Re: Andy H's flying diary 2008

[AndyH]

19/05/08 After using my little experience to calculate a suitable flying site as there was no one else available to go flying I opted for Abernant, arrived at 11:30 wind felt perfectly paced but slightly off to the North, so launched as soon as I had set up only to find that wind was further off to the North than I had anticipated so landed after a 15mins flight and waited for the wind to veer.Launched again at 1:30 once the wind had finally veered and flew for another 10mins and top landed with "c" risers as the wind felt a little too strong and gusty, found it to be 11-21mph so decided to have some dinner.Launched once more at 3:00 this time the flight felt a lot smoother than my previous flights but still not enjoyable , infact I was hating it and couldn't wait to land which I managed after 10mins and waited for Ivor to arrive to see what he thought of conditions.When Ivor arrived I told him about my day and that I had only just been struggling to land 20mins previous to his arrival and that I was having a bad nerves day so Ivor launched and appeared to be boating around quite nicely which got my confidence back up and so I launched once more and amazingly on this occasion the flight was the most relaxed of the day until I noticed that I had a twisted left riser which forced me into an immediate downwind landing in between the telephone wires at the south end of the ridge just as Nick and Viv were walking up to TO after a 10mins flight.Corrected my riser and walked back up to TO launched again and eventually enjoyed a 40mins flight managing 650' ATO in 2m/s thermals the best of the day just as SteveJ was arriving(strange sport:-firstly you have very little confidence and within an hour your doing better than everyone else ) and landed to thank Ivor for his company and reinstalling my confidence without which I probably would have packed up and gone home p***** off and frustrated.After this chat we both launched and I flew for a further 25mins and loved every second .Strange day for me as usually conditions don't bother me maybe because it was the first time here since my meeting with the ground a few months ago at this site but thanks to the guys for making an appearance and getting me flying again as I began to doubt my novice ability to judge the weather but it appears that on the same day an extremely experienced pilot made a judgemental error with conditions at Heol Senni jeez so it can happen to us all .TOTAL AIRTIME 39 HOURS.

[AndyH]

18/05/08 After Ivor had spread the word SteveJ picked me up with 15mins notice, which meant I had to get out of my working clothes wash all the sanding dust off and get into my flying gear, oh!! and finish my cup of tea but managed all just in time.On approach Ivor was easily visible at over a 1000', so well worth the rush and then had to walk up Heol Senni overtaking Viv on our way up.Already at TO were John Nash,Jon Monroe and Nick shortly followed by Viv and then Gaz as we were getting our breaths back Jon,Nick and John launched first followed by SteveJ,myself and Viv and straight after launching noticed StevieG had also arrived, managed a 35min flight and climbed to just over 1000' in 3.5m/s thermals and then managed to get pinned at HS for the second time so flew along to the N end of the ridge in the hope that I could fly around the compression band this worked but I didn't have enough alt. to return to ridge so bottom landed.Fortunately performed a perfect slope launch this time and was back up to 900' before I knew it only on this occasion finding some 4.5m/s thermals GREAT STUFF and continued to fly for another 1hr15mins with around 10 of the SWWSC members which was another great turn out for us and always a good laugh too.Finally bottom landed next to SteveJ rapped up and then met Crad for the first time and look forward to seeing you out on a hill with us soon aswell.Excellent day today felt really confident and played in loads of thermals TOTAL AIRTIME 37.25 HOURS. 

[AndyH]

