How I dunnitt...

How I dunnitt.
by Mike Birch

The sky and I have a love hate relationship. I love it, while it shows nothing but contempt.  Spits me out after 6 minutes every time... and that's on aerotow.

Gordon in silly hat (and sillier shirt)

Compass task was the solution suggested by Gordon, wearing his DCFI hat (a silly cloth Bill and Ben affair like the rest of ours - but perhaps not as silly as Darcy's).  That is how I came to meet the awesome Chris Lovell, marathon runner, endurance cyclist, and glider pilot of serious achievement.  His mission impossible (should he choose to accept it) was to get me to soar on a short cross-country task. 'The poor innocent,' I thought.

We prepared 45 on the grid.  Club GPS, maps, water bottle, silly hats, empty plastic milk bottle.
'Wasssat then?' I chirped, eager to show inquisitive enthusiasm.  I had not come across an in-fight pilot comfort and relief system before. Not a lot of call for them in my kind of flying!

So we launched and released at about 2,000 feet. Chris encouraged me into a crowded thermal of about eight gliders, and for ten terrifying minutes we wheeled and swooped with the best of them.  My theory about maintaining separation is that if I check every glider in the thermal every three seconds on rotation I won't hit or be hit by them. That is about four glances per glider every 360 degrees. From the back seat my head must have been a blur of movement.

'Keep your damn head still and concentrate on the flying.' came the instruction from the back. From there on rapid eye movement alone was keeping us alive. Finally my vision went cloudy - which tends to happen at cloud base, and we departed.

It took three hours to get to the other side of Andover. Like all great glider pilots, Chris could spot lift even before there was any. A shadow on the ground, a raggedy cloud base, a circling hawk, the subtlest nuance in air movement.  My technique of waiting for the vario to read 4 up then turn was quietly forgotten.

The flight was terrific. Our return glide was direct and took about 20 minutes to get back to Lasham with a brisk following wind.

The great thing about the compass tasks is that you do all of the work in a cross-country flight, accept as much advice as you can absorb, and all with the solid reassurance of those years of experience occupying the rear seat. It was like a week's soaring course compressed into 3½ hours. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone in the post solo playground.

We landed at 3pm, and after the spasms in my exhausted eye muscles subsided, I was ready to try it alone.  Forty-three minutes I did in a K13 - seven standard Mike type flights all in one go.  A rare accomplishment (for me if not for you) and a terrific feeling.

I stepped out of that glider a different man. Not taller, better looking and with more hair, just more assured and a little more confident.

So yes, I now have an in-fight pilot comfort and relief system in my flight bag. I now wear my floppy Bill and Ben hat with pride.  It was a terrific experience (thanks Chris), and one that I thoroughly recommend.