Fluffy Whispy Lover : Advance XC Team

Quixada

2011-11-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

Day 6... now that is what I am talking about...

sunrise at 5ish: check

nice blue sky and no cirrus: check

As Matt was busy uploading his third 200km flight here in Quixada we were a tad late for take off, at least the day was looking good with the first fade whisps popping over the take off. Off we go and at 7:00 it looks that it is launchable. I get ready and at 7:30 I take off, 7:40 and I am climbing close to base, yooohooo this is it. I can taste victory or at least I am given the chance for a big flight. Over the back I scratch and this time I get some help from some birds. It is a great feeling thermalling away, drifting downwing at that time of the day. So if I stay up I be in the 300-400km range.

I fly slow, the sky gets better but the clouds don't dissipate very fast and it starts feeling in. I get low a couple of times but manage to get back up. But as I found myself under an area of spreadout and upwind the big lake can't get back to base, GAME OVER 40km from take off.

But boy it felt good while it lasted, that is why I came here for, chance to put the big flight in, well tasting victory is sometimes as good as victory itself :) will fight another day.

40 minutes after I landed I spot an R11 gliding over my head, good luck I shout on the radio. The sky had now opened up, Raf on his R11 is still flying 300km+, wonder what time is Matt going to be back as he is on the same retrieve car...

Day 5

The wind looked as strong on the ground but a thin layer of high cirrus clouds meant that the thermals were not as strong. It was possible to take off early today, in fact for what I know it could have been ok yesterday as well, it is just that there weren't any hard-core Quixada pilots about to let us know and it looked howling to us. I took off at 08:00 am, I found a thermal with what felt like a strong core and committed over the back. Unfortunately although I tried to maintain in zeros and -0.5m/s, I didn't manage to escape the sink and landed at the same spot as yesterday with no forward speed. Had another go for a take off as it was still earlier than 10:00 but bombed out out the front. Wednesday looks promising for 300km I am going to wait for that.

What I mean by "it is not worth going for the 200km" is that Matt for example came back at the hotel at 02:00 am this morning, no doubt fresh for another day :)

Day 3-4

The retrieves are so difficult over here, and waiting at take off so tiring that really demands for being picky whether to fly at all or not. My goal being 300km I have a time deadline of 10:00 am, if I am not in the air by then I am standing down.

Today it was possible to take off at 10:00ish which would put me in the 200+ -300- range, a vertical Quixada take off but didn't reach base before I started getting blown off the hill so made a run for it and didn't connect over the back, being rather low made the safe decision of picking my landing spot rather than the trigger. Had I gone back to take off I would have been able to have a go for a 150+ flight but then I would be tired for tomorrow, saving myself for the early days.

Tomorrow looks similar to today but there is hope for tuesday. Being early back at the hotel means that I could have a go at doing some analysis on python, oh the joys of technology.!

Day 2

Got some flying in today.

Tactic of the day : "if you can't be bothered, then straight line-it"

Had the pleasure of a proper Quixada take-off, glad it looks worse that it feels like, also realised that during take off one of the speedbar hooks came off, so I sat it out being blown upwards a tad bit backwards until I was at a safe altitude to do something about it.

Day1

and me and Matt spend it sleeping in a hammock!

not bad, but not flying is much more tiring than flying for some weird reason, especially mentally!

Sky was looking lovely,

and we are looking for an

early start ~6:30 am tomorrow

Records or Bones...

2011-11-06T09:19:00.001-08:00

...Something is going to give...

...and I sure hope it is the first one. Realistically not putting at least a personal best in Quixada should be rather difficult. I have achieved more than 38km/h average speeds before over an entire flight and this alone should put me in the 300k league with a good endurance flight. Sure this is not a world record braking year in Brazil, as they are having a wet season but good days will come.

I need a 300k to come back smiling, am I going to get it? Tactics, tactics, think I need to train myself to fly slower again and this is a great opportunity, will have a tons of days to fly (what was I really thinking when I booked three weeks to brazil? well this is beyond me :) ).

Here is another link which I think it is better suited for tracking my SPOT signal: http://chorlton.homeip.net/spotmap/scottish.html

Next blog entry from Quixada hopefully after the first good flight in Brazil.

Reset

2011-10-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

It is now well and truly tested and if something is consistent then that is the "reset" button a visit to the Dolomites does to one's psychology. Once I again I spent a truly amazing 4 days flying from Col Rodella, this time I found myself exploring a bit more of the area. Seems like last year's flying hasn't all gone to waste, I certainly have developed a better eye and feel for flying.

The cherry on the cake was the three days I spent after the trip to the Dolomites doing an SIF in lake lugano. I surprised myself by finding how much I loved executing full stalls. Now I am all too keen in D-bagging from a Hot air ballon or just rolling over if it be hard to get hold of the D-bag

Always look at the bright side...

2011-05-05T01:19:00.000-07:00

It has to be said, this has been a personal best in a continuous run of PWs (personal worst) for me this year. But some times you have to look at it from the bright side :). From the reserve ride in Mexico and some nervousness that left on me, to the streak of mediocre flights in Scotland and a broken hand last Monday. It is probably unfair to blame it to stress coming from personal life but it may have contributed a bit.

There is always a way you can twist reality to translate bad things into positive. so yeah it has been a personal best.

ride on

"This is Trias"... "Over and Out"....NOT

2011-04-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

To say the last two days had been incredible frustrating would be a gross understatement. In two days I managed to loose my three main and to mind achievable competitive paragliding goals.

Yesterday the Scottish Open Distance record (Well done to Ian Miskin for his flight with an Omega 8 from blackmount to Dungavel ~130km), got busted while I suffered seeing the guys flying overhead at about 50k.

An even harder punch today when the UK national triangle record fall...but to the wrong hands. After planning the flight and picking the hill it was me that landed short of goal with three other pilots completing the task. A fantastic day though, never had I experienced such good conditions in Scotland before.

Lost the will to live mind you competing in the xcleague. Hard to find any motivation or money for 5 hour drives to the long mynd. Obviously with the ridicilous amount of points gained by this triangle flight (as it has been declared beforehand) the guys are ahead of me by more points than I will score at the end of the season (that bad).

So I am checking out.

On a different perspective, I really enjoy flying my Omega 8, and this would be the first time I consider my wing as a friend. It is very comunicative in a good manner, especially with thermals. It sniffs them from miles ahead and makes sure you get the point, fantastic.

This is Trias Over and Out.

...what the fuck am I going to do now with my life...

EDIT

I am of course not checking out of anything. I am incredibly frustrated I didn't take that last climb 2500ft in to the cloud so that I would make the glide to the Kinghouse, but I thought the next cloud would be ON but it wan't.

C'mon weather, throw me a good one!

I am climbing out of Balquhidder...

2011-03-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

silence......radio noise....""I am climbing out of Balquhidder""" I shout on the radio and as the route selection pays off I am rewarded with a nice climb to base and into a small cloud.

and despite bob outflying me, me landing on a pathetic 27km in Callander; same field as last year, it was enough to put a smile on me, lasting the day after,

what a funny sport.

I told you so...

2011-03-25T01:55:00.000-07:00

I sure thing didn't heard it through the grapevine but I am listening to it non stop the last couple of days, good old tune that is eh.

Ok I lost another good opportunity yesterday for good flying, DT demonstrated it was at least 92km day, nice one Dave. It is one of those moments when you could say I told you so, I certainly woke up yesterday in a stunning bit of Sky, it was bright alright, just a bit of haze near the ground and it was cold the night before. It sure thing felt good, and yet mr RASP was only predicting a less than moderate day... Now this is where it becomes interesting, did I know better and how much I can afford knowing better than mr RASP. I took the decision that if I am going to have to take a few days off this year (as usual for flying) I should at least stick to weather models, or I end up nowhere, franticaly driving up and down in moderate forecasts "hoping" it is better than predicted, in most cases it is more like blind fate anyways.

