All Change

After many years of Blogging, which any of you who do will know takes up a lot of time and effort, we have decided to give Facebook a go so feel free to visit our page to find out what we have been up to.  Who knows if we don't like it we may well return, comments appreciated......

https://www.facebook.com/FlyCloud9/

Buzzing about

A text from Wyn D and with all the chores done it was off to the field to hopefully finish off Wyn's Paramotoring conversion.

With his new set up ready to roll Wyn was keen to get going and with a warning of maybe having to run a little faster to get the Revo 2 23 off the ground ringing in his ears Wyn warmed up the Parajet.

Even with a bit of of a breeze his little legs were shifting but he made a fine launch and was so zipping around the sky under some nice looking clouds and circling up. 15 minutes of play and in he came for a stand up landing and happy face.

School unit gets ready to join in the fun

Richard W dropped in to join the fun and I had meanwhile popped the school unit together and tethered it up to a Delta 1.  We all got airborne and made a beeline for Pro design graphics HQ where a smiley Treeve popped out to give us a wave, well I think it was a wave ???? Only one figure, where was Fergie ??  The sight of a Paraglider floating down at Godrevy answered the question :)

The three of us had a fun fly in pretty thermic conditions spending the majority of the flight on tic over  as we circled the lift.  Drifting back to the field things got very lifty by the coast and took an age with the engine off to get down.  Landing in a nice southerly made life easy but within a few minutes it flicked to the north as a late sea breeze kicked in.

Richard took his leave and headed home to Tresillian whilst we packed up and socialised with  farmer Paul.  A buzzing noise saw us look skywards and there was Fergie heading up to 5500 feet before coming to see us and defrost his fingers.

A great afternoons flying and thermalling, well done to Wyn on completing his flying tasks a small exam and he is sorted. :))))

Quote of the day "Go Go Go "

Party time at Perran

Oh what a day, some things just can't go better ;)  After an early morning in a pond and the sending of some quality weed around the country Kaz and myself headed out to Perranporth to  hopefully get some Tandem flying going.

Arriving as the breeze filled in and the Paragliders in the air starting to "gale hang" we opted to rig the Hangy based on a forecast of the wind increasing a little more.  By the time we were sorted no less than four passengers had arrived and the sun began to show it's face, perfect.

oops ......

Having carried out a group briefing Derek Y from st Austell was first to clip in taking up a voucher he had been given for his birthday.  Whilst the others checked out how to do it Derek and myself stood on launch before a few steps saw us soar up and away into good solid ridge lift. Derek was amazed at how easily we floated on air in the classic conditions as the Paragliders thinned out and the breeze continued to build as forecast.  After a solid 20 minutes and with Derek having taken it all in we popped back in on top for a super landing.

Tandem heads out and up into the blue

Well it was good enough for Sally down from Colchester to be convinced and it was not long before she was harnessed up an ready to "run". The sun got brighter as we climbed fro launch into the blue for a cracking flight with the ridge practically to ourselves.  Sally just loved it and was delighted as she specifically wanted to go Hang Gliding as opposed to Paragliding so bonus for the day. With a few fly by for the assembled family we had a ball before coming back in for another top class landing.

All set to go

Last but by no means least it was friends Vicky and Zoe's turns with it being a birthday present for Vicky all be it one day late.  The girls both had cracking flights as conditions hit their peak giving lovely flying conditions and them the opportunity to fly the glider.  The added bonus of seeing what was suspected to be a Cornish Chuff made it even more interesting as it was chased off by the resident seagulls.  Turns out that Vicky who makes stunning jewellery in Truro knows our daughter Jenny through her wedding planner work, it's a small world.

Zoe gets a fly by

Vicky -Phippsy - Zoe after some fun flying

Back on planet earth it was time to head home for a get together to celebrate my birthday, pizza all round.  Many thanks to all for their birthday wishes, i really so touched how many of you remembered, how do you do that ?? :))

Quote of the day "nice bush"

3x2 have fun at St Agnes

The forecast played ball and it was a super day from the word go with a nice northerly and plenty of fluffy things floating in the sky.  By 09.00 three Tandems had called in not long after the van was loaded and we were on our way to St Agnes.

With Adie having been there since 09.00 and confirming thing were getting better our timing was spot on and it was not long before the Paragliders were out and we were up in the air for a fly before going to "work". peachy arrived and joined in the fun along with Mike C and Chris H.  In nice lifty sea thermic conditions it was super flying for all and ideal for Tandems.

