Stevie G's Log Book

[Stevie G]

8/10/08...Rhossili, W, 12-16-20mph, 23-21c, arrived at TO with Chrisy, unpacked and waited half n hour for the breeze to kick in, it came at 1pm, so got in the air, was joined by another Steve, Stuey, Gerry, Ian, Jarred, Tom G, Mark G and Terry, we all filled our boots, got to just under a grand asl, a few of us practicing our wing overs and sats and just generly boating around,... ripped me dham wing 15cm coming out of a sat, advance are just not built for that...yet.. flying window shut iff at 6.30pm... only flew for 2.2hrs... lots of beer..nice

[Stevie G]

28/9/08... Rhossili, W, 13-16mph, 17-13c, got to top take off at 3pm with Scotty, where Gerry and Viv were waiting patiantly for the breeze to kick in, we got our kit out and it started, a little weak at first but building, we all got to fly around but not getting any higher than 940ish ft asl, after an 1.40hrs decided to land and have a beer coz i was gettin cold, it was nice just us few having the hill to ourselves....

[Stevie G]

26/9/08...Bryncaws, SE, 19-16mph, 18-15c, on arrival at Bryncaws, it was strong, but Ifor was there all ready, lots of others around watching, waiting, then it just died off enough for Ifor and my limit, once in the air we were hoofed up fast and just kept rising till we hit a level, it was cold that high 1734ft ato, but a clear view and awesome, a little bumpy on the way up, easy to push out far in front, we just explored as much as we could, after a while i decided to sat my way down and have chat with Paraventure, as the day progressed the breeze eased for all levels and by the end of the day were many pilots... I had a few more flight, one of getting 1940ft ato, and pushing out to the next ridge in front with Ifor, topping up our hieght along the way, getting there I decided to head a curve for Cilfrew and madr it to the power station near the farm, then headed back to take off, a nice little triangle i thought... it was good to see Nick R doing his stuff, he was a very happy bunny, with a big grin on his face for hours after for being back in the air... 18 of us for a drink in the pub after, allways a good way to finish a flyable day..... got 2.20hrs..

[Stevie G]

25/9/08...Pandy, ENE 14-16mph,18c, arrived at Pandy, Ifor and 2 other pilots already in the air, Paul Williams and me took off soon as and headed on for a mini xc, 17km,landed for a short while to chat to Ifor, Steve Watkins and Gareth Davis, then had an other excellent flight, got 1540ft ato, lift 650fpm then later just ridge lift... just boating around, did a sat, luv them, a good day for all... flew 2.28hrs, then a beer and food with the boys

[Stevie G]

20/9/08... Bryncaws, SE 10-15mph, 22c, it started light  with small thermals, later to become constant and bigger thermals, I got to cloudbase a couple of times, sometimes getting 2200ft ato, once high it was easy to stay high... I even had a chat on the radio to a couple of pilots flying at Taly Bont, there were a good few pilots around enjoying the air and practicing and pushing their own skill levels, me too, a good day for most... flew 2.20hrs

[Stevie G]

19/9/08... Rhossili, W 10-15mph, 22c, could start flying at 2pm, tide on way out, Sun shining thru, tiny thermals drifting by, only a handfull of pilots around, we just played in the smooth light winds, only got 240ft above top take off, flying window open til 7pm, nice to see friends on the hill, flew 1.45hrs

[Stevie G]

16/9/08...  Palomaret, SE 16mph, 30c, a late afternoon flight, the locals there allready in the air doing their xc,...we this time just for fun, the air very different from yesterday made it a different experience, cold sea breeze mixing thermic plains and a NE meteo breeze above it, rock and roll at cloud base 4500ft asl, thermals 6.5mps sometimes , but sink just as bad, we had to work it, then everything just stopped, we had a great flight, all landed back on take off, time for beer again, flew 1.15hrs

[Stevie G]