I guess what I am left with is doing less flying than I would normally do, but very much doubt it, things tend to even out at the end.

Just another thing, If I don't get at least 2x flights over 100 points by the end of June, I am dropping the QUEST for the holy grail and going on holiday, who know I may just go somewhere nice and warm for a change.

Vol libre my friend; vol libre

How to become a SAD pilot!

2011-03-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

Are you an aspiring pilot enjoying XC and reaching for big flights... but you rather be stressed and sad..?

...then read on! a long term strategy to bring out the worst of yourself

As friday's forecast was looking exceptionaly good I took the decision it was worth skiving for. A 100+ day for sure and I am all about numbers these days. I decided you see to fly myself to the top of the XC-league and suffer all that this decision brings with it.

The weather was true to forecast and all good to go. My wing decided to have a go at me and start folding it's leading edge in benign air but I got it sorted in time, "Stop flying like a freaking Tesco bag and fly like a glider", I think to myself, but didn't let this get at me and keep on flying. I push on over the back, and Lukasz (a new young pilot in the club) comes along. A cat and mouse catch up game with some of the other gliders for the first 30km and I keep on pushing as some people fly a bit slower while a couple take a line further west into higher ground.

There are a few MATZ in the area (military aerodrome traffic zone) and not for a second I consider an attemp of crossing them. This was of course a very bad decision (as this line followed the wind direction) but I had lots of reservations of getting close and personal with controled airspace due to recent loss of a good flight due to airspace infringement, so I play safe. As the wind was due to veer to a northerly further south and west, I follow my pre-flight plan of followng a cross-wind path to get in a gap of airspace and align downwind after Yok.

I meet Brendan and a Nova glider, we share a few turns and then I press on, I am not into following people in the Sky, I have my own plan and stick to it. I get a scare when I encounter a disused aerodrome-had I misread the map again? nah getting closer it is obvious that is not being used. I glide to a nice cloud now, it is obviously active and looks as my best bet, but nah, what the heck...is this yet another ATZ, I change my plans as I see some activity but it is too late when I realise that it is a gliding centre.... This was a detrminant shot as I lost my best chance of getting re-stablished in a good line to the coast. I land somewhere south of York at about 80km from take off.

But there isn't a nice warm cudly feeling isnide me, I didn't achive my 100km mark that was my goal for today, and not need for celebrations. Can't blame my bad luck for it but at least I did learn a couple of things today. Surely last yeat I would have been happy having flown 80k, but now it is not enough. The competitive beast inside me has taken over, is paragliding less enjoyable for me. Surely not, every time I climb out and get to base, I feel like there is no place I rather be than up there, yet the goals required to allow myself and psychological award are higher, the bar has been raised, and god help me I hope my performance this year follows the same trend.

Bring it on 2011, I 'll be there to fight :) , and if I loose... I will learn a couple of extra things about the sport and who knows, maybe even competition psychology :)

Revelations of a shooting star

2011-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Days 1 to 4

So here I am in Valle de Bravo; living the Dream. Nice weather, albeit the pressure a bit high, getting super quality time every day.

Day one, I didn't enjoy it in particular, played about near take

off, El Penon and the Wall, I noticed I wasn't thermalling very good as I was not top of the task, which is what happened most of the times in the past. I was of course a bit apprehensive of my new wing as it had previously packed up on me in laminar air back in Scotland for no apparent reason, but reckoned it was my bad lack. I was getting quite a few tip rustles today and although not a problem I thought It was a bit of waste of energy.

Day two, I was getting better already in thermalling and went to do my own thing, was feeling much more comfortable and even more when I had to scratch from low close to terrain in disorganised list and got up, nice one trias I thought. Suprisingly I am not getting as many tip collapses as yesterday so I must have tuned to the wing's brake pressure.

Days three, now was feeling at home, had another

nice XC, even more great time, some rough patches of lift, some little screamers and it was all good times. The glider is very but very agile, I found myself having to use more outside brake to stop the wing diving when I want to turn tightly in strong cores. I should mention that the whole thing feels a lot more natural and tip rustles are almost no present.

Day four minus half, take off thermal up and head to the wall just before El penon, everyone else heads to the wall after El penon (I should by the way check if there is a reason for this... ;) ). Anyway I arrive just at the tree line of the wall and since there are some bubbles about I decide to stick to it and get up. The thermal is very disorganised, the bubbles come up strong and go, the wing Is pitching about. Although the bubbles that come up are very strong I am not actually gaining any height cause it is very very broken, but I stick with it...

If stay more here I am going to end up in the trees I think to myself.... and it wasn't long after that after some pitching up, pressure of the wing decreases a lot, I try to catch it but possibly shoudn't as the glider's speed is very low now, and flooop goes a big assymetric, don't ask me how big, possibly 80%, I see the glider has a huge cravat, I was by the way not more than 30-40m above the trees. Pumped it once, nah, ok reserve is out.

...Ok, what I am thinking now (a week or so later) is that I will f course keep flying the glider, probably stay a bit further from terrain until I get to know it a bit better.

I will put another entry on what will follow with the upcoming Monarca. But if I don't here is what I think: I like scratching low and close and get up and I don't think I can do this safely with this wing. I also think as I have already lost control of the wing twice, admittedly once with good reason, I ain't ready to take this extra risk, I am calling it "Quits Mate".

The local dealer says that they have too many reserve tosses and he is out of reserve container bags and handles but in any case, I drink to that, I say.

Mi nombre es Paco y me encanta México

2011-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to head to Valle de Bravo in Mexico, ticking yet another paragliding hot-spot off my list. At the same time this is going to be my first "traditional" PG competition as opposed to Open distance XC style.

A couple of months ago I didn't even want to hear about comps and now I booked myself to attend three of them :) , well , I thought what the heck I need to improve as a pilot and flying alone XC is only so much better you can get.

Anyways will keep you posted on this new experience and also on how my new Eris 4 behaves on full bar heavy loaded.

I have a "cunning" plan too... Considering performance of my wing does not come anywhere near that of the R10s, and that probably my only strong card is my climbing skills; I am going to try to maximise the time I thermal alone away from big gaggles in order to make the most of my climbing skills. This probably involves leaving a bit earlier from thermals in search for the next lone spot ;) , you reckon I get some leading points too?

Organised chaos

2010-09-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

or how to fly 180km from Karaman get a lift a bit further away from base and make the trip to the airport in just about time, while your passport has almost a mind of its own

...the night before...

walking to the "hotel" after dinner and a visit to a smoking cafe for some water pipe action, the moon looks surprisingly clear and so do the stars, this clarity in the air is bound to be a good sign for tomorrows flying.

...the flying...

the breeze feels a bit strong but surprisingly enough the first couple of gliders that take off show the air is super soft, so I take off. No bother boating about near launch but instead push the speed-bar and head out to the hill upwind, it is bound to be fed by more thermal sources ,the flats, rather than the high take off of Karadag.

I establish some height and after that it is a matter of applying the well trusted scottish flying technique: never turn down lift, drift when desperate even in -1m/s and push the bar when feeling in high spirits. Surprisingly I am even rewarded with some height through the inversion up to ~3500m and a tad of convergence that help me gain some distance. Thermals are very soft even low down, but I must have been tired towards the end of my flight as I fail to connect with a good line that would possibly extend my flight by another 30k and land.

...the battle...

