Taking off from our alternate field at Riversands and flying north to meet up with the guys at Grasslands ( about 20 km’s ) was easy into a slight N-W. There were some clouds out far to the S-E but the weather looked great for flying and keeping an eye on the clouds out S-E while flying to Grasslands, they seemed to recede – so no problems !!!

We met up with the other pilots by the pimple ( about 6 km west of Grasslands ) and I flew into nice lift/compression on the windward side of the pimple – so far a really nice flight with some exciting (for me ) lift.

We all turned back to go and land at Grasslands when Steve called our collective attentions to the quarry (on a triangle, midway between the pimple & the field and about 5 km’s north ) and a decent gust that blew large volumes of dust into the air. I had been struggling with forward speed to the field for a few minutes already and was the South most pilot at that stage. I am heavy (all muscle and speed ;-) and am supposed to be faster than some of the other pilots but they seemed to out fly me – the wind at my particular height was such that my groundspeed was negligible. The wind started getting really variable and gusty: Tony called out our options on the radio: 1) Land now 2) Fly to the field or 3) turn with the wind and run with it. My calculations said that I shall not have enough fuel to fly to Grasslands( with my 3-4 kph groundspeed) , land and for the flight back to Riversands. I decided to fly this thing: I mean, how bad can it be? Also the wind was more or less blowing in the direction I had to fly to get back to Riversands.

Approaching a small hillock as I turned downwind, the compression gave me some lift again which was pleasant and comforting. My groundspeed was around 70kph and I was weary of the wind shadow on the other side of the hill which was approaching really fast. I now had my back to all the other pilots and the turbulence was getting noticeable, so twisting around in the harness to get a visual of the others was quickly losing its lustre.

As I topped the hill, I wanted to make a radio call that I intended to run like a police dog for Riversands but turbulence got so bad I literally could not get or keep my hands on the transmit button for fear of breaking it off. I was in any case busier than a one legged man at an arse kicking contest, trying to keep my hands from flaying around and giving involuntary brake input, causing the wing to oscillate even more. I eventually grabbed hold of the risers, just to make my hands (and the brakes) stay still. I was by now being tossed around so violently I feared I may be thrown out of my harness. My GPS showed a sink rate of 4.0+ m/s – with full throttle; just then, I had the singular pleasure of seeing blue sky when looking at my feet and just as I realized that I am actually flying with my back horizontal to the ground the wing whipped forward and I now flew face-down to mother earth – the wing was actually obscuring the horizon- I very gently came off the power ! This is one of the very few pilot inputs I gave, and I braked the wing ever so slightly to get it back in its proper place: above me. Going at around 106 kph now, I realized that I cannot do much to change whatever the outcome is going to be and chose to observe the wing – it fascinated me that the wing remained absolutely a perfect aerofoil. The Reaction 29 never once tucked on me or even slightly collapsed. I fell madly in love with that wing (from a serious infatuation before) and I really do not ever want to fly another wing. When the spots appear on the wall, you really want to fly a wing that is absolutely, beyond doubt, a rock-solid friend.

Eventually, things settled down and I seemed to have out flown the beast. Groundspeed got down to around 70 kph but now I could not reach anyone on the radio. I decided that I may as well enjoy the scenery around Riversands and flew around there for a few minutes until the frigging gust hit me again – albeit a lot more subdued. Fortunately I was close to the field and landed in a headwind that had me fly backwards about 7kph. It was my first near vertical descend and really a novel change to the usual breathtaking groundrush (mainly due to my rotund build) I experience on landing. On hitting the deck, I tried to compensate for the backward movement but was dragged off my feet by the wing and dragged for about 5 meters before I could yank in the wing. No harm done, both to my godlike body and my rig.

Comparing my outcome with some of the other pilots that chose to land ( some got injured; but it must be said that they had no choice in choosing their terrain and it was about as ugly as you can get: extremely rocky/bouldery with many small trees), I think that next time (if I am unlucky enough to get caught in one of these again) I shall do the same and stay aloft, unless I can land on a good field. I would like a little more altitude though and will avoid a wind shadow with all the resources I have available at that stage.

All told, I had tremendous fun and developed huge respect for my wing. Ignorance is always bliss!

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