11/05/08 After waiting for weather reports from various pilots throughout S. Wales I finally decided to give Heol Senni a go even though I didn't feel very fresh after a rugby presentation the night before.On arrival at bottom of hill I could see Ivor flying around with a kite and 2 other pilots walking up the hill just ahead of me so walked up and just like Steve Watkins sweated out all the Worthington but felt better for it(that extra 1.5 kg of reserve didn't help much either felt more like an extra 10 kg ).Once I arrived at TO the other 2 pilots were getting their breath back so I made my way over to sit down and introduce myself, but on this occasion my identity was correctly guessed by Gareth and SteveW.After a short chat and a site briefing from the boys as this was my first time at Heol Senni I set up and launched but only flew for 10mins as wind eased and veered slightly to the east and bottom landed just as Axis Paragliding were arriving.Slowly made my way back up to TO when I noticed a lively cloud approaching but as I was only half way up wasn't sure if I would make it in time so considered a slope launch and within seconds of thinking it Steve Milson had the same plan and had reached TO height in a few seconds so I executed the launch, not my best as I twisted the wrong way and had to untwist in flight but I still got back up to TO and didn't bother landing.Played around in mixed dynamic and thermic lift and managed to climb to 900'ATO in broken 2m/s thermals and pushed out way infront of ridge on a number of occasions and flew for 65mins until I got pinned behind ridge and taken back behind the hill and barbed wire fence and landed going backwards performing a backwards roll, got up made my way back to TO but by this time the wind really had veered to the east so sat down and watched the others for a few minutes until they too landed.Gareth then informed us that in flight he had observed a pilot fly 3-4000' above us and after a chat with StevieG on the telephone it appears that he/she had flown from the Blorenge as they had been seen flying over Blaenavon.Great to meet SteveW and Gareth that's everyone that matters now the only pilot that I still haven't met is a certain cheeky chap known as Maxturner(no rush  ).TOTAL AIRTIME 35.5 HOURS.

[AndyH]

08/05/08 One Mayday 16 reserve purchased,opened up and checked ,re-packed and fitted into harness by Steve Milson.Time to relax and enjoy the high flying 

[AndyH]

05/05/08 After all club members had cracked what the weather was up to it was decided to meet at Bryncaws.On my approach I noticed nil pilots in flight but on arrival I could see that Steve Milson(Axis Paragliding) was present with 6 students and also about 10 SWWSC members of around half I hadn't met before so even though it wasn't immediately flyable there were plenty of introductions to carry out,it's always good to put a face to a name and it was great to meet Nasher,Humphrey,J.Monroe and even fellow divorcee Jarrad on his last training day(good luck with your CP this week Jar.),and equally as good to catch up with some familiar faces including our club double act Rob and Tina(i'm still trying to think of something that rhymes with Rob but I keep coming up with a rude word).Eventually at 12:30ish the wind felt just strong enough for a scratchy flight so launched with no vario on and ridge soared for 10 mins gaining about 50' max. before being forced to slope land and was given a complement by Steve Milson on my return to TO .Put my vario on and waited for conditions to improve,with the wind off to the South I observed StevieG fly over to the North end of the ridge and thought I'd give it a go but they were short lived flights.At 1:30 the wind felt strong enough for some good flying so launched and flew for 75mins in mixed dynamic and thermic lift only managing 300' ATO and top landed for some lunch and to put my jacket on as I had started to feel a bit cold in flight.Launched once more after lunch and flew for a further 55mins in similar lift although this time I managed nearly 400' ATO(the order of the day I think) with about another 10 pilots and a tandem wing airborne excellent practice for my flying with others and when wind eased I top landed and couldn't really see conditions improving so uncliped and had a good chat with everyone.Really enjoyed today even though it's May and I still haven't had any weather good enough for my first XC flight todays conditions were just nice enough to boat around and perform 1 or 2 small wing-overs .TOTAL AIRTIME 34.25 HOURS.

[AndyH]

