Chutes

It's that time of the year again.. Chute repack time! Now settle down. I know it's an exciting thing, and everybody loves it and does it every year like they're supposed to.. But, all joking aside, it's a necessary evil. If the unthinkable ever happens and you're spiraling and/or plummeting towards terra firma you'll be thanking your past-self for deploying, preening, and repacking your underfluffies when your chute opens. Unless you get tangled in your equipment, but that's another reason we train to throw.

The A-Team met up at Nick's hangar again to get our goods repacked before the Nationals in April. And, like last year, it was fairly uneventful. Ilya hates repacking, Max has a new helmet camera, Nick hates BBQ chicken pizza, and I discovered that I have a newly developed vertigo. I don't recall having the same issue last year but I'm hoping the lightheaded/dizzy spell was just from spinning in my harness. I'll find out in Florida.

On a positive note- I was able to get my chute out of my harness this year. Last year my shoulder was still jacked and I wasn't able to pull it free from the container. For months now I've been doing my meal planning and split-workouts from when I was competing. In addition to the self-esteem boost and endurance in everyday life, it's helping me with the flying side of the spectrum. It builds confidence knowing I can muscle my wing around better. It’s human nature to work on the things that we are good at but to be successful you have to focus on the flaws as well.

Plus, yoga pants.

Tweaking

Only 1 month and 27 days to go until sunny Florida..


Ilya and I spend our winter weekends getting little nips for our aviation fix. This started a few weeks ago with a tube of black shoe goo and some foam brushes. The boot skid on both of our Tenax 3 harnesses had worn through and we were looking for a more permanent solution rather than having to buy canvas replacement caps a couple of times per year from Italy. With 3 coats, a full tube, and a steady hand I was able to get mine coated.



The next order of business was to mount the aluminum bracket for the new Flytec 6030 instrument pod that I had ordered. This involved the removal of my wheels to be able to scoot the bracket over another couple of inches closer to the corner and out of the way. I had been flying without wheels for years, but after my surgery and subsequent crash in Canada I flew with them the last couple of seasons for consolation.

I was once told "Use your superior judgement to avoid using your superior skills." I live by that statement and the only use my wheels got before or after that one crash was when I was too lazy to pick my glider up and rolled it around instead. Hopefully that's the only reason they'll be missed..

I had Ilya assist me in getting my glider into the house mainly to do the tuning changes that Steve Pearson had recommended. My glider has always been a bear to turn whenever there was more than 10mph of wind or punchy lift, but I've had instances where it wont respond to my roll or pitch input and will just turn wherever it wants. The smaller gliders have always been stiff, but the fact that I have a mylar top sail and don't weigh anything has compounded the issue to make the glider even more numb.

The pros: I can thermal the bug farts easier than the heavier dudes and my sink rate on glide is typically 180-200fpm.

The cons: I have issues maneuvering in active conditions and get crushed on glide. *putt putt putt*

So to remedy this, I shaved my tip wands 3/16" to bag the ends a little. The handling should improve noticeably.

The sprogs go tight for my lighter weight around 1/2 VG to the point where I can't physically pull it anymore. I lowered the sprogs 1.5 turns to improve the handling, especially with the VG on.

As a disclaimer: I did these tuning changes off the instruction of the man that creates these gliders.. I was apprehensive but reassured that 1.5 turns isn't much. I spent an entire season in a topless glider with the sprogs dumped and undisclosed to me by the previous owner and lived to tell the tale. I know what lowering them can do to the stability first-hand..