New Glider

I have been very lucky and acquired an "as new" Airborne Shark. C/w a pair of spare uprights that hope I  will never need!
If any one is going out please give me a call. I am keen to get my first flight in at Harting or Mercury or possibly Swanborough[NE private site HG only with nice TL and BL] near Newhaven.
If anyone is thinking of a new glider the guy I bought this from has a laminar topless also in immaculate condition.
 
Ian P

Ringstead 21st October, windy sunset flight.

I got to Ringstead about 3.30pm and watched the hangies fly about for a few hours waiting for the wind to drop enough for paragliding. By 5.30pm it seemed to have dropped a bit (maybe my imagination or wishful thinking!) and gone south so I set my kit up on the hill. Sods law, it seemed to pick up as soon as I clipped in and I spent 5 minutes holding on for dear life as the wing thrashed about. I took my chance in a short dip in the wind to get up and away. Penetration was ok, sometimes no ground speed at trim speed, guessing wind was 18-24mph. After getting great height on the ridge I pushed forward on half bar towards the cliffs, easily making it with loads of height. I'm very impressed with the Gin Sprint as it penetrated the wind very well, as it can be difficult to get to the cliffs on a paraglider in a southerly. On the cliffs the lift band was huge and it was very easy to get very high considering the wind was off the cliffs. If only I had launched earlier I could have made it to Lulworth and back easily. As it was I had a bimble about for a while and then landed in the back field just before sunset. Peachy in the end and I had the site to myself!

I also have some photos from St Aldhelms Head last Sunday, beautiful Skysurfers outing with myself, Darren Griffin, Neil Withers and Simon Vacher. We had a couple of hours there before moving to Kimmeridge for another couple of hours there. Have to be greedy with airtime this time of year, as good conditions are few and far between.

Photos here

Richard

Ringstead - Friday 21st October

Cracker of a day.Overcast until mid-afternoon, then the sun made an appearance. Solid and consistent 18-20mph SW backing slightly by teatime. Ian P. and I arrived around 11am, rigged and flying by noon. Even the hill was working to 400ft with gentle lift wafting up from the farm. Best height on the cliffs 900ft. Ian enjoyed 3 flights and top landings – another new site. I accrued over 2.5hours airtime. We were joined later by a couple of Wessex pilots, but otherwise had the place to ourselves. Perfect day to relive during the coming winter months!

Brian.

Bell Hill - Monday 29th August

More breeze and more sunshine than forecast. Arrived just after 11am with Ian P., (new site). Parking space was at a premium. As expected, packed with PG but good to see several HG as well.

Breeze picked up not long after we arrived and PG were grounded for most of the day. The hangies enjoyed themselves with good height gains, (I got 2,200ft ATO on my 40min flight.) Lots of usable lift. Good to see Tony B. having a couple of long soaring flights.

Top field still in high crop which put me off. After watching a number of tricky landings I elected to land at the bottom and join Ian who totalled 3 flights. A very pleasant day.

(Other SSC pilots went to Westbury – what was it like there, chaps?)

Brian.

Blorenge Fly In

Headed to the Blorenge for the SE Wales fly-in. I was the only SSC Hangie, in fact there were only about 5 in the whole event. Forecast was not great and turned out to be pretty windy, Saturday blown out so on Sunday headed for the coast. Had a corking day at Rhossilli, never flown here before and what a lovely site. Unexpectedly, for a coastal site, I hooked into something that took me all the way to base at 3k.

Thanks to the SSC PG crown for entertaining me, we had a good BBQ on Saturday night.

Had to return home for parenting duties on Monday which looked far better.

James

P.S am I the only person reading or using this blog?

My Favourite Site, 8th August

My favourite site.....at the beach in Cornwall. No phones, email, computers, deadlines, clients, haven't shaved in over 2 weeks, no TV, no bills to pay, no traffic jams, no junk mail.......just a smooth and steady onshore breeze acres of pristine sand and the smell of salt in the air.

Thanks to Brian P for the donation of my new beach glider...she will be happy in retirement down here!