John G gets ready to go

Back on the ground I met up with John G who was first to arrive for his flight and after a briefing we were set to go.  A nice launch saw us off and away and soon climbing nicely to join the others. John with a background in sailing had a good idea of what was going on and was soon flying the glider himself and just loving it.  The sea thermals gave added entertainment with as luck would have it the best ones coming through as we set up for landing, it would have been rude to ignore them so we stayed up a little longer for some more fun.  With others arriving we popped back in to land to round off a cracking flight.  John with a big smile was last seen discussing learning to fly with Kaz .......watch this space ;)

The Tandem floats away with John on board

Rupert C and Dave S had both arrived so we got them briefed together before clipping Rupert in to go first.  An incident delayed things a little as a visiting pilot took off with a line tangle then dropped back in from about 15 feet enveloping a modeller who was flying a model at the time with his wing. Things were a little heated for a time but with Kaz exercising her bets diplomatic skills things calmed down and no one was hurt but a few lessons hopefully learnt.

Rupert looking cool as he takes control

just loving it :)

With things back on track they both had super flights in what remained all day cracking conditions and both proved pretty good at flying the glider themselves giving me a rest.  Dave was lucky, he had only called in the morning as his voucher was getting near it's expiry date and on finding out that it was on for the day decided to go for it and drove from Newton Abbott, well worth the call :))

Dave (ironman) S  enjoys the view 

That face says it all 

So with happy faces all  round (well nearly) we spent the rest of the afternoon playing, socialising and checking out camper vans, very pleasant.

Thanks to Adie for the lift home as I was left abandoned playing with the late day thermals ..........

Quote of the day " it just popped up"

A very nice day

Light winds forecast filling little as the day goes on so off to the field for a spot more on the Paramotors.

Wyn D joins us for a Paramotor conversion course and is already getting the kit sorted as Matt and Shaun arrive.  After a few demo's Wyn pops the power unit on his back and does the run around thing before we connect him up to the wing, a couple of ground handles to make sure he is on the ball then we fire him up.

A bit of running a dab of brake and he is away climbing into the blue as the others finish setting up.  Wyn quickly settles in and it's not long before he spot a gaggle of Gulls circling and goes to join them, throttle back and he circles up.  After a bit of play he comes in for a super landing and gives one of those Wyn grins :)

Well that says it all from Wyn as Shaun

gets ready to go

Shaun is next and makes a fine job of his second ever flight on his Paramotor with a nice take off and settles in quickly despite a few bumpy bits as the gulls continue to play.  A nice set up sees a fine landing and proof that he remembers what he did a couple of days ago, nice.

Shaun flies up as the thermals drift by

Matt goes quiet and clips in, he need not have worried his take off is fine and his flying smooth but despite his best efforts we have a problem getting into the harness. Still he flies around for a good 10 minutes before coming back to mother earth, a good confidence booster.

Man and his machine, matt looking cool

The day goes on much the same with Wyn popping 5 good flights climbing up to 1500 plus and getting a fair bit of thermal practice in whilst Shaun and Matt do 3 each and Matt gets comfy in the seat, well done guys.

Three happy guys on a beautiful day :))

Meanwhile back on the ranch Kaz has headed to Perranporth as the wind fills nicely and calls in to let me know that it's good for tandems.  We pack up in the field and I head to the coast arriving in perfect time as Kim Marie arrives and conditions are perfect.  We waste no time and after  a brief we are off up and away into nice lift and a few sea thermals to add to the fun.

Kim has a super flight enjoying not only the view but a bit of glider flying and a bit of swoop swingy stuff. With no one else waiting and myself happy to get some flying in in such nice conditions we have an extended flight .......... super.

So a full on day with lots achieved if things go on like this it will be perfect ;)

Quote of the day "you blow and I'll put my finger on it"

Blast Off

Well it comes to us all .... that Big day that you just can't avoid and for Shaun and Matt today was the day!  After there refresh day on the winch the boys were "ready" to get their power units on their backs and give it a go.

In the field it was nice as the guys set up but by the time they were ready the wind had filled against the forecast and it was a little on the gusty side so we hung fire and chewed the cud, well actually there were no cows in the field so we just chatted.  Kaz called in to let us know she was off to the hill for a fly ............ an hour or so later she called again to say she had been flying but it was dropping off, good news.

15 minutes later and things were looking a lot better.  a demo flight on Matts set up to check things out and we were ready to go.  Shaun clipped in, did his preflight checks and final brief, radio check, all clear and he was "live".   Well what can you say a super forward launch saw him powering forward and in good shape, a little more throttle and his feet left the ground.  He climbed nicely away and circled the field to keep plenty of landing options in range.  10 minutes later in he came for a nice stand up landing and a round of applause from Matt and myself.

