Friday 7th April Weather: sunny and warm

What! get up at 6:40am on the first day of my holiday? Oh well things can only improve on this. I am not famed for my early morning rises. Did the final bits of packing and waited for my friend Paul Nunn (who was accompanying me for the first couple of days) to arrive.

He got to me at about 8:00am, we packed the car, I said my goodbyes to my family and we were off. An uneventful journey to Stanstead airport got us there by about 9am. We hung around, checked in and took off at 11:20am about 20 mins late. Had a great flight with fine sunny weather and going through the cloud layer is always something I enjoy. Had sandwiches and a Guinness on board.

We arrived at Carcassonne (Salvaza Airport) at about 2:05pm. Why Carcassonne?, just ask Paul (I won't let you forget that one Paul):-). We got a bus to Carcassonne train station and got our tickets to Lourdes where Karl was to pick us up. We had an hour or so to kill before the train so we had a pleasant walk along the canal for a while and had a quick look at part of the town. We also had our first taste of French cuisine.....BIG MAC's.

We caught the train and got to Toulouse about an hour later and had to wait about another 30mins for the connecting train to Lourdes. This train took around 2 hours with several stops on the way I phoned Antoinette (Karl's wife),to let her know we were on our way. When we got to Lourdes Karl was waiting on the platform to meet us. We walked to his car and I got in the front passenger door only to realise it was the drivers door! I then walked around and got into the correct door to the amusement of Karl and Paul.

We tried to find Jean-Louis Darlet at his workshop, but he wasn't around, so we went straight on to the chalet. We got shown the rooms where we were staying and I got my first look at the Cage, and Karl showed me how to assemble the frame.

Dinner was ready. We got ourselves totally confused with the meal as the lettuce was serve up first separately to the tomatoes and the sweetcorn. The second course was the lamb with beans, fried toms and mushrooms. We then had cheese and bread. Then came the fruit salad and cake. One of the highlights of the meal was the gorgeous salad dressing Antoinette made.

We talked flying etc for a while then I practiced assembling the Cage and eventually got to bed by about 1:30am totally worn out from the days traveling.

Saturday 8th April Weather: Cloudy with no wind at first but got windy later with rain

We got up at about 10am (that's a bit better). Karl phoned JLD and arranged to meet him at 1pm. He also arrange for a pilot to be able to give Paul a tandem. Meanwhile we went into the back garden?? to have a play with Karl's Cage. He showed me how to forward launch in nil wind and then stall the glider. I had about three goes just to get the feel of it. We packed up for lunch, which was burger and fries french style. As we were leaving for JLD it started raining. It looked like Paul's tandem flight was in jeopardy and the strong winds at JLD's workshop confirmed this.

We met Jean-Louis Darlet in his workshop along with Ludovic (the tandem pilot) and his wife/partner Jo. JLD showed me my canopy which was just at the finishing stages along with my Cage and the harness. He gave me some lines and showed me how to attach them to the canopy, so I put on as many as I could.

I had a hang test in my harness and JLD put the finishing touches on to that. He showed us the computer program he has written to design and build his canopies. He talked long about the many stages in the design of his canopies, and considering he speaks very little english I managed to pick up quite a bit. Karl was there to translate some of the more complex stuff, which even some of that went straight over my head.

As time wore on we were invited back to JLD's house to meet his family, Michelle and Julie and sat in the lounge drinking beer and talking.

We went back to the chalet for a meal of trout that Antoinette and the girls (Camille, Pauline and little Emily) had caught during the day. We also met the family neighbour, Meica with her two daughters who had come to stay for a day or so. We watched some of Karl's old hang gliding videos along with some stunts that I'd never seen performed on a hang glider. Paul was to leave tomorrow at 11:11am so he may get a chance for a quick flight in the morning.

Sunday 9th April Weather: Sunny at first but rain for the afternoon

We got up at around 9am, Karl a little bit later. With all of the preparation for going home we were too late to get Paul a tandem flight which he was a little disappointed at. That's flying I suppose. We rushed Paul to the train station and Karl drove like the devil to get Paul there on time. We just made it with 5 mins to spare.

After Paul left myself and Karl went to JLD Cage. Two other student pilots were there, Patrick and Thierry. Both were french although Thierry could speak a little english. We went straight out for lunch at a nearby restaurant and Karl recommended the duck which was superb. I do love french food.

When we got back to the workshop JLD showed me my completed Cage and showed me how to pack it. We then went to the field across the road and started some ground handling training. I found it hard (see learning to fly). We took a break after a couple of hours or so for coffee, and when we went back out it started raining. The rain didn't last too long but with the ground wet and the time getting on we decided to call it a day. JLD took us to a local flying site where he gave us a demonstration of how to fly the Cage with a nice little 15 min soaring flight before flying down into the valley to look for a thermal which were nowhere to be seen so he landed out. I took some video of this flight. Karl also managed to get a short flight. Thierry took a short flight on the paraglider he had brought along. Karl invited Thierry and his wife Corinne to stay at the chalet.