James

Combe Monday 25th July

A good day at combe. More westerly than ideal on the hill but plenty of climbs to be had. Left in big gaggle at midday and flew together for the next two hours. Blue thermals to 6000ft and very good visability, Spinaker tower at Portsmouth and Isle of wight easily visable from 5 grand above Combe! Loads of sailplanes about and we had a great view of a Pitts flying aerobatics between popham and lasham below us. A bit rough a times at the inversion and increasingly windy, we were caught by the top cover comming from the west and all landed just short of Butser for 50k. Ken W retrieved us after two hours sat in the pub at west meon.

 

Chris J

Bell Hill Sunday 24th July

Lovery day at Bell today. Sky didnt look that gret, overcast but on arrival but some dark bases were forming. Paragliders were blown out by 12.30 and whilst it was off to the west at first it came on from 1pm onwards.

Very buoyant and climbs to cloudbase at 2800 ATO. The arrival of some sea air after 2 limited height gains but still very flyable.

James

Westbury - 14th July 2011

 
Westbury 14th July 2011
 
Conditions just about as good as it gets - 10Mph Northerly, very unstable, nice big fluffy Cu's every 5 miles.
Took off at around 12, up to 4500ft in around 10-15 minutes, then down to behind Bell hill where I had a TP. Struggled a bit to get to TP (why are they always in a blue hole - odds on I guesss!) so flew a few miles away to PG's going XC, got up, refused to share cloud with fellow PG (two is one too many) and embarked on long trip back home in the 10-ish Mph headwind. Conditions steadily improved, with some incredible lift but also corresponding rapid sink in between clouds. Nice to be in shorts at 5500ft and not feel cold, felt like Florida! Flew back into Westbury at around 3:15 feeling very happy with the day. Trace below.
 
Loads of HG's out (incl Tim, Brian), quite a few went XC, but the large gaps made it difficult for some. PG's seem to be scaring themselves - it was very unstable.
 
Nev
 
 
   

Harting Down 13th July 2011

You know how it goes – haven’t flown for nearly a month, desperation rising and then a good forecast. Having convinced yourself you are going flying in three days time the forecast slowly deteriorates, but some how you convince yourself that you have got it wrong, so you ask everyone else what they think in the vain hope that they will highlight to you that the forecast is in fact as it was three days ago. Its hopeless, you are going no matter what, some kind of homing beacon drawing you to the hill regardless of conditions.

And so I went to Harting on Wednesday afternoon, rigged and ready to fly by 1.30. The sky was overcast but there were some clouds around with good dark bases and plenty of wind, slightly off to the west (far from ideal). After taking off it turned out to be typical Harting conditions; lumpy broken lift that is difficult to soar and I resigned myself to a flight close to take off and close to the ground. After 15 mins I was at minus 59ft ATO and eyeing up the bottom landing, already cursing the sport, my lack of time to go flying, and formulating how my blog entry might read.

Then I got a low save just in front of the main spur and found room to put in a few turns, I was soon at 1000ft ATO and headed over to the beacon where I got another climb to 2k. Then had a very pleasant 45 mins in a fairly buoyant sky.

Graham G was out on his Target and put in a good flight and top landing.

Second flight ended in typical Harting style…..at the bottom.

James

Real Dads at Butser West on Fathers Day

Promised my son Thomas that I would take him swimming today as it looked to windy today to go flying. When I woke up I was asked, "are you sure you don't want to go flying today it doesn't look that windy". As it was fathers day I could of course exercise my right to change my mind without any fear of recrimination. After procrastinating for an hour I was on my way to Butser.

Arrived to find another Dad, Grant, rigging. I started getting set up and it promptly rained, heavily. I considered going home again to try and go swimming before the day was a right off but decided to wait a while. It came good in the end and we had a nice afternoon in some buoyant air, wind was a bit strong and mashed up the thermals at times.