No pressure on Matt then .........  with the wind a bit lighter it was forward launch for sure and with a nice attitude Matts Buzz Z4 Power floated up and with a bit of encouragement he squeezed the throttle and hey presto he was off.  Again he circled the field whilst trying to get into the harness but despite his best efforts he could not.  Still he had fun and after a good 10 minutes came in for a super landing  big smile and even began to talk again, excellent.

With the tension relieved we debriefed and as the sun dropped called it a day and what a good one it turned out.

Quote of the day "yeeehowwww"

Hanging out at Carbis

What a super day was had at Carbis Bay, is not always the way when you postpone the Frostbite it turns out nice, just like last year!

With a few tandems on the cards we headed off mid morning arriving to find new Hangy convert Chris H already up and flying in the fresh conditions.  Kaz rigged whilst I got the Tandem sorted before getting the T2 C out of the bag in the hope of some flying before work began.

With the wind well off to the east Kaz decided to wait a while so I took the opportunity to get some airtime in.  Conditions in the air were good with nice thermic climbs to 1700 as and the wind drift set for lands end ......... retirement beckons ;)  However the launch was one that took a bit of experience and those on the ground made the right decision to wait.

Sure enough the wind backed and pilots began to launch and have fun whilst I landed to get the Tandems going.  By now there was a good crowd out and the sky filled with hangies including Kaz who did a fine job  with a super take off and equally good landing.  Down on the dunes someone looked like they were trying wipe not only themselves out but also a few passers by as they presumably taught themselves on what looked like a Green Ozone Zero ........

Kaz takes off in fine style

Carl R dropped by and headed for the dunes with his Zero and by the time we got back in the air he was having fun and looking sweet.

Callum gets set to go

Callum T was first up on the Tandem and having been suitably wound up by the terrible twins (Dad Shuan and "mate" Matt) was nicely nervous as we stood at launch.  He did a great job resulting in a nice take off and we were soon mixing it with the others as we soared the cliffs and got some amazing views in the clear air.  His nerves soon disappeared and it was good to hear his enthusiasm
 for flying as we chased the seagulls.  A nice top landing and it was time for number two.

Hangies having fun

Paul B who had fortunately called up only a few hours before to see when he could book in and was amazed when the reply was "well about14.00 would be good!" was next up.  With conditions staying perfect we soon climbed away from launch and into the blue.  Paul has done a lot of things but nothing quite like this and loved every minute of it as we chatted away.  Another nice landing and it was time to play again :)

Paul gets off on the Tandem

A lovely afternoon with a total of 9 hangies out all of which flew  most several times giving total of around 30 flights and not an incident between them, nice.  The Critique committee did a fine job of analysing everyones flying and it is interesting as to the difference between the disciplines as to what is accepted as 'normal and OK" in one whilst in another nothing but perfection is strived for ;))

One to look out for ;)

If any one would like to pick up a radio controlled model from the bushes give me a call and I can give you a very good description of where to find it, yellow with red tips ........

Quote of the day "

Floopies, Stiffies and smiles

Forecast looks good but experience shows that it may or may not be accurate, however we are pretty sure we will fly something, somewhere at sometime !  Late morning and we are off to Perran with a full compliment of toys on board, just as well as it turned out.

Arrive just as a large cloud passes through  and whilst some had had scratchy flights in the morning  nothing missed.  Roy S and son Sam arrive from Plymouth hoping for Tandem flights but with conditions light and off they head to Perranporth for a coffee whilst we wait it out with a few others.  The clouds are WNW but the wind stays stubbornly SW hmmmmmmm.  Roy and Sam return and their timing is excellent as the wind veers and guys start to fly on Pg's despite a quickly strengthening breeze. We rig the Hangy to cover all bases and by the time we have it done it has eased back.

Roy gets into the PG harness then out again as the breeze drops again so it's Sam (11) to go first saving a full 6 !/2 stone :)  We have a super flight with a mixture of ridge lift, sea thermal, sink cycles and lift cycles before coming in for a nice landing.  Sam was great and enjoyed every minute of it being as cool as a cucumber, a nice lad.

