We drove to the LZ with the three vehicles and then all piled into the LDV to go up to launch. As I previously mentioned, I had seen this launch in Sean’s movie and other videos on the net so I knew to expect a massive, rectangular, astro-turf launch area...and I was not disappointed. There were already a surprising number of pilots readying for takeoff. We watched a number of launches and eventually got ready ourselves. I was the last one of our group to take-off and for some reason I couldn’t forward launch to save my life! I must have aborted 4 times before eventually doing a reverse instead. Never mind (although I’ll have to do some honing of that skill), once in the air it was fantastic.
The launch at St. Hillaire:
Gans taking off:
Being the 143rd birthday of my homeland Canada, I had rigged up a small Canadian flag with a rope and a weight off of my harness so once safely away from the mountain, I pulled it out and let it fly behind me. I hadn’t told any of the Brits that I was doing this and had only mentioned to Harry the day before that Canada Day was approaching. A few of them thought I’d run into and picked up a windsock on launch! I got on the radio and wished them “Happy Canada Day!” and briefly explained what it meant.
In flight at St. Hillaire:
In the LZ (landing zone) looking back up to launch:
The rock faces of the mountain ridge were lovely to fly near (although not too close!). I worked with Tim off to the left of launch and he was able to get a few hundred meters above the ridge but most of the time I was below him although I did get above the plateau a bit. Eventually I decided to cruise south, past the launch and about 5 kilometers down the ridge. In order to get to the upper mountain face, you either had to go this way or about 5 kilometers north and then bench up on a connecting ridgeline. I ended up sinking out at the end of the ridge and as I headed out to land in a farmer’s field, I radioed the boys of my situation. I picked a fallow field but found the conditions to be quite thermic and ended up overshooting it. I had a choice of a small rectangular wheat field or the two bordering vineyards on either side of it. It was easy to choose against the wooden posts and wire of the vineyards but I tried to land on the edge of the wheat field to minimize damage to the crops. For this decision I had to pay with my wing coming down over a couple of rows of the growing grapes. It wasn’t a heavy fine to pay as it just took longer to extract my wing but there was no damage to it and I couldn’t see any damage to the two crops. I was just about finished packing up when I heard Gans on the radio. I looked towards the main road and lo and behold, what did I see but the top of Betty drive by. I detailed my location to them and they arrived in the field before I’d even finished packing up...nice retrieve guys. I was pleased with my first flight at St. Hillaire...but there’s much more to be done!
We picked up Tim in the LZ and then headed back up the mountain in Betty. There were dark clouds behind us and across the valley so we all knew that it wouldn’t be a long flight, just a top to bottom basically. I launched in the middle of the pack and soared back and forth in front of launch trying to get video of Harry and Tim launching. Eventually I headed out to the LZ and was glad I did as I could hear some thunder way off in the distance and there was starting to be lift in the valley. I performed some spirals to bleed off some height and some weak wing overs. I came in and landed next to Kes and Gans who were filming me which was great as I still had my Canadian flag flying. After a quick beer in a nearby cafe, we decided to hike up to retrieve our cars. The vertical elevation difference is over 700 meters so it was going to be some good exercise. Alex ran ahead while Harry, Kes, Gans and I hiked up a trail and then about half way up we got on the stairs that run beside the funiculaire after watching the two cars pass by. We climbed hundreds and hundreds of steps...talk about a stair master! There was even a 100 foot long tunnel we had to climb through on tall but narrow stone steps and to add to the complexity, there was a cable with a minor current running through it that drooped down and was pretty difficult to avoid contact with...especially for 6’4 Harry. Gans claimed he saw a spark arc off of his sweat damp hair, uh oh Gans, there goes a few more brain cells!
Starting the hike in the woods (yes, I'm the real white guy...surprising since they're all British!):
Watching the funiculaire car go by (the passengers must have thought we were suckers for punishment):
The start of the stairs:
Gans climbing up the massive stairmaster:
Me on an optional bridge (look how far we've come up from the valley):
At the top, at the funiculaire station, there was a final precariously placed 8 foot ladder which took us inside. The place was closed and we then learned that we weren’t really supposed to go that way as Kes had been told off by a worker. Gans climbed up an open windowsill and jumped out whereas I just walked out a closed door. It took us an hour to get to the top and the first stop was to drench our heads under the water tap near take off. Great exercise...now it’s time to go and celebrate Canada Day!
Gans escaping the funiculaire station:
We had a few drinks outside a bar in a small square followed by a nice meal out at a restaurant where the poor wait staff had to cross the road to go from the kitchen to the tables...they sure earned their money. Of course Betty needed a push start to get going again and the Brits were kind to help out...I think they were also starting to fall for Betty’s charm.
We returned to camp (well technically only Alex and Tim were actually staying in the camp) and Kes, Gans and I hung out by our vehicles in the parking lot across the road for an hour or so having a few drinks. As usual, Gans had us in stitches. My favourite line from him was (and I wish I could type it in a good northern England accent but I can’t): “I bought us an orthopaedic bed but then found out I wasn’t an orthopaede!”
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