Set off with Stuart for Hay Bluff and when we got there it was off to the West and howling, so we met up with James at the petrol station and after a bit of a discussion we decided on a day at the seaside. After a pleasant drive through the countryside we got to Rhosilli to find it was quite strong there, but there were two wings flying. Stuart had eggs Benedict for breakfast and I had a coffee and set off down to the beach before Stu and James had finished their tea. I walked along the beach and started rigging, and was able to take off without any drama for once and found that although it was strong it was pretty smooth and I was able to gain a good bit of height. I was soon joined by Stuart on his new Ozone Addict 2, and James on his not so new Axis Vega, both nice gliders. We flew for a while and after 50 minutes I landed cos I was feeling cold and wanted to suit up. I took off again and my vario promptly ran out of electric so the rest of the day was guesswork as regards time in the air and altitude but I reckon that I flew for about six hours and topped 1000ft above the sand. James and Stuart didn?t spend much time on the ground either, and we were joined by Stevie Morgan from Newport on his Independance Dragon, another fine piece of kit. Joint services were on top of the hill lobbing hang gliders off periodically, I was in the mood for playing so I did big big ears several times, and quite a few front collapses and was feeling quite chuffed with myself until James got me on the radio and pointed out that I was doing front tucks with only the middle two pairs of front lines; to do them proper, he said, I had to collapse the front with ALL the front lines. Crikey, grabbing those two outer lines makes a difference! The collapse is more dynamic, more definite and just rolls back that bit further, but the glider recovers just the same, little more of a dive is all. I also got to grips with B lining, which I?ve done before but now I did some sustained B lining, holding the wing down past the first surge and allowing it to settle before releasing it; the first surge can be a little disconcerting as it appears to be going quite fast and looks as if it is going to be a quite dramatic dive, but the wing is under a lot less pressure so it flattens and slows down quite well, then comes back to settle over the pilot. At this stage my wing needs steering to prevent it from going off to the side, first couple of times I just released it, but after a couple of goes I started to get the hang of controlling it. James had a couple of goes at front tucks, quite dramatic looking on his glider, it looks almost like a stall!
Stuart and James landed and were chatting to Mogsie, so I decided to land so they couldn?t talk about me. Stuart offered me a go on his new glider so I clipped in and found it very well behaved on the ground and easy to persuade into the air, even if the wing tip did drag along the top of the dunes. Once settled it proved very easy to fly, light and well balanced so I beat it to the foot of the slope and soared up and out. I did some mild wingovers and then frontalled it, which is a lot easier than on the Mentor, it has maillons that you can get hold of properly! I also B lined it and that was nice and smooth too. It landed easily and collapsed without any drama. I really like this glider; anyone want to buy a medium Nova Mentor?? James offered me a go on his glider too but I decided to save that for another day!
Eventually someone landed on the Pimple, just to prove that the wind was dropping, but we noticed that he didn?t take off again, so we stayed airborne. Other pilots turned up and someone did get off from the Pimple, so I landed there for a break. Nick Roberts turned up too and took off to get some really spectacular height off the North end of the ridge, and then flew back along the cliffs and over to the Wyrm, where he got some really impressive space between his harness and the sea. The wind had veered to the North and when Stevie G phoned me and I described conditions to him he advised me to try and soar the cliffs, so I took off and soon was scooting along 50 ft above the path along the cliffs with Mogsie for company. He is more adventurous than me and he was flying out over the sea, maybe he can swim better than I can! Eventually I felt that the wind was dropping a little so I called Nick on the radio to ask if I could land on the cliffs and I was told NO! So I headed back to the Pimple, being prepared to turn for the beach if it looked as if I wasn?t going to make it. Fortune was with me and with a bit of manoeuvering I was able to slip onto the Pimple, well pleased with myself. A stand up landing, always a bonus for me, was the cherry on the cake.
Chatting to Nick afterwards he mentioned that he had been fishing before coming flying, and had caught two sea bass and was going to have one for his tea; I innocently asked about the other one and he very generously gave it to me! I followed him down to the car park and he not only gave it to me, he gave me the biggest one. And he had gutted it already! Jen had done a cooked dinned when I got home but we had the bass the night after and it was lovely, I shall have to learn how to catch them myself.
I took a picture of Nick flying over the sea, he may upload it so that others can look and wonder. I had a hell of a good day, that one day alone more than validates the cost of joining the club, everything else is a bonus as far as I am concerned, including the fact that I get to fly with some really nice people!