Sam gets into the air

and loves it ;))

The wind fills and the lift increases so perfect for Roy and we waste no time in getting in the air for another cracking flight. Again the sea thermals played ball and we had a ball with Roy getting to fly the glider whilst dodging the steadily filling skies.  A sink cycle saw and extended flight before back came the lift and up we went having to burn off lots of height to land.  Good to see Father and Son having such a good time together.

scratching as a sink cycle comes through, but all turns out good 

Nigel E arrived with his extended family and it's Ella who is up for a flight on the Hangy.  With James R already up on his Hangy it's not long and we join him just as conditions improve yet again making them idea for Hangies.  Ella was a perfect passenger as we played around soaring and swooping before circling up in the thermals for a stunning view along the coast.  A lovely landing rounded off a great days Tendeming and lots of smiley faces.

Pops, Ella and Phippsy with Big smiles

Good to see a nice crowd out having fun, shame you went home Frank!  And the coastguards were on an exercise so nothing to do with us ..........

Quote of the day "he likes not to be normal"  can't imagine who they are referring to ?

Goal fields, new gliders, lazy pilots and wise ones !

After being in a pond on Dartmoor with Tim J all day Sunday in near zero temperatures Monday seemed pretty warm even at 07.00 in the morning.  Tim and myself had promised ourselves a  "day off" so after a mornings work it was off to St Agnes to meet up and hopefully get our feet off the ground.  Whilst the wise guys (and fitter ones) went to Carbis where the wind was smack on the older and lazier met at St Agnes as we were joined by Kaz and Pat B.

A quick chat and we rigged despite the wind being well off. Tim rigged his Talon and his "new" T2 C so he could fly both and feel the difference ....... Kaz opted to give it a miss as the wind was well off, fair decision.  As it turned out steady lift from take off made the flight along the cliffs to the more NNE ridge pretty easy but you still needed to be wary. Once there the lift was good and with gentle sea thermals drifting through there was plenty to keep you amused.  pat finally launched followed by Tim just as I circled back in a smooth 2.5 up and drifted away at 1200 ATO watching them soar the cliffs.

It was a typical St Agnes thermal mellowing as the Beacon passed below then reforming over the Porthtowan valley but only just.  a quick glide to the west found a zero and another drift but there was just not enough heat around to get a proper climb. The best I made was1650 ATO  and that was over the Beacon but cloudless was way higher.  Illogan and an easy retrieve beckoned so after a circle of the village it and nice landing in Illogan Park football field where I met someone I had not seen for over 8 years yet had thought about whilst on the flight as I drifted over their parents house, spooky.

Illogan Park and a nice view of Carn Brea 

There was a lot of going around in circles !

Wyn D calls and lets me know that all is well at Carbis and that himself and Chris H had had a couple of super flights with good height gainsand even offers to come and fetch me, well done guys.

Tim new baby in a field over the back

Tim J calls in and even sounded excited as he relays his position in a field near to North country so getting in an XC on his first flight on his T2 C,  and mistaken for me, ideal.  We sort out the retrieve and its not long before we hearing a blow by blow account of his flight over several cups of tea.  Thanks to Kaz for picking us up and to Patrick for de rigging Tims abandoned Talon at St Agnes in the biting wind.

3 cups later and we are just behind take off ;)

Quote of the day "what's that on your face"

The Force returns .........

After a bit of a break from the Blog it's time to get back at it and let you know what's going on with Cloud 9. Since the last blog post back in July we have had a good summer producing a nice mixture of Paragliding, Hang Gliding and Paramotoring students along with carrying out more Tandem flights than ever.  On our personal flying side we have had some good times and in Competition Phippsy took the British Open Series overall Championship in Hang Gliding, nice :)  and in Spain came a very creditable 7th in Nationals, so he still has it!

What with a Wedding, Grandchild and an Engagement it has been a busy
year on the personal front as well.  Things in Cloud 9 have changed a little with the focus turning onto training smaller numbers so providing a more personal and exclusive experience to those who want  high quality tuition and are prepared to put the commitment in.

Sam & Helly get married

First Grandchild - Isla courtesy of Lee and Lauren

Jenny and Damian get engaged :)

So with the first Tandems of 2016 taking place here's what happened............

Good looking forecast for a sunny day and moderate to fresh SE breeze, Birthday girl Katy rings for an update, we call Dredge who is on site and he informs all looking good, we head off.

Dredgie and Steve M try to de frost

Halfway there update from Dredge, it's got windy and after a short flight on his mini wing he's playing it safe.  We arrive and it's looking good for hangies but too brisk for danglers so Dredge and Steve M head off before they freeze up. We get rigged and ready with the Tandem. The wind moves a little more to a SSE as the Katy arrives along with her friend Claire (coming flying) and Gavin (taking photographs) so all is good.

