Ilmailun riemua

The nights draw in, the warmth of summer is a slowly-fading memory. Though we try to push the thought to the back of our minds, the flying year in Finland is gradually coming to its end. Wet and windy weather has recently been dominating the scene, but strangely has let up for several week-ends in a row. Those of us who are hardly past the nursery stage in paragliding are amassing flying time and launches to reach the next proficiency stage (PP3) which will allow us to head away from the home field and venture forth on our first cross-country. Next year!

Even now it is still possible to catch a thermal and have a soaring flight, but cloud-bases are lower. Like midges that want to hover in the last sunbeams, we airy addicts crowd to the flying field whenever there is a chance to get airborne: ultra-lights, "proper" powered aircraft, hang-gliders, paragliders - whatever.

 

This short video gives a taste of this end-of-summer frenzy at one of our Southern Finland sites - Hyvinkää airfield (EFHV).   

Looking back on the year, many happy memories: Gréolières, of course, soaring flights at Vesivehmaa and Kiikala, moving gradually towards routinely safe and competent take-offs and landings even in "challenging" wind conditions, meeting new pilots (learning new names!),  all this and much more.   

Above all, the flying itself: sitting up there in the whispering airflow, the entrancing patchwork of forest and fields laid out below one, and feeling the exciting jolt of running into a thermal: turning into it to find oneself rising and rising towards the clouds. Next year, again ... but for now "... barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,  And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;"