Yes, yes No problem

The more you ask the more different answers you get, the more you get confused. But more often than not when the universal signs of desperation show off you get a reassuring yes, yes, no problem. I guess they are right, so what if I don't make it to airport in time. At the end of the day I should be staying in Turkey for another week, but work guilt kicked in, I had to be back.

Your GPS coordinates are wrong, comes the message from Murat, the event organiser, not sure if he is in disbelief of the distance I covered or if the coordinates are truly wrong, so I get another fix send it again. How far did you fly Trias? comes back Murat,...I guess it must be disbelief.

A bunch of kids lead me to the village cafe near where I landed and I am offered chai, waiting for the military police to pick me up. Everyone is super friendly, they don't accept any money for the plenty of chai I drink and we ponder in attempts to communicate with each other although not much goes through, it feels good though.I get a lift to cappadocia and handed over to some even more friendly people, I am offered plenty of food and drink and a bed to sleep. The place looks nice and the people seem happy.

I wake up and waste no time, chai, yes I have some more thank you very much. I tell them I have to get to Antalya and they make some calls to see how I can get there, I say I have spoken with the organiser and he will be arranging something for me, if I only knew.

Murat texts I have to be to Konya by 7:00 if I am to make it to Antalya, hmmmm how do I get there though. From that point an almost epic retrieve of odessian magnitude would begin. I start walking to the bus station but thankfully someone gives me a lift, the bus to konya has left, next one in six hours....err that is not going to work for me. I am lucky that the guy offers me lift to the next city 20km away. As we get there he realises the bus station has moved from where he thought it was so we drive about asking the locals. When we get there I realise I have not enough money to get me to my destination but even worse the buses seem to be full and will have to get a bus to an intermediate destination. It seems that the word "parachutist" does the trick and the guy at the counter accepts the 7 tuskish liras I hold for a ticket worth 15 and off I am with a bus leaving within minutes of me arriving to the station. This almost perfect coincidental timing is going to repeat over and over again until the very end of the journey.

Two young guys heading to Konya too so somehow they accept a guardian role, I feel better too. At the end of this bus ride I find an ATM and get some money with my credit card, it seems we have to get a taxi ride to another bus station. As we arrive there I quickly spot a bus with a sign to my destination, people are borading it, seems like it will be going soon. We rush into the station to buy tickets. It seems we have to run the whole lot of different operators before we find out that the bus is full, hmmmmm. I run out again search for the ticket inspector and the driver, I sign that I need to get into the bus, No full, they gesture back to me. I don't give up, I run around the bus like a turtle with my paraglider on my back. I need one ride to Konya, please, I keep trying please just one please, I make the begging gesture, that is bound to go through . The ticket inspector had either had enough or felt sorry for me cause he points I should load my bag. I feel relief, had I been flying I would be on full speed bar now, "In Salah" I shout to my two guardians who have been watching me, probably in disbelief from a distance as I was trying to board the bus. A small compartment under the bus with a blanket laid on it would be my sit, surprisingly I have to share with another two, that would do.

In Konya now and I head to the contour office where my passport with the rest of my belongings left in Karaman at the hotel the day before should be waiting for me. Naaaah, they are not there yet. Aparently the bus from karaman to konya was full and they have to wait for the next one. It is going to arrive here at 7:00 but 7:00 is when my bus to antalya also departs. hmmmm

I have a couple of hours now before I have to do anything else, I grab some food and plenty to drink. The bus with my passport and my bag is here, I quickly spot a black bag with my name on it and attempt to grab it but, NO, comes back a young guy that must be the ticket inspector. There is some sort of formality going on here, I have to fill some forms I think, I don't really understand, I spot a Turkish pilot that met in Karaman they days before so I try to get some sense out of it.

My bus is leaving soon, I point, I have to get my bag and go. After a while something seems to get sorted or maybe not, but I tear the black bag get my stuff out and run for my bus.

How long does it to get to Antalya? I think I asked 3-4 different people and I got an equal number of different answers but I don't really have a choice I have to go with the flow. My flight departs at 02:00, it is 12:30 and we are still not there. Luckily someone else is heading for the airport, Yes, yes No problem. We get out of the bus in the middle of a dual carriageway, hmmm. We should get a taxi, it seems that there are two taxis on the other side of the road, so we cross over but by that time the taxis are gone and after a minute they are at the exact place we got dropped of the bus, nice. Check in closes at 01:00, it is not 12:50 and still no sign of a taxi. A couple of free ones pass but don't seem to stop. I try to hitch hike in vain.

Thankfully a taxi stops and within minutes we are at the airport, Which terminal? the driver asks, errr, Thomas cook, I reply back, Yes but which one both one and two Thomas Cook, returns the driver. I pool my old ticket from the bag and says Terminal 2.

Well it turned out that it wasn't the right one, as once I clear the x-ray machines I don't see my flight on the monitors, more hectic running and at the information desk they point me towards Terminal 1. Off to get a taxi and straight to Terminal 1.

As we fly somewhere over continental europe and almost asleep I get the feeling of panic that I won't make it in time, in time for what I rationalise I am already in the plane.

...did I mention that I won the comp...

XC Turkey

2010-09-21T06:29:00.001-07:00

300k? Nah, don't think so...

So it happens that NATO and the Turksih airforce are having a military exercise immediately to the north of the take off meaning that we have to fly cross wind for about 70km before can do anything else.... yeah right.

Having said that, Mads I think managed to escape somewhere further away than the rest of the pilots that bombed out pretty close to the mountain, maybe an extra 2km? :)

Conditions were sharp, but not strong, although not quite bumpy , just sharp, this is new to me.

With the military exercise continuing throughout the period we are staying here, well I am not going to hold my breath for even anything close to 100k, in fact I think the organisers should change the trophy from 300km to 30km but even then I think it be quite tricky.

hmmmmm,

Oh the pleasure of paragliding that is, fucking typical.

Set the control for the heart of the comp

2010-09-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that as I am preparing to leave for XC-Turkey, I have aspirations to race to win or get as close to the podium as I can get. I think choosing a strategy for the assault is probably as important as being able to fly well. I am going to go for slow but consistent flights that match my flying style too, that being the slow part rather than the consistent :)

In previous occations in XC, flying slow can take you the extra mile and it seems that the penalty compared to experienced XC hounds flying fast can be of the order of ~40Km per 140km flown. So I am counting on consistency to boost my spirits and if the right moment arrives to go for the "holy cherry".

Having been promised high bases and long flights the venue is more than promising. A quick look at the synoptic charts though it unfortunately looks like we are going to have a headwind for the first week, which is also the time when we are going to be flying from Karadag. Karadag being the 300km+ attemp take off it looks like we may not get the chance, but I am confident that if the weather is there to fly 300 I have some pretty good chances of doing it. My PB flight being 200km (ok 198km to be precise) I be happy of adding another few extra clicks to it.

...and if everything else fails I am going to enjoy the fine Turkish cuisine and maybe a tan.

Confidence and Fear in thin Air

2010-09-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

A case study.

Fly long enough and you will get into a narly spot, it is how you come out of it that really matters.

Back in spring when the weather was flyable, I had two memorable flights from Aonach Mor. It wasn't the points scored in the xcleague, but the immense views of the West Highlands combined with the mostly overcast and snowy conditions garnished on top with good thermals.

Personally I don't like smooth conditions, not because they are not safe, not because it is not pleasant thermalling in silky smooth wide thermals all the way to base, but because conditions like that disillusion you of the rough properties of thin air and reduce your comfort levels when the conditions get strong. I am often more stressed in weak and mildly bumpy conditions rather than during full on armed combat. But maybe it is not the comfort levels that make me enjoy it but the brain capacity to have an opinion for them in the first place.

