2:30 you can start anytime you like and get your actual leaving time - e.g. 2:06 or 2:23. But, after 2:30, your start time is 2:30, 2:45 or 3:00. The hope is that this will prevent huge gaggles at the start. Because not many people went on course today (not even all that many launched), we didn't get to see how that worked out, but I hope they will try it again on another day.

Registration Day Photos

2012-01-03T17:48:00.002-06:00

Celebrating

2011-12-31T22:28:00.000-06:00

Finished out the year doing what I love most. Kathryn and I went for a little out and return to Bogan Gate. We sort of missed out on the return part, but it was ok - outlandings in Oz are always an adventure. We launched early and chased Mitch as far as we could before he got away from us - plenty of 800 ups in the blue.

Pictures - December 30

2011-12-30T17:13:00.000-06:00

Mojo

2011-12-30T17:06:00.000-06:00

I got a chance to try out yet another new Moyes glider yesterday. Gerolf has been working on another design for the past couple of months. The Mojo is meant to be glider for those guys that don't want to fly a kingposted glider, but aren't so competitive that they need to be on a glider that doesn't have the easiest handling. Personally, I don't understand why more guys don't fly the Litesport - I'm sure it's an ego thing (kingpost and all). But with such lovely handling and nearly the performance of a Litespeed at most speeds, unless you're fighting for a place in the top 20, it's the perfect glider.

But, enough of my little rant - back to the Mojo ;-) I got about two hours in it yesterday here in Forbes. It seems to me that it is precisely what Gerolf intended. If he hadn't told me before flying it what he had in mind for the designing, my first thought would have been that it's somewhere between my Litesport and Carl's RS. What I love most about my glider is that it feels totally solid, it never scares me. But, with that solid feeling, the handling has never been quite a light as Carl's RS. Part of that, I'm sure, is the fact that I'm a tad small on the Litesport 4, but it always has required a bit more muscling that ever feel was necessary on the RS. Anyway, the Mojo has the light feel of the RS, but with that same solid feeling as my Litesport. And, it tows like a dream!....much easier than I'm used to.

I would love to be able to compare the Mojo to the sweet little RX3 I flew last week, but it's definitely an apples/oranges thing. The Mojo is a bit bigger (more my size really) and it's impossible to compare ridge soaring at Stanwell Park to thermaling at Forbes.

Pictures - December 28

2011-12-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

Arrived in Forbes!!

2011-12-28T17:58:00.001-06:00

Made the six hour trek out to Forbes with Mitch and Polona day before yesterday. We woke up yesterday morning to a typical, gorgeous sky....what's new, we're in Forbes ;-)

There are plenty of pilots out here already. Warren Windsports is putting on an aerotow clinic, beginners clinic and an XC clinic, so there's heaps of flying going on and everyone is in a great, excited mood! I love this part of the comp!!

Christmas or Spring Break?....hard to tell!

2011-12-25T06:58:00.000-06:00

Thanks so much to the Warren Wind Sports gang who had Kathryn and I over for a very out of the ordinary Christmas. No turkey and stuffing and relaxing by the fire....just BBQ prawns and salmon and playing at the pool! Great fun!

Merry Christmas to everyone, including those special people in other parts of the world...you know who you are ;-)

RX3

2011-12-21T05:47:00.000-06:00

I wonder how it is that daddy can be the devil himself, yet the kids are nothing short of angelic?

I got to be the first girl to test fly the Litespeed RX3 today. I know that Jonny and Steve Moyes - boys with a few kilos on me - have flown it, but I was still concerned about being a little overweight on it. Gerolf says the optimum pilot weight is 55-65 kilos and I'm pushing 70 these days. So, I really worried that I would feel like a whale on it, especially since I've spent 5 years on a glider that is just a tad too big for me. I couldn't believe how nice it felt, even with my fat ass driving it around the sky ;-). Right from launch all I could think is that it felt so much like a Malibu - how is this possible? Now, I'm the first to admit that I am rather Moyes biased, but I also tend to prefer the lower performing gliders. So, I took off expecting something that was a little closer to the handling of my Litesport, at least. I also know that this was just Stanwell Park - smooth, mellow conditions - but I so loved the way this glider feels. Like the Malibu, the handling is incredibly light. But, unlike Carl's RS (which also had incredibly light handling), it feels extremely solid. I remember flying the RS in Cucco and being a bit skittish because there was so little bar pressure on it. The RX3 has just enough to instill a bit of confidence, but not so much that you feel you're having to work at all. I cruised around Stanwell at fast and slow speeds, high and low (ok, not really low at all ;-) and started to feel very envious of the pilots taking delivery of their's at Forbes next month. Already I'm thinking I need to get home and work a little....just enough to pay for one of these new babies for myself.

Here's the little RX3, with her big brother, the RX3.5. Gerolf offered to let me fly the bigger one as well to have some comparison - and because it may be a little closer to my size. But I really think the smaller one felt perfect for me, even being slightly tubby for it. I nearly believe I could gain another 5 kilos and still love it.....not a good thought!

Sunday Best

2011-12-18T05:50:00.000-06:00

All the cool kids were out flying Hill 60 today. The Warren Wind Sports gang was down doing tandems and fooling around. Kathryn got her first flight since breaking her arm a couple of months back...great to see her in the air again getting ready for Forbes.

Love me a Malibu

2011-12-15T06:53:00.000-06:00

Up until the time I learned to hang glide, I used to dream of flying. I would put my arms out and float above the yard and then over the house until I got so high I would start to get scared and come down again. It was always effortless. Every time I get into a Malibu it feels just like this....as if there is no wing connected to me at all and I'm back in my dreams where flying is the most comfortable, natural thing in the world.

