It's been a very quiet start of the year so far for me which is why I haven't bothered creating a diary until now! It seems that every time I've tried to plan a day or afternoon flying its either been clearly unsuitable, or I've spent a few hours parawaiting instead!
The best flights always seem to be those spontaneous "let's give it a try" times!
Total flying in 2008 - 8:3020/02/09An evening trip to Rhossili to find that there was barely any wind
Anyhow, after carrying the glider to the top of the hill, it was worth blowing out the cobwebs with an extended TTB. A nice controlled and accurate landing along the beach from Viv, but then speaking later in the pub it seems that she won the spot landing competition that I knew nothing about and going by the rules I was told about afterwards... Next time Viv
Flying time 0:10, total 8:4023/05/09Conditions at Rhossili looking much more favourable! Hoping to fly watching the sunset, but as the wind died 10 minutes before, had to make an inevitable landing on the beach.
Flying time 0:40, total 9:20
14/06/09A few friends came with me to Rhossili. The wind was very light and a bit off to the SW, but they wanted to see the paraglider... After waiting a while in the hope the wind would pick up, I gave in for the inevitable glider full of sand and bugs landing. Tried a forward launch from the pimple, but unable to get enough lift to clear the gorse at the front as I was running towards it. Tried to use brakes to clear it, but the resulting stall put me back on the (boggy) ground just beyond it. At least I did a fairly tidy collapse in the smallest of clearings
Returned to try again, but this time from the small gully at the side which was steeper and better aligned into wind, if a bit small. The theory seemed good! By now the wind was slightly stronger. As I got airborne I was starting to go up! After scraping for a while I gained about 100' above the top. It was nice to get back in the air properly. As it started getting dark, I headed in for a top landing. Not 100% happy with my approach (slightly high), I decided to peel off and try again. The wind must have eased right off because now there was no chance I was going to regain the height, damnit! Back to the beach again...
Flying time 0:20, total 9:4017/08/09I'd seen the weather forecast the night before looking promising, so was ready to leave work early. Monitoring XC weather showed the wind increasing and indicating 20/21 mph in the afternoon. On the webcam I could see 2 gliders out. I was thinking that either the wind speed isn't accurate, or they have a lot more confidence than me! After pondering for a while, I took the chance and jumped into the car. When I arrived there must have been 12 in the air, and close to another 10 on the pimple! I had to set up off to the side, then carry over for take off (first time I've had to do this, there's normally plenty of room!). I was quite nervous as this was the first time I'd done a take off with this much of an audience! Not my most graceful I have to admit, but I was soon climbing out of sight of the spectators! This was the busiest I've ever had to fly in, but those rules of the air lessons were not wasted! I spent most of the time towards Llangennith where it was less congested. As time went on, the schools and many others were packing up and there were fewer and fewer gliders in the air. After a couple of hours I headed further out from the ridge to lose height with some turns, speedbar or big ears before returning at the bottom of the hill to climb back up again. After the sun set, I then returned to the pimple to make some approaches to land before peeling off to the side, climbing back up and trying again. By now there was only 2 of us left. Finally as it was getting dark I came in for a final approach and landed smoothly. Just enough light left to pack up before walking back down the hill in the dark! What a lovely evening, and quite an endurance flight too!
Flying time 3:05, total 12:45 - Woohoo, my first 10 hours completed!!!!