Back to my case study, the second of my spring flights was done in windy conditions. I followed the same line as the on the day before but maybe pushed a bit too early over the back on the mammores (the hills south of Ben Nevis) and got myself nicely pinned on a ridge scratching the rocky terrain flying past the walkers. Ever since I got the XC bug I have been doing less and less flying in just soaring days (practicaly almost none). Meaning that when during a flight I have to spend a good time staying up scratching dynamic lift it almost feels like a different sport better to be avoided, as I have probably dissociated it from good flying days. This put me in a situation where I had seen enough of it and the moment a boyant enough bubble gave me not many feet of gain above the ridge I dived for it and run over the back.

I was expecting to be hit buy either rotor or leeside. I am usually more concerned about rotor as at the time I hadn't experienced a strong enough leeside thermal. Sinking over the back I flew past a just noticable shear layer which must have been the rotor from the wind, and past that the sink got significantly stronger. I was getting low and considering my options. Not knowing what to expect I though it be wise to stay off the bar just to minimise the severity of the glider reactions should I get collapses. The other option would be of course to speed bar it through trying to get to the lee thermal as high as possible avoiding the low badly organised air.

Going 8m/s down when "Boom", glider explodes over my head, a little symmetric brake and the glider comes back in the right place and shape so it is all good and then I hit the leeside bubbles. A strange thing and feeling as I am now getting some lift but gosh I have to work for it. The thermal is extremely bumpy and I as I get my glider into the core and turn, parts of the glider both on the inside and the outside of the turn explode in succession masking with noise the beeps of my vario. I can only hope this horrid show does not stop, and don't care a bit at how bumpy it is, as I have no intentions in landing and UP is my only desperate hope. After some more turns I must have escaped the disorganised lift and the thermal gets less aggresive. Phewwwwwwww! Will live to tell the tale, not reserves thrown either.

I was of crouse pretty happy that I had dealt with this as I did but didn't really want to deal with another beast of the same nature on the same day. So when 20km down the line I get low flying backwards on the side of a hill, I think I reached my limit, risk managment mode on, this is just too much. I push the speedbar, unfortunately I hit good lift which is a blow to my pride as I have to turn it down, no intentions of going up, I have made my choice: flight is over I am going to land.

I think it is good to be decisive even if some times this means ending a flight prematurely or before the weather has given up on you first. Had I had the opportunity to fly the same flight, I would have probably taken all the same decisions, I would probably spend some extra time trying to get higher before diving for the lee but would also have dealt differently withthe last part of my flight. I would have taken the thermal as high as possible and choose the best line over the back. Confidence was certainly a winner after this flight, I realised I had some extra capacity to deal with rough air and carry on flying.

Why buy an non-certified wing now...

2010-09-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

because:

# I can't let Bob flying a higher performance wing than I do next season

# Everyon else will be flying an M4 and don't like herds

# A dude said that Eris 4 is OK

# It is this time of the year where you have to buy something

# If you are going to do something stupid better do it when you are still young

# I need the highest perfomring compromise to get something in the xcleague next year

# Brendan survived St Andre on his R09 and even enjoyed it... how hard can it be

...Eris 4 ordered

..show mercy on our souls...

2010-08-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

My teeth are chattering, sweat drains down my face, I can't tolerate anything more than decaf tea,... I haven't had a good flight for a while...yet again another scottish summer...

Oh weather stop teasing us, just one more good day, is it too much to ask after two months of s&^%e weather.

...and another day there was(16/08/10) , and I managed to bomb out, nice one trias

Nothing like the Sma Glen...

2010-05-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

...but one step at a time on a two moves ahead basis does the trick

With high pressure over the weekend and some cold air moving in from the north due the following week I decided to can flying and arranged to go cycling with my sister...but guess what; I went flying instead, again.

With Bren, David and Alistair and a few more folk heading to loch doon after as we set off for an earlish start. It appeared that the air was not everyones favourite but I didn't make much of the conditions myself.

It was a bit broken and cross on the hill but eventually when some stronger thermals came through I stuck in one of them and went with no masses of height over the back, the climb felt strong so I was a bit dissapointed that I was dumped over the back taking me not even close to base, I was at least going to clear the forest...

A very shallow hill with a patch of forest and powerline for decoration appeared as my only option, yumeee you say. Well I almost got dumped on the trees scratching looking for a thermal, but something was clearly being brewed and so being patient got rewarded with a nice climb. The choice was now obvious and looking rather good as well but yet again it didn't quite work as per textbook. Nice big and into the wind hill, plus a nice bowl for thermal harvesting. Sure enough I got a climb and once more dumped me over the back. Can you see the recurring theme or should I elaborate.

While I probably had some height to clear the hill over the back, which was unfortunately lower than the one I had just left,in the lee, I decided to stay with it. It got a bit rotory in times as I had to spend some time srcratching desperate for a thermal to get out the ugly spot.

Eventually I climbed out and vowed to stay high at all costs for the rest of the journey, especially near big hills as there was a bit of wind around but surpisingly not much wind gradient higher up so the speed bar was to be used to it's max.

From there the rest of the flight was pretty much straight forward. With a SW wind and a convergence line with a couple of streets forming at slightly cross directions and clearly sign-posted by the blue conditions to the north and south of the line.

Got a bit of a scare when just one km from the edge of the 5500ft airspace I got alarmingly close to it but managed to a escape. I had just dumped my ballast on the previous climbed as conditions were getting weaker, which was maybe why the bar didn't quite make the job.

From there a lovely climb on super silky lift from very low to 5000ft+ and on onto my final glide. I was going to follow some clouds downwind but realised I was aligned almost perfectly for a Final on the runway of an aerodrome downwind, WHAT??? where this F&*(*ng thing came from? ...but I later found out it was disused , pheww.

So, didn't make it to the coast...sorry David... but nice flight

I made my way to Peebles and stayed with David and Beth for the night, and got treated with a super-duper evening, inlcuding, meal, beer, wine and lots of other nibbles as well as a campfire outside, surely a night to remember. Thank you lads

You know there is a DARK cloud above you...

2010-05-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

When

...there is a dark cloud above you but no lift

...the airmass is acrtic maritime but all you can find is sink

...you pick the odd bad day out of three classic ones to go flying

...and the best one you decide to stay home for tea and biscuits

...you decide to land once you have cleared the difficult ground for safety's sake

...leave your instruments at home and go chasing records

When all the above are happening also to you, I reckon you better sit out, let it pass and wish for the wind of change. It is probably a bit late as it is late may already, oh well maybe another year :)

Never trust the smile of the meerkat

2010-04-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Strongish wind forecast with strong thermals early in the morning with a forecast for a drop in the thermal strength (presumably due to OD) and some decrease in the wind strength,

On the hill the sky development is just classic but it feels that it is blowing a gale... and who knows it maybe is. So we just wait. Eventually watch says it is pretty late we better take off if we are to do anything of the day, DT got me to it and up in the air we are. Matt is pushing well out of the hill, I push for a bit fly through some lift turn back and eventually get rewarded with a strong and solid climb to base, remember not to clip the 5500ft airspace ceiling above, and it looks booming. I look at the rest of the guys still some 3oooft below me and the meerkat throws a grin.

On the bar and off downwind, not long after and in another climb still at 5000 or pretty close, lift is good and maintain the full bar no reason to clip the airspace now there is no way to get back to the hill as I am well commited over the back and high. I am dolphining now as I can maintain fast but also high flying, I look at my GPS and I am logging 75+km/h and Meerkat throws a well fat smile.... well you know that smile... never trust it.