Coz there'll be starlight all night

2011-12-14T03:54:00.000-06:00

A little Malibu duning this afternoon at Cronulla. Fun, fun, fun and bright colored Malibu's everywhere you turn.

Room to make your big mistakes

2011-12-13T04:19:00.000-06:00

I found my dream landing field yesterday. Lake George is a nice little ridge soaring site just outside of Canberra where the sea breeze kicks in most every evening and the place has the most gigantic landing field in the history of the universe. The lakebed is the landing field and apparently it's 10km x 40km of perfectly wide open, flat landable space. If I was to do my usual and land right smack in the middle of the landing field, I would have a massive walk out!

Canberra Weekend

2011-12-13T04:04:00.000-06:00

The weather hasn't exactly been ideal since I arrived in Sydney. It hasn't been on at Stanwell or here at Cronulla, so Kathryn and I drove down to Canberra on Sunday for a change of scenery - the Canberra boys claim the weather is always nicer there. So, we took a little hike out into the Namadgi National Park to find the aboriginal art on the rock walls. If I was afraid of kangaroos, it would have been a scary hike! They were everywhere, often times on all sides of us while we walked through the big open meadows.

Claim my name from the lost and found...

2011-12-10T22:46:00.000-06:00

Perfect Sunday morning run with Kathryn today out at the national park just to our south. Started out with a quick ferry ride that spits you out along the southern coastline. With a bit more energy than we had, you could continue on the trail all the way to Stanwell Park. We stuck with just about about a 12k round trip in the beautiful sunshine. That sun was kind enough to stay with us until we made it back to the ferry station where we could see the dark, heavy clouds approaching. By the time we were back across to Cronulla the sky was opening up and dumping huge drops of solid rain on us for the rest of the walk home. We arrived a very soggy mess.

Oh, it's enough to be on your way. It's enough to cover ground. It's enough to be moving on.

2011-12-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

I discovered that my last post about quitting was taken a bit wrong by some. It wasn't supposed to mean I was quitting the blog. Of the things in my life I ought to quit, this blog is much too cathartic to stop doing anytime soon.

But I guess it had been some time since that post, so it probably wasn't so much of a stretch to think that was what it meant. The reality was that I was at home doing a lot of nothing and having a lot of nothing to say. But now I'm heading off to Oz on my first real solo journey in some time. I hope to do heaps of flying and with any luck, I'll stumble upon an accidental adventure or two. We'll see. Next stop Sydney!

Quitting

2011-11-05T16:21:00.000-06:00

Mike and I drove over nine hours each way to Lookout Mountain last weekend. We helped pass the time by listening to podcasts. My favorites were the Freakonomics podcasts. I loved the books and the podcasts are just as entertaining and informative. One in particular really stuck with me. The subject was quitting. Yeah, that's pretty broad...could involve most anything...quitting a job, quitting smoking, there are so many things to quit.

According to Steven Levitt (one of the Freakonomics authors): "Each of us encounters an unattainable goal about once a year. Being able to abandon goals when they are unattainable is good for your health."

So obvious! Yet it seems something I'm not very good at, nearly incapable of....even when the reality is staring me right in the face. Can you imagine standing in a supermarket line and waiting for hours, knowing full well that the line was closed not long after you got into it. I sometimes wonder how a reasonably clever human being (me) is able to look straight past the most obvious reality.

"Sunk costs" are the reason. Levitt explains that those are the costs that you have already put toward a goal that appear so great that you find it hard to give up, even when you should. Waiting on hold for customer service is one very common sunk cost. Once I've been on the line for twenty minutes or so, I can't just give up and call again another time. Having twenty minutes invested has, on more than a few occasions, caused to me waste yet another twenty minutes before finally getting fed up and hanging up the phone. Having sunk twenty minutes of my time somehow creates the incentive to waste another twenty minutes. How dense!!

So, it looks as though this is the life lesson the universe is sending me at the moment. Some goals are not obtainable, not matter how determined we are. It's just time to quit. Period.

And you go home in the crispness of the night

2011-10-31T20:46:00.003-06:00

While the landing field at Lookout was too much of a washing machine for me on Saturday, Ben and I went for a hike in Cloudland Canyon. Ben has left the Bay Area and will be working with Joel Froehlich in San Antonio. He's just driven out from San Francisco with a 3 hour stopover in Texas. We're in the same boat in a few ways, so it's nice to hang out with him and a hike in the crisp air was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

The colors probably don't excite everyone the way they do me. But, with the exception of humid and more humid, I haven't seen much in the way of season changes since coming to Florida.

Hey little sister who's your superman?

2011-10-31T20:12:00.001-06:00

They really know how to throw a party at Lookout Mountain. I went up over the weekend for the Women's Hang Gliding Festival and the annual Halloween party. Not the best luck with the weather - not for me at least - but it was so nice to have a few days of autumn, something I see very little of. Between the fall colors and the costume party, it was well worth the 9 hour drive up there. Had I known absolutely everyone would be in costume, I might have tried to come up with something. Instead I was the only dufus that didn't dress up.

I wish it wasn't quite so far, I would make the drive up there more often. I liked it.

Fun in the Wright Place

2011-10-23T21:22:00.003-05:00

It was the 100 year anniversary of something to do with the Wright brothers - yes, I'm terrible, I couldn't even say what. What I do know is that it was a good excuse to bring the USHPA board meeting to Kitty Hawk and an even better excuse to spend a few days out on the dunes. I can't believe I had forgotten what a great tired feeling it is to come in from the dunes at sunset after spending the entire day out playing in the sand.

