Time to fly?

Hi,

Since I became dad! almost a year ago I really have trouble finding enough time to fly (hg) regularly. I live quite close to the mountains now (Geneva, Switzerland) but I fly less than when I lived more north..

How much do you guys/girls fly (number of flights, hours per year), do you mostly go during weekends or more like one dedicated week per year (like a ski holiday)? How do you manage time/work/family/kids etc.?

What is your average time in the air per flight / number of flight hours compared to 'preparation' time (travel, setup etc.)?

30 - 35 hrs per year, everage 1 hr per flight. I go dune soaring or towing (static winch) with a club if the weather and my schedule permits. (I work on a schedule and sometimes on weekends, club activity is always weekends so I miss some of it.) I don't go towing anymore if there's no chance for thermals. Two holidays per year, totaling ~8 weeks, which are 75% dedicated to flying. I live in Holland, no mountain sites near, just dune soaring or winching. No kids, wife enjoys the flying holidays with her books on the campsite if she's not bothered too much. The other 25% of our holidays is mostly cultural- visiting musea & historical sites etc.

Bart Doets

I'm able to fly year-round in southern California, fly about once a week and so get 50 or so flights a year. I average about 1.5 hours per flight. I have kids. If you don't at least get 1 day to yourself a week, you're p-whipped, man!

-Sky

Your average must have jumped a little bit with that 5 hour / 100 kms one in St Andre then ! Hoe gaat het Bart ?

Michael O'Shea

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Hi again!

Thx for the info! I now realize that I will just have to manage my time a little better! I moved here not so long ago and there are so many nice things to do in the area. Good thing that I have 9 weeks of holidays per year like Bart (how many do you guys have in the US???).. so that I can go to fly in s.France or even s.California or Florida (Wallaby Ranch, is it worth the trip?)!

In the immediate area we can not fly year-round (and we had a bad summer this year). That leads me to the following questions: what other sports do hg/pg pilots do? (:offroading, rockclimbing and in winter snowboarding). And what do your wives (husbands), girl(boy)friends, kids do while you fly?

PS Sky, what is p-whipped??

De groeten

Wallaby Ranch is definatly worth the trip. I may be a bit jaded since I learned their but many of the top competitors in Hang Gliding frequent the ranch. In the short time i have been flying I have met people from allover the world that have made the trip just to fly at Wallaby.

I have been lucky enough to befreind several of the top ranked pilots in the world. All of whomm have been very helpful through my somewhat jagged learning curve. If you have the opportnty to fly their I would not pass it up.

Aside from the great flying, the people that run the place are very laid back and their are lots of things to do when you are not in the air. It's 8 miles to Disney and less than 20 minutes to most major attractions in the Orlando area. Although you would never know it sitting under one of the oak trees on a porch swing! It is a very relaxing place to spend a weekend or a vacation.

I know it sounds like I'm advertising but honestly, its all true. Start a thread about the Ranch and you will see what I mean.

Mike W