James

1st June Rybuy Hill

Fun day in the end, nothing close to the forecast, almost complete cloud cover and drizzle when I turned up at 12! Snotty and windy on hill (usual rybury) so took a windy rough climb, eventually got to base 10k from the hill, about 3400ft. The glider I was with disappeared into cloud and I never saw it again for an hour... some good lift lines under the cloud and shared some really rough thermals with sailplanes who were all over the place, and quite a few in fields below. Once past combe there was no sun anywhere so headed towards the m4 / a34 junction where I saw the white glider I had started with. dribbled along for a bit together but the end was inevitable. Thanks to Lawrence for the retrieve.

 

Chris J.

photos. 21/May Ringstead

for photo's see Wessex Sky in Eye Report by Grant Oseland

 

Wayne

Sat May 21 Ringstead

ah; so you were all at Milk!

Ringstead was on with a 10-15mph SSW which allowed myself & Derek with a bunch of local PG pilots to enjoy runs  to Lulworth in the east & Osminton Mills to the west! The air wasn't bumpy or crowded!

Ok, I only went as far as Durdle Door as the max hieght I had was only 1200ft asl, those who went further came back low!

As for going east I had 750ft asl at Hannas Ledge looking at the jump across Osmington Mills but chickened out!

The glide back to Ringstead was very informative for future flights!

[Read Nev's article on this coastal challenge]

Later in the day the air went S/SSE & the run to Durdle Door only gave me 400ft ato (900asl) & then it went very strange so the top landing beckoned!

It was one of the nicest days that I have ever had at Ringstead.

Brian & Ian arrived to late in the day to fly having been to Mere!

safe flying & above all enjoy it!

wayne

 

 

Milk Hill 21 May

Hang glider jamboree at Milk Hill today dominated by Sky Surfing Club. Some got away others just had fun. Great sky, rough at times and a tad windy but plenty of airtime.

James

Sunday 15th May Westbury

Firstly my apologies to Babs & co who heard the "expletive" as I took off Vertically. There was also a suggestion that I went slightly backwards! (I hadn't reached my take-off point!)
After that excitement it couldn't get worse-could it?
The air was smooth but strong, I could feel something different with the Atos & as I turned over the White Horse all hell broke loose! The glider vibrated violently with the control frame shaking!
I kept her straight & level in the 25mph+ breeze & looked around to see what was wrong. Nothing appeared broken or loose. Tail & winglets were still attached but there was vibration through the glider. This eased below 25mph but was violent above! Due to the increasing wind strength I was flying at 30mph & decided to alter my normal landing approach ie set up at 200ft over the northern end & glide in.
I was expecting something to break & life to become very interesting so the approach was low & fast. The plan almost worked until I was about to touch down in the bumpy air & I got dumped the last 4ft. The left upright needs repairing but hey I was on the ground & safe!
The cause of the vibration:- The nose cone had come loose from the top surface & was flapping. This disrupted the airflow over the tail! ( which was trying to compensate & keeping the pitch control within tolerances)
So lesson learnt:- My pre-flights always include checking the nose cone, now I will use superglue!

Stay safe & have fun

Wayne
Atos VR

FRiday 13th May & Saturday 14th May

 
FRiday 13th May - Ringstead; Nice soaring in a steady sea breeze, 3 HG's & 3~4 PG's.  Nev
 
Saturday 14th May - Westbury; Good sky, but a tad strong; av. 18, but rsing to 25, sometimes 30 when good clouds nearby. I launched at 1pm and immediately put everyone off, even myself. Flew to 3500ft where it was smoother, probably a good XC day (but I had commitments and had to be derigged by 2:45pm). Really strong and turbulent climbs, flew for 20 minutes, found a smooth patch to descend in and hoped that the same smooth air would be in the landing area - it was, phew.
 