15/9/08... Palomaret, S 15mph, 31c, Palomaret again, our choice, we had a task for today to reach Maigmo, only a 6km xc but with lots of complications to get there, I can see why the comp pilots do this for training... well the 1st hour was a nightmare, i was totaly out of sync with myself, one of those days  when all around you go up but you go down, my vario was sounding like something out of a clanger movie, so i gave up Miagmo and went to float round take of to settle myself, one moment the air was hot then cold, ....still in the air i got it together and decided to try again, cloudbase was low so it made it harder, it took an hour to reach my up hill goal, i wasnt gonna give up, at last i made it, fantastic views, it only took 12mins to get back to take off, man i was knackered, packed up and went for beer... in the air for a solid 2.14hrs

[Stevie G]

14/9/08... Palomaret, SE 16mph, 31c, had an afternoon flight, plenty of locals in the air, huge thermals everywhere, got to 1800ft above take off, giving me enough hieght to do 11k xc to Del Cid, caught thermals on the way to top up hieght,... once there caught more termals to make it back to take off,... then spent the rest of the flight thermaling to cloud base and practicing sats,... Chris did really well, he´s learning to thermal very well and keeping up with the rest of us... after 2hrs flying it was time for beer...

[Stevie G]

13/9/08... Pena Rubia NE 0-5mph, 31c, we had an early flight using thermals, very weak meteo wind, thought it might pick up later on, so we did our best with the termals cycling thru, I managed to ridge hop with the thermals to the next village away, only 7km but couldnt make it over the town for my little adventure as everything shut off,...strange... so made it back to the landing area, to go back up again.... half an hr later thermals were activating from all directions, forwards and backwards on the ridge...no good too strong, strange again, dustdevils poppin off all over the plain, glad we werent in the air, went for coffee wainting for the air to mix and settle... was rewarded at the end off the day on the opposite ridge La Solina we the sea breeze sorted everything out...it comes in a long way inland on the plains.. it was a small 320ft ridge and great fun to fly. thermaling 3.5mps you could hear the gypsys below doing their flamenco... I managed to get 1200ft + ato, flew till the sun went down, got 1.40hrs in the air...tidy

[Stevie G]

12/9/08... Carbo de Santa Pola, E 15-17-24mph, 30c, we only had a 40min window this morning till it blew out for the day, ...just relaxing then... its gonna be good for the weekend so am looking forward to that, ...the boys back home got to fly today, thats good, hope it holds out for them too...

[Stevie G]

11/9/08... Palomaret, SSE 15mph, 30c, we had a late flight as the sun went down, clear skies, gentle thermals, 1.5mps, you could fly the whole valley... it was far too strong all day due to meteo breeze and thermals 30mph+, so we spent the day on the beach... again... ...waiting for it to calm, a pleasant day then a 40min flight to end it with.

[Stevie G]

10/9/08... Palomaret, Alicante, Spain, big site 1000ft ttb, SE-SSE,9-15mph, 30c, heading inland to Goat Mountain to see if it was flyable but sky was too unstable, so stayed near coast to our favourite site Palomaret, by 2.30pm the sun had burnt off the clouds and the sea breeze was gettin closer too, even better, ...we were in the air and flew for 2.40hrs with huge thermals and lift of 3.3-5.5mps, got to cloud base 1500ft ato, 5000ft asl, then the breeze picked up from the east and made it unstable,... we had enough flying and was happy, so it was beer oclock time.... mmm see whot goes tmz

[Stevie G]

28/8/08... Rhossili, W-WNW. 10-15mph, 21-17c, was in the air by 10.30am, joint services were allready there in numbers, there was a good meteo breeze, good visability west, not so good inland East, air snotty at times, cloudbase was low around 950ft asl, good to see Chris W, the old boy Ian on his Geo, Rob & Tina, El Vic, but it started to get claggy bout 3.30pm, wasn't long till game over, could off flown the whole window but socialising is good to, chatting and playing, pint in the pub with Nick, Viv and visitors after, tidy flew 1.30hrs.