I just couldn't wait until my next flight night to get back in the wind tunnel, so I booked myself a flight for last night.
Mum was unable to come this week due to me going straight from work (thanks to Dad for letting me leave early) so I will apologize now that there is no photos or videos to go with this post.
Having left work at 4 to allow plenty of time to get to MK, I only just made it! I don't know why, but people obviously wanted to spend alot of time broken down yesterday which caused chaos to all other road users! It's supposed to be half term, there for it should be less busy on the roads, WRONG!
Thankfully I did make it just on time, after frantically finding a parking space! It did mean that I left my hair grips and my new ear plugs in the van though! DOH!
My instructor was yet again someone different, this time it was Chris. I, again was the only one in the group who had flown before so he set the DVD going for everyone else and came to talk to me about where I was at with my flying. I explained what I had done at flight night last week and we opted to move onto Back Flying. This was something new to me, but I like a challenge and looked forward to giving it a go.
As mum was not with me, I had to use the lockers for the first time, I know they used to be free, but Chris informed me that they now had a £1 charge on them, this wouldn't of been so bad if you got your £1 back when you finished but you don't. I can understand to a certain degree why they have done this, but you'd think with what you pay to fly that the least they could do would be to let you use a locker with no charge. It won't stop me from going back though, it's just something to be aware of in the future.
The plan was to be geared up by the time the others were finished watching the DVD but that didn't happen, thankfully though I could just get on with getting ready while the others were sorted out. When I was handed a pair of Purple Goggles though it made me smile. They obviously have new goggles as there weren't purple ones available before. Those of you who know me know how much I love purple! I'll always be wanting the purple ones now!
Once everyone was kitted up Chris sent them up to the tunnel while he explained how to go about back flying. Getting into the tunnel was the first thing to be explained, locking your knees on the outside of the door and leaning back, he was trying to show me in an open area without falling over! Next he was led on the floor showing me the arm and leg movements required to turn and to go backwards and forwards. It all made perfect sense, but would it be that easy in the tunnel?
I was in first as I had 3 flights (3 x 2minutes) and everyone else had only 2 flights. Chris showed me how to get into the tunnel on my back and I couldn't wait to get started! I stepped forwards towards the door and turned around. I crouched slightly and locked my knees on the outside of the door, I leant back and put me arms out at 90 degrees, and I slowly lowered towards the grill in the tunnel. I tucked myself into a ball as to not fly around. Chris put me in the middle of the tunnel and stood over me with a leg either side of my chest. This was so that I could practice where to put my hands and legs to turn without actually moving. First up I had to put my right arm out and up (as if I was flying) then had to move my arm, from the elbow so that my hand was now parallel to my side rather than above my head. I could feel my body turning, which is a good thing, but I couldn't go anywhere due to Chris standing either side of me. I did the same exercise with the other arm and could again feel my body turning. Surely this was a good thing? Next up came using legs to turn. I pushed my legs away from me slightly and then from the knee down I swiveled them left, to begin with I didn't do it enough and Chris pushed them a little further, after that I could feel the impact it had, the same was done by moving them to the right. Chris then moved from being stood over me and let me try the moves again, this time obviously though I would actually be turning. Although I was still only on the net I felt like I was acheiving something as the moves that I was doing were having the desired effect. I only got as far as using my arms to turn before my first 2 minutes were up. Chris helped me to my feet and I exited the tunnel on foot.
I must admit I only half watched the other flyers due to trying to watch the video playback of me in the tunnel to see how well (or not so well) I had done. Chris seemed to have his work cut out though, the girls in the group just wouldn't hold still, causing all sorts of stability issues!
Before long it was my second go at back flying, I entered the tunnel in the same way as before and Chris was waiting ready to request me to make moves. First up was turning with my legs, I moved them as before and to my amazement it worked! I turned a circle one way and then the other! Chris was then stood behind my head and asked me to move towards him, I did this correct the first time by straightening out my legs, but got totally confused the second time and tried to straighten my arms! Doh! I soon twigged though and straightened my legs and moved towards Chris. It was then time to actually try and leave the net, would I be as successful at leaving the net as I had been with my turns? Hmmmm, not quite! I had to widen my legs from the hips and put my legs from my hips to my knees straight up and from my knees to my ankles straight along (so 90 degrees and 90 degrees at my hips and knees) then I had to put my arms out and up... slowly. This should give me the surface area to get some lift. I did lift but was a little unstable at points and rather than bringing my arms in slowly to steady my self, I was bringing them in quickly causing me to drop rapidly (thankfully not from a huge height) and bounce on the net, not what I wanted! Chris had advised me to try and not do this. As soon as I realised I was doing it I tried to stop. Chris had just suggested he was going to hold my legs while I moved my arms when my time was up again.
I opted for my last 2 minutes to Belly Fly again just to have some fun. I did some side slides, some knee turns and some up and down movements, just trying different things to see how it affects the movements. I think I maybe should of used the last 2 minutes to do a bit more back flying but I also just wanted to have a bit of a play!
My next flight should be flight night next Tuesday with Paul again, but I'm trying to decide whether to venture to Manchester for their Fright Flight on Halloween, it seems like a good deal and a great deal of fun... but am I too old for face painting and tunnel fun... I'll let you decide!
