A short note from a short timer

This post includes a video with pics from Singdi vol-bivi. Long landing sequence but I get down.

Yesterday I flew wind tec for the Russian comp and after tagging 3rd way point I was above a blue glider that had a 1/4 wing cravat. He/she was maintaining directional control, just, but didn't have the glide to get out of his hole. I tracked the glider till he landed in the trees near a road.

I flew over a bit and got a gps mark on the site and could tell he landed soft but couldn't tell if the pilot was ok.

After making a couple of passes at a near by top landing, aborted for safety, I called in the tree landing on the comp frequency but, not surprisingly got an excited Russian asking again and again who I was and where I was and was I hurt. - Communication was impossible given my need to attend to flying and our language issues. I was too low by this point to continue my flight and not wanting to leave a man in the field alone I opted to land as close to the access road as possible. I was fairly certain that other "Russian" pilots had landing thinking the same but they landed far enough away I couldn't tell for sure they knew about the distress.

On landing I parked my glider at a store and went about phone contacting folk in Pokhara to notify the Russian safety committee about the situation. I had two numbers that might work and Nick gave me Bella's as a third - Both Arnie and Bella were still in the air but I was able to contact Babu - Yes that Babu - and conveyed gps and situation on the ground. I also sent two young men up the hill to help.

After about 45 minutes a different young man came down the road and told me he had helped the pilot out of the tree and pack his glider - all was well - I called in new situation report and got a beer. I waited and waited and eventually Russian friends came walking from where they had landed and told me all was well and they were in communication with the downed pilot. - I was free to go.

I caught the next bus back in and had a dinner that couldn't be beat. - More flying today.
P.