What did you do in your lunch break today?

Yep, today I achieved something I have wanted to do since I first started training to become a paraglider pilot. I nipped out for a bit of a fly at lunchtime. Having got stuck in to all those thermals yesterday gave me the confidence to drive to my nearest flying site, have a fly about, land and go back to work. Of course flyable weather was also a requirement.

Leisurely lunchtime flight, as you do.

What did you do in your lunch break today?

Not bad for November

This weekend I managed to get flying both days.Yesterday I flew at Dungiven and today I flew at Knockagh which was especially rewarding because it is my nearest site.

It seems of late we have to try and get onsite when the wind is going from nothing to far too strong and snatch what flying we can. Sometimes this is a couple of hours and sometimes, like today you only get a short while.

I got a phone call from Ian letting me know that wind direction was good and the wind strength was not usable yet but getting there. I managed to get the missus home from the shops to watch the kids and drive up the hill (only 1.5 miles away from home as the crow flies but more than double that by road). By the time I was at take off the wind was just about usable. A few minutes later and just as I was doing my pre-flight checks I looked around to see how ready Ian was to see his glider tangled in a bush. So I bunched up my glider and put my harness on top (I didn't fancy picking my kit out of a bush too) and lent a hand. Fortunately I have never had to try to remove a glider from a bush but in next to no time we had Ian free. The wind was slightly stronger now so Ian moved to an easier take off spot a little further from the start of the cliff face. Ian launched and as I watched him steadily climb I rang my wife to let her know I was about to take off as she had mentioned bringing the kids up to watch.

The wind continued to strengthen until I found I was struggling to fly along the ridge so right on schedule my family pull up in the car park as I am heading for my chosen landing field. As my daughter bursts out of the car and shouts "Daddy" all I can do is respond with a wave and a shout that I have to land.

Knockagh

Today I flew at the site we refer to as Knockagh. It is a cliff site located near Greenisland and is easily recognised by the Konckagh Monument war memorial that is over 100 feet tall that is at the car park  The site does have several hazards such as power lines and an abundance of trees which means the bottom landing option can be quite tight. As it is a cliff face it seems to allow soaring in quite light winds. The most important feature of this site to me is that is only a few miles from where I live and I can see if anyone is flying it without leaving the house.

Dave takes off over the gorse

The take off field is very restrictive with large gorse bushes just in front and a line of trees right behind which doesn't leave much room for mistakes in ground handling. I almost didn't manage to get the wing above my head on the first go due to the wind being so light. As soon as the wing was up I had a bit of a run,  dodged a couple of gorse bushes and I was away to join the other four pilots that were already in the air.

During the flight I noticed what looked like the wife's car driving away from the car park. I wondered if the family had been up to wave at me.

After about 50 minutes flying and after all the other pilots had landed I made what I though was an excellent landing in the designated top landing field. Unfortunately the battery had gone on the Go Pro about 10 minutes earlier so it is missing from the below video.

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.

Knockagh monument

As my experience slowly grows the range of sites that are available to me as a pilot broadens and today I got to fly one site that has been fairly high up my wish list.
Knockagh is the closest site to my home. I can see it when I look out of my home office window. There is a wind turbine on the ridge that is great for quickly getting the wind direction so if I am at home I will look at it at least once a day. You would think I would have flown it before now but unfortunately the bottom landing options are very restricted. To start with there are several power lines that criss cross the foot of the cliffs, many trees (maybe there are enough trees to call it a wood) not to mention houses, fields with race horses and other live stock.

I wasn't going to fly initially as the pilot I was meeting (Ian) was already in the air when I arrived (of course I had put the glider in the car, just in case). I switched the radio on as was pleased to find that Ian had his with him as well. He kindly talked me through the site from above over the radio and I ran around the take off and landing fields. He made it very clear there were effectively no bottom landing options except the Knockagh lodge area and it was a site that commanded respect.

Out of the blue (not literally) another pilot was on the radio asking about conditions. He was heading to another site when he saw a wing in the air above the monument at Knockagh. So I went to take off to chat, he also did a good job of explaining the pitfalls of the site then I watched him make take off look easy (as he so often does). I watched for a while and my interpretation of the feedback over the radio from both pilots was that conditions were great. After a while I thought that the exercise of carrying the glider out to take off would not do me any harm and that conditions would probably change by the time I made it out to take off again.

By the time I got my gear to take off things were looking increasingly like I couldn't blame the weather for not flying. So I walked about a bit, then decided that it wouldn't harm to run through my daily checks. Before I knew it everything had been checked (at least twice) and the conditions were exactly the same. In fact the comment over the radio was that these were the best conditions for this site for some while i.e. smooth and consistent.
The take off area is very small and surrounded by trees behind so this means if you loose control of the wing even for a moment there is a good chance you will end up picking your glider out of a tree.

I moved the wing so that if I were to take off I would head out over the gorse where it was lowest. I strapped in and performed all my pre flight checks, asked on the radio if conditions were the same (they were), went through my pre flight checks again and then visualised bringing the wing up in a controlled manner several times in my head while blocking out the vision of the trees that were is spitting distance.

Pre flights checked again, slight lull in the wind onto the hill and I crouched back in the harness and got the wing above my head in a controlled manner, turned and ran at the gorse in front of me at full pelt. At this point I realised that as you run down a hill towards something it becomes taller the closer you get and if it were not for my committed run I wouldn't have made it over the gorse bush with 6 inches to spare.

Once in the air I went up at a consistent rate. Unlike the other pilots I stuck very much over the ridge, this is where you feel safe as a low air timer and usually has the most predictable lift. I was soon high above the ridge and grinning madly.

After a bit of boating about and even waving at someone who was taking photographs of me from the monument I saw that both my fellow pilots had landed and thought that it was time I should do the same. I had had my fun and if conditions changed while I was on my own in the air I didn't want to be flying alone. I tried to land well back from the edge in the same field I had seen used earlier. Unfortunately I turned back into wind too late and missed putting myself down in a field of calves that was immediately behind the field I was aiming for.

I landed and killed the wing at least as cleanly as I have ever done before but the calves took an instant interest in me and started running over to get a closer look. Now being a city/towny all my life I have no idea how to handle a gang of large creatures that could easily take me for a ride around the field if they get caught up in my lines. I started by making sure that they didn't get too close by the odd shout or clapping of hands but clearly this wasn't going to keep them back for long. As the calves at the back push forward they push the ones at the front closer to you and before you know it they are nearly on top of you. So I decided that the best course of action was one more hand clap to push them back then a quick march over to the gate to throw my gear and myself over. While I marched across the field Ian was calling me on the radio to check that I had landed safely but I couldn't respond until I was over the fence.

Once over the gate, after a quick "I am fine" on the radio I didn't really know what to do, I didn't want to fold the wing in the lane where it might become tangled in the hedges or worse barbed wire fencing. After some consideration I decided to do something I regretted doing last time I tried it. I carefully stuffed it into the harness but this time keeping the risers together and put in last.

What a flight! I found out later that several people had seen me. Apparently a friend of the wife was waving from her back garden at me (she lives at the foot of the ridge). Others had spotted the Gliders from slightly further away and were wondering if one was me, which I confirmed later with a tweet.

The hurriedly packed wing worked out because I repacked it in the front garden when I got home just before I headed of out to friend to celebrate my achievement.