Kraig was kind enough to send us a Malibu. Although the weather wasn't right for soaring, be got to pretend we were students again (and in some cases, be students again) and run up and down the dunes. Once we tired ourselves out sufficiently, the PG boys showed up and we traded lessons. We put both Rob and Nick in the air - well barely - and they returned the favor with some paragliding lessons. What luck to have the two best (and hottest) pilots/instructors in the country!

Thanks to Ricker for the photos of me!!

Meet me in the summertime....we can move the air

2011-09-29T15:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it seems, all at once, the summer finally came to an end. This morning we all went different ways. It was a sad site. I will miss the time I spent with really good friends.

For our last day, we did a few really touristy things, starting with a giant hole in the ground - Meteor Crater - where we did what any good pilots would do, watched the birds circle and discussed how we might launch from the rim and thermal up over the hole.

.....then drove back to Phoenix via Winslow, Arizona where I just couldn't resist standing on a corner ;-) They've made quite a corner here all from one silly song. I had to play the song for Jochen who didn't really understand why I felt the urge to stand on a corner in this sleepy little town.

Wow, I'll sure miss the giant saguaro cactus and firey sunsets here.

Grand Day

2011-09-28T22:16:00.004-05:00

We started out by breaking the cardinal rule of hiking the Grand Canyon....DO NOT attempt to hike to the river and back in a single day. Ha ha ha....wasn't meant for us, obviously.

Total distance was 14.2 miles round trip and I haven't decided yet which was worse, the downhill half or the uphill half. The downhill portion is sooooo hard on the knees and the quads. But the 5000 ft elevation gain in mid-day heat wasn't a walk in the park either. Actually it was a walk in the national park and we really did have a great time. We took 2.5 hours down, had lunch and a swim in the river and then walked up again in 4 hours.

I'm sure this has got to be the ugliest bird in the universe.....Grand Canyon condor number 47. He was quite tame and let us get really close for pictures. I'm sure he knows he could knock us over in a single swipe.

At the top we celebrated with a giant steak dinner where we sat just long enough for our muscles to totally tighten up for the hour drive back to Flagstaff.

Wide Open Spaces

2011-09-26T21:28:00.002-05:00

One thing I love so much about the United States is that we have an abundance of wilderness area. As much as I enjoy a cute little alpine village in Europe, there is nothing like the open space we have here. You only have to drive two hours out of Phoenix and you can start a hike into the mountains and not see another person for quite a long while.

Dustin took us up to San Francisco Mountain today for a nice 10 mile hike that ended at a nearly 13,000ft summit. We had a gorgeous view (which isn't represented in my photos :-( ) in all directions with Meteor Crater to our east and the Grand Canyon to our north. It was difficult for this sea level monkey, but I had a great time with the boys up at the top where we were all a bit hypoxic and giggly. We even managed a video-Skype call from the summit to Carlos to rub it in a bit ;-)

Tomorrow may rain so I'll follow the sun

2011-09-25T22:41:00.001-05:00

Now that the Santa Cruz Flats Race has finished, Jochen, Dustin, Ben and I are spending this week touring around the southwest. These are the last days of Jochen's 6-month sabbatical and we're gonna show him some cool stuff.

After all our goodbyes, we left the Francisco Grande and drove to Flagstaff via Sedona. The drive was very pretty.

Santa Cruz Flats Race starts today!

2011-09-18T09:39:00.002-05:00

I'll be blogging from the SC Flats Race blog for the rest of the week. Come check out the action here.

More Pictures from the Pre-Euros

2011-09-11T08:05:00.002-05:00

Day 5

2011-09-08T11:21:00.001-05:00

Once again, a little improvement in conditions....slightly less stability today and apparently a great looking forecast for tomorrow and Saturday. So, they called a 97km task to the same goal as yesterday, but with a bit of dog leg further north. Just heard that only Primoz made it in. Jochen was about 30km short and Pedro just 11km short. Haven't heard from Suan yet.

This might seal the win for Primoz. Only two tasks remaining and I must leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow to start my long trek back to the US (via Liverpool)....I'll miss the end and I'll miss all my new Turkish friends.

Launch BBQ

2011-09-07T15:15:00.001-05:00

This is the first time I've ever had dinner on launch at a hang gliding comp before ;-) There's a beautiful view of the city lights from up there. Adem, the organizer and the mayor of Kayseri and his entourage joined us and we laughed all night. The hospitality here never ends.

Day 4

2011-09-07T14:42:00.001-05:00

Back to a bit more stability today, but still flyable and taskable! Just a 73km task today with goal out in the countryside again. Looks like Frank (Spain) won the day with Primoz just behind. Jochen, Suan and Pedro landed short in a difficult area.

Noel and I had fun on the dusty dirt roads today, even got to use the 4WD on the trusty Mitsubishi. Jochen landed out in the middle of nothing where the powdery dust reminds me so much of Arizona. Stopping to retrieve Suan, we kicked off a nice big thermal that got Frank up from just a couple hundred meters off the deck - and got him the day win!!

Scores Up!

2011-09-07T06:51:00.000-05:00

Scores can now be found here. It's still a very tight race with Suan (Italy) currently leading just ten points ahead of Jochen (Belgium) in second. Primoz (Slovenia) and Pedro (Spain) are not far behind.

Day 3

2011-09-06T11:52:00.002-05:00

Funny how one great day of flying can make you really fall in love with a place....and I wasn't even doing the flying! (Yes, I know Gordon, I always say I love every place). But it's true. We got a bit of a respite from the stability and had a little 67km task to the southwest - as it turns out, a hugely undercalled task. The boys had a fun flight with 500-700 ups and I got to check out the landscape outside this local area. In many ways it reminds of southern California, like the Mojave Desert, without the Joshua Trees.

