I'm off!

Tomorrow morning I head to Europe . . . . finally! After a month of solid practice on the FLX over the lake and especially at Mussel Rock, it's time to do this shit for real!

First stop is Frankfurt, Germany to buy a car, then a few days of hanging out before my first comp in Norway. While I'm registered for Acrolac (first stop of the APWC), I'm on the waiting list, which means I won't know until 6 p.m. the day before the start if I'll be allowed to compete. You see, in acro comps, ranked pilots get in first. If the number of ranked pilots who show up is under the maximum of pilots the comp will take, THEN the unranked pilots get their shot by first passing a "safety selection" flight (ensures you know what you're doing). Pass the selection flight and you're in. If I went to Acrolac, it would at best 50/50 that I'd compete. By going to the Norway comp, I accomplish 2 crucial things: 1) I'm assured I'll get to compete, and 2) I'll get a ranking since it's categorized as FAI Cat2. Hopefully, this will make things MUCH easier for Austria, Italy, and the test event for the 2009 WAG near Turin.

I'll be putting up more vid on YouTube of my latest exploits at Mussel Rock soon. I've been testing out my "shin cam" on an HD camera I got recently and have some great on-board video of a helico-SAT and a helico-helico.

See you Norway!