Today’s session was really challenging. In addition to focusing on my side slides (the last skill I have to conquer before moving on to level 2), I had a few curve balls thrown at me:
- I had to remain in a solid flying position while my instructor tugged at my arms and legs, attempting to destabilize me
- I had to remain in a solid flying position while my instructor interrupted my wind flow.
I laughed when I watched the video replay because I didn’t realize my instructor was literally flying under me to interrupt the wind flow!
Outside of these fun exercises, I did a lot more drilling of up/down/diagonal flying, side slides, and tunnel entrances/exits. I also got to do a bit of turning using my legs instead of my arms. I got those turns half right. Apparently whether I turned my left or right leg outward, I was always turning counter-clockwise. That actually brings up a point I’ve been meaning to emphasize since I started this blog series. I don’t know if there’s a name for it (maybe “tunnel vision” or something like that?), but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been confused about an instruction given during a lesson, but then immediately understand it once I see the video playback. I want to just kick myself sometimes, but my instructor assured me this feeling is normal.
One thing I learned after my flights were over is they had cranked the wind speed up to 70 for my first flight, but I struggled a bit with that speed so they lowered me down to 68 again. Apparently with the way I hold my arms, it makes it more difficult for me to lower myself to the ground and stay there. The instructor said next time I should tuck in my arms closer to my body, T-Rex style, to reduce wind resistance. The T-Rex arms thing is definitely a theme for me, and seems to be a key to better arm-led flying. I should also note that I’m getting much more comfortable using my legs to drive movement, and if I could just get them to listen to my brain a bit more, I’d have those side slides DOWN!
As of today my total tunnel time is: 1 hour, 20 minutes and I think my base speed is still 68.