Katy is first up and from the moment her feet left the ground she loved it. In super conditions we flew the whole of the site from end to end playing with the sea thermals before having a bit of a swooping play session.  Nice landing by the windsock saw a beaming Katy back on the ground and already talking about the next time!

the whole site to ourselves .... bliss

Claire was a little more nervous but despite them she did just what was needed and we made a super launch to make the most of the conditions.  Bit by bit her nerves went away and it was not long before she was up for some 360's stalls and tight turns.  With the moon in the background gavin got some super shots of us which hopefully will appear here soon.  Another super landing and the girls chatted away about their flights before heading off.

Claire - Phippsy - Katy

Smiles all round and what a Birthday ;))

A really nice afternoon made even better better by one of the original Kernow Hang Gliding Association members Colan T dropping by, don't know who was most please him or us to meet up, hopefully we shall see him again soon.

Quote of the day " Your GOING to love it"  and she did :))))

One of each

The day for once turned out just as forecast which made life easy and just as well as we had a bit of a vehicle issue to deal with.  Still a bit of going and froeing saw us in the field with all the kit we needed.

Peter F was first on site to continue his Parameter training and got straight down to getting the kit sorted with a look of determination on his face.  Not long after James R arrived to crack on with his Paragliding and got a wing out and did a spot of ground handling and a fine job he did to.

Pete gets set to go

and makes a fine job of it

Peter was soon ready and after a demo' flight he was clipped in a ready to go.  In nice conditions he made it all look pretty easy with a reverse launch , smooth turn around and nice run till his feet were off the ground and he was safely away, excellent for his second only flight.  Even Adie thought it looked good, tempting ....... Whilst Pete buzzed around we got the winch sorted and by the time he came in for a super landing James was ready to play.  As James racked up the tows and worked his way through the instability tasks Pete would give him a rest by having a flight on the parameter, ideal.

Adie checks out James's towing

James's best side ??

 Adie helped out on the bike and have to showed us just why everyone says he is a Cowboy

Chris H came along and joined in on the Hang Glider having worked a morning shift and did an super job as he polished off his remaining CPC tasks including some cracking stalls.  Good to see Chris really starting to enjoy the Hangy as his nerves settle, well done.

Chris just loving his new harness

 So by the end of play we had James and Chris completed on their CPC flying tasks and Peter F just one flight away from his CPC on the Paramotor after some fine flying in what turned out to be very floaty conditions.

 Big thanks to Adie and Kaz for keeping winch end running so smoothly, sorry you couldn't make it Steve ;(

Quote of the day  " it won't come down"

Perfect at Perran

The day looked nice and the breeze set fair so we headed to Perranporth for some hill soaring and tandem flying.  a bit breezier than expected on arrival so out with the Ozone Zero to test the air, it was lovely :)

Katz played on the Zero whilst Paddy built up the courage to give it a go ......  the first of the tandems turned up and with a desire to paraglide rather than hang Glide they were happy to wit to see if the wind would ease a little.  A couple of test flights on my Ozone Delta 2 confirmed things were heading the right way, confirmed by Peachy scraping along the top on his Zero, unfortunate timing.

Jo gets things going on the Tandem paraglider

happily up and away for a cracking flight

Jo who was down on holiday from Taunton did a great job on launch and we were soon up and away with the sky to ourselves on the Tandem Paraglider.  One by one the others came up to join us and it was a fun time waving to the passing pilots as the sky got busier.  Jo had a great flight and gave me a rest by flying the glider herself doing a first class job.  A bit of fun as we rocked and rolled then it was back in on top for a super landing and big smiles.  Great to to Jo and her family stay around to watch proceedings and show a real interest.

Kaz joins us as we float the coast

Jeff turn as we head towards take off

Next long was Jeff who had made the trip down from Liskeard for the occasion.  It was a present to himself for his 72nd birthday which is tomorrow.  a good briefing and slight delay whilst we waited for the wind to see again and we were away into some super lift.  Jeff loved every minute of it and was quite emotional as it had been a desire of his to do something extreme in memory of his brother, a real pleasure to help it happen and to be part of it.  Another cracking flight in amongst the Paragliders sea gulls and hang glider gave us plenty to watch.  Back on top and Jeff was just as excited, brill.

off over the blue

then up in it

Jeff just loving it all

Nice to see a good crowd out having fun  even if a few did have to duck pretty quickly as a Tandem Hangy nearly gave them a hair cut ........  and good to see Frank out again :))

We quit early to go and pick some weed leaving the hill to the arriving Hang Gliders whom i believe had more fun into the evening :))  thanks to Jill for me of the pic's

Quote of the day "we've only just met"  something to do with leg loops ;)