HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 13 May | June 2019 a blue hole on the satellite map and asked if we wanted to wait for the wind to die down in Dubbo or move to the blue hole. Moving was unanimous. A few hours later, we rolled into a vast, red, dusty, bindi-strewn paddock and went about the business of unloading our gear. Phil and Stephen assessed conditions, then set-up a couple of windsocks and a tarp for the us to launch off. We had all towed before, but some of us had only in calm conditions during our tow endorsements. Conditions were quite calm at that point, with the blue hole on the horizon, slowly heading our way. We planned to get some warm-up tows out of the way before the hole reached us. Lucy stepped up to be first and we all moved to the tarp for Phil’s brief. Lucy joined us at last year’s women’s towing event and this year had stepped up to be my helper at two events. Watching Lucy find her flying mojo again after a hiatus has been a joy. Lucy was a competent pilot before having kids, but lost the urge to fly for a few years while her girls were young, then struggled to find the confidence to fly the way she needed to. The idea that there was more than one way to fly, and that it might be different for everyone has been a huge learning for me. I wanted to run these events in a low-pressure but supportive environment, recognising that many pilots forget they know how to fly when they get flustered. The aim of the events was to allow pilots to find confidence in their own skills. Success looked like happy, excited pilots who’d make more plans to fly after the event, not maximum distance flown. Lucy embodies this concept completely. Lucy’s partner is an accomplished competition pilot and a senior figure in the paragliding community. He needs to get as much out of the day as possible – launching early and flying as far as he can to feel like his day was a success. Numbers are important to him, something that’s drilled into you as you progress through competition flying. For the last few years, I’ve been following the same path, talking only about the numbers, “Today was awesome! I flew 120km and reached 2900m!” I have noticed that most women pilots don’t dwell on the numbers as much. We may want to know the figures, but they simply set the scene. What gets us animated is how we felt about the day, “I was scared near the range because the air was shit and bumpy, but then I was thermalling with eagles and I could make out their individual feathers! And I saw the Big Dish from the air! I landed short of where I wanted to get to, but I found the most amazing swimming hole!” Lucy is redefining a successful flying day for me too. Her attitude is infectious, and even at our home site in Bright, I noticed the change. When everyone else is delaying launching, waiting for the inversion to lift, Lucy is undeterred. She sets her gear up confidently and relaxed, and takes off when she feels like it, normally well before everyone else. Then she climbs out, showing everyone they should have already launched, and gets on with her flight. She then lands in time to pick up her girls from school. She is one of our most respected local pilots now. Lucy’s first tow went perfectly and showed us all that the conditions were benign and ideal. From past experience, I’ve found pilots can be reluctant to step up next, particularly for the first launch, so I set a launch order to get the day moving faster. As a result, Sharon was ready to clip in as soon as Lucy was airborne. I spent the day on radio, standing with pilots until they launched, sometimes giving hints on how to control a wing in gusty conditions, assuring them they had all the time they needed, and relaying the radio calls for the pilots so their hands were free to deal with launch. As an experienced pilot, but not an instructor, I try to impress on attendees that they must not expect instruction. They are licensed pilots and responsible for their own decisions. Lucy and I were there to simply assist. I usually try to have one senior pilot on launch and one in the air (leading by example) at every event. What has blown me away with these events is how the act of pulling these pilots out of their usual environment (that may mean their local club or site, or their usual flying partner) has allowed them to discover their inner sky-goddess. These pilots signed up for the events because they wanted to. No one pushed them into, the cost was significant, but they leaned on their need for adventure and decided to see what happens when you fly with a bunch of women. Most of them had never experienced that before, and, guess what? Magic happens. They see only women pilots and they see them owning their flying, getting their shit sorted and doing it confidently. They realise there is nothing stopping them from doing the same. At the end of the first day, Lucy flew an impressive 80km, a few pilots got away and a few pilots had as many tows as they wanted before calling it a day. I considered flying myself, but checked the time and was shocked to see it was 5pm. Time to find a camp site. We opted for the Trundle Showgrounds, and quickly got on with the task of setting up camp. Kaz Lucy, Sharon, Kaz and Kirsten discussing techniques Lucy Photo: Colin Leggett