HGFA Skysailor Magazine

36 SKY SAILOR March | April 2019 grass starting to move more violently. I asked Skye and Howie if they were ready for take off and both replied, “Ready, let’s go!” As the thermal arrived and I was happy with the strength and consistency, I reverse launched the wing. It quickly climbed over our heads and supported Skye’s weight and after a quick visual check, we started running – 1, 2, 3 steps and take off. All the hard work of the hike was forgotten and the Daddy-Daughter team was rewarded with amazing views from the Stubai Glacier, all the way to the Inn Valley and Innsbruck. The lightly loaded wing felt unresponsive as the leading edge bit into the first thermal, but after counting the obligatory three seconds (I’d left my vario behind to save weight), we started to turn and climb above launch. With a celebratory yodel from Howie, we headed north and started flying towards the Inn Valley. Skye, who had flown many times with me on the coastal sites of Sydney, was in awe of the huge landscape opening to us, and kept telling me, “Look Daddy, snow… sheep… mountains…” It wasn’t long into the flight that I really noticed just how light we were on the tandem (a wing I fly a lot and am very current on) and how easy the tips were collapsing in the moving air. Wanting Skye to have an amazing, positive experience of mountain flying, I switched the focus of the flight from XC to just having the most fun we could possibly have together. I turned away from the SE-facing ridge line and headed out into the valley. I asked Skye where she wanted to fly to and she replied, “To Mummy,” so we headed to our holiday apartments where my Our planned take-off near the summit hut is visible top right Getting ready for take off And we’re off! Thermalling above launch with Skye Photo: Roger Stanford