Looks like Jochen won the day just ahead of Primoz. Suan, Pedro and Frank were all in goal with one very happy Turkish pilot. The goal field was swarming with kids who loved to say CHEESE.

Little traffic problem on the way home from goal.

But we arrived back home in time to see the sunset behind the launch mountain.

Stars among us

2011-09-06T00:38:00.003-05:00

Jochen and maria appeared last night on an hour long live television program all about hang gliding and paragliding. Apparently the show aired internationally with plenty of commentary from the Belgian champion and the little FAI steward on the upcoming European Championships next year. In the end, they convinced the host to have a tandem flight next year before the comp starts! I think Jochen should consider a career change ;-)

Task 2

2011-09-05T10:06:00.001-05:00

Like a few other places we've flown in Europe this summer, the stability plague seems to have hit here today. The air was so stable the task committee (Primoz, Jochen and one Turkish pilot) decided a 32km task was all they could call. Even then, Jochen and Pedro ended up in the bomb out field. Jochen said he didn't make a single 360 during his flight. Meanwhile, Primoz and Suan are just in goal now.

The meteo man here at the comp has quite a resume. He has worked for the US military in Afganistan and is a full-time meteorologist here in Turkey. His English is nearly perfect and I had a nice conversation with him on launch today. He said that the change of seasons (end of summer to beginning of Autumn) typically brings the nicest and most unstable conditions for this area. Unfortunately, the last few days' weather has been anything but typical (as we seem to have found all over Europe this summer). I didn't want to jinx anything by asking him if things were expected to improved throughout the week, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying the Turkish hospitality and food....maybe Maria I a little too much! We've also come in contact with some cool wildlife.

Jochen's advice for the day....better remove the ballast!

Bombing out isn't the worst that can happen though.

Task 1 Photos

2011-09-05T00:41:00.000-05:00

Pictures from the Practice Day

2011-09-04T10:50:00.000-05:00

Day 1 - Nörüyon

2011-09-04T09:54:00.003-05:00

To our amazement, they were able not only to finish the bleachers they were still building last night, but completely fill them up with spectators!! It was pretty cool to have a giant audience and tons of press. They must find girls in hang gliding to be quite a strange thing because Maria, Noel and I were definitely the most interviewed by the TV reporters.

The kids helping out on launch are the best. They're teaching me the important Turkish phrases like Nörüyon, which is something like "Wassup?!" They got quite a kick out of a dorky lady trying to be hip. The younger people tend to speak a tiny bit of English, which is always fun for joking around with them. On the way down from launch there was a group of about six teenage boys walking down the dusty road so we piled them all in the van and took them down to the goal field. It always ends up with heaps of giggling and no one really understanding much of the conversation.

Task 1 today was a 90 km run with 3 turnpoints coming back here to the local goal field. Unfortunately, no pilots made it in. Rumor has it that Suan made it the furthest, with Jochen probably second and Primoz probably third. But, no scores yet.

It looked like a difficult day from the ground. The beautiful little cummies we had yesterday were replaced with a totally different, dryer airmass. The thermals looked to be a bit small and punchy. I guess Jochen will report on the quality of the flying here at his blog though.

Preparations

2011-09-03T15:38:00.002-05:00

We arrived at launch this morning to find a full on construction crew...backhoe's, graders, dump trucks and steamrollers. I so wanted to hop on the backhoe and dig a few holes ;-). They're really serious about fixing up the launch and get this, they're building bleachers!!...not temporary, removable ones, but full concrete ones with seats and everything.

All the boys set up next to the workers who went about their business despite all of us getting in the way and spectators roaming all over the place. They've put quite a lot of sod out along the launch and they were adding even more today and grading an area for what must be parking. I guess overlooking a city of a million, they're expecting a lot of spectators.

They set a 140km out and return practice task to the east. Primoz was the closest, coming back and landing short of goal by about 25km. He said the climbs were good and strong (and a bit rough) and he got as high as 3800 meters....coooooold!

The launch faces north toward the city which really does make a cool backdrop for a take off site. Of course, everything out front past about 3km is restricted - military, city and the big airport, so all of the tasks will head toward the east and south for the most part.

Turkish Delight

2011-09-03T11:06:00.001-05:00

Arrived in Kayseri, Turkey last night after a looooong day making my way from Manchester via Istanbul. I've never been so happy to see Maria's little face ;-) I didn't see any of the city last night because it was about 2:30 am by the time we arrived at the hotel, so it was such a pleasant surprise to wake up this morning and see the sunshine and desert....and a very large city, out my window. I didn't realize the Kayseri is a city of just about a million residents. In many ways, it reminds me of a cross between Brasilia and Phoenix. I love the desert landscape and the hot, dry air. The green of England and Wales is so pretty, but you are constantly reminded of why it looks so green and pretty! Here the earth is a beautiful parched brown color and the sky bright blue.

The free accommodation is amazing! I had heard it called a hostel, but this is nothing like any hostel I've ever stayed in. The rooms are lovely and clean (I got a room with 6 beds in it....I can have a new one every night if I want) and it is situated in a quiet part of town with a view straight to launch about 20 minutes or so up the mountain. There's a nice little lounge downstairs and a kitchen for us to use and the wifi is fantastically fast and reliable.

I hear that they can house about 70 pilots here. Most of the rooms are dormitory style with 5 or 6 beds (like the picture) - perfect, if you ask me, for national teams to stay together. There are also several regular hotel style rooms with just a double bed. Maria and I have those for the rest of the week and feel a bit like princesses.

