Chronicles of an imbalance.
Well. The holidays are over, and for those who chose the Igualada site to enjoy them the outcome has been, to say the least, positive.
Positive as far as flying activity goes, and positive because we proved to ourselves that it is also possible to have a good time despite the close coexistence that comes with “shutting yourself away” for four days in a space as large and yet as small as “our” aerodrome.
The activity, for the luckiest, began on Thursday, with flying conditions that allowed everyone to enjoy flights to suit every taste. Flights for experts, for the not-so-expert and for people who only recently began learning flying techniques.
The logistics of accommodation were solved in various ways.
Some chose the club’s premises to lay out their sleeping bag. Some, to the surprise of many, made their “nest” in the car boot, despite being of considerable size, and others in vans more or less adapted to serve as a bedroom.
But the star of the holidays was Aleix. The man turned up with a “spa” on wheels, which was the envy of everyone. Double bedroom, shower, kitchen, hallway and “jacuzzi”. A shame he didn’t rent out rooms.
Friday was a tricky day. On the one hand it looked as though it would be flyable, and on the other, Ignasi and Neus had a splendid calçotada ready for us. What to do? Stay stuck to the sky like drawing pins, or land at the agreed time for lunch?
In the end, everyone gathered, and we “wolfed down” like crazy some calçots grilled by Ignasi, together with the sauce Neus prepared for us. By the way, Neus, have you thought about entering a calçotada sauce competition?
In the evening, to whet the appetite before going to sleep, we rounded off the day with a pickled rabbit that I prepared myself, and I say so myself, but it was delicious.
At around two in the morning, those of us sleeping in the club car park had a visit from “the Guardia Civil”, and since they decided that my partner and I were sleeping “suspiciously”, they asked us for our documents to find out whether we were among the “good guys” or the “bad guys”. Another matter would be to clarify what “good” or “bad” means to them. In any case, after 20 minutes of consultations with their colleagues at the station, they returned our documents and we went back to sleep.
This was not the only visit of the night from Friday to Saturday. Shortly afterwards the wind came calling. A north-westerly wind that shook the van, and which didn’t leave us until Saturday night.
On Saturday we hardly left the club. We had gusts of around 50 km/h, and we didn’t even get the flying gear out. Chit-chat, a bit of TV and a good dose of patience got us through to Sunday.
Sunday started windy, but little by little things improved, until at midday people were tempted to go out. At first we had blue sky and it was a bit hard to gain height, but gradually little clouds began to appear and those of us in the air were able to roam the Igualada sky as much as we liked. And again the dilemma! Domènec prepared us a “pot” of macaroni that was finger-licking good, and over the radio the pilots still flying began to be told that the table was ready.
And some of you will wonder: what about Manel, didn’t he come? Of course he did! Manel shut himself in the workshop and spent his time fitting the new gear for the Janus. Tailwheel and disc brake. With these improvements, we’ll be able to land without fear of the runway being too short. I don’t know what we’d do if he didn’t give us his time.
I left on Sunday; my back was overloaded with emotions and, since the forecast for Monday was not at all good, I decided to sleep in my own bed.
Conclusion: friends, you have to go there to see if it gets better!
Cheers!
Lluis Curbera
