Stevie G's Log Book

[Stevie G]

31/12/08... Bryncaws, ESE, cold... turn up with Scotty, 11-14mph on the hill then just shut off... a few more arrived... so did a few tandem beats and got a few retrivals, all good practice... Paraventure and Victor turned up... heard Chriss white was over at Tally, a few managed to fly there about the same time in the afternoon as it picked up at BC.. Victor was test dummy and managed to stay up for bout half hr, but was gail hanging just going up and up on full speed bar, he loved it, then again it just shut off again due to the inversion riseing and falling... not a bad day to end the year..... Total flying time this year 102 hrs... hope not to be so lazy next year.... bye bye 2008

[Stevie G]

30/12/08... Bryncaws, ESE, 11mph 8c... good to see friends at Bryncaws today, flying was limited with a couple of TTB's... managed to get a few small 75ft hops in along with the hours of ground handling for all... can never do too much off that... the day was'nt a waste, fun for all...

[Stevie G]

23/12/08... Marros, SSE, 14mph, 11c... warm for time of year, arrived at Marros early with Scot, Gerry's there already waiting, we meet Mr Turner (not the Hawkwind one) he's well interested in what were doin, we get ready, breeze gettin a little stronger, I test the air, seems good, had to work the ridges, what a nice site, the breeze pics up getting me 198ft ato, I can push out over beach, after 45mins boys decide to take off, fly around for bout 10 mins then just hit sinking air, Gerry does side hill landing, Scotty goes for the beach he spots a shiny shell, fair play to Mr Turner he goes to retrieve him... fantastic... spotted Nick and Viv turn up, I land for a few minutes to say hello, they quickly get ready to fly, Im back in the air... they take off, Nick fly's for a while... viv gets up too, but its too late the wind starts to weaken, Viv spots a shiny shell on the beach too, I land back up top followed shortly by Nick... we wait an hour but realise its not gonna happen again... pack and go for beer.... what a great site... nice one Steve J

[Stevie G]

14/12/08... Fan G, NNW, 15-17mph, 5c... Got to Fan G this morning with Chris and Gerry, Nick R and Viv were there flying already, the breeze was fine, a little strong sometimes, ... I managed to get off on my Tandem with Gerry's boy Mitch as my passanger, we flew around for about 30mins, only getting about 200ft ato, then landed down at the car park with a happy passenger... I like my tandem, easy wing to fly,

[Stevie G]

6/12/08...Blaenavon, NE, 12-15mph, 5 - 2c... went to Blaenavon with Gerry... pilots were already in the air, we walked up and got ready, plenty of friends turned up and plenty of strangers too... sometimes it was a little hectic in the air, at one point 25 all flying, managed to get round the side for a while away from the crowd, sometimes really weak small thermals came thru, you had to work them, Gerry seems pleased with his new glider, its well fast and he is a big guy, I managed to get 500ft above T/O, clear sky, nice sun... flew for 2hrs... great

[Stevie G]

1/12/08... Rhew Wen, NNe, 12-15mph... 3-2c... met up with Ifor and we got to Rhew Wen, hardley no breeze and freezing... its a great site... we walked up to T/O... a nice easy walk, we got ready and waited for it to pick up... it did, but not too strong... we scratched about a bit, managed enough height to soar the rocky ridge behind... only managed 230ft from T/O, Gerry got a little flight in too, Ifor was testing the air all over... after 30mins a lull suddenly came, Ifor managed to land up top for the next phase, Gerry and me bombed out, the breeze picked up again and Ifor the lucky bugger managed another 30mins and got some good hieght too... it was good to be out again.

[Stevie G]

4/11/08...Pontlottyn, E, 12-16mph... got to the valleys, went to check Pandy..under cloud base... went to Blaenavon... under cloud base... doh... I hate chasing the weather....got a call from Gerry, its on at Abernant, talked to Ifor, he's one his way there...dahm....me in the valleys, last call to check out Pontlottyn, saw the reverent Norris and his disiple Stuey frolllockin around in the sky..game on, good guys......with Team Paraventure we joined in the fun, only 33mins for me , but still worth the effort... even more tmz for sure

[Stevie G]

24/10/08...Mens, nr Gronobles, N, 0-3mph, take off was at 4550ft asl, with the mountain still looming up a 1000ft or so behind us, the area looked like something out of lord of the rings... visibility again  well clear, we did a couple of plouf's... 1550ft ttb's... 17mins airtime... back to uk tmz.... a BIG THANKS to Team Paraventure for organising the trip and to alez-up Dave & Rachel, well worth the trip here...