02/05/08 After waiting in the house all day for a plumber to arrive that didn't, thought I'd take a look up at Cwmafan, despite my back garden telling me that conditions were probably too strong as I knew SteveJ was already there and I needed to get out of the house aswell.On my approach to Cwmafan I could see that Steve was already in flight with very good alt. and his flight appeared to be very smooth (strange weather Pembrey 18mph, Cardiff Airport 13mph and Mumbles 6mph doesn't make sense),arrived at TO set up but unfortunately wind dropped off and Steve was also forced into landing.Once wind returned, launched and flew 3 beats before slope landing, walked back up to TO and noticed that Nick had joined us(so that'll be the end of any flying after Nick's recent jinx at Cwmafan I thought) and felt that the wind speed had also increased, (third time lucky Nick)after a short wait the wind picked back up so we all launched and I only managed 350' ATO in the gentle thermals that were triggered at the ridge in overcast conditions but never the less thoroughly enjoyed 30 mins flying and still haven't had the chance to practice my 'b' line stall,next time maybe when I'm in 'Hells Teeth' probably .Nice to fly with Nick for the first time even though it wasn't very thermic never mind it's May Day bank holiday weekend so we're bound to have some ideal flying conditions ,TOTAL AIRTIME 31.75 HOURS.       

[AndyH]

26/04/08 Cwmafan with SteveJ after already being there once earlier and deciding that it wasn't going to be flyable, I was pleasantly surprised to find that contradictory to the forecast that it was now(3ish) flyable so started setting up and then discovered that my battery was flat on my vario(probably all of the situations I'd been in this week )as I didn't have a spare battery Steve who was now ready for TO had to unclip himself to provide me with his spare battery, really sorry about that Steve, will always have a spare from now on.We both launched and slowly gained alt. in steady thermal conditions on the warmest day of the year so far,and were also joined in flight with a few buzzards and a kite so I showed them how to fly .Flew for 45 mins and managed 800' ATO until we both bombed out when the wind eased and Nick arrived(you're not welcome at Cwmafan any more Nick because everytime you turn up the wind drops that's twice in 1 week now ).At TO we realised that the wind had also veered to the SW so waited for a short while to see if it was for good,decided that it was and left for Nant y Moel but Nick opted to get himself home.Arrived at NyM to a clear ridge with a few model flyers to the north end that were packing up and leaving slowly as we were setting up.Both Steve and myself launched into a 15-18 mph SSW and played around in extremely weak thermals that took me up to a dizzy 150'ATO in the strongest ones got bored and then messed around with the speed range of my wing at ridge height and clocked up another 45 mins flying.You didn't miss much Nick hope to see you flying soon as I still haven't flown with you yet and I'm looking forward to it.TOTAL AIRTIME 31.25 HOURS.

[AndyH]

23/04/08 Nant y Moel wth SteveJ ,arrived at 11ish to see that it was overcast with a 10-15mph SWerly, by the time I had set up the wind was coming through at a steady 15/16mph PERFECT so launched and enjoyed a nice boat around in dynamic lift whilst Steve was preparing to launch.After about 5 mins the smoothness had stopped and it was begining to feel a little gusty so looked down to see how Steve was doing and saw him taking another wind speed reading which made me briefly consider landing but as I still felt comfortable remained airborne,the next 20 mins were pure hell whilst I failed twice at 2 top landing attempts and was forced to push away for a bottom landing but unfortunately was unable to find any sink so was 400' ATO when I wanted to be on TO,gingerly applied speed bar after yesterdays front tuck but as there were no thermals my wing kept its shape and I began to lose alt. ,it wasn't until I was about 50' above landing zone that height loss became easy and was aware that I had just flown in some strong winds and eventually landed .The very long walk back to TO didn't bother me in the slightest as it was a pleasure to be on the ground,on my arrival back at TO(by which time Ivor had arrived)Steve and Ivor informed me that the wind had gusted upto 34mph on a number of occasions, that's all I thought was that I wouldn't be flying in those speeds again.As the forecast had stated that the winds were going to pick up we left and went to Steve's house for a few cuppa's and some grub, played with google earth on PC and told some stories(wow its a small world).After checking XC weather every half an hour the wind dropped at 4ish suffice enough for flying, so we went back up to a busy N Y M where there were another 9 pilots with the same idea including Steve Milson and some students which was reassuring.Very shortly after our arrival conditions were ideal so we all launched to enjoy a very average evening flying in thermals but I only managed 600' ATO whilst a few other pilots including Steve and Ivor managed 1000'ATO this didn't bother me this evening though as I was just simply enjoying flying in gentle condition .Top landed after a 55mins flight ,what a day,what a sport one minute your s****** yourself then a few hours later its the greatest feeling in the world TOTAL AIRTIME 29.75 HOURS.     

