Finally bagged a top landing at Big Collin

With just a few short hours to go play I set out for Big Collin. I had read on our club mailing list that a couple of pilots were going to see if it was flyable. As I approached the site I could see that there were already plenty of cars parked up at the bottom of the hill and a couple of gliders out of bags.

I arrived and greeted some faces I hadn't seen for a while. After a chat I climbed up to the top with the plan of taking the first opportunity to top land as I had never yet managed a top landing at this site.

I took off and managed to soar for a short while (which for me is a very rare thing at BC) and then took the opportunity to top land. The wind was such that it took me a little while for the wing to drop me down on the top of the hill almost vertically. After that I was happy to take off and risk slope landings safe in the knowledge that I had finally achieved a top landing at the site that I have probably flown the most.

I got another couple of flights in. One about five minutes long which ended with a slope landing near the top and then finished off with a top to bottom then stuffing my wing in the car and heading home.

I have taken to putting the wing in the boot of the car then packing away on my front lawn when I get home. I find it a more relaxed way of doing things and I take time to check the wing over with less chance of the wind undoing the packing before I have everything in the bag.

A Big Collin warm up for the year ahead

I had a great day at Big Collin today, no epic flying was achieved but it was good to get some ground handling practice and a bit of hopping about the hill. I arrived fairly early (before 11 is early for me) to find Merv sat at the top of the hill waiting for stronger conditions.

The wind never really got to usable strength (at least for me) so there was a lot of walking back up from short flights and I got some good practice kiting the wing back up the hill.

After one of my short flights my wing ended up half upside down as I collapsed it and I took the opportunity to turn it entirely upside down and try kiting it in that position, this allowed me to shake out most of the bits of grass and dust that have accumulated inside the wing.

Some of the other Eejits from the UHPC

I was also proud to have managed to walk a good distance up the hill with the wing directly overhead, this is a nice easy way to get back up the hill because if you get it right the wing is pulling you up hill in a controlled way. I managed to just about make it back up to take off although at times it was a bit two steps forward and one step back.

I only managed about 10 minutes airtime in total but it was good practice for the year ahead and in particular the UHPC planned charity walk up and fly down of Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland.

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.

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.