My first blog entry of 2011, where has the time gone?!?
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and hope this year is good to you all!
Christmas was spent at home with the family of course I ate too much, I'm paying for that now though! I was pleased with my gifts though as I got a Gath helmet for use in the tunnel (I couldn't wait to try this out, think the parents thought I was mad sitting here in my chair with it on my head!) They also got my a jokey present of a Bratz Doll, but not just any Bratz Doll, a skydiving Bratz Doll, how cool! On top of that was a Wii fit, which has been great, the weather has been to cold to go out on the Gym so this has been a god send and I feel great for using it every day!
That's all the Christmas stuff out the way so lets get back to flying...
I missed flying over the festive period, it was very strange not making the weekly pilgrimage to MK, but some how I survived!
Tuesday saw me return to the tunnel for the first time in 3 weeks, I guess the break was going to have worked one of two ways. I was either going to be extremely rusty and have to recap lots to get back into the swing of things or I was going to jump back in the tunnel having spent the time off thinking about how to improve and be a little better/stronger.
I made good time on the journey up, think this may have something to do with the fact that the schools were still on holiday so there wasn't quite as much traffic. It was great to be making the trip again, I was going to fly! I couldn't believe how quiet it was when I got there though, the car park was relatively empty there was no one in the tunnel when I was waiting for Paul and no one waiting either, very very quiet.
It wasn't long before Paul appeared and after talking about Christmas and New Year we started discussing my flying. I had an aim for this session but if I didn't succeed it wasn't a major issue but I wanted to. Paul suggested we mix it up a bit with rotations of back flying and attempting sit flying, just so I could give my shoulders and my mind a rest!
There was just time for a quick cuppa before the first session. I was going to be the only flyer in the session but we were then joined by Team Euphoria. This worked quite well as it meant we had some rotations and I got to watch in envy of their skills!
This first session saw me do 6 minutes of back fly and 4 of sit fly. While doing back fly we were working on my turns and side slides (which I failed miserably at last time I flew!) Thankfully my co-ordination was much better this time and I began to get the hang of it. It still wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better than before. The sit flying saw me bouncing, trying to find my balance and get some lift, again this was much better than before! Maybe the break was proving to have done me good!
I came out of this session feeling very pleased, pleased I wasn't rusty after the break and pleased I had made a little more progress!
Time to put the kettle back on and have a little rest before flight night. While I drank my tea Paul went to have a chat with the other flight night fliers and I was amazed to find out there was only one other, why was it so quiet? Once I drank my tea I sat on one of the benches watching the live action TV screen, I do like watching and learning from other people.
Before long it was time to go back up to the tunnel. We had opted to split my time, 2 minutes, 2 minutes and a minute. Two minutes of back fly, 2 minutes of sit fly and 1 of belly flying. The sit flying was getting stronger and stronger, surely I could fly next time? The side slides on my back were getting better as well, no so many co-ordination issues! Some fun was had with the belly flying too, Paul got the speed turned up so I could try going higher in the tunnel. It started low and slowly got increased, I increased my arch to stay low and then you reach a point where you can't arch any further and you head upwards. I seemed to reach a point though where I couldn't go any higher, think I need to work on de-arching a bit more to get a little more lift. It was cool to go a little higher though!
Back downstairs and the kettle goes on again, this time accompanied by a mince pie, probably the last one before next Christmas. I suggested it my turn to make brownies for next week, I got a unanimous yes from the staff, so guess who's going to be baking on Monday night!
We were supposed to be flying at 9 but as the tunnel was empty again we opted to go up a little bit earlier and make a start. After the first 2 rotations (with myself) Joels group appeared on the other side of the tunnel. We thought it would be a good idea if Joel and his group joined us so we had some rotations, so they stopped the tunnel and let them in.
The last 3 rotations were 2 of sit and 1 of back. With the back I had to try and stay on my side of the tunnel, with Paul on the other side and mirror him by going up and down. To begin with I managed to stay put but it wasn't long before I had turned and my feet were facing him, I'd turn back and would be fine and then I'd end up turned back again! Little but more work required!
As for sit, things really started to fall into place and I finally found my balance and confidence to fly! This is what I had been aiming for for weeks and finally I had it! What a way to finish the evening and to put my total tunnel time up to 3 hours! I must of looked like the cat that got the cream!
Thanks to Paul for helping me so much! I still have a lot to learn but hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
What a FANTASTIC first flight of 2011! Let's hope it's the first of many more to come!
I'm booked in for more flying Tuesday and the following Tuesday and I've also booked my first flight at the end of the month at the Manchester tunnel with my tunnel twin, Tanya!
I'll be sure to update you all after next weeks flight!
