31/10/2012

Halloween at Dungiven

I hadn't even been looking at the weather today when I glanced out of the window and thought to myself it must be flyable somewhere. I checked the club mailing list and sure enough a couple of members were making their way to Dungiven. So I quickly got kit and myself together and drove the 50 odd miles (who am I kidding I know it is exactly 52 miles). I arrived in time to see Colin take off and by the time I had driven to the top of the hill it looked like Dave was about to take off. Dave is the UHPC Chief coach and so is in the know. I ran down the hill to see what he thought of the conditions and as far as he was concerned there was nothing to worry about except it might be a wee bit light.

I was a wee bit worried about the lack of wind as I don't like landing at the bottom simply because someone has to stop what they are doing to drive down and collect you. First couple of flights were easy enough and resulted in top landings. Third flight was a disappointing top to bottom, followed by a top landing, and then another top to bottom.



I had five flights today and managed to clock up over an hours airtime. Not too bad considering I woke this morning without the faintest hope of flying.

21/10/2012

When not to fly.

After stomping around Knockagh (the only site I can see from my house) watching Ian C. and Dave fly I soon realised I would not be joining them. When Ian took off I was convinced I would be jumping in the car to retrieve him from the bottom landing field. I saw him disappear behind the vertical cliff face trying to make the most of the lift. I moved around to try to watch his landing only to find that he had made it up above cliffs and was now flying on the edge of the cloud that was forming just as they cleared the cliff face. I didn't fancy that much. A short while later Ian landed and we were joined by Dave. Both Dave and Ian flew again but I was content with waiting for a better day.

Ian C. with the Knockagh monument in the foreground
We were joined by Michael and after I a while Michael and I decided that a trip of 11 miles to Big Collin was a better option so we headed there for what amounted (at least for me) to a bit of ground handling.


20/10/2012

A new site: S-W Agnews hill

Went to Big Collin today and met Bertie there. I only managed two top to bottoms as the conditions were quite variable and not really any good. Unfortunately this site is a bit like that. either it is windy enough but not quite on the hill or it is smack on the hill but not quite window enough or it is too windy.

Bertie got a bit of flying in while waiting for a student to join him but as the conditions were not great for training he decided that he would try a rarely used site at the back of Agnew's hill and I joined him. After about quarter of an hour stomping around in waiting for Bertie to get a key to the gate we drove about a mile up a small lane and parked up in a lay-by.

It was a walk up that seems slightly easier than a Big Collin Mountain which included me nearly falling on my face when I found a two foot deep water filled gully with my left boot (brand new boots I might add). I have previously heard people talk about how much heather covers Agnews hill and it is like a carpet in places, certainly where I decided to try and take off. I have also heard that heather easily tangles in your lines but this didn't bother me but I suspect that is because my lines are of such an old (huge) design.

Unfortunately the conditions were not quite strong enough for soaring. So after a quick slope landing I finished off with a nice soft squidgy landing at the bottom. I can see the benefit of this new site more and it is certainly a forgiving

Although I have some flight logs for today it is a far cry from the flights I had in Spain.

10/10/2012

Day 4 at Algodonales

I didn't fly yesterday but managed to get 2 flights into today even though they were little more than top to bottoms (although the height difference between top and bottom is a lot more than I usually get back home). We went to a new site called El Bosque ( in Spanish means the forest) which has a nice high but small launch and is surrounded by trees.

We drove nearly all the way to launch and had to walk the last 10 minutes or so in the heat which seemed to half kill nearly everyone (not just me). The launch site was very unforgiving, smaller than previous sites and just as rocky with small spiky bushes bordering the take off. While we were all having a breather we got a site briefing. We were warned about going back too far toward the spine back top of the hill unless we had excessive height. There are a couple of lower cliffs off to the left of take off which was the direction in which it was suggested we fly if we failed to get lift. It was also pointed out that you cannot make it to the official bottom landing field for the site if you do not get any lift. There are a couple of bomb out fields just at the foot of the cliffs which can be used if necessary but as I found out access to the fields isn't great. There was every chance of two flights at this site so we were not worried if we had to land.