I look ahead and I can see the line, I have it bagged I think to myseld, whatever that "it" is :) , and that was the point when all turn pearl shape. Having eventually flown out of the strong line I got a bit undecisive in chosing between two different obvious lines and as it happesn go between, the lift is now pretty weak, there is bound to be another booming climb, don't be supid you can't turn into these slow climbs Trias, carry on I say to myself, keep the speed up untill you find the strong one, keep it on, and I keep searcing untill I land.

Fuck this

The pleasure of finding thigs out...or how the spring has finaly sprung

2010-04-03T04:45:00.000-07:00

...a bit too early at work today, but although I had no plans to skive, as the forecast was good I thought of checking that wee hill near Dundee at Abernyte that would take a S, SE. While working in the lab I look at the sky for cumulus development and at 11ish I set off.

Arriving there I decide that the hill to the right although a bit smaller and less steep has a couple of really good sources, that being two ploughed fields and a farm. I ask the farmer If it is OK to fly from the hill, and weirdly enough he says he cannot give me permission to fly becuase he doesn't owe the hill but he is not bothered with me landing in his farm, so he says for this one off just go :) .

There is a good breeze on the hill and the clouds are getting better and better, surpisingly I find I have better pentration into the wind than I thought so I stay close to the hill searching for thermals. A coule of little punchies come through, the sky downwing looking "good" and I am getting a bit anxious if it is possible at all to hook on a good thermal for the ride to base. I push away from the hill towards the farm, still boyand and with some patience doing this a couple of times I am rewarded with a good climb and off I take it over the back.

YYYYYoooooooooooohoooooooooooo, that is me climbing out from a hill never flown before (?...) going XC, this is the good stuff, rock 'n' roll and all that S^%t :)

From there I scratch a bit low, get high again on a river bank at coupar angus, and from there worked my way to Dunkeld. I stop above the loch near the golf course in Dunkeld not to enjoy the views but becuase it is actually working, scratching but I ain't going down either. Not long after as I push for the hill above Dunkeld I am rewarded with an arm-puller little screaming thermal and get established a bit higher than before and in the cloud.

While I can see a nice active fluffy downwind in the valley I am not sure whether I can make the glide so I go further west to a little platue topped with nice looking white stuff and there is where I got really low scratching above some lochans almost getting out of my harness to land and not long after scratching low over a forested area. But my confidence in finding a thermal over there was quite high (no sure why, maybe the adrenaline rush :) ) but as close as I was to climbing out, so close I was to a tree landing too.

From there over to aberfeldy then over loch tummel and off towards A9 and ... cairngorms (?) ...gulp.

Sky ahead not particularly active and have not been in a strong climb for almost half an hour, two ""cloud streets"" lead over the big hills and would have been more than keen to go over if it was looking good, but even the two funny cloud street features are pretty shallow, not sure what to make of it, it is 15:30...mmm maybe the day is over,--landing mode unconsciously switched on...-- I should jump to the cloud street to my west, I think, and maybe carry on. But I leave my thermal before I top it out and to my not surprise off to my landing spot.

Gordon in a camper van on his way to glasgow picks me up and he drives me all the way to mey car, cheers man. Back to the farm the farmer seems a lot happier and a tad surprised to see me droped off. He then admitts that the hill used to be a hang gliding site :) ,what are the odds e. Anyway, he is happy for me to go back and I am even happier than before.

Nice flight, but ever since have been beating myself over leaving my last thermal and not having more confidence on the day, maybe it was truly over but I guess I never know :)

De Aar going Manilla...

2010-02-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Well De Aar going Manilla is a bit of cultural sock whichever way you take it. And flying is not an exception to this.

From solid climbs under wide clouds with lots of cores and plenty of screamers in De Aar even on a scratchy day to battling with zeros most of the way through in Manilla I got a good lesson of what scratching really means.

Being a slow flyer myself, today I decided to fly fast :) , and fast I flew averaging 38km/h mean spead in contrast to my usual 25km/h but open distance score suffered a bit more than I would like to admit ;) .

In De Aar managed to get my first 100+ flights but it wasn't anywhere as hard as over here in Manilla when averaging ~22km/h took me 5h 40 min to get just 125k. With a little bit of dehydration from the baking sun and very hot air even at altitude it doesn't take long to get tired wishing you don't find yet another 0.8-1.2 m/s that painfully will take you to base and if lucky will turn to a screaming 2-2.4 m/s, wild man :) which is not to say you won't find any 3m/s climbs especially later in the evening.

Australian are super friendly and will help as much as they can especially if they drink a couple of pints beforehand, got picked up the other day by young lash driving me some odd 80k or more out of her route but apparently sha had some fuel in her blood :)

A bit of an unusual summer we have in Manilla this year being a tad more wet than usual which is great for the farmers but not so good if you want to fly 200k, oh well it is all good practice, in it. But just before I put my hands up I got a flight at 198k, phew job done, I say.

Spring is over the corner back in the UK so a good few more days of practise over here and very excited to put all this sweat to the test back home, you never know where big k creep over you anyways, well ok a bit enthusiastic there but throw some returning polar airmass and I can just hear the vario screaming not to mention the abundance of good beer in that tiny wet island :)

November- UK Airposrts Prize and upcoming trip

2009-11-07T00:55:00.000-08:00

Richard Westgate from XCleague called the other day to let me know I got the longest FAI triangle this year and I should get in touch with Patrick from UK Airsports as he is offering the prize... fantastic I haven't bought a para-toy for a while so it comes in good timing.

....hmm, I bet some people think I am good pilot, I even thought about it myself, what of course they don't know is that it was one of the easiest flights in my life, didn't have to fight with angry thermals, didn't have to take any risky decisions, didn't have a flight plan and no clue it was a "big" flight untill I went home and uploaded my tracklog to my laptop.

Cool, now I found out last week that I am shite in battling the autumnal blues caused by the lack of flying and booked myself a trip to De Aar in south africa, I need the airtime man.

August, the new glider and the SIV or how I learn to stop worrying and love the frontals

2009-09-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

This flying season saw me stepping up to the Antea which although succesful to me I never really enjoyed flying. After a discussion though with someone in Annecy I now think that my Antea may had C riser shrinking issues, that would lead to some increased sink rate and lack of agility, well too bad I never got to fly one with proper risers. As a result I decided to get a new glider and get rid of all the gliders I had "in stock". All I knew was that I was going to buy a new glider and having had a less than perfect feel about my last second hand purchase, I didn't want to buy a design that had been on the market for some time, so concentrating on the new models I laid my eyes upon the mantra 3. I had real concerns though about stepping up to a EN-D, having a brief chat with Carlo from flybubble I thought that provided I treat the glider with some respect I could be safe on it and happily enough I bought one.

Got some small XCs over the flats south of the Ochills in two HP days and the new wing felt quite normal and the extra aspect ratio proved to look a lot less than scary if noticable at all...just like any other glider I have flown really.

I had the chance to fly as well from Ben lawers over to kenmore in a low pressure day that had a spring feel into it and was super comfortable as well, disappointingly I had flown a similar flight back in spring.

Anyways, rumours had it that I was going for an SIV in Annecy and I played game ;) . Brendan and I flew to Geneva staying at Irwyn's during the course. What I thought I wanted to get through the course is to get a feel of how the glider behaves in collapses and it's behaviour when things go wrong. Don't get me wrong, although I thought about it, I didn't want to intentionaly cascade the glider but If I were certainly the SIV was the place to do it. So having said that I shouldn't have felt too sorry about myself when I finished the course having taken the plunge twice once under reserve and both under cravats. What I realised though is that SIV won't make you a better pilot neither a safer one, it is the time one spents in the air in thermic conditions that will. So my confidence after the course was a bit crippled and I was looking forward for some proper flying.