Nev

New British XC record

Well Done Nev Almond
New British record of 282 km via turn points
or 167 miles launch to end point in HG money
Milk Hill to Cley by the sea (Cromer Norfolk)

Mercury, 4th May

 
Arrived at Mercury at 10:20 with an OK-ish forecast, looking like a blue day, but living in hope for some Cu's to show us the way. Forecast 4up thermals & 12mph +blue meant that open distance was probably the only option, so declared goal north of Aberystwyth on the welsh coast. Too off at 11:25, and started creeping over the back at 11:30, with 2800ft asl and bitty lift, edging towards the West Meon Hut and then the Fourmarks area, after which it opened up to 4k, then eventually 5k by the A303 (Popham). Onwards to Whitchurch was quite good, giving me confidence to continue albeit the blue sky (still no clouds). However, after Whitchurch I regularly have to fly down to 1000-1500ft before finding lift, mostly 3-4 ups but a few corking 7 ups. Flying without clouds is like roulette, and I eventualy landed at 2pm after 60 miles at Cricklade, between Swindon and Cirencester. I only saw one sailplane en-route, and heard that a few Lasham pilots cut short there 300km tasks to make sure they got back. Trip back to hill involved 1 Bus, 4 trains, 1 hitche, 1 mile run, and finally another hitch from Wayne who just happened to be going the other way near Clanfield (thanks again chap).
 
Thanks too to Tim for opening my eyes to this route, I always thought it was too far off track. I think we have a potential record-breaking site at Mercury.
 
Nev
 
p.s. Great Karma too from picking up 4 hitchers in the last 6 weeks - Petersfield to Mercury in 25 minutes     

Westbury 12th April 2011

James

Mercury Saturday 9th April

South of east at the start but it came good and there was plenty of lift. Glorious day.

James

Monday April 4. Milk Hill

I arrived early at Milk to find a brisk SW'ly blowing. Whilst waiting for Mr King I flew the model glider which seemed to want to fly backwards! must adjust the trim or add lots of ballast!!

Mr King arrived & encouraged me to rig which we duely did.

A wind reading indicated a 20mph gusting 25mph which is at my limit so I decided not to fly but wait for conditions to improve.

Mr King decided to fly & enjoyed a smooth take-off from behind the fence. He quickly gained enough height to progress onto the front ridge where he appeared to be enjoying himself. Wonderful gliders these Atos's.

After a while he appeared to get bored at ridge height pulling over 30mph & took a thermal to cloudbase to find somewhere safer to land!

By this time I had de-rigged in about 20minutes!

A short while later Tim phoned to say he had landed nr Axford about 15k down wind! Tim was in fine spirit & very happy having either survived or having a retrieve organised!

The sun had also come out to play with ever increasing breeze!

stay safe & have fun

 

Wayne 

 

 

Mercury 27th March

A lovely day on Mercury, very light and not particularly thermic but just nice to be on the hill.

James

Repack 26th March 2011

38 pilots spent a sunny afternoon indoors packing their reserve chutes - a great turnout and a real contribution to safety, well done all and many thanks to Bill Morris from the BHPA, and his helpers for assisting us.

James

Ringstead

Surfers at Ringstead

Plenty of Skysurfers at Ringstead on Sun including Rich, Darren, Andy, Simon and we had perfect conditions to get to Lullworth and back - what a beauty!

Al

Ringstead Sunday March 20th

I arrived at Ringstead by 9.30am & rigged the Atos. I was joined by Derek McCann on one of his permitted days out!
A couple of PG pilots indicated that it was soarable so at 11.20am after the usual formalities I took of & flew straight for the cliffs. The lift was light in the light SSW'ly. I was joined by Derek on his Top Secret & together we explored the southerly side of White Nothe progressing as far as Bats Head.
A few PG pilots ventured down to Durdle Door but looked very low, so not wishing to give up the 400-600ft ato we both stayed where we were! The PG pilots all got back but they were extremely low between Durdle Door & Bats Head.
The tide was out & there was ample beach however beach landings in this area on a modern HG should be the 'last card' option!
At 1240 it was time to let the dog out of the car so I top landed in time to see Tim King take off!
During the afternoon the wind stayed SSW & at one time there were 4 rigid wings in the air along with Grant who was having a family day out!
I didn't fly again as I was unable to get the Atos out of the top landing field without assistance & everyone else was either in the air(somewhere nr Lulworth) or had left the site.
It was soarable on the ridge until dusk as indicated by Richard who had de-rigged his Atos & got his PG out!
Another enjoyable day

Combe Gibbet Sunday 13th March

The optimist decided to go to Combe which is only 8miles from home as opposed to the 50mile drive to Westbury! Looking at the reports Wetbury may have been better as I didn't get airborne until 1536!