After my usual faffing around I got ready and after nearly all of the rest of the group were away I managed a clean(ish) launch on my first attempt. No sooner I had cleared the launch site than I hit a thermal and started my 'S' turns until I was high enough to perform 360s. I soon decided that I had enough height for me to push forward and start looking for new lift. I managed to get some lift over the cliff faces to the left of take off but soon tired and I was aware that the Flyspain retrieve bus was already at the landing field. So with plenty of height to spare I set off for the huge landing field.
On the way to the landing field you pass over the Spanish equivalent to a UK 'A' road. This was the first time I have flown over such a main road before and remember thinking if this presented any additional considerations. The only thing I could think of was that if I somehow I end up landing on it but I had more than enough height to prevent that.

I have previously watched flights of huge top to bottoms on Youtube and Vimeo and wondered how it is possible to burn the height of to land. I know the safe technique of getting near your chosen landing spot, or even over it if you are worried about penetrating forward in strong wind, then burning off your height in 'S' turns. I have always had a doubt about me actually pulling it off. The trick seems to be to make sure that you are not coming in to land at the same time as anyone else and then you won't have other pilots to worry about. I was quite glad I did burn my height off so close to the landing field because the last few hundred feet before I landed were all in sinking air.

Only after getting my feet on the ground and collapsing the wing did I think I should have kept the wing up and tried to walk closer to the entrance to the landing field. I jumped on the radio to tell the group I had landed in the bottom landing field then packed up and made my way to the Flyspain bus for another trip up to take off.

My second flight was much the same as my first but with little or no lift. I made the cliffs but it was obvious to me I was going to land soon so I had already picked out the field just the other side of the main road that I was going to land in and the one this side of the road should I not make it. I headed out and as I looked at the first choice field I realised that I couldn't see if there was a gate between that field and the one next to it with all the cattle in it. Being in Spain the fact that they bread bulls for their aggressiveness helped me decide to go for the nearer landing field even if it did mean a significantly longer walk out.

As I got closer to the landing it became clear that it wasn't what I initially took to be a cotton field. Only when I landed did I realise that it was a field full of scratchy dead plants about a foot high that were covered in small white snails. I was wearing shorts so my legs were getting a bit of a scratch while I packed up as quickly as I could. I thought that I would get out of the field next to the house nearby but as I approached it became clear there was no way out. Rather than dander around the field until I found a gate I decided to try to climb out onto the main road and head back that way. I got on the radio and said I would make my way to  the cafe at the bottom road leading up the hill. Eventually I found a way to get onto the road without damaging the fence, myself or my kit but for a while I was a little bit concerned I could be there a while. Once on the road I noticed that there were all sorts of itch scratchy crunchy things in my socks and boots, nothing painful just a bit uncomfortable.

At least fifteen minutes and a litre of water later I made it to the cafe to find two other pilots from our group who I joined for a refreshing beer. It wasn't until I got back to the shared house we were staying in that I realised that some of the crunchy in my socks were several small snails that I assumed must have jumped in when I landed or while I packed my wing away in that field.... nasty!

08/10/2012

Day 2 at Algodonales

Today was a slow start as it seems it often is here. We went out to the Westerly take off on Lijar the mountain that overlooks Algodonales and sat around a good while before the conditions were flyable. Once everything got warmed up nicely and the thermals were coming through we watched a couple of gliders launch and some were even maintaining height. At this point Neil who is always the keenest to get airborne in our group launched and started gaining height. Slowly all the group got airborne and on my turn to launch I made a hash of things by failing to brake the glider as it came overhead. Unfortunately as the conditions are so different it took several attempts until I was in the air.


Initially when I was airborne I was struggling to even maintain height and I was concious of the little height I had above the small lump of hill in front of take off that is the height marker we use to decide whether we will make the landing field. It took a while of flying in (and often out) of lift in 'S' shapes before I had scratched enough lift to get me clear of the hill and be able to do full 360 turns in the thermals. Slowly and with the help of some of the many vultures that live in these parts I managed to gain height and eventually I was 1500 feet above take off.

