Gareth's fledgling flights

[gareth.pawan]

Fochriw, Sunday 26th August.
The Clemente paramotor has now been sittiing quietly in a corner of my bedroom for almost twelve months. It was purchased new last year but up until recently, I did not feel sufficiently confident to use it. Last weeks weather forecast was favourable, with brilliant sunshine and lightish northerly winds around 9mph forecast for the day. No excuses then so out it came, together with the Gin Bolero XL. Met up with Paul Williams of Paraventure and two other students, Dave from Ebbw Vale and a chap from Harrowgate who's name slips my memory. Spent about three hours going over technical stuff and flight safety with Paul and then it was time to have a go. Felt really nervous and unsure about my launch technique and whether I would be able to remember everything I had been taught. Paramotoring seems to involve doing lots of different things all at the same time! As the wind was around 7mph decided to go for a one handed reverse launch. Have spent months trying to get this right and with a few tips from club members, it went well and I got away first time. The technique is as follows: Start motor and let it idle, bring wing up directly overhead and kite it for a few seconds. Turn, throttle to about two thirds and then start running  as fast as possible. Wow! The feeling of thrust is unexpected and quite dramatic. Within a few paces you start to moon walk, with long ridiculously light footsteps and then your away..... I felt the wing going off to the left a bit but Paul said "keep running, keep running" so that's what I did. The climb out is fast and smooth but all the agility and subtlety of free flight seems to go. You climb but pilot inputs feel slow and laboured. Turning was quite difficult and weight shift was pretty sluggish and ineffective. The flying itself was great though and I was instantly converted. Unfortunately there seemed to be a problem with a bit of "power fall off".  Within minutes there was a noticeable drop in thrust and it would not climb anymore. Paul said "use full throttle" through the radio but it was on all the way and I could not maintain level flight. I started to come down. Landing. The new thinking is to shut off the motor about 50' above the ground and then simply glide in as in free flight. I was a little concerned about this as the weight of the unit is in excess of 28 kgs and it is really awkward to move about with it on your back. It's very easy to fall over and break a prop and that means £280 down the drain. Luckily managed to stay on my feet and the landing went okay.
My first short flight had been completed. Later discovered that there is a problem with the carb. Revs were down to 6,000 rpm rather than 9,000 where all the real thrust is. The other student used the school PAP 125 together with Paul's
Paramania Revolution reflex wing. He climbed to about 1,500' within a few minutes and then did a big circuit of around 25 kms. Hopefully, when my carb is fixed, my next flight will be similiar. Total powered airtime around 12 minutes!

[gareth.pawan]

Rhosilli 17th August 2007
Arrived at the pimple around midday to see John Nash, John Pope and a few other pilots I didn't recognize on the hill. Clouds were high but covered most of the sky so it looked a bit grey and overcast. However, it brightened up with thin sunshine every now and then and there were a few pilots flying around. Wind speeds were topping at about 17.5 but averaging 12.5 at launch. Waited about forty minutes before unpacking. Wind dropped off a bit and launched without any problems. The air was a bit lifty and turbulent over the beach but not to strong or unpleasant. Flew around for about 35 minutes before beach landing to join family. Later had a pleasant walk to the Worms head coast guard station and a cup of tea with both John's, Barbara and the family at the cafe Total airtime 30 mins

[gareth.pawan]

Rhosilli Thursday, August 9th
Arrived at Rhosilli around 5pm in near perfect conditions. About five gilders in the air including Paul who seems to fly higher and longer each time I see him. Launched from the pimple and spent about 40 minutes "surfing" the downs. The lift near the house and at the Llangennith end, seemed a lot stronger than usual. Used it to to climb up again after losing altitude over the beach. Great fun. Top landed and managed to remain standing but had difficulty relaunching again - wing overflew a couple of times burying me beneath, which always makes me feel a bit silly, especially when people are passing by!  Finally got off and had a delightful hour experimenting with the speed bar and correcting the wing with a dab of brake whenever it pitched forward. Landed out on the pimple after crabbing in carefully but then got pulled off my feet before I could turn around. Ended up in a bit of a tangled mess in the bracken, (another Buster Keaton moment). Everything okay though. Met Gron who had come to try out a second hand wing. He gave me some really good advice about fine tuning my one handed "A" riser reverse launch technique. When I followed his advice, it worked beautifully. Thanks Gron - this refinement should really help with the paramotoring take offs! Spent another delightful hour in the air before landing out on the pimple against a lovely Gower sunset. A really great flying outing. Next week, off to Sopot in Bulgaria for a 10 day walking/flying holiday. Balkan thermals can be really powerful so will have a few days tuition with Skynomads paragliding school.
Flying time: 2.5 hours.

[gareth.pawan]

Rhosilli Saturday 28th. Arrived at Scurlage for a preflight Gower big breakfast. John Nash and Humphrey also had the same idea together with two other pilots who I had never seen before. Climbed the pimple with some difficulty due to big breakfast and launched in a 10.5 to join about 6 other pilots in the air. The flight was smooth and pleasant as it has been every time at Rhosilli so far this season. Spent a pleasant hour wafting about before attempting to land out on the pimple. This time I took John and Humphrey's advice to "crab in" gently over the pimple as the best and safest way to land. Couldn't get it quite right so flew out and landed at the top on the Swansea side of the trig point. Just before touchdown, pulled strongly on the D risers to "kill" the wing in what turned out to be a 20mph westerly. It was a great day out with a colourful, almost carnival atmosphere around the launch area and in the air. At one point there were twenty pilots flying with probably another ten getting ready to go.
Sad to hear about Nick's accident but good news that he is okay. However, it's another reminder that this sport is certainly not golf. 9 hours Post CP.