As soon as registration is finished, we'll head out for dinner and check out the restaurants and endulge in a bit of baklava!

A good place to wash your hair, Liverpool - good, soft water.

2011-09-01T13:48:00.001-05:00

It's fun to mosey around like a tourist sometimes. This city is really beautiful when the sun shines...and there's music - especially Beatles music - everywhere. They've put upright pianos all over the shopping area for anyone to play, anytime. Every one I saw was being played...not pounded on by kids, but actually played, beautifully!

I walked all over town snapping pictures of just about everything, when all I really wanted was some shots of the poofy hairdos the girls wear here...but I was afraid if I tried to sneak any shots, I might get my ass kicked ;-)

Then I sat down for a break and waited nearly an hour to spot one of the humped zebras. What a disappointment!

Party Night

2011-08-29T04:56:00.001-05:00

.....and we can't go without mentioning that no one knows how to party better than those Brits. I won't soon forget Jochen's impressive capacity to groove!

St. Andre - Final

2011-08-29T04:47:00.001-05:00

The combined UK/French Nationals wrapped up with a couple of very windy days and cancelled tasks. Molly Moyes never ceases to amaze me. Her weather manipulating powers are nothing short of magical. Of course, I'm going to be a bit more specific next time I ask her for a three-task competition. Although we did end up with three tasks at St. Andre, one of them came after Carl had already left for work. Anyway, thanks so much Molly for your hard work ;-)

Everyone was pleased to see Gary Wirdnam in the top spot! He went away as the overall winner and the British champion. Luis Rizo is now the French champion coming in second overall.

I thought it was really cool to see these two competitions combined. It's a smart idea for nations whose nationals don't typically attract tons of pilots. By combining the English and French, there were nearly 100 pilots in the end and quite a few top guys. More importantly, the atmosphere was especially fun. The cooperation by the organization and the camaraderie amongst the French and English pilots was particularly friendly and enjoyable to be a part of.

Here are some more pictures from the prize giving.

Lachens - Task 3

2011-08-26T09:12:00.001-05:00

Yesterday's task was flown from a nearby site called Lachens. It's quite a nice launch and takes a different wind direction than the main launch at St. Andre. It's about an hour drive, but it was well worth it as we were able to have a task from there where we wouldn't have been from here.

Unfortunately, it was a difficult start and at least 15 or so ended up in the bottom landing field. Many complained that the air was quite rough around the hill and in the landing field, but everyone seemed to manage ok. The guys that did get away had a very nice time. Conditions improved along courseline where we could see the clouds developing and there were over 30 in goal at the Aerogliss at St. Andre.

Pity there have only been three tasks, but it's cool to see Gary Wirdnam leading overall with Luis Rizo and Pierro Zin in second and third. Today was cancelled at the 9:30 briefing because of high winds. Most expect the same tomorrow, so it might be time to head home :-(

Here are some pics from yesterday. And, the scores are up here.

Via Ferrata

2011-08-25T12:01:00.001-05:00

I guess we didn't scare ourselves enough in the air recently, so we thought we'd try a bit more on the ground (or mostly on the ground). There's another great via ferrata just about 50 km sound of St. Andre and a bunch of us thought we should check it out once the task was cancelled day before yesterday.

Although it was much too hot to be clinging to the side of a south facing rock at 2 in the afternoon, we went for it anyway. I actually thought this was was even better (meaning scarier) than the one Carl and I did three years ago near Laragne. In addition to two tight-rope style bridge crossings, it finished off with a high and fast zip line. I would love to do it again on another day when heat stroke is less of a threat ;-)

None of it looks nearly as "exposed" as it feels when you're up there.

It was very slow and steady for me on the first crossing, but a walk in the park for Jem of course.

Day 3 - Cancelled

2011-08-23T06:12:00.001-05:00

Carl reckons he would rather be a wuss with a heartbeat than a dead hero ;-)

We went up to launch and as a few were beginning to set up, the safety committee announced that due to gusty thermals on launch everyone should wait to rig. By the re-briefing at noon it was apparent that the wind was going to be too strong. They predicted 40 knot winds and quickly cancelled the day.

Meanwhile, we have some scores posted here at HQ, but I still can't find any online.

Here's the overall after two days.

Results from day 1.

And day 2.

This may all change a bit as they haven't adjusted the scores yet for the pilots who helped Barry after his chute deployment.

Task 2

2011-08-23T02:50:00.001-05:00

We got a rather late start on yesterday's task as the wind was blowing over the back pretty strong until the front side heated up a bit. There was a lot of hanging about in the heat and waiting and wondering if it would ever blow up. Gordon and I had a bet on what time it would come around - which he lost and has paid up on yet!

Luckily conditions improved and they all started on course to goal at Laragne a bit after 3. Even as late as the day turned on, I heard at least half the field made goal. It was cool being back in Laragne and I only wish we could have just stayed there and finished out the competition from the Chabre....I like that area so much better.

Fun trip back to St. Andre anyway in the happy car! Jochen and Carl were at goal fairly fast and young Jem had another great flight, just 20 km short of goal.

Heading up the hill shortly to do it all again today!

Scores??

2011-08-22T03:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't been able to find them online yet. They are posted here at HQ, but are being taken down because there is some problem with the start gates and times. But, pretty sure Gordon won the day yesterday with Elio coming in about 10 minutes behind him. Top four are likely Gordon, Elio, Luis and Jochen - but that may or may not be totally right. I'll post a link to the scores when they're up.