[AndyH]

22/04/08 Bryncaws with SteveJ, arrived at 10ish to 5mph ESEerleys and waited in extremely hazy conditions for the wind to pick up until 1ish when the wind had veered to the SSE and was still too light to fly in anyway.Met up with Ivor at the entrance to the farm and made our way to Cwm Afan on arrival the wind was almost perfect for flying but a tad gusty so launched first and managed a 6mins flight ending in a neat bottom landing in the centre of dead ferns and brambles, as my 2 feet were tangled in this knot was unable to keep my balance with my wing still aloft and hence over I went face first into the lot ,strange thing is Steve had asked me a few hours earlier how I found wearing a full face helmet(well there's your answer)because if it wasn't for my full face helmet my face would have looked even worse.Walked back up to TO by which time Nick and Viv had arrived and Ivor was enjoying a heighty jaunt so I launched to join him whilst Steve replaced the batteries in his vario.Shortly after I launched Ivor landed(doesn't say much for my flying) and I went off in search of a thermal,then another one,then managed to core in it and follow it back over the ridge at 4to5m/s ,had forgotten to zero my alt on TO so was unsure of alt ATO,whilst in flight the wind began to pick up so decided to push away from the ridge to lose alt but in doing this found myself constantly in lift and now realised that I was in the thermal generated by Cwm Afan village so applied the speed bar to fly to sinking air ,after about 30 seconds with the speed bar on I felt weightless as if I were falling and looked up to see the leading edge of my wing had tucked so instantly released my speed bar and heard a reassuring thump above me looked up and then noticed that I also had a small cravat in my left tip and after a few tugs on my control easily came out.Eventually landed in brambles and ferns again(but believe me these ones were a joy to walk in)after an eventfull 39 mins flight got back up to TO and calculated using my vario an altitude of 2,500'AMSL well happy with that especially with Nick there.As conditions were by now too bad for flying we all had a chat on the ridge and for the first time with Nick(thanks for your advice) ,unfortunately conditions didn't alter so called it a day.Learned absolutely loads again today TOTAL AIRTIME 28.5 HOURS.       

[AndyH]

16/04/08 Had day off and as all of our sites were blown out decided to try out Pandy,couldn't persuade SteveJ to go so met up with Ivor at Heol Senni and made our way to Pandy.On arrival there were no PG's at TO only 3 HG's that launched as Ivor and myself walked to the top to take a wind speed reading,recorded wind speed of 25mph on top so walked back down to TO and parawaited for wind to ease(forecast mentioned that wind would ease at 4ish).After a long wait eventually at 4:15 the wind eased to 15-20 mph easterly and we both launched Ivor first then myself,as this was my first time at Pandy I chose to follow Ivor along the ridge to the first pimple at which point Ivor turned back and I carried on and I thought that he had done this so that we both had plenty of room to fly ,but once I had flown around the pimple and tried to turn back the rotor that the pimple created prevented me from gaining any ground speed(even with speed bar on),so decided to gain altitude in an attempt to rise above the rotor using the dynamic lift from the ridge,whilst climbing I also entered into a thermal that took me up to just over 1700'ATO and very close to cloud base so exited thermal and managed to slowly make my way back to TO where Ivor had already landed, and as conditions had also become questionable I also decided to top land. After a few failed approaches I finally landed and had to use the "c" risers as the wind was a tad strong,checked my vario for the flight duration and couldn't believe that I had just flown for 1 hour probably the quickest hour of my life.I must also mention that this site has become one of my favourites after today purely because of its endless ridge well worth the wait and can't wai to fly here again.TOTAL AIRTIME 27.75 HOURS. 

