Wall to Wall sunshine

The Hangers formation walk back to launch whislt Luke gets set to go on the Paramotor

Joe W gets hassled by Phippsy whilst Graham A picks up some tips from Coady

Graham A sets off on a Hanger

Joe gets some hand tows in before going onto the winch

The culmination of a cracking Taster Day as Joe flies solo

An artistic shot courtesy of Kev T (as were some of the others)

What a fabulous day in the tow field where there was plenty going on. Graham A (Woolacombe way) having learnt to Paraglide with us late last year started his Hang Gliding course along with Derrick J (Cardiff) who is also learning to paraglide. Luke H (Torquay) was along for some Paramotoring and Joe W (Hayle was out for a Taster Day on a Paraglider so more than enough to keep us busy.

Graham and Derrick had fun working through the day and ended up with a good number of flights across the field which by the end of Graham had lost the tethers and was flying free. derrick did a fine job and will hopefully pull ahead tomorrow weather permitting to keep the pressure on.

Luke got his first flights on his Paramotor and put in a total of three over the day which gave him some stunning views and super flights as conditions mellowed towards evening.

Joe W did really well over his Taster Day being one of the youngest at a little over 16, he worked hard and by the end of the day had racked up 5 flights all with good landings and getting up to 60' off the ground, next stop release flights???? Good luck with the exams Joe and enjoy your summer holidays

Pilot X also moved ahead steadily with thier Hang Gliding training putting in some higher flights and is also ready o release the line next time out.

Good to see Nick and Paula drop by and enjoy the sunshine. Lots of red faces by the end of the day, must bring the sun lotion tommorrow .

Having a field day

Pilot X makes clean launch with nicely relaxed hands

Pilot X up and away looking good

Mike P corrects a turn on the tow

Kevin T makes a committed launch to start his tow training

Kev T comes in for one of his 23 landings!

Sam A looks smooth on his new wing

Happy Sam after his first flight on his new glider and harness

It was a damp start in the field but the low cloud quickly cleared and with a very light NW wind conditions were super smooth all day. The Hangers got going first with Pilot X taking the first tows and doing a fine job flying across the field untethered. New boy Bill N was next up after having done some ground work and hand tows. "Moon walking" was the order of the day but one small step for man proved a huge step for Bill and he had an early day after pulling a ham string, despite several offers to rub it better he declined and spent the rest of the day being his usual helpful self. Now known as Arnie his quote was "I'll be back" that is along with several other quotes one of which also included back but can't be published here.....

Kevein T (Falmouth) got his first taste of towing on a Paraglider having done hill flying several years ago and had a great day getting his hand in along with working through the majority of the CPC tasks over his Twenty three tows!!

Mike P was back down on the Hang Glider and did a good job in the light conditions which gave him some fast landings as his wing loading is on the high side.

Sam A turned up in the afternoon and picked up his new Ozone Buzz Z/ Woody Valley Velvet 2 combination and even got to fly them. He had a super afternoon adapting the lighter handling and quicker wing looking very happy by the end of it.

A good day with another two pilots ready for their hill conversions, all we need is the weather.

Yorkshire puddings

Hangers take over the car park at the morning briefing

photo Justin Needham

Briefing on the hill in sunshine in Yorkshire!!!!!

Photo Ted Claggett

Gliders sunbathing waiting for the "off"

photo Ted Claggett

Gliders "stacking up" in wave over Wether Fell, the tiny dot on the right is a fourth glider to give some idea of the hieght (around 7,500 and still climbing)

photo Justin Needham

Dave Matthews parked up in the wave way above the cumulus and so so smooth

photo Justin Needham

Launch at Nappa Scar was fun and required some attention

Photo Jenny Buck

Well not quite but we did see some. The bank holiday saw us in The Yorkshire Dales for the second round of the British Open Hang Gliding Series (BOS) where the weather was uncharateristicly fine. It started on the Friday when we headed to Tailbridge a nice site on the edge of the Dales with an easy take off and top landing area. Plenty of flying went on but no one managed to activate the task and with low damp cloud approaching we called it a day before the window closed .