We retrieved them from the landing field and Myself, Karl and Thierry went on to another site on the way back to the chalet. It was now sunny again but with no wind at all. Karl did a forward launch in his Lagon 27 and got away with no problems. Thierry tried a forward launch with his paraglider and took a long run before stumbling and taking a dive into the loose shale on the hillside. He wasn't really hurt more dazed but decided not to try again as if anything there was a slight back wind and he had already just damaged his helmet. I had to drive Karl's car back down the mountain to retrieve him. I was a bit worried what with the narrow mountain road and me driving a left hand drive car for the first time, but had no problems.

Monday 10th April Weather: Grey then rain

Got up at 9am. Unfortunately we were late getting away and missed the morning practice session. We had lunch in the chalet but the rain was coming down before we got out. We tried a site called Arcizac a little further out in the hope it would be ok but turned back before we got there because it was clearly going to be no good.

We went back to the chalet and Karl went to lay down. Antoinette had an old projector that had a missing drive belt so myself and Thierry looked for something to fix it and found a rubber band that seemed to fit. I read a book until dinner (salmon) and after we watched some old films on the projector until the rubber band gave up. I put another one on but then the electric blew so we gave it up. The weather doesn't look very promising for tomorrow.

Tuesday 11th April Weather: Rain all day

Got up just after 9am to rain. How depressing! I had breakfast then went back to my room to read. Antoinette took the children swimming at the local pool and Thierry and Corinne decided they'd had enough and went home intending to come back in a week or so. Karl had some piano's to tune so he went off to do them.

Shortly after Karl went out the rain stopped. He came back later to take me down to JLD as they were going to try to get out somewhere. There were some other students there as well. We drove to Arcizac and hiked up to the top of the mountain. It seemed good as we were walking but we must have been in the wind shadow as on top it must have been 60km/h and way too strong to do anything.

I phoned Paul at home who said it was raining there as well which made me feel a little better. The weather report is looking a little better for tomorrow.

Wednesday 12th April Weather: Cloudy at first then rain later

We had an earlier start today, up at 8am and down to JLD by 9:30am. We went to Arcizac again and I was hoping it would be ok as here we are Wednesday already and I have only had 2 hours training (ground handling) with the Cage.

The wind was much better than yesterday up the mountain. We did some launch technique practice forward/reverse etc. I made a few mistakes as expected and it was very hard work. I had a couple of ground skimming hops to give me a taster of flying. It felt good but I found my body tended to swing from side to side as I made turn inputs.

We broke for lunch at about 2:30 and went to a restaurant in Lourdes. As we ate the rain came down (of course). We finished there for the day.

Thursday 13th April Weather: Sunny

Up at 8am again today and at JLD's at 9:30. We went back to Arcizac but this time went right up to the top. We were to fly to the next level down which was, I suppose about 70 or 80 feet down. Jean-Phillipe was the first off on his Paradigm 2(he is upgrading from his Lagon). I was second and very nervous. I had several aborted take-offs and was starting to get a little frustrated. When I did get off though I was fine and did a fairly short flight but landed without any problems. I walked back up and decided to let the others go first before I had another go. I was relieved to see all the others making similar mistakes to mine. My second launch was fine but even shorter. It was conceded by all that the air was not at all lifting in front of the hill but I was still a little disappointed by the lack of glide. JLD commented that I was pitching up on the Cage and should just let it fly and not try to pitch up as it will reduce the glide on the canopy but I just couldn't see it.

We broke for lunch about 1:15 and went to a cafe in Lourdes. Went back to Arcizac but only up to the level below the previous take off. I had very little energy. Practiced pull ups and control and JLD reminded me to keep low on pull up. I then walked up the hill a little and tried some launch practice. I made a few errors One of which allowed the wing to fall into some burnt off stubble and resulted in dozens of black streaks of charcoal all over my canopy which I had to clean off. The wind was dropping off which was the main reason for my reverse launch problems and a forward (delta) launch soon cured that and I got a few flights across the ground again with JLD pushing me giving me a little height to start off with. I did what JLD said about leaving the pitch down and it worked. I got much more efficient glides from the Cage. Despite the fact that the top to bottom height of theses flights were about third of the previous ones I was travelling twice as far. Jean-Phillipe did the same as me with the burnt stubble.

We packed up at about 7pm fairly pleased with the days efforts. I am getting more use to ground handling the wing now. When we got back to the chalet we watched Ace Ventura 2 in French!! and I also managed to follow the plot!! Karl will not be with us tomorrow as He is tuning piano's and skiing with his family for the day.

