A day in the field

With it still raining at 08.30 it was tempting not to go out but after a slight hesitatation and staring into the crystal ball we decided to get out there. Ricky V (St Ives) and Dean T (Fakmouth) were along for a Taster Day, Graham ? (Marazion) for a tow conversion, Chris S for his CPC and Adam W for fun all on the Paragliders. Ricky and Dean did well with the ground handling and it wasn't long before they were getting into the air on the end of the hand tows along with Graham. With the wind on the increase Graham got his first taste of towing with a nice flight to the top of the line. Ricky was next and did a super flight across the field ending in a stand up landing to give him his first free flight ever. With the wind on the increase we opted for an early day. Still plenty done with all present doing well on improving their ground handling.Must have done something right as Dean has signed up for more so watch out for his progress.

Thunderbirds are go!

Early bird catches the worm, Mark gets in the air before things get busy




Getting the kit ready Andrew gives Pete's unit the once over

An early morning start saw 3 of us, Mark F, Pete L and myself (unfortunately Michelle had to work) out in the Derbyshire countryside at Airways Airpark for some more of the Power stuff as the weather in Cornwall did not look good. It wasn't long before we were up in the air using forward launches in the light conditions and then revertiing to reverse launches as the breeze filled in. The day was spent perfecting techniques both in the air and on the ground along with all that usefull information and thoses invaluable tips that not only make your life safer but a lot easier as well. By the end of a long day everyone had all moved forward in our training and skills with Pete making good inroads into his restricted endorsement and Mark just needing some additional airtime, a 30k XC and an exam for his full endorsement. A long and tiring day after a long drive but well worth the effort, thanks to Pete for all the driving.

What a Day, all you needed was to get up there

Here's a sight i never thought I'd see

Meeting in the field everyone seemed amazingly bright and bushy tailed for day two of the powered paragliding experience. With the forecast for the wind to pick up we got straight down to it. Mark F was first in the air to a round of applause carrying out a cracking forward launch followed by a couple of circuits before performing a very acceptable landing. With the breeze picking up a little things got easier for the rest of us with reverse launches being the order of the day. Myself was next followed by Michelle K and Pete L with various rates of success, but by 11 o'clock we had all got up there and safely returned to terra firma. From 09.30 onwards the sky had begun to look good with solid cloud streets over the field and on my fourth flight I was amazed at how easy it was to thermal up with the motor off and how solid the wing felt. Mark rounded off the days flying with a stunning flight having to make a conscious effort to fly away from the field and the lift to get down.
With the wind having picked up we packed up at 14.30 with big smiles having learned a lot, had some good fun and with an appetite for more. Just a shame we used what was probably the best day this year for XC flying to do it!! Still here's to next time.
Thanks to Andy S our instructor and to Kaz for the tea and cakes.

Power to your Paraglider

It was an early start at 07.00 for the power brigade with Pete L, Mark F, Micelle K and myself assembling in the field along with Andy S who had come along to train us on Paramotors. An introduction to the units was followed by a good DI system then the basic start up procedures, do's and don'ts. Next it was units on our back's and a session of running around the field under power with no wing to get the feel of things, surprisingly different. Then on with the wings and the unit and ground handling with reverse launches before turning into forward stance, again a different world. Then for the big one .... unfortunately (or was it fortunately) the wind had increased to a level where first attempts at flight were deemed unwise so we settled for the theory side of things. A bit more ground work confirmed it was on the breezy side so we had an early finish giving us time to reflect on our new found skills in readiness for tomorrow... watch this page.

Cracker at Carbis

It was a cracking day at Carbis Bay with conditions improving all morning until suddenly, too suddenly for me, dropping off in the afternoon. Mike A was already in theair when we arrived and i quickly joined him followed by Kaz and Michelle. The lift just got better and better with piots cruising into carbis bay itself and back at will. Adam W arrived and got his first soaring flight inon the Ozone Buzz Z and what a cracker it was. Climbing to around the 500' mark he had a top time before coming in and performing a perfect top landing, add in a 360 and what more can you ask. Loads of others turned up including Tony P down on a weekend break who got his first fligt in since September! Coady got a a go on the Rush2 and gave it the thumbs up noticing "subtle" difference over his standard Rush and Nick G gave it some ground handling at which he seemed impressed, the term Guru did get mentioned. Tim J (winchman T) kept his paragliding skills alive on a school mojo and had a big smile. Also good to see Chris W out as the sole hanger having a super flight in the best of the conditions.

Tuesday 15th was a glorious day in the tow field with the convergence cloud looking stunning up the middle of the county. Ray P from Barnstable was along for a Taster day on the Hang Glider and had a top day ending with some cracking flights across the field and even some good landings, he left the field with a big smile.Chris s pushed on well into his CPC tasks after a good morning of ground handling. Over his 10 flights he also experienced some of the thermic lift that was around making life interesting. Adam W sneaked out for the evening and completed his CPC flights and had fun playing with the elusive (well for myself and Nick g anyway) lift, congratulations to him on his qualification.Paul H appeared with his Doodle bug and went off to play with the convergence cloud and came back wishing he hadn't before having amore sedate evening flight. Tim J and Bill also got some flying in as did I on the Rush 2 which towed very nicely indeed. P.C did a good job on the winch carrying out the final tows just before 19.30, lets have more days like this.

A New Era??

Ok so we are going to try this out and see how it goes, all the old "whats been on" stuff will still be kept so look for the links on the whats on page for anything prior to this date!!!

ok how esay is it to put up pictures??