550 feet above Robin Young's Hill

I wasn't sure there was much point in trying to go flying this evening but sometimes plans do come together. There are few places as pretty as the Ulster countryside when the sun is shining and I spent the whole of the drive to Robin Young's Hill near Cairncastle being reminded of this fact.

I arrived to find an empty hill... not usually a good sign. The wind at the car park was almost non-existent... not a good sign either. I was expecting Bertie and after a short while he and Mark arrived. It seems Mark has read this very blog and it had helped motivate him to get back into paragliding after a few years break from the sport.

When we arrived at take off I still wasn't convinced that it was flyable, there was more wind and the wind meter was registering 10 mph. By the time I was ready to fly Bertie was calling out the wind at 11 mph and I still wasn't convinced despite his enthusiasm. I stood (shuffled about) with the wing above my head for a short while trying to get a feel for the air but soon dropped the wing back down to wait for stronger wind. Eventually after several up/downs with the wing I thought I would wait for the next noticeable puff of air and launch. If it was just a top to bottom then so be it, it wasn't like I haven't done the walk back up before. So I launched, turned right and stayed aloft for about 80 minutes, at times 550 feet above take off and ended with a top landing just as the wind was switching and dying.

In the video below you can see The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland, Slemish, the Belfast hills and in the far distance the Mountains of Mourne. This site is also be the location used to film Ned Stark beheading a deserter at the beginning of Game Of Thrones.