Friday 14th Weather: Cloudy

Early start again. Karl took me to JLD then went back. We again went to Arcizac with me getting a small forward launched flight straight away. I still have the problem in that my body swings from left to right as I am trying to turn and JLD say's this is due to my trying to yaw the Cage to turn the canopy, it must be rolled not yawed to effect the turn. We broke for lunch at about 1pm but I stayed on the hill as Antoinette had made me a packed lunch and I wanted a little more practice. Ludovic and Jo stayed on the hill as well. I did a little practice and under Ludovic's supervision even got a little flight from a dynamic reverse launch (reversed pull up then turn and run). Shortly after that the wind went crazy and was east then west then south then it rained and put a stop to the remainder of the practice.

We all went back to JLD's house and he invited us all out for a Chinese meal. I had a prawn salad and a chicken curry which I had to eat with chopsticks (for the first time) but didn't do too bad. I eventually got back to the chalet at about 11pm after getting lost on the way. Michel (who had given me a lift) along with Pascal came in for a drink and I met Antoinette's father (who owns the chalet) and had come down for a few days.

Saturday 15th Weather: Sunny

Well today is the last day. The weather, thankfully is superb. We started a bit later today to give the wind in the valley a chance to get going as we were going to a different site today (Cabaliros). After driving up an incredibly bumpy dirt road for what seem like an hour we finally got to the top. The view was magnificent. The height 1600mtrs ASL. The wind seemed fine but JLD was not willing to let us fly just yet as there was a lot of thermic activity coming up from the valley. Ludovic flew with his paradigm 2 and got a good soaring flight, then Jean-Phillipe. They both landed on the lower landing field. JLD then flew and after a few minutes soaring headed out into the valley. He was going down and I thought would land out but he caught some good thermals and came right back up to land eventually back on top.

After lunch the rest of us did some ground handling exercises while waiting for the wind to calm down. Not particularly easy due to masses of little twigs and small bushes just waiting to snag the suspension lines.

We had a visit from some hang gliders landing out from the other side of the valley and we also saw one pilot achieve a first in the valley in that he crossed from another valley from the Col de Couraduque launch straight across to the Bergerie launch without turning once , or using another mountain to gain any height. The hang gliders took off a little later and immediately got way over the top in a nice thermal.

Mean while the wind died. Nothing! Karl stood on launch to try out with his Lagon. He eventually decided on a forward (delta) launch but during his run, stumbled and had to abort the launch. The wind had now turned off hill and it was gone 5:30. JLD suddenly said to very quickly pack up the canopies and we would try another launch position further down the mountain. We quickly dashed down and although the wind was fairly light it seemed good.

I quickly set up as second launch. Karl was to be first to act as landing monitor. He got off and I followed about 10 mins later after he had landed. I did a dynamic reverse launch and got away perfectly. my first turn was apparently a bit sharp (typical of pg pilots JLD says) but after that it was great. The Cage is so easy to steer. Although my first turn again made my body swing I discovered that a little opposite yaw and just directing my legs where I wanted to go, got rid of that problem straight away and seemed to make the turn that much more efficient. The bottom landing is a field out of sight of take off needing a right hand turn after launch and then following the hill round to a small bowl above the landing field. The wind was just strong enough for me to do a few soaring beats across the bowl. In the failing breeze though I didn't want to come down behind some trees in the middle of the bowl and soon made my way down to land. I landed in the lower landing field after a few minutes flight and the others followed me in due course. We quickly packed up again and myself and Jean-Phillipe went up for another flight.

Jean-Phillipe got off first in a nice breeze but as soon as he took off the wind died again.I waited for a few minutes for another gust but nothing. JLD asked if I wanted to do a forward launch and I said I would like to wait a few minutes longer. The take off area was very bumpy and I was nervous of collapsing the wing as I ran over the bumps as they were quite big. The wind just didn't happen though so I resigned myself to a forward launch. I set my self up and started to move forward inflating my wing. It came up perfectly I ran forward and got off perfectly first time. This time I had no problems with the turns, and made my way to the landing site. The position of the cocoon is very comfortable and the craft steers very easily. I 'S' turned my way down and alighted rather ungracefully onto the landing field with my feet slipping as I touched down embarrassed but with a big smile. This flight was shorter than the first but affirmed my joy of flying this superb wing.

Jean-Louis said I had earned my right to buy the Lagon but apparently it had been a close thing as Pascal said that JLD would have been unwilling to let me take the wing until he had seen me fly it properly.

Sunday 16th April Weather: Who cares!

Time to go home today but I have thoroughly enjoyed my Cage experience. There were many times when I wondered if I was doing the right thing. I had numerous aches and pains and the ground handling can be quite arduous. A number of times I just had to stop my practice and lay down to catch my breath and regain some strength. I had a large bruise on my shoulder with doing repeated forward launch practice (although a few pointers from JLD saved me any further pain. But the moment I flew the Cage I knew I had done the right thing. I still have some work ahead of me particularly in the ground handling department so if you see me on the hills in Britain be gentle with me.

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