[AndyH]

03/04/08 Seven Sisters for the first time, went with SteveJ and met up with Viv,Alex(i think he was Viv's new boyfriend) and Ivor.After receiving clearance from the site manager we all made our way up to TO but on arrival it was noticed that the wind was extremely light and off to the west so opted to give Fan G. a go as the wind here was so light.Arrived at Fan G.(also my first time here) minus 2 pilots as Viv had managed to disappear and as Alex was following her so did he.Attempted a quick search of the area including a drive further along to Heol Senni(yet another first time here too) but still no sign of the missing pilots.After much discusion between Steve,Ivor and myself it was decided to push on without our missing colleagues as time was pressing on and hoped that they would turn up safely very soon.Arrived at TO at 1ish to a reasonable NNWesterly and launched at 1:20 to enjoy a 45min flight in dynamic and thermal lift up to only 550' ATO still not the 2000' i've been awaiting,eventually wind eased and forced us all to slope land. Walked(crawled) back up to TO had some lunch and waited for wind to pick back up again,the wind shortly improved and backed to the NW and launched again at 2:50 and enjoyed a 20 mins flight that included some low saves that impressed me and on landing was even given a compliment by Ivor and some words of warning informing me of the dangers when performing scratching saves(ie hitting sink and being ready to turn away from ridge).Launched once more and enjoyed another 15 mins fight this one again consisted of scratching around with the occasional small thermal and then top landed.Whilst relaxing and speaking to Ivor we noticed Steve enjoying himself in a thermal and climbing steadily so we both decided to launch aswell,and I managed another 25 mins flight in the left overs of Steve's thermal and also admired the scenery on this stunning afternoon.I watched Ivor fly back to the gates and saw Steve land and begin to pack up so I top landed to pack up too,but on landing Steve told me to get back in the air and fly down so that I could be picked up later(nice 1 Steve can't fault you for that I owe you 1),so took off and flew 2km in 20 mins,WAIT A MINUTE I just had my first XC flight lol.Great day today nice views ,good company,more experience and lots of flying.TOTAL AIRTIME 26.75 HOURS 

[AndyH]

27/03/08 Llety Siac (for first time) with SteveJ ,unfortunately the car couldn't make it up the track so we were forced into the long walk up from the bottom(good to get the exercise)and on the way up couldn't help thinking that this was the sign of things to come.Arrived at TO at 11:30, set up slowly in the light WNWerly and on completion of set up wind began to feel good so I waited for Steve to TO first just to observe him.Once airborne Steve began to climb very quickly and easily so that was enough watching from me and time to get myself airborne to have some of what Steve was having.Managed to TO on 2nd attempt and then followed in Steve's flight path and managed to climb as easily (but I did find things a tad hairy) up to 200' then 300' then 400' then 500' then 600' etc.(you get the idea) all the way up to 1018' ABOVE TAKE OFF my first grand and boy was it worth waiting for ,it felt amazing.Continued to fly for 30mins in thermic and dynamic lift with ease until cloud cover and wind speed stopped play and slope landed.Met up with Steve back at TO and informed him of my newest accomplishment and asked if he'd seen me gesturing to him in flight(punching the air)and he had but he was not aware what the celebration regarded until I eagerly informed him.After the short celebration the wind had picked back up for a second flight(couldn't help thinking about 2000' on this flight) so TO and flew for a further 15mins until wind dropped and backed to the SW ending our day at this site.Decided to go to Mynydd Dinas but on the way noticed that wind was way too strong so we called it a day(a good day).TOTAL AIRTIME 24.75 HOURS.     

[AndyH]