However gentle thermals meant that the Atos soon climbed above the 20 or so PGs on the ridge & gentle climbs to 2000ft ato were made in the light WNW.

After an hour of exploring the ridge & returning to what shall be known as the M25 (Combe's ridge) a top landing was attempted.

Everything appeared fine which was surprising as I have a new harness & getting 'upright' in the control frame requires an effort & the harness tends to make me push out!

However I had slowed up too much & the final flare did not have the required authority. Thanks to the foresight of A.I.R the only damage was to the £20 weak link.

This did not however detract from the pleasure of the flight & the bonus was watching 2 Red Kites playing  at 10-20ft ato!

Spring has arrived. Stay safe & enjoy

Wayne

 

Brisk day at Mercury

Monday 7th March, bright, cold with an easterly averaging 14mph. At least it was steady unlike previous day with gusts up to 25mph and only the foolish or expert paragliding. Monday, being foolish and inexpert I launched into lotsa lift but lost it six minutes later by pushing out too far from the hill (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzefrQV8ZQg for evidence) and bottom landed. Saw farmer on lift back up – he had seen me land (on edge of field) and apologised for not offering me a lift! You just don’t get that respect for senior citizens nowadays.

Flying my Swing Arcus 4 I made another big mistake on flight 2 by applying far too much brake attempting to top land and plummeted in. Won’t do that again in a hurry. Indeed my aches and pains will ensure I will not be doing too much in a hurry for a day or two. Flight 3 was simply wonderful so one mark out of three. Simply not good enough Davis. Will try harder next time. Inshallah.

Thanks for advice and help from all concerned. I’m CP + 15 hrs.

Kind regards,

Barry Davis

Davis Wadicci
Marketing consultants, graphic and web designers
10 Oak Tree Farm
Hambrook  
Chichester
West Sussex
PO18 8QA

T  01243 572 504
www.daviswadicci.co.uk

Frostbite Perranporth

perranporth saturday 26th feb windy to very windy 20 to 35 mph sunshine and mainly blue sky with a few showers blown just south of us Ridge race but no where near fast enough TK

Optimism vs. Realism vs. Stupidity

Optimism....."hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view."

The forecast for Monday looked like this;



Wind, N to NNE, sunshine.

Given the time of year desperation is high, so take a much needed day off work.

Realism....."the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth"

Wake up, its grey and overcast, very damp, rain hanging in the air. RASP now looks like this;

Stupidity....."a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason"

Get in car, drive to Harting. It starts raining, carry on, arrive, its raining.

At least when I arrived I was not alone, two other hang glider pilots there (names witheld).....

James

Devils Dyke

Nice day at the Dyke, loads of hang gliders out, rain arrived about 13.30. Thanks Brian for the loan of a classic HG, in great shape for age and flies like a treat.

James

Spring arrives 17th February 2011

And returns from whence it came next day!

However how fortunate to one of the lucky ones at Whitewool on such a perfect paragliding day, for low hours pilots like me anyway. I particularly like the soft squidgy turf, the absence of hawthorn – and aeromodellers too. Just one hour there would have justified my membership subs so I’m well in pocket. Thanks Skysurfers.

For a looksee go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_cOMY4zH8Q

Barry Davis
flying a Swing Arcus 4 (I keep my utility Apco Fiesta 2 for Butser West!)

Mercury sunday30 January

arrived at 11.30 blue sky,sunshine,blowing a gale several coffees and a walk later returned to find wind had subsided Grant and i rigged took off and cruised loverly buoyant air once away from the shadows Pete tried the PG but didn't really like it and might yet change to a HG Tim King

Mercury

Sent from my iPhoneLovely day on Mercury, thermic as well. Nice to be going round in circles again!