However Saturday was better and with sunshine forecast and the wind due to veer a little we headed back to tailbridge where Pete Coad (meet Director) set a nice little XC vis a turn point to Barnard Castle some 40K away. Things were a little challenging with pilots getting away in several groups or on their own. The pack went down at around 14k alongside the main road whilst a few of us managed to "hole" up on a small ridge just short of them. Shedsy managed to sneak away and did a brave flight across the moor to land at 25k or so whilst i took what hieght I had befor ethe rain came and overflew the masses to land just past them at 16k. A fun day with plenty of smiling faces saw me in 3rd.

Sunday was a super looking day and based on a forecast for the wind to come on later at Wether Fell that's where we went. By the time the window opened on the 81k task to Wombleton it was well off to the south making conditions less then ideal. taking the opportunity for some sunbathing I rested whilst the masses took off and beat around in the choppy air. opening my eyes revealed gliders starting to climb so after an hour in the sun i launched to join them in what had now plainly become wave conditions. By the time i reached 4000' Asl the high boys were at 6000' and by the time I got to 7,500 they were at 8,500. How high we would have gone i don't know because as the last start had long gone and we had delayed long enough just to enjoy the experience looking down on the cumulus we did eventually pull out of it to head off towards goal. a cracking flight followed with a mixture of wave bar hopping to start with followed by thermal flight to finish including a stunning climb out off Sutton Bank right in front of the tourists saw 14 of us arrive in Goal. One of my best days flying in the UK ever just amazing, you should have been there.......

Monday saw the wind forecast for a light southerly veering SW so we headed up Nappa Scar a cracking ridge with a cliff type launch. The walk up gave us some well needed exercise and on arrival at the top it was far from light. Pete set another 81k task north under what looked like a cracking sky. By the time the window was due to open it was very breezy and turbulent at launch so it was decided to delay until further notice. More sunbathing ensued but finally things did moderate and off we went with a few exciting launches, but everyone did manage to get away in the end. Thermals were pretty good at launch and pretty soon gaggles of gliders were up at base and heading off on track. Things 20k downwind were not so good with the sky in decay and soon after that pilots were decking it in large numbers at and around the 25k mark. I managed to sneak by under a blue sky and slide onto a small ridge (slope) where i found a weak thermal which lifted me just high enough onto the moor to allow a short glide on track to a track to give me the winning distance for the day of 34.8k, still enough.

Tuesday was blown out so after Prize giving we headed home early under a cracking sky but it remained breezy all the way. Final results can be found here http://bhgc.wikidot.com/ and were pretty good for the Wills Wing Boys with then taking 3 of the top 4 places, well done guys.

Some "interesting" film footage of the event can be found here http://www.film41.co.uk/F41/00-BOS_Videos.html

Girly day

Rebbecca S gets some airtime in

Rebbecca having fun

Pilot X makes the most of the conditions

Bill N gets his feet off the ground but are they actually attached to his legs??

We started in the field where despite the forecast things were already on the breezy side which was fine for the hangers but restricted the Para's to ground handling only. Pilot x and Rebbecca S (Exeter) were both along for some hang Gliding and it wasn't long before they were towing across the field. Whilst Rebbecca practised her landings having already completed most of her training "up country2 over the last 5 years Pilot x moved off the tethers and onto "free flight". By lunch time conditions were picking up so we decided to head to the hills for some tethering in the ridge lift.

At Perranporth it was ideal and soon both girls were enjoying plenty of airtime "soaring" in the lift at take off and really getting to grips with it. In fact they made it look so easy that Bill N gave it a go and had a fun time looking remarkably smooth and relaxed, what will he do next.....