Chutes and Ladders

2011-08-22T02:53:00.000-05:00

Knowing the reputation that St. Andre has as a very rough, windy place, I had hoped that everyone would stay upright for this comp. It wasn't to be. Yesterday a British pilot had to deploy his parachute. We haven't heard the full story yet of what happened, but the pilot is alright. He apparently has some back injuries, but they are not life threatening.

Carl came on radio halfway through the task yesterday saying that a guy was coming down under chute. Apparently he watched the guy and saw the chute open but thought it looked too small. In the end, it turns out that the chute didn't completely open - story is that it wrapped around an upright or something like that and he came down inverted relatively slowly. The area where it happened is quite rough, but somehow he managed to land in a fairly open area. As of this morning, he is in the hospital and his glider is still up there. I hear it will be a difficult retrieve.

I can't help but wonder why people enjoy this site so much. I'm told over and over again that if you respect the weather here, everything is fine and the flying is fantastic. I guess I'm just not sure what it takes to "respect" the weather. Yesterday's forecast was for beautiful conditions and light(ish) wind. Same forecast for today, I hear.

Meanwhile, as we were driving out of the main landing field at the end of the day yesterday, in comes Antoine. He had blown off the task presumably because he felt it was too small for such a great weather forecast. I jumped out of the car to ask how his flight was. He said he had flow nearly to Italy - didn't know the exact distance, but thought it was about 250 kilometers total. Well done Antoine!!

Task 1

2011-08-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

Turns out the task wasn't so short after all. There were somewhere around 20 in goal in the end, plus four rigids that came in late after the task was stopped. Late this afternoon there were a few cells that dumped a bit of rain between the last turnpoint and goal so they eventually had to stop the task but most flexwing that would make it in were already in so it probably won't effect things much if at all.

We also had one come down under parachute. He is fine and I don't know who it was nor do I know the whole story, but apparently his chute opened fine, he landed near a mountain top and was walking around packing up his glider. Carl and Phipsy circled over him trying to relay coordinates in case he needed rescue. Phipsy landed nearby and eventually we all learned that the pilot was fine but would have a difficult walk out. I'm just reminded again of why I don't really want to fly here.

Some Pics from the practice day

2011-08-21T07:11:00.002-05:00

UK/French Nationals in St. Andre

2011-08-21T07:08:00.000-05:00

We arrived in St. Andre a few days ago for the combined UK/French Nationals. Great idea on the part of the organizers to combine these meets. There are over 100 pilots here including many of the top guys from the UK, France, Germany and Italy - Antoine, Luis, Zin and Raymond are here from the French team, Tullio, Elio and Paulo from Italy, Joergi and Monique are here from Germany and of course most of the best UK pilots. Now, if they can manage to set some more challenging tasks, it might prove to be a good meet.

Day one we have some of the best looking conditions I've seen in St. Andre. Winds are quite light and cloudbase is supposed to go up near 5000 meters. The task committee, however, thought since it was the first day, that they should go a little easy on the boys (and girls). They set a 138km triangle that a few were not so pleased with. I overheard some French saying it was a 300km day, easy. Apparently Antoine thought so and blew off the task to go for a nice long triangle. Pretty gutsy as I would have expected him to be on the podium for sure and likely in the top spot.

Beautiful Tolmin

2011-08-15T16:37:00.001-05:00

We just wrapped up a week at one of my most favorite flying sites in the entire world. Although we didn't have the best weather - it was quite stable most days and cloudbase wasn't all that high - I still say it's one of the best places on the planet for hang gliding (and most any other outdoor sports).

Matjaz was as fantastic a host as always (thanks again Mat!!). We swam in the cold blue Soca River, partied every night, had great meals by master chefs Jem and Jochen, played way too much Mexican Train and just had a generally fantastic time. This week is one of my favorites of the entire summer and I always look forward to coming back. I hear talk that the Brits may have their nationals there next year!!

I didn't have my best meet ever (what's new ;-). But Carlos and Jem did quite well. Carlos was winning until the second to the last day when we flew back 5km to a later, non-existent start....oops! Anyway, he ended up 3rd with two other Moyes boys on the podium for a Moyes sweep.

Jem finished off his first ever comp with a first place trophy in the sport class!! Well done son ;-)

Belgian Champions

2011-08-09T15:17:00.001-05:00

Seven out of seven days flying at Laragne for the Belgian Nationals. Great week! Unfortunately, the last day was just a spot landing contest - but tons of fun was had by all. Carl won the meet overall, with Mart in second and Jochen in third winning the Belgian championships for the second year in a row.

Amazingly, I came in second in the women's division ;-) Chantal came in first and Heather third.

Big Sky

2011-08-05T11:35:00.000-05:00

The bad weather held off just long enough to give us our sixth task in a row. I love the sky here...and the view from the Aspes launch is gorgeous for 360 degrees.

Here's Ron Richardson just after launch.

Jochen won the day again, coming in at least a half an hour of ahead of Carl and Mart. He's surely redeeming himself after the first two bad days. Although Jochen won, Carl looked the coolest (of course).

A task isn't looking very likely for tomorrow, but we'll wait and see. If not, we've got nothing to complain about here - 6 out of 7 days is more than we ever hoped for.

Fruits of the Forest

2011-08-05T10:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, the flying is great here in Laragne and my favorite memories come from here, but there is so much more that I love about this place.

The Thursday morning market is full of yummy sights and smells. If I lived here I would go crazy once a week.

For the past three days Heather and I have stopped to collect rasberries and blackberries on the road down from launch. It's like a treasure hunt!

The goal field reminds me of our "country club" flying at home.

Rough'n It

2011-08-02T08:42:00.000-05:00

Three days into the Belgian Nationals and we have three tasks....ahhhh. How nice it is! Yesterday we had 4 in goal. Carlos came in first about 7 minutes ahead of Mart, but having taken a 15 minute earlier start. That gave Mart the win and the day winner's prize.