18/03/08 Rhiw Wen with SteveJ 10-15mph northerly and took off at 11:30ish in very light conditions with everything set up correctly and my vario contrast visible thank goodness and managed a 10mins top to bottom flight and struggled to find enough lift to remain at or above TO and a 2 litre bottle of water stuck in my jacket didn't help matters(won't be trying that again).Returned back up to TO by which time the wind had increased slightly and took off again(without the 2 litre bottle of water stuck in my jacket) ridge soared and scratched around in small thermals for 35mins and managed to climb to 450' ATO until eventually slope landing as wind eased.Returned to TO and took off again flew for a further 6mins and slope landed as wind eased once more.Returned back to TO took off again and flew for another 2mins and slope landed just to the right of TO and with the wind feeling a bit stronger took off from this position and flew for a further 37mins in dynamic and thermal lift and still only managed 450' ATO until having to slope land once more.Returned to TO took off again and flew for 9mins and top landed by which time the wind had increased sufficiently for me to TO and fly myself across the road to the right of TO over to the quarry where I then ridge soared to regain alt. but unfortunately got forced down at the top of the shear face and landed untidily in a strong wind at the top after a 25min flight.Walked down to take off from a lower position, so took off and aimed for car park and landed just behind after a 5mins flight.Nice to get back into my harness and fly, although I did find flying this site a challenge in these conditions, excellent practice for someone with my airtime though.TOTAL AIRTIME 24 HOURS.     

[AndyH]

05/03/08 Arrived at Merthyr with SteveJ at 10:05 to a westerly 15-20mph and began to set up only to realise that my vario was already turned on(somehow) and that the screen contrast had adjusted itself to hardly visible so assumed that my battery was flat and was generously donated a battery by SteveJ(and a screwdriver),on replacement of the battery the original problem remained and without the instructions was unable to adjust the contrast just listen to the audible sound for lift /sink.Took off and climbed above TO to about 100-200'(was unsure as I couldn't read my vario)and tried to use my speed bar only to discover that I hadn't connected it up on TO,so decided to gain more height to connect up in flight.After 10mins flying on making further checks also noticed that both my control lines were twisted around risers, so untwisted and then noticed that my risers were also twisted and opted for an immediate top landing to correct all problems and landed perfectly.Managed to sort out problems very quickly but on getting into harness the wing decided to inflate and GO (without me in it)on a long xc flight fortunately I managed to catch up with my wing and harness to prevent it from going too far only to be faced with a Joint Services mini-bus that had been parked just behind TO and fortunately managed to ground my wing just short of it(just like taking 10 Irish Wolfhounds for a walk). Once I was finally ready for a flight it started to rain and so SteveJ landed along with everyone else and we decided that conditions weren't going to improve so quickly packed up in the light rain and left with wet wings.On our way home we chose to go to Aberafan dunes to dry our wings out and do a low flight, with the wind so far off I found it difficult to TO and ended up sand skiing(great fun but hard work avoiding all of the s***)but eventually gave up after noticing that my wing had landed on a short length of 4x2 with six 4'' nails sticking out of it(very lucky that my wing wasn't ripped to shreds on this occasion and I don't think I'll be trying sand skiing again for a while).This is the first time I've flown for just over a fortnight and it just goes to show how rusty you can get in a short space of time so I must now fly at least once a week from now on.Learned loads today mainly to take my time to perform pre-flight checks no mater how eager you are to fly.TOTAL AIRTIME 21.75 HOURS. 

[AndyH]

19/02/08 Arived at Bryncaws at 10ish with SteveJ and met up with StevieG who was already there waiting for the 10-24mph ESE wind to settle down,continued to wait until 1:30 and decided to call it a day.Took SteveJ home and had to return to Neath to pick up 3 tickets for Wales v France RBS 6 nations rugby after my mate called to say he had them,en route StevieG called to say that he was going to sit it out and asked if I was interested,SO I DID.Eventually at about 3:30 everything was ideal and I took off in a 14-18 mph easterly,made my way over to the trees and managed to climb to 450' ato and enjoyed a 1hr 15min flight in smooth conditions(worth the wait),returned to take off along with Karl and we couldn't gain any height to return back to north end of ridge so were forced into top landing as the wind had temporarily eased for about 10mins.After the short wait Karl and myself both managed to hill hug ourselves back up above the trees to rejoin StevieG and other pilot for a further 10min before it got too calm for any of us to remain in flight and top landed.Well done Karl for getting above those trees, that Jocky Sanderson SIV course has done your confidence the world of good, NICE1.TOTAL AIRTIME 21.5 HOURS.