[Stevie G]

23/10/08...Site bagging today, next to no wind, but valley breath changing to time of day... first thing in the morning we go to the North side of Chabre this time, wind breath SW, clear sky, visibility good, 11.000ft to inversion layer, we know because of our friend doing his micro flight course, we do our 2270ft ttb,nice site, and then move on to our next mountain... Bergies, W, 5570ft asl, 1840ft ttb, what a beautiful place, landing and packing by the grave yard we move on agian to Buc, S, 5540ft asl, 1200ft ttb, we do two fights off there hoping for restitution on the second flight... but no...everyone worked well today...it was better than not flying...my total time today only 40mins... but still well worth it.... extra beers later in prep for our finale tmz... I really dont wanna be coming home...this is it for me for sure...

[Stevie G]

21/10/08...Aspres, E-SE, 10-12-17mph, 18-12c... we got to fly in the afternoon, a bit E to start then on the ridge SE, all the oragraphic and mist gone we could get to it, a little weak to start but getting stronger.. perfect... small thermals coming thru, you could work them...a few of  us went for the task of getting to the antennas and back 4km away, then just free flying, practicing wingovers and just pushing out and exploring... has to be done... we used the whole ridge back and forth 5km each way... 5km out into the valley and back... Tina flew a tandem today thru the guidence of JC, and rob was in the zone with thermals, he sussed a lot today, big smile on his face all night long... I flew 2.37hrs and got 777ft ato, cloud base was about 6500ft asl, not much more than yesterday... with 777ft ato decided to push out with full speedbar 5km to airfield, arrived with 2000ft to spare so did a sat for 1500ft..perfect way to end the session.....and then of course more beer

[Stevie G]

20/10/08...Aspres,SSE-SE, 5-13mph, 22-17c... got to top of Apres a 5123ft asl with a 2380ft ttb, cloudbase was at around 6000ft, low today... we all flew... a little ridge soaring on a 4km ridge, and going into the valley for the thermal trigger points, gentle autumn 3.5mps's... in the distance we could see the front coming in with the rain, coming in fast we head to the airfield... full speed bar before the frontal gust's hit us, what an awesome day & site, we got around 450ft ato and flew for about 1.40hrs... Rob & Tina did well thermaling and doing top landings and 5km pushes to the airfield..alls good..crackin team..loads of beer too of course.... more tmz

[Stevie G]

19/10/08...Chabre, SW, 3mph... we new it was going to be a quiet day, but still wanted to fly, so we went for a moderate ttb, we jumped off Chabre an 1860ft ttb, the view was fantastic...easy landings... after lunch we went to La Trappe again, this time just doing a ttb... were all happy... our hosts Dave & Rachel are looking after us well, the potential of this area are frantastic... I can see me spending a lot of time here...

[Stevie G]

18/10/08...Le Trappe, Laragne, France, S, 12-14mph...arriving early this morning at Nice with team Paraventure, met up with Chris White who transported our 10 on a 4hr drive to Laragne..we quickly settled into our appartments in the sticks then transported us for our evening flight,... this place is AWESOME...all wind directions for most levels and the hard core...we arrived at take off... 12 other pilots already flying...we enjoyed a late afternoon flight for about 40mins getting about 500ft ato, all was good but wereall very tired from our journey...more tommorrow... I can see why Nick R loves this place...I do not wanna leave...

[Stevie G]

13/10/08...Rhossili, W, 20+mph, 23c, after the rain stopped it cleared up beautifully, waited a couple of hours hoping the breeze would ease as it was suppossed too, but that did not happen...I had'nt much time left so decided to soar the dune's, walked down to beach with Paraventure AirSports, they did some more off their training while I soared the dunes, I wish I had more time but had to leave for the valleys, it was perfect for the dunes, have sussed the best part to get wing up at and fly, easy really, got 140ft asl, could of pushed for more, flew 20mins only but still worth it... not even time for beer today... well maybe a quick one after walking back up with Chrissy 

[attachment=1]

[Stevie G]

12/10/08...Bryncaws, SE, 5-10-14mph, 21c, nearing TO windmills turning anticlockwise, good sign, dawn just thru, beautiful, morning mist in the valleys, walked up but too weak, so sat for an hour on a rock on ridge just enjoying the space all by myself, 9.30 one by one the pilots arrived, the meteo breeze is really week but stronger thermals cycling thru, tested the air, managed a few hops, wait a little longer, then more constant, Andyh over at Cwm avon radioing thru, same for him and SteveJ... a call from Ifor wsw 20mph at TB.. mmm.. whats going on,... a number of us go for it and manage to stay up, 350ft ato haveing to work at it,.....after a while the wind turns more south, I bomb out, game over, as I pack up it comes back on the hill...whats goin on....the boys unpack and have another flight, I go for a beer...only flew 40mins but the window was bout 4hrs...more beer