Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Acro Pilots Get the Best Looking Sherpas

As you now know, Nova Dasalla has adopted our island as his training ground for acro competitions. Now you can get a little background on North America's #1 ranked acro pilot and the first US pilot to nail the Infinite Tumble. He's also the first American pilot to perform the Anti-Rhythmic SAT … right here on Oahu! You can see his bio on the U-Turn website and watch his story on Vimeo called "Infinite Stumbling".

Nova had been based out of 'The Dumps' in San Francisco, but he will be spending time between Makapuu and Denver from now on. He is very sly. He cleaned out a few of us in Texas Hold-em the other night, but there is one night a while back that he really scored.

He was in a nightclub when this good-looking gal made a statement about being in some flying site that no one ever goes to. Nova's radar was on and he went in for the kill. Well the killing got reversed, and some time after, they were engaged. He will be moving to Denver, and if Jinju has her way, which we all know she will, they will be here in Hawaii quite often.

Jinju lassoed the best US has to offer when it comes to acro. But, damn did he get lucky. She carries his gear to launch and then cheers him on while he is in the air.

Well, today was her birthday, and she had a few demands, "I want an Infinite into a heli". Of course there were many more demands, as all us husbands know, but this one stood out. I think there was a "Yes, dear" in there somewhere, and he did it. After completion, Nova said, "That was the first time I ever did that transition", to which she replied "Yaaaa, now do it again!"

Nova got a 2 hour 20 minute training session the other day, with a fire dance at the LZ by his soul mate, and this was her birthday. I guess we paragliders get some pretty understanding much better halves.

During his training session today, he got to throw down some infinites, helis and things people should just not be doing on a wing. I got a birds-eye view of this show, and it was awesome.

He was the last to land. While we were packing up, we got sidetracked. Jinju fired up the Poi Balls and started a dance. I mean fired up: they were on fire. Now, remember, it is her birthday. He gets to fly for 2 and half hours, getting cheered on by the hottest Sherpa you've ever seen, then he lands, and as if she wasn't hot enough, dances with fire. Does the US Acro team have room crew???

Ok, I have always considered myself just an XC kinda guy, but maybe I have taken the wrong path. This guy is so lucky: poker, fiancé and he's not a bad pilot. But after watching his crazy maneuvers, I will stick to XC.

Now we have another Monkey in the Barrel. Welcome, Nova. I guess we will be seeing a lot more of you. Good luck in Austria.

It's Time to Fly Get Your Gear, cause Jinju said so and Go !!!! Lucky Bastard.

2 comments:

firedave2 said...

If you ever have any interest in doing acro, Nova is a treasure chest of information, he has seen it, done it and can explain it as well as anyone out there.

Nova: Good luck in Austria, and in your October wedding. We hope to see Jingju and you on the island soon.

Dave 'Fireman' Taratko

IDA JEAN SCHROY said...

WHAT CAN I SAY!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU BOTH> SEE YOU AT THE WEDDING,IN FACT A COUPLE DAYS AHEAD LOVE GRANDMA