Cross country at Ager with Dennis Pagen (july 2002)
Journey and arrival
I enrolled myself in the cross country seminar by Dennis Pagen that was going to be held during the Dutch hang gliding championship in Ager (this is in the north of Spain). Because the journey from the Netherlands to Ager is pretty long, my girlfriend and I decided to stop over for a few days. We take the route by Paris and stay a few days at the Dordogne, a very pretty area in the southwest of France. We stay 4 days to get into the holiday mood. Too bad the weather won't cooperate; it is cloudy and rains.
Wednesday we go on to Ager. At the spanish border the weather improves and the mountains look beautiful. If you look at the map, the way to Ager does not seem that long, but in reality the road winds itself through the mountains and takes a bit longer. When we pass Tremp, the road to Ager becomes very bumpy and narrow.
When we are approaching Ager, we find the landingfield and camping very quickly because of the circling hang gliders. We look for a place on the campground with a lot of shade, because it is very sunny and hot. We already recognize some of the fellow pilots. Henk and Martin are our neighbors.
While we are setting up the tent, perform a few pilots somewhat less elegant landings. The conditions are apparently not that easy. One of the other participants of the seminar, Mart, makes a unfortunate landing and breaks his arm and jaw. He is taken by rescue helicopter to a hospital. Not nice, to begin your vacation this way.
Henk Lucardie, our neigbor, has to repare his glider. The week before he tried to soar at the dunes in the Netherlands (Maasvlakte); because of the heavy wind conditions was Henks glider blown over and was stopped by a pole, which broke the leading edge close to the nose. Because the Wills Wings dealer didn't have the part in stock, an emergency fix was required. With the help of the experts at hand (many competion pilots were there) was the repair job successful.
Exploring the site
The seminar begins Saturday, so we still have some time to explore the flying site. Henk and Martin go by taxi to the start, I go with my own car (my girlfriend will drive it back). We follow the taxi because we do not know the way yet. The road is a dusty dirtroad with a lot of stones. Because the taxi is a sturdy Landrover, we cannot keep up. Fortunately, the start is easy to find.
I find it difficult to stay up in the air long on Thursday and Friday. I can climb above starting level, but sink out pretty quickly. In any case, my landings are good; always nice confidence builder. Henk and Martin can get pretty high and make long flights; I am slightly jealous.