Today conditions haven't been as good. They're on course now for a 70km task, but things were quite stable on launch and they were slow to get going. As I sit in the goal field now there are quite a few gliders that have landed without completing the course. Probably some are free-fliers, but several must be competitors as well.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying the sunshine and our nice little castle on the hill.

Oh do you remember when...when it all began

2011-07-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

It's like heaven being back in Laragne. This place doesn't seem to change...and that's a good thing in this case with all my nice memories of this little village. The Belgian Nationals started today with a quick 84km task back and forth and back and forth again across the valley and who better to blow them all away with a super fast goal finish than Carl? ;-) He was miles out in front of everyone and ended up the only one in goal. Mart Bosman (Dutchy) was the next closest landing 3km short of goal with Malcolm Brown (UK) in third also just short of goal.

Aside from my favorite pilot winning the day, it's just a joy to be back here in the sunshine. So far it looks like the nice weather will hold for the week. There's nothing nicer than these small friendly comps.

Pisa

2011-07-31T11:02:00.001-05:00

Leaving Cucco was painful...but a little like removing a splinter. Once it's gone, it feels much better. We had just enough time for romantic evening stop in Pisa on our way to Laragne for the Belgian Nationals. Although the place is unbelievably touristy, we were pleasantly surprised arriving in the evening to find so few people. The light was beautiful, most of the vendors were already packed up and we nearly had the place to ourselves. It really is quite a site to see and I'm happy to stopped to check it out.

I tried half-heartedly to assume the pose...but even with so few people there I felf like a dork.

We returned in the morning for a quick walk before hitting the road again, but it just wasn't the same. The best part was taking pictures of all the ridiculous people in the crazy poses.

The faces say it all...

2011-07-31T10:50:00.000-05:00

Such a sad end to the worlds. So many people worked very hard to make this happen and so many came from so far away. Carl and I had to speed away to make the Belgian Nationals in Laragne, so we missed the prize giving...probably a good thing as it may have been a bit depressing.

A few were willing to brave the rough, rotory conditions on launch. Davis even reported in the Oz Report that Attila flew the task in just over two hours.

On the bright side, we can all look forward to the next worlds in Forbes where we typically have to beg for a rest day ;-)

Last Hope

2011-07-28T15:36:00.001-05:00

It seems a lot of pilots are on suicide watch these days. After the task was cancelled at the 11am briefing, we watched the sky turn nicer and nicer with plenty of sunshine until we just couldn't take it anymore and headed up the hill for a free flight around 4pm. There were plenty of gliders up there and everyone was sticking just fine despite what must have been soft conditions after all the rain we've had. We could see overdevelopment and rain in the distance, but it didn't actually start dumping on launch until about 6 or 6:30 after we had spent an hour or so waiting for the wind to blow up the hill again. In the end, we gave up and the boys packed up in the rain. What a sad end to all of this.

Yesterday's Goal Field Invasion

2011-07-27T12:12:00.000-05:00

Funny thing I'm hearing about goal yesterday. Apparently there were 26 gliders that came across goal in a single 60-second period. And, there were 67 gliders coming in during a five minute period. Pretty amazing!!

What's more amazing is this poor Belgian pilot having his first flight here and landing smack in the middle of the busiest goal field in history ;-)

Another Cancelled Task

2011-07-27T06:55:00.001-05:00

Well we thought there might be some hope of a task. Went up the hill under mostly cloudy skies, set a short task up and down the ridge, passed out 90% of the trackers only to recollect them again five minutes later when we could see the rain across the valley toward Gubbio.

Many (probably most) flew and had a bit of fun on the ridge before the rain arrived. A German pilot had a bit less fun, reportedly doing some aerobatics, and had to throw his chute. It opened and he came down without injuries. The glider appeared to be in two pieces on the ground. It will be interesting to hear the story.

Pictures from Task 2

2011-07-26T12:05:00.000-05:00

Task 2

2011-07-26T11:47:00.000-05:00

FINALLY....a great task with one of the best goal days I've ever seen!! The forecast for afternoon overdevelopment held off for the most part until this evening. Although there were quite a lot of dark areas along the course, apparently nothing so bad to stop the task. We heard on the radio from team UK that the Gubbio valley was completely shaded, but still the hills worked fine and most everyone had a fantastic day!

Watching in goal was one of the coolest ever. After Christian and Alex came in first and second, the next group of pilots was so huge that the ground at goal was nearly in shade! It looked a bit like an alien invasion with easily 40 or 50 gliders in goal all at once and landing in nearly every direction. What an exciting finish for the spectators. I didn't manage to get any good shots of it all because I was busy taking cover!

Moyes Party Night

2011-07-26T11:26:00.002-05:00

....it was a huge success. Enough drinking and the weather turns great!! ;-)

Refuge

2011-07-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

Why don't we do it in the road?

2011-07-25T05:25:00.000-05:00

Jonny's face pretty much sums it all up.

Did I mention the task was cancelled? Fog, rain, mist, sprinkling, low cloudbase, wind....what are we missing?

The South Americans (and some Swiss) found a way to entertain themselves.

Perugia

2011-07-24T03:32:00.000-05:00

Yet another day to find some way to occupy ourselves. Nice day out with Gary and Trudy on our annual trip to Perugia for dinner and drinks at our favorite terrace bar. The sky looked beautiful and we wondered why we weren't in the air.