...I could hear someone whispering the word over and over again, sure enough it was me dreaming..."Dolomites". To cut to the chase, I had a great time in the Dolomites, took two collapses when I got a bit indecisive entering a couple of strong cores and one frontal that I can honestly say that was my most enjoyed paragliding event ever and so I will put another line for it.

I was heading back to Col rodella that at the time was capped by a nice fluffy with dark and extensive base. At take off no one was having a go, no one flying near by apart from a guy on a Factor that together we were returning from the hills further south. Both started looking for the core and while I spotted the factor flying away I kept looking and unsuprisingly I found it :) . I felt I was enering straight in the middle as I couldn't sense one side of the glider being more pressurised than the other, I went hands up as it was quite strong, "should I go left, or should I go right, left or right..." just didn't want to turn out of this angry dog as I was only too aware of what could happen flying out of it. Straight through I flew and "bang" I got slapped. I look up...there is not glider...ah yes the tips come in view only that they are touching each other with the wing folded in half, yup I think it looks like I could benefit from a soft symmetric brake, no stress, sounds very stupid but felt a bit like dancing, the glider came back up with no nervousness. I flew away and got a climb on the ridge north of marmolada.

As I climb I feel great and surprisingly having just suffered my first frontal the grin on my face is accompanied by a good dose of confidence, maybe a bit too much if you ask me, well that I thought is a good time too head for landing, and so I did. Couldn't have had a better time in the Dolis.

Just to add a bit on my flying decisions while flying in the Dolis, I flew the first day very conservatively keeping a distance from big sun baked rock faces. I did two soaring close passes to prove to myself that I could do it but only scratched low in forested parts of the hills. The second day had enough confidence to get close and personal doing figures of eight and soaring the pinacled hills.

Let down in Balqhuider...once more

2009-07-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

A ridge of High pressure broke through giving a one day flying window. Quite tricky to get wind direction right in ridges, we headed for the balqhuider site. At the South slope and half way up the hill, the conditions were changing from thermic anabatic (south) to some weird north-west catabatic and some westerly (met wind?) at times. Up we go from there in slightly broken thermal.

photo by bren

From there I noticed that bob that head already left and was heading east was quite low and scratching, so I decided against that route for the moment. I got curious over the little lochan in front of me and the cloud above it on the other side (south) of the glen so went over that way to find some lift over there but I must have got it at the end of the cycle, with the sky filling in above I didn't want to venture any more about so back to the take off, where tim and bren were almost ready to take off. I boated about a bit looking for the thermal, this time the thermal was a lot more drifty with a reasonable west on it, this made flying east as bob had before an obvious choice, although now I would have gone for the high ground of the west facing ridge instead of scratching along the south and at this time cross-wind hill side of the glen.

Once I get low I find very difficult to think in flying mode and I tend to concentrate on landing mode, which makes my decision making very conservative on glides, so while bren carries on on the glen I decide to stop for some time maintaining height on a little south-west bawl until I get bored and land slightly down wind.

From there I make my way back to the car and head to pick up bob who previously made his way out of balqhuider but landed sort of anywhere else. We slog up to the west face of the hill north of lochearnhead and as we walk we see bren climbing up from the hill to the west, nice one bren.

I think by the time we take off it is ....latish so I don't expect much from a XC perspective neither expect bren to get,as I later found out, far enough. I shout to bob that the air is smooth as a ducks £$%. Bob crosses over to the other side of the loch and back while I boat about and land by the car. Weirdly enough I don't feel a bit bad about not going XC, well this is a first of me but surely enough it is not going to last.

The battle, the flight and the retrieve

2009-07-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

The trias agains trias battle is not as famous as one of napoleon's glorious war battles but one of comparable stamina. The battle was to win a decision of flying in the highlands or driving down to long mynd. The whole day I consider my options and send various texts/emails to julian regarding the plan which of course changes every 30 minutes. From eyam edge to bradwell and then long mynd and all over again. Eventually I caved in and went for the mynd, I thought it would be a good chance to get a 100k flights with the current forecast.

After 5 hours of driving and a teeny weeny swivel I settle on the next available motorway services for the night's rest. Armed with a sleeping bag and the luxury of a pillow and earplus I do actually sleep for a solid 4 hours. Wake up, coffee petrol and on the road again.

Arriving at the long mynd take off a keen CP para with 40 minutes of airtime past his exam awaits :) it is only 7-8:00 so unsuprisingly no one else is around. He has flown the mynd before so he gives me a small introduction of the site "including the landing field" :), it is too early so I don't make a fuss about the last one :) .

Slowly people start arriving and I get my kit and ready including a leaking camelback that I mostly use for its ballast rather than for its thirst fighting qualities. The base looks low and the wind is certainly not coming from the NW the importance of which I only later realised. Lots of people on the by 10:30. All the high aspect dudes are on the south end of the ridge, I stay on the North bit and as some thermals are coming up I notice a glider out from the ridge climbing while a another guy that seems to be flying standing in his harness seem to getting in and out of a core. Eventually I get a bit bored and start turning and drift over the back. I reckon if there is lift on the high ground I will make it and if anything I feel there should be lift. As I leave the ridge I am lower than some guys that explore some lift in front of the ridge and they must think I am bonkers.

Oh damn, I should have waiedt for something better got more height etc but I continue to turn in broken but boyant air. "I don't have a chance" I think but If stop turning I know I will go down. As I clear the high ground at the back of the ridge two other gliders having first gain height at the ridge join me, we share a couple of turns but they decide they don't want to play the drifting game but go for the glide game. I keep turning in this only just boyand air I am flying and while the other two chaps are now ahead of me it doesn't take long and they get on the deck. I drift like that for ~14km and It is good to see that drifting like that does pay off as some times it is hard to judge if it is worth it. I then find some more solid lift under a cloud while I also check my gps to see the airspace knowing that I have not really been drifting in the direction that I wanted.

In contrast to the forecast for NW it is a westerly which take you straight into birmingham CTA, great. The lift under the cloud seems to be good and realising I am going to need some help to make the cross-wind jumps decide to wait for someone else to catch up. A couple of gliders that come my way also hit the deck, I do actually wait there for 3-5 mintues, which also raises the time perception issue when flying. I have noticed that time is a bit distorted when flying in that I always tent to think that things take a lot longer than in reality. From there and as I fuff with my camcorder to no avail I lost the lift band but being high I go for the glide, I don't use the bar cause I am afraid I will fly straight through the lift and a sailplane above a small hill marks a thermal, thanks buddy. The lift is good so think this is a good spot to have another stop to see if anyone is coming my way, unfortunately I find it hard to stay around with not significant cloud around and can't relocate the core so I carry on. I glide again and this time I am well and trully stired and sucked up through a thermal from some good distance away, while gliding at trim the glider makes small auto-yaw corrections and goes for the thermal, it goes in the wrong direction ie North but for now I just have to say yes.

While I thermal I notice now that there is at least one para on the previous thermal and soon another two catch up. Funny I earlier was waiting for someone to catch up cause as I meet with the other guys I decide to fly away :) heading cross-wind to initiate my airspace avoiding manouvers while the continue downwind before themselves head cross-wind. Eventually I get down after having succesfully managed two cross-wind jumps and hit the deck not far from the others. There was plenty of room to fly downwind but then of course I wouldn't even have the chance to try and avoid the airspace.

I get back to my car with three lifts, including a city council vehicle carrying a small bulldozer and a ride at the back of a van on top of random stuff with no windows, that was wild :) thanks.

05/07/09 what,where,why

2009-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Good lessons are some times the painful ones as you would think you would remember them, but this is not always the case :)

There was a forecast for overdevelopment so I had the fealing that I should do the most out of the day while it is flyable. It turned out though that the weather played with us and it got a lot better later on...