Hangers and hopers

It was a delayed start in the tow field where Caroline P (Looe) was along for a Taster Day on a Hang Glider joined by Pilot X. They both did well with the basic ground work and were quickly on to hand tows by lunch time. Mick Ford joined us in the early afternoon to continue his CPC on the Hang Glider having last flown back in February. Caroline and X were soon moon walking across the field on the end of the tow line and both got into low level flights experiencing the thrill of getting a Hang Glider into the air. They both did really well looking nice and relaxed in the air and performing some good landings.
Mick got back into the swing of things without much hassle and looked smooth after a few high flights and even managed to get his spot landings sorted.
Steve m and Sam A played with Paragliders on the ground but it was always a bit on the breezy side for them .
Rain finally stopped play by 18.30 so hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so we can dry the kit out.

If at first you don't succeed try and try again (and again)

It was a glorious day when we arrived in the field with blue sky and light winds. Whilst Luke H got his paramotor kit ready Anna L and Nicola (both from London) started their Taster days on the Paraglider. Mike S (Exeter) who passed with us back in October 2007 came along for some refreshing having not done any since then and Dave L was also up for some having just picked up his new Ozone Mojo 3 which he got to grips with by doing some ground work.

The girls worked well through the morning and just before lunch were trying out forward launches and hand tows. raj turned up for a Tandem flight and watched proceeding whilst we waited for the wind to back to the NE. I took Lukes Paramotor up for a check out/demonstration flight after which he got into it to try his first go under power. Things proved a little challenging although each attempt was better than the one before so we stopped for lunch and a rest.

The afternoon saw the wind pick up a bit and conditions get"strange" with turbulent air making even ground handling tricky. Off to the East we could see a large amount of "wave" clouds so possibly they were influencing things, Kaz and Bill headed off to Carbis Bay to check things out there for a plan B option. A quick tow up on the paraglider confirmed it was top end and not suitable for further training which was backed up by Nicola doing a fine impersonation of a snail, you had to be there to appreciate it.

With good news from Carbis we packed up and headed there where we arrived equipped with a Tandem Hang Glider and Tandem Paraglider. We had a top few hours with Nicola getting a super tandem flight on the Hang Glider fully appreciating the experience and the views and as the wind eased again Anna and Raj both getting in flights on the Paraglider having a fun time playing with the lift and flying with the seagulls. Bill Kaz and Adam W all got some Paragliding in what has to be described as variable conditions.

A hard work day but it worked out good in the end with big smiles all round lets hope the next one is easier.

Village People

Steve J wings level ready for take off
Mission acomplished the "Humbug" (Stubby) is airborne

Phippsy gets some exercise but still manages to chat as he chases Steve on the tether

On finals, undercarriage down and looking good

Back in the field after a short break it was a chilled day with the Hangers. Steve J (Oakhampton) was along for a Taster Day and had a great time moving from zero to hero by the end of the day. he put in a total of seven! flights with the last one being untethered and looked nice and smooth throughout. Ex student Kieth S came along for some experience flights and to work on his landings doing a fine job after well over a year of not towing. In conversation it turned out that Steve and Kieth live in the same village and only a few hundred yards apart, small world....

It was actually a very good XC sky with a good direction heading right up the county but alas it was work work work all day, still there will be others.

Dragons and Demons

The Bank Holiday (1st-5th) saw us in wales for the first round of the British Open Hang Gliding Series. can't say it was my best effort despite placing 3rd on the first day and lying in 7th on the second my flying was off the ball. A poor decision on landing (actually more like an indecision) saw me arrive less than perfectly on day two resulting in an unflyable glider. However, all was not lost and Al J (Bristol) kindly brought me his Sport 2 155 which needed test flying on the Sunday. I had grest fun flying it and did a very nice 25k XC over the Welsh countryside which just confirmed what a great first glider it is.

Good to see lots of flying friends and lots of Hang Gliders together, roll on the next round.