A few shots from the first task

2011-07-23T02:50:00.000-05:00

Finally a Task

2011-07-23T02:32:00.000-05:00

We headed off to the Subasio launch for the first time yesterday. It's about an hour drive from Cucco - probably only 30km from the main Cucco launch, but apparently the wind is typically at least 10km lighter there. Launch conditions were ideal and we managed to get 146 pilots airborne in just about an hour.

They set a 121 km task with five turnpoints kind of up and down and back up and down the valley. Although the wind on launch was pretty much perfect, in the air it was blowing quite a lot (about 40km much of the day) and made for a tough task all around....only twenty pilots made goal and some big boys were conspicuously missing (Atilla, Carlos, Zippy and Dustin). I heard the Brits talking on radio right after the start watching people go into the airspace and looking at the scores this morning, there were four pilots that got severely punished for it with zeros for the day. That's got to hurt.

Primoz raced into goal first, a full five minutes ahead of the next guy, Alex Ploner. We had been watching him on the live tracker and for the last half hour of the course, he seemed to stay between five and ten minutes ahead of the pack.

Jonny boy got stuck low and fighting the wind for a quite a while. When I left the goal field to pick up Carlos he still hadn't arrived and many thought he wouldn't get in. Luckily though, he managed to make it in - slow but there and it seems to have not hurt him all that much in the scores this morning.

Grey Skies

2011-07-22T01:53:00.000-05:00

The wind seems fairly light this morning. But it's cool out and the sky is quite grey. Looks like a UK day....go boys!!

Faces

2011-07-21T08:11:00.003-05:00

Blowing a force 10 gale...

2011-07-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

Just too darn windy up there today....but we tried. After the day was canned, quite a few guys launched and flew around a bit. It didn't look all that turbulent, but I can't say it looked much fun either.

Waiting Games

2011-07-20T09:57:00.002-05:00

Although I'm nearly afraid to say it out loud, I had flashbacks of the "T" word most of the morning with all the rain and grey skies. But, we sat around the house and watched a really nice video about the Namibia hang gliding expedition that takes place every year, then walked out onto the terrace to find beautiful sunshine and clouds.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Table for Five

2011-07-20T02:27:00.000-05:00

The organization hosted a dinner for the pilots at a beautiful old castle that has been converted into a hotel. The camera that is permanently hanging around my neck somehow didn't make it to the party, so I had to steal Gordon's....pity because it was a gorgeous place and I would have loved to get some nicer shots.

More pics here....

and here are a few more from the caves yesterday.

Down in a Hole....Lord it's Deep and the Sides are Steep

2011-07-19T12:20:00.002-05:00

With the wind blowing up to 60kph, we thought we might spend day one in the mountain rather than above it. There is a cave system right inside the hill we launch from and it's pretty cool! The Brit team let me tag along....probably only because I continue to fly the Union Jack on my Facebook page ;-)

Last Night's Opening Ceremonies

2011-07-18T07:06:00.002-05:00

Helmets & Shouldermpads

2011-07-17T04:33:00.001-05:00

Despite several attempts to resolve this helmet issue months ago, it has now come to a head again....as was expected. At issue is the CIVL rule requiring EN966 certified helmets at all Category 1 events. All pilots were required to fly with certified helmets at the pre-worlds and the rule remains the same for the worlds. However, many pilots have significantly modified their "certified" helmets (cutting parts off, drilling holes, installing headsets, etc.) presumably rendering them uncertified. Those that don't like the rule requiring certified helmets argue that the modified helmets are no longer certified and as such, those with Lubin helmets, for instance, should also be able to fly with their uncertified helmets.

I raised this issue at the CIVL meeting in Lausanne in February, but the CIVL President was less than interested in discussing it with me and simply wanted to allow the issue to sort itself out here, now, between the organization, pilots and CIVL stewards (very unfortunate for those poor stewards :-( )

So, as he wished, it appears to be getting "sorted out" here today ;-)...unfortunately, not in the most friendly way. As was expected, Gerolf refuses to fly with anything but his Lubin unless everyone is required to use a certified helmet. At this moment, I do not know what the final decision is or whether there has even been one. I say Gerolf is refusing, but the bottom line is that he is not the only pilot that feels this way, he is simple the only one willing to take a strong stand. For that, I am grateful to him!

A little Practice

2011-07-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

Most everyone has gone up for a little fly today. The weather gods are saying this may be the last chance for a practice flight before the first actual task on Tuesday. Apparently the wind will strengthen tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday may even bring rain :-(

All the Brit boys are here, missing only Bruce who is arriving tonight. It was pretty breezy up top, but it didn't seem to be stopping anyone from getting in the air.

Registration Day

2011-07-15T10:10:00.000-05:00

Station A....the Maria's and our helper, the little Ruhmer.

More pics....

The fun begins...

2011-07-15T06:40:00.000-05:00

I've had the music in my head for about a day and half now....that background music they always play in movies that gets the anticipation building, letting you know that something really cool and exciting is about to happen. For me it's Cee Lo Green song this time.

Everyone is arriving in the usual energized, ever hopeful state. You have to enjoy it while it lasts, because normally after the first task, everything changes. I love it anyway...ran into Atilla, the French team, Gordon, the Americans and Aussies and many more this afternoon. The gymnasium is abuzz...it's great!

Of course, you gotta love those sprog police...making sure our fun stays in check ;-). From the looks of it, pilots can plan on about a 3 hour cue to get their sprogs checked.

So light a candle on your cake...

2011-07-09T01:44:00.000-05:00

At last you're finally catching up to me! Just promise you will never grow up. Although you might need a shave a little more often these days (but not much ;-), you've never stopped acting like that 10-year-old.

I was planning to put a gorgeous, awesome present in your cake....but I didn't want to get any frosting in my hair!