Flying after having minimal or no sleep is not news to me. But I will blame the lack of sleep on my bad flying decisions today. I ventured too far out from the ridge when the day was not really on and lost quite some height and ended scratching to get up and eventually getting decked while a more conservative flying would have kept me high waiting for the sun.

Of course I didn't know if anything that the day is going to get better and the drops of rain on the windscreen while I was driving in didn't help either. I also tend to fly different when I fly with others as opposed to flying on my own, and I certainly don't fly better when para-friends are about. It is a combination of avoiding following someone else and trying not to be un-cool. One of the un-cool things on my list is staying with a single thermal in order to wait. So I tend to rather pond around. I think I need to talk this over with my future therapist on the long list of things I need to talk over about :)

When I land Bob and bren are still up flying so I watch them fly, I drive to where the others had left their cars and I surprisingly find all of them Bob,bren and paul packing up on the field. No one seems to have left the ridge. It seems that at least bob and bren where up and flying when conditions looked a lot better. Bren didn't want to fly away without his mobile phone and have not idea why bob or paul didn't make anything of it.

Later while we have fish and chips none of them seems to be bothered by the fact that it could have been a very nice XC day, I should have walked up for the take off for another flight.

and if one things seems to be more mentaly torturing than not going out on a good forecast is going out and not making anything of it. I have to of course to try harder, I certainly want to have a long flight bofore the end of the summer, most likely have to wait for some weather down in the flats of the peak districk or yorkshire dales.

Fingers crossed

28/06/09 No guts no glory

2009-07-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

The global socioeconomics and advances on the family-political front demanded a forced week off to visit Rhodes. I throw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, chuck my glider on my back and off to the airport to meet a few other hundred of soon to be experimental guinea pigs on a life long study on the effects of self inflicted sun-burn and cancer in association with heavy consumption of booze :)

It turns that only one day is flyable with the rest being blown out, due to the meltemi wind which blows this time of the year. In fact I only notice of a gloriously big cloud over the central-south part of the island while out for a cup of coffee. Rush back to the house and give the airport a call for a thunderstorm forecast as the cloud looks too big too be good. They re-assure me it is not going to do anything nusty and while I get ready to head off a para-friend (Dimitris) calls from further south that the cloud has just exploded with a few thunderstrikes and a downpoor, good stuff I called the airport for the forecast, fealling a lot more reassure now :)

We wait for the cloud to fade away, the sun comes on the hill and we hope we can connect with the fluffies above us. Unfortunately the thermic activity is pretty weak, maybe due to the recent downnpoor. The moment we take off the little whispies ahead of us disappear

There is a cloud that seems to be still active on a hill downwind from where we fly. The trick is that there are no landing options should you not connect with it and a thick coniferous forest awaits for a warm welcome.

I work some weak drifting over the back thermal on a col on the ridge but eventually it gives up on me push to carve back on the windward side of the hill boat about for a bit more and land on the boyand air near the village. We soared for about an hour on the thermals coming up but the "need" to get to the cloudbase remains unsatisfied.

Later we visit Daniel near the beach where he flies noisy paramotor near and above the water

21/06/09

2009-06-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

A warm front was coming from the west bringin some high level cloud but plenty of sun around. Leaving Dundee across the Tay river, I noticed seagulls soaring the E side of the bridge , what?, I think the forecast is for light westerlies, it must be the sea breeze kicking in. This could be a good sign as long as the sea breeze doesn't reach take off, which for today is Bishop's Hill by loch leven.

On the way up the hill the cycles feel very weak and apart from the sailplanes boating about I can't see any paragliders on the hill. As climb on the top of the hill a crispy brand new looking XC2 with its owner appear on view, it is Toni, aha I think it could be good.

There is a small fluffie puffing on the south-west bowl,and it wasn't long ago I could see two sailplanes thermalling nearby. I wait for approximately 10 minutes, the breeze is still weak but the cloud further south looks good so I go for it get a turn near the take off and then head for the south bowl. It is working and so get the ride to the base. The XC2 is still on the ground but as I slowly head away from the hill I can see him taking off and slowly working his way out. As I fly above west lomond, toni is up at base but he is either flying towards the sea or his home but certainly doesn't seem to like my plans. As I leave the hills behind me and still high I spot Toni again gliding low past east lomond.

Unfortunately the clouds on the cross/upwind leg were a bit confusing and hit the deck having first bumped on a low disorganised bit that I couldn't get in it.I end up 20km north from take off having flown a leg down wind and some bits cross and up wind. It is a small flight but feels good as it is my first XC from this site. Had I made my transition right Perth was an easy reach from here but maybe next time.

There is a good forecast for the coming week, so fingers crossed :)

01/06/09 PS Thanks to UK Airsports for longest FAI triangle prize :)

2009-06-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Like most good flying days this one is typically a weekday. This is of course is not a matter of great concern but rather spices things up a little bit on the logistics with work. In other words... weather is good, cool let's go flying, oh no I have to go to work...guilt kicks in. Then it is a matter of a battle between guilt of skiving work, again, and excitment of a good flying day. In most cases guilt is not strong enough to put me off :)

Light winds are forecasted and think I should try an out and return, I decide that flying to the Schehallion and back would be nice and feasible.

I am a bit late with negotiations for the car and when I get the "green lighter" I give a quick call to Bob gair to let him know I am going to be out and he reckons he be behind me by about two hours. When I approach Crieff I notice that there are already cumuli in the sky. Bad news I think it is going to overdevelop.

Arriving in killin I can see a cumulus above tarmachan ridge which is where I am going. I must rush I think it is working or will be flyable soon. Quickly to the car park, rucksack on my back, spray a bit of sunblock and up I go.

"Neeeeeigh,neigh, neigh" I must keep going,
"Neeigh I must keep walking, should not stop.

It is a small battle now with my new heavy harness but I need the extra weight, In fact another 5kg would be good, but then who is going to pay the sherpa.

I reach the lower take off and the wind is coming from the south, same thing happened on another light wind day at the same place not long ago, so I think not the end of the world, pheeew

Nevertheless I keep going a bit higher on the ridge, some walkers ask the typical "how long can you stay up for" and I reply the equally typical "it depends on the weather sweetheart" .

"neigh", I must keep walking, I must not stop" neeeeigh, neeigh, neigh"

I lay the glider, quickly change clothes, the cumulus above the ridge is big enough that the last 10 minutes on the walk up I am on the shade, It may as well. Thermal cycles felt good even low down near the car park, so when the thermic breeze comes from the E,SE I wait not more, off I go and pop just right in the middle of the core, niiiice. I push a bit from the ridge to get enough space for 360s and up I go. I look around, the clouds look nice, in fact they look excellent, but it is only 11:30, shit, where is my compass? was there a CB forecast for today?, second mishap, well I have to keep a close eye on those clouds around me. I had plans to make the most out of the "white room" today but without a compass and CB forecast I have to evaluate the day before I do anything stupid.

As I approach the cloudbase I notice that sky towards the E, my goal for the day looks less appealing than going N,W or south, so I quickly change my plans and think that going along dochart and back won't be a bad idea. Glen lochay looks like a place that one might want to be for a change, but due to a very personal psychic-bloc with this glen I quickly discard this option. I go for the killin thermal and then push along the hills between glen of dochart and glen lochay. While the clouds are "big" the thermals seem to weaken towards the base so I am less concerned about cloudsuck although I don't stop for a minute observing the clouds while I thermal. I don't have a certain plan so I try to play it by ear, or in fact play it by fluffie.

