#7 FIRST FLIGHT 9/26

We came here to fly, and fly we will. Actually Brad's been flying, but this will be my first flight here. Brad found this site last May and is eager to share it. My flying has been very limited, with none in over a year, so I didn't bring my wing with me. My flights this time will be tandem w/ Brad. We're up by 7:15. It takes an hour to pack our gear, walk the 15 minutes to town, get some food and find a jeep. The downside here is that the launch site is nearly 2 hours away. The road is winding and narrow, like last night, but with altitude gain (Booni is 7300' - launch is 12,800'), but it’s daylight, and the scenery's great. We arrive about 10 and soon realize the winds are too strong to launch. (Clarification: when referring to knowledge an/or decision-making, "we" means Brad or Brad and Freddy. When used for eating, sleeping, traveling, waiting, "we" includes me.)

Remember the paragliding lessons about weather and patience? We knew the winds would weaken later in the day, so we waited - patiently. We talked, napped, ate the little food we had, and took a 3-hour hike. Good grief - what a place to wait. For us it was a place to launch, but at any other time it would be a place to go just for the view. From launch we could see a couple villages on this side of the valley, the river below, then a large plateau, and Booni beyond, 5500' below and about 6 or 7 miles away.

Another paragliding lesson: The launch procedure is kind of like flying a kite, but one without a rigid frame. You carefully lay the wing out on the ground behind you, attach your harness to the risers, then run into the wind, lifting the lines so air can fill the cells, giving the wing its shape.

Brad and I took off about 6. We could have gone before, but we waited because Freddy likes to fly in the full moon. Brad laid out the glider on the hill while I put on warm clothes and my helmet. We got into our harnesses. The tandem glider allows two harnesses to hook into it. Brad hooked in first, then I did. A slight, but variable wind was coming up the hill. Brad had been monitoring the wind for some time. He had also given me a pre-flight briefing which covered our plans for the take-off, flight and landing, plus options available if needed. The wind was very light, almost completely still in one part of the cycles, so we would do a standard forward launch. We both hooked in and faced downhill. Then we waited for the part of the cycle when the wind picked up.

When he felt the wind was right he said, "Walk." We stepped forward, felt the wing start to come up behind us, making us work hard to keep moving forward. As it got about overhead the pressure eased and Brad said, "Run." With the glider above us we both ran downhill into the wind. After about ten yards we were gently lifted off the ground, but we kept our feet moving. We drifted down for a couple more steps, then were off and were flying, the hill quickly dropping away under us. After a few seconds, when we were safely aloft, we pushed back in our harnesses.

My focus had been on the launch - keeping my balance and following Brad's instructions. But now it hit me -
We were flying! Wow!
Flying in Pakistan. Wow!
Me...flying with Brad, my son...in Pakistan! WOW! WOW! WOW!
Damn this is good!!

The wind could not have been smoother as we glided gently toward the river valley and plateau in the distance. The plateau was our planned LZ (landing zone). As we flew we alternately looked at the sun setting to our right and the full moon rising to our left. When we were assured of making the plateau we did some turns, but mostly we flew straight. Some gently rising air kept us up for a while, and once over the plateau we turned directly into the wind coming up the valley. By this time, about half an hour after launch, the sun was fully gone, and the moon was about level with us.

A paraglider is always flying forward and descending relative to the wind (average glide ratio is about 8:1), so you are always flying into the wind and, unless you’re in a thermal or updraft, you are always gliding down. But at this time, however, it looked and felt like we were suspended motionless in the air. For a while we almost were, with the warm air holding us up and the headwind countering our forward motion. It was magical. And it was comfortable. We were dressed warmly to begin with, and by this time we were down to about 9000 feet, so the air wasn't cold.

The plateau offered large, clear, flat areas for landing, as Brad had discussed in our pre-flight briefing, but as we got within a few hundred feet of the ground we realized the wind had picked up and we were being blown backward. Brad reviewed the procedure if we landed backward. (fyi, it does not include shutting your eyes and screaming, "Don't let me die!") As he predicted, and explained, the ground effect lessened the wind, and we landed forward - easily and safely. I may have stumbled because of slightly uneven ground, or we may have remained standing. Whatever, it was safe, gentle...and joyous! The flight was exciting, wonderful, and fun – and so much more.

Brad and I looked at each other, grinned like Cheshire cats, and hugged then, as we would after every flight and a number of other times during the trip. My words can't express the totality of the emotion that I felt then and am feeling now in reliving it. Sharing with Brad the time, the experience, the connection, the love - it fills me with contentment, happiness, and unrestrained joy. WOW!