SAFA Skysailor Magazine

15 September | October 2021 SKY SAILOR something if you think I need it. Then I’ll practise deploying my reserve. Sound okay?” Within three days, I’d gone from flying confidently but very cautiously, never really exploring the limits of my glider, to doing massive pitch oscillations with a huge dynamic full-frontal... and laughing about it. I was stall- ing at will and cruising along in back-fly before letting the glider fly again. Suddenly, I realised that all those little rustles and pitching about that had got me tightening up and sitting up in my harness before were nothing... that the glider can handle so much worse... that I can handle so much worse. I really began to trust both the glider and myself. In reflection Before the course, my analytical mind had conjured up every scenario from ‘walk in the park’ to ‘almost dying’. The problem is everyone has a different interpretation of how their own SIV course seemed, so asking opinions isn’t a whole lot of use. There were even some really good pilots I’d talked to about it, young hotshots, who gave me the impression that it was quite ‘full-on’, but my own experience was very different. My perceived risk before the course was maybe 7/10. My fear of it was 7/10, but I knew I had to do the course to improve and be a safe XC pilot, so I parked my fears to the side and made it a 2/10 instead. After the course I would personally place the risk at 2/10. My fear is now a genuine 2/10, and that’s just for spirals. Everything else is a 1/10, even stalls. Above: Full stall Right: Dynamic frontal Photos: Brad Harris