I try to be very conservative on my decisions (at least for today) in order to maximize my flying time. Despite that I find myself low near Ben Challum, which by the way doesn't look like much of anything, fluffie-wise that is, so I push towards the middle of the glen away from the hills where the sun seems to be heating a shallow slope at the right angle to the sun. I feel the air boiling through my risers with no up beeps, while I am only 80 or less feet above flatish ground. This is reassuring and I keep pushing for more ground clearance.beeeee be bee be be be, at last the vario gives the thumbs up.

At near base again, and value my options, flying towards bridge of orchy doesn't look bad, but I almost hit the deck flying that way, which also puts a psychic bloc on returning the way I had flown out. I look south towards ben more and the hills are just beautiful. I am flying there, fluffies are posotive for the flight plan as well, with only flying towards ben lui looking more fluffie-attractive than my current plan. Cruach Adrain doesn't work great so I push for the sunny west face of ben more or to be precise for Stob binnein, there are few big boulders around so I expect to get something there. Up I go and the next step is obvious the blaquhidder take off. I don't push as much south for the south take off but instead go for the next ridge to the east,a fluffie based decision. Thermals here feel a bit "stirred" and "shaken" but don't have quite a lee feel just a bit whatever really. Decision time again and crossing over loch voil into creag mhor looks very attractive with a nice fluffy showing me the way, then I consider flying to ben Vorlich. But then I notice that a big, in fact the biggest cloud of the day has reached an inversion, good news that there is one at reasonable height, but the top of the cloud is flat and small domes break through the inversion, hmmmm this could mean troulbe I think. I am not sure how far this cloud is from ben vorlich so I decide that don't want to gammble. The cloud I am flying now has spread quite a bit and still is going strong, jsut something to keep in mind since I can't consider what is going on above me. Once near the misty layer I push away still on lift and make as much distance as I can on bar. Once lift weakens I get a few turns in and now the next step is obvious...my car via the killin thermal :)

I take a direct path, there probably are other easier ways, like stopping by the burger van first but I go for the straight line. Arrive at the killin thermal spot rather low but hop on it without much sweat and on top of that I am being rewarded with an extra 1000ft of thermal top compared to the previous thermals of the day, niiiiice. A buzard joins me quite high up above killin and can't stop thinking that the only eatable thing at that height is me :) .

Flying now for the tarmachan/ben lawers car park I don't even go fo the west side of the tarmachan ridge or the E most hills of the glen lochay which would be working nicely but with the extra height and the big stupid grin I pop on ben lawers with no much intention to find a thermal but just ponder around enjoy the boyant air and the scenery, a few turns but don't try to core anything, going back for the car now, I have too much height, and do quite a few of wing-overs to bleed it off. it is all in the rythm and this new harness feels like it is build for this job. A quick phone call from bob and the bastard is still flying :), I should have stayed up I think.

Epic flying can have two meanings in the context of paragliding for me, easy big flights like today, or dramatic near death experience like spiraling close to a near vertical 2000-4000 feet mountain face because a crazy italian dude decided to push you out of your thermal, like in the dolomites :)

The clouds today were insanely nice, nice fluffies,
with lots of pre-cloud milkies, cirrus high up and towards the end of the day some midlayer clouds. Every flying day in Scotland I feel should be like today, but it is not, well maybe it is better that way.

End of spring lucky time

2009-06-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

31/05/09

It all began last year when my paragliding "self" decided to become obsessed with one of the big triangles in Greifenburg-Austria. Since then I visisted the place three times, two of which I was treated with bad weather (but still flyable), while the last one weather was sort of better but no good enough to do the flight.

I thought I tried hard enough this year and decided to give it a rest. A triangle would sort of sneak in last sunday when I went to the North West highlands to do some flying.

It was a couple of days before sunday that julian robinson pointed to me that his favourite thermal forecasting website RASP UK was giving both high bases and go(o)d thermals for the North West. I don't use RASP myself but instead a combination of xcskies and metoffice synoptic pressure charts, but julian has been lucky puting faith on RASP so for this time I follow the good luck. I wake up quite early on sunday morning ~05:00, I get there by 09:00ish I think and off for the slog up the hill by loch cluanie. Never been or flown this place before and thinking about how high to walk for the take off, but my new heavy rucksack quickly takes a decision for me and says:

'If it is thermic it is going to be working on that little ridge low down, if it is not working you can be at the top of the hill and still go down'

Yup, I think my rucksack is right and after about an hour
I find myself a nice spot to lay my glider and a big
boulder to get away from the sun.

I lay the glider out and spend some time
feeling the cycles, it is nice to have the time to observe the day developing and you learn quite a few things as well.

Once the cycles feel stronger I get the glider up to see if they are soarable...almost there, a stronger one comes in and decide to wait for the next one and hope on, it works and I connect with a core that releases just a bit to the right/west from where I take off and takes me all the way to the inversion.

I fly west following the ridgeline, the inversion looks thick but the day works nicely and with plenty of sink to spare inbetween the thermals... untill I get to A Chralaig and then to Stob Corie na Cralaig, I fail to register the themal on the first one and pop out on the sinking line... the wind funnels lower down and a few collapses entertain the walkers on the cairn, taking pictures to "get the most out of the action" I push out towards the valley and the west end of the loch.

Nothing solid at the time but it looks like the right place to be, the small hill is very steep at the top and has a bowl that looks like a good source. I stick to it and surely enough a cycle comes in, in the meantime I look south and west and can see the "right" kind of fluffys popping in the otherwise blue with some cirrus day.

I vow to do the best I can to stay aloft untill the fluffies come to me. I have good time staying on the same two thermals waiting. It is not a bad spot to wait really, a straight glide to the pub even on a 10m/s down :) . The thermals get better now and in the valley soth/upwind I can see three of them growing, from small milkies to small fluffies and I can't stop a stupid grin taking shape on my face... but where is my fluffie, I look around but can see anything, but then I look almost straight up, almost looking at my glider and spot it, just a bit further into the middle of the valley almost on top of the pub (where else) I go for it and get the extra few hundred feet through the inversion.

Since I had plenty of play on the "safe" side of the street I decide to push upwind for the valley south of me where I can see three fluffies. But as it is some times for low airtime pilots like me, I get overexcited of the prospect of actually making it there, I can still see them indicating the thermals tops and rush the whole thing, I don't stop on the ridge line during the crossing to get higher, partly because the cycle is not on, and partly because I have blind faith on the other two thermals...If only knew :) . Sinking more now I leave the ridgeline behind me going for the thermal at the middle of the valley but that one disappoints me as well, now with the choice of either pushing even further out for the next hills that is both on the right sun angles and windward but with a LONG walkout if I don't get up or carving back for ridge, I do something inbetween, try a partial lee first, which doesn't really work and doesn't feel like lee either and then head back.

But I am lower now and still the cycle is off. I later colcude that the three thermals on this valley system in Glenquoich forest puslate together probably because of sharing the same trigger this being loch quoich, doesn't sound unreasonable but I sure know what Bob gair would think: "Bollicks"

I slope land and walk 100 feet higher, the slope is steep and don't think there is much point in getting any higher and in 10 mimutes the cycle comes through, it feels ok and hop on it. Once I make some height above the ridge I make contact with Kevin that is at the car park and tell him that I will make my way back. I head for the lee which isn't much of a lee because of the light winds and the steep protected valleys that form. I climb to base which is pretty frosty.

Now the fluffies N and NE from me look very sweet.
hmmm I amost salivate uncontrolably, but I have
already made a plan to go back to the car and flying
along and over the loch sure feels like the right way
to do it :) .

If I didn't have to slope land I would have a 30km triangle, but the triangle would have to wait. I had a really good time anyways.