I gained so much height that I started to get a little uncomfortable, this is of course the opposite of what is deemed safe as the more air between you and the ground there is the more time you will have to sort out any problems. Up high I seemed to be getting rocked about a little bit more than I did lower down so I decided to make my way over to the landing field.

After a spending some time loosing height I landed in the landing field. It wasn't until I had packed up the wing that I realised how tiring thermalling is, it is physically and mentally much more demanding than the ridge soaring I usually do back home.

Today I reached the milestone of completing 10 hours air time. This means that I can officially remove the red ribbon from my harness that indicates to other pilots I am a very low airtime pilot. I wont remove the ribbon until I at least get home but it is another task checked off.

07/10/2012

Day 1 in Algodonales

Flyspain is a company that organises paragliding holidays around the world, I booked myself in for a weeks thermaling training in or around the town of Algodonales in Spain.

After the necessary faffing around with paperwork. We set out for an inspection of the huge south-east landing field just outside Algodonales, it was comfortingly massive and only had a clump of small trees and an old farm house as obstacles. We set out for the south-east ridge above Algo in the sunshine with a plan get a confidence building top to bottom flight under our belts. There was very little cloud cover and the temperature must have been around 25C and rising.

I didn't feel nervous at all until we parked the car and I saw the take off area full of people, hang gliders being rigged and paragliders being checked, very intimidating. After a while I managed to find myself a tiny spot just big enough to do my daily checks.

Checks done I clipped in and moved to the take off queue (if you can call it that). With helmet, gloves and harness helping to bake me in the sun I was soon sweating.

After much confusion about who was going next and where the queue was (there isn't a queue) I was up. Having watched a few others launched it is obvious that the idea when doing a reverse launch is to bring the wing up and while making sure that your lines are as they should be and then turn and run like stink. My launch was similar to this but probably not as elegant. Finding very little lift on the way down it took about 10 minutes before I was in the landing field. As I was coming in it seemed to take ages before I could see the wind streamer on top of the farm house so I could land into wind. This was probably because I was so high to start with. It turns out that it was about a 2200 feet top to bottom which beats anything I have previously done.

Picture of a paraglider over the South-East landing field.

We all packed up and sat in the shade waiting to be collected by the FlySpain bus. We then set off for the westerly take off and stopped along the way to look at the landing field. The field was big but had trees around it, a road and electricity line running along the side facing the mountain. We were talked though a suggested landing approach so that we had a tried and tested method for avoiding the power lines when landing.

At the take off it was the same story of people everywhere and very little places for setting gliders out. Rob walked us though the site and gave a talk on general thermalling techniques. I found a space but only after I had the wing fully out did I realise that it had thistles everywhere.  I eventually made my way to the front baked in my helmet. I fluffed a couple of launches, it seems I am not braking my wing enough when it comes overhead but on my third or forth attempt I got away.

Having never really thermalled before I thought I did quite well. I worked a few thermals and was able to stay underneath a couple of gaggles (a gaggle is the name for a group of gliders in a thermal). Another first was that I was close enough to a few vultures  as they were thermalling and was able to make use of them as markers. Unfortunately I didn't turn on my GPS and so failed to make any recording of the flight, still there is always tomorrow.

06/10/2012

Paragliding week in Spain

In disgust at the weather we have had since I achieved Club Pilot in March (since I started training when I think about it) and because I am Forty this year and can get away with it I have decided to go for a week to Spain to try to get some air time. I am going with FlySpain to Algodonales.


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I am hoping to get a little more familiar with thermals, a few tasks ticked off on my way to Pilot qualification and improve my general flying confidence. I have my Fingers crossed that the weather doesn't follow me.

I will attempt to take pictures and I might break out the crappy video sunglasses again as I have completely failed to get myself a better video camera. I hope to blog every flying day (or at least the following day) so look out for blog entries between 6th and 13th of October.