[gareth.pawan]

Saturday. Arrived at Rhosilli around 8.15am as Metcheck gave sunshine and westerly breezes for the day. Apart from two people groundhandling and launching on the edge of the raised area, (not a good idea given the sensitivity of the site), there was no one else about. Wind readings from the "pimple" were between 14-17mph, a bit too strong for me. Decided to walk down to the beach to do a bit of groundhandling instead and inspect a smaller, second hand Bolero wing I bought recently. Seller said it had only done 8 hrs. Wing felt crispy and light and it handled beautifully, though one of the brake lines was a bit frayed. Decided I really enjoy groundhandling and almost regard it as a separate offshoot of the sport. Later went back up to the pimple where a few other pilots had arrived. Wind speeds hadn't changed and were still around the 14 mph range with gusts up to 17.5mph. Waited until three other pilots had launched -with a little bit of difficulty - before going myself. A very quick but uneventful take off. "Surfed" the downs again for over one and a half hours, using a caravan in Llangenith as a marker to turn round and head back towards launch. Practiced flying out to sea to lose altitude, had a go at several tight turns and pulled quite a few "big ears" which interestingly, didn't seem to cause much loss of altitude. I thought I would try and land again on the pimple. This led to another of my cockups as I knew if I came in to high, I would simply not be able to get down and end up overshooting the launch area altogether. Instead, flew out to sea, did a couple of tight turns and came in a bit lower than the pimple so that I would rise slightly on approach, turn into wind and hopefully, land. Bit of a mistake! Came in to fast and wasn't able to turn in time. Landed downwind at I guess, around 28mph!  Everything okay apart from a dislodged reserve pin, dented pride and the realization that there is so much more to learn. Very lucky only my pride was dented though. Will try and land at the very top next time. However, not sure if rotor might be a problem. Will also try and come up with an idea for some sort of arm rest system, as I found holding the brake lines really uncomfortable after a while. Resting them in my lap occasionally did not seem to help much and they continued to ache. Total airtime post C.P. 5 hours. Good day out. Met Crad and a pilot from London who said Rhosilli was like heaven compared to his local flying site in Brighton.  And to top off the day, picked some strawberries for baby grandaughter on the way home.   

[gareth.pawan]

Managed to get out to Rhosilli together with wife and one year old grandaughter on Saturday. Just happened to have my Gin Bolero with me and while wife and baby were sleeping in the car, walked up to the pimple take off point. After spending the past 6 weeks trying to improve my ground handling and reverse launch technique, finally got away and flew! For the first time, the flight was more than a top to bottom. Spent a delightful hour and ten minutes "ridge surfing" along the downs feeling out the different areas of lift and turbulence. At one point I was gale hanging above a hovering buzzard with a vole or mouse in its talons. Decided to try and land on the pimple after going out towards the sea to lose altitude. Everything went well and landed a few feet away from where I took off. It was nice to get it right for a change as recent outings have been full of cock ups.  One of my best flying days yet and the hours spent drenched in sweat ground handling, seems to have finally paid off.

[gareth.pawan]

Recently returned from a third trip to central Bulgaria. Stayed with the skynomads club in Sopot at the foot of the Stara Planina mountain range, (Balkans). Great place, great people and great flying sites. Booked a few flying lessons to practice thermal flying but did not get much actual airtime. Conditions were very strong on a few days and due to lack of experience and simple cowardice, decided to sit it out. Spent an enjoyable couple of days watching pilots prepare and participate in the Kirsk/Moscow Cup paragliding tournament. The Russians have to be seen to be believed! Great pilots without any apparent sense of caution or fear. The event was finally won by local pilot and national champion, Orlin Dimov. Briefly shared a thermal with a flock of Storks - doesn't have the same ring as a flock of eagles - but they are superb flyers and good to see in the air.
Intend spending the next couple of weeks practicing groundhandling skills -another area in much need of improvement and if I get it better at it, hope to start paramotoring in earnest this summer.   

[gareth.pawan]

Checked accuweather to find out if it would be flyable anywhere. Then had a message from Humph - mentor and guide, suggesting Heol Senni might be okay. Arrived to see him climbing to the top of Heol Senni by foot. When I arrived, saw Dave Birch taking off followed shortly afterward by Humph. Dave gained height seemingly without effort as did Humph who tracked along the ridge for some time before joining Dave above the quarry. Later joined by Tom G who really seems to have it sussed. He has beautiful groundhandling, launch and flying skills.  My efforts were pretty abysmal. I'm beginning to suspect that the wind drops when I launch and then starts up again after I land! Still, managed several beats and about 10 minutes in the air before losing lift. Once again, practiced my foot climbing technique rather than my flying. Wonder if I will ever get the hang of staying up for more than 30 minutes at a time!  More practice, and hill walking I guess.

[gareth.pawan]

Have now flown several times from local sites, (Rhosilli, Bryncaws and Moel Feity) but have only managed a few top to bottoms. Would like to think its because of weather conditions but suspect it has more to do with my technique or lack of skill. However, my reverse launches and landings seem to be getting better and my hill climbing has definitely improved!
Recently took possession of a Clemente Snap 145 paramotor. It glints and gleams and looks...well, very James Bondy. Looking forward to learning to fly it in March.
Total U.K. air time post C.P. about 30 minutes!