Until next time!
x
Mum was unable to come this week due to me going straight from work (thanks to Dad for letting me leave early) so I will apologize now that there is no photos or videos to go with this post.
Having left work at 4 to allow plenty of time to get to MK, I only just made it! I don't know why, but people obviously wanted to spend alot of time broken down yesterday which caused chaos to all other road users! It's supposed to be half term, there for it should be less busy on the roads, WRONG!
Thankfully I did make it just on time, after frantically finding a parking space! It did mean that I left my hair grips and my new ear plugs in the van though! DOH!
My instructor was yet again someone different, this time it was Chris. I, again was the only one in the group who had flown before so he set the DVD going for everyone else and came to talk to me about where I was at with my flying. I explained what I had done at flight night last week and we opted to move onto Back Flying. This was something new to me, but I like a challenge and looked forward to giving it a go.
As mum was not with me, I had to use the lockers for the first time, I know they used to be free, but Chris informed me that they now had a £1 charge on them, this wouldn't of been so bad if you got your £1 back when you finished but you don't. I can understand to a certain degree why they have done this, but you'd think with what you pay to fly that the least they could do would be to let you use a locker with no charge. It won't stop me from going back though, it's just something to be aware of in the future.
The plan was to be geared up by the time the others were finished watching the DVD but that didn't happen, thankfully though I could just get on with getting ready while the others were sorted out. When I was handed a pair of Purple Goggles though it made me smile. They obviously have new goggles as there weren't purple ones available before. Those of you who know me know how much I love purple! I'll always be wanting the purple ones now!
Once everyone was kitted up Chris sent them up to the tunnel while he explained how to go about back flying. Getting into the tunnel was the first thing to be explained, locking your knees on the outside of the door and leaning back, he was trying to show me in an open area without falling over! Next he was led on the floor showing me the arm and leg movements required to turn and to go backwards and forwards. It all made perfect sense, but would it be that easy in the tunnel?
I was in first as I had 3 flights (3 x 2minutes) and everyone else had only 2 flights. Chris showed me how to get into the tunnel on my back and I couldn't wait to get started! I stepped forwards towards the door and turned around. I crouched slightly and locked my knees on the outside of the door, I leant back and put me arms out at 90 degrees, and I slowly lowered towards the grill in the tunnel. I tucked myself into a ball as to not fly around. Chris put me in the middle of the tunnel and stood over me with a leg either side of my chest. This was so that I could practice where to put my hands and legs to turn without actually moving. First up I had to put my right arm out and up (as if I was flying) then had to move my arm, from the elbow so that my hand was now parallel to my side rather than above my head. I could feel my body turning, which is a good thing, but I couldn't go anywhere due to Chris standing either side of me. I did the same exercise with the other arm and could again feel my body turning. Surely this was a good thing? Next up came using legs to turn. I pushed my legs away from me slightly and then from the knee down I swiveled them left, to begin with I didn't do it enough and Chris pushed them a little further, after that I could feel the impact it had, the same was done by moving them to the right. Chris then moved from being stood over me and let me try the moves again, this time obviously though I would actually be turning. Although I was still only on the net I felt like I was acheiving something as the moves that I was doing were having the desired effect. I only got as far as using my arms to turn before my first 2 minutes were up. Chris helped me to my feet and I exited the tunnel on foot.
I must admit I only half watched the other flyers due to trying to watch the video playback of me in the tunnel to see how well (or not so well) I had done. Chris seemed to have his work cut out though, the girls in the group just wouldn't hold still, causing all sorts of stability issues!
Before long it was my second go at back flying, I entered the tunnel in the same way as before and Chris was waiting ready to request me to make moves. First up was turning with my legs, I moved them as before and to my amazement it worked! I turned a circle one way and then the other! Chris was then stood behind my head and asked me to move towards him, I did this correct the first time by straightening out my legs, but got totally confused the second time and tried to straighten my arms! Doh! I soon twigged though and straightened my legs and moved towards Chris. It was then time to actually try and leave the net, would I be as successful at leaving the net as I had been with my turns? Hmmmm, not quite! I had to widen my legs from the hips and put my legs from my hips to my knees straight up and from my knees to my ankles straight along (so 90 degrees and 90 degrees at my hips and knees) then I had to put my arms out and up... slowly. This should give me the surface area to get some lift. I did lift but was a little unstable at points and rather than bringing my arms in slowly to steady my self, I was bringing them in quickly causing me to drop rapidly (thankfully not from a huge height) and bounce on the net, not what I wanted! Chris had advised me to try and not do this. As soon as I realised I was doing it I tried to stop. Chris had just suggested he was going to hold my legs while I moved my arms when my time was up again.
I opted for my last 2 minutes to Belly Fly again just to have some fun. I did some side slides, some knee turns and some up and down movements, just trying different things to see how it affects the movements. I think I maybe should of used the last 2 minutes to do a bit more back flying but I also just wanted to have a bit of a play!
My next flight should be flight night next Tuesday with Paul again, but I'm trying to decide whether to venture to Manchester for their Fright Flight on Halloween, it seems like a good deal and a great deal of fun... but am I too old for face painting and tunnel fun... I'll let you decide!
Until next time!
x
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