Very very very very very cold...

James

BMT Nigel Gee Ltd, Building 14, Shamrock Quay, William Street, Southampton, SO14 5QL, UK
Registered in England & Wales, Registered no. 02718748, Registered office: Goodrich House, 1 Waldegrave Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8LZ, UK

E-mail confidentiality notice and disclaimer:
The contents of this e-mail and any attachments are intended for the use of the mail addressee(s) shown. If you are not that person, you are not allowed to read it, to take any action based upon it or to copy it, forward, distribute or disclose the contents of it and you should please delete it from your system. BMT Nigel Gee Ltd does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the context of this e-mail or its attachments which arise as a result of internet transmission, nor accept liability for statements which are those of the author and clearly not made on behalf of BMT Nigel Gee Ltd.
Please consider the environmental impacts of printing this email, and only do so if really necessary.

Westbury Monday Jan 24.

The three optimistic HG pilots arrived at Westbury by 10.30am to find a very light WNW. Undeterred they rigged & waited for conditions to improve.
PG pilots indicated that conditions were soarable & at 1250hrs the mighty Atos went airborne & quickly rose above the PGs at about 200ft ato!
Alan & Ian drew straws to see who would follow as there were about 6 PGs airborne. Alan lost & joined me shortly followed by Ian. (assisted by Chris Jones who had left his Atos at home & was tempting fate by flying his PG).
Conditions remained soarable albeit very light. The whole ridge was working with light thermal.(please read 0-1up!)
Alan was the first to top land followed by Ian. The conditions permitted a low approach-they didn't have the height to try anything else. Both landings were uneventful.
After 1hr 40mins of endlessly circling to maintain between 100-450ft ato, my heated socks were getting cold & it was time to land.
A pleasant afternoon at Westbury & on the way home by 4pm.

have fun

Wayne

Harting Down 21st January

First flight of the new year James, Nev , Grant ,Jamie Ian ,and me at harting -so max no of gliders and Brian you may spectate?  northerly breeze 15mph Take off over the electric fence (is that on the risk assessment?) little lift to start but improved as cloud lifted from 100 ato to about 450 ato flew down ridge to cocking gap but not enough height to cross Grant and Jamie joined me for a short while until the rain started and we retreated back to take off landing with wet wings Spring must be on its way soon Tim King

Harting Thursday Jan 20th.

Yesterday Thursday Jan 20th saw 3 optimistic HG pilots at Harting where they were confronted by low cloud & a 10mph NNE.

At 1250 the Atos went airborne & headed to a bowl 200meters to the east where the nat trust were working & burning! A few beats along the ridge at 50-75ft ato convinced me to head for the bowl at Beacon where I arrived & disappeared from view! The air was damp ,lumpy & very light lift with cloudbase about 400ft ato!

However after 25mins sufficient height was gained (200ft ato) to fly back & show Alan & Ian how to do a top landing!

An enjoyable & challenging flight with a little bit of excitement when a Chinook flew towards me at Beacon. A high banked 360 to show my presence & the pilot banked right, desended to ridge height & flew up the valley between Beacon & take-off!

Both Alan & Ian enjoyed exended top to bottoms.

For the info of PG pilots:- Chinooks frequently fly in this area & the pilots may give you a low flying display at a safe distance! Also in a NNE the wind at below ridge height may be due EAST!

safe flying

Wayne

 

 

St Aldhelms Head, Dorset, 9th January

A very blowy afternoon watching some Polish pilots doing acro over a blown out St Aldhelms before it calmed down enough to let  us mere mortals in the air. I think the lack of airtime over winter has gone to peoples heads as the 4 in the air rule was stretched somewhat for a while. Still, a lovely few hours in the air watching a beautiful sunset over the stunning Jurassic coast, followed by a landing by the car and a pint in the pub. Does it get any better than that?

Richard