Stacking up on the hill

Mark flies on his first soaring flight as Manwell gets ready to join him

Fiona A comes into land in front of an audience

Andrew M settles into his first soaring flight on the Calypso

Pilot X looking smooth on their soaring flight on the Eagle

Paul H sits down as he flies the Falcon

Well i love it when a plan comes together and today it did. We made an early morning decision to go to the hill based on a stronger than forecast wind. At Perranporth it was well strong enough if a little off but this gave some of the guys a little time to to ground handle before it became flyable.

Mark F (Camborne) got his first taste of the hill and after getting a feel on the ground did a good launch and was soon soaring nicely up and down along with several others. having settled in conditions started to drop off lift wise so we slipped him in for his first top landing which was acceptable if not perfect. A short break and he was off again to enjoy another cracking flight looking even better than before and this time the top landing was on the nail. A great start to his hill flying career.

Gary V (Plymouth) got in the air having done some towing with us to get back into flying and had a good day with three flights building up his experience and meeting new friends along the way.

Fiona A was next student off and did very well getting away first time and quickly working her way to the top of the stack on her Mojo 3 she cruised the cliffs for a good 15 minutes before we got her back in as the wind began to pick up a little. A first class top landing saw a huge smile and celebrations, nice one.

Next on the Hang glider front Andrew M (Bridport) was first off and had a cracking soaring flight for 15 minutes in amongst the Paragliders and looked very comfortable with it. He then performed a stunning top landing just where we wanted it on the Calypso to a round of applause. Not bad for someone who only started 3 weeks ago and has a 2 and 1/2 hour motorbike ride to get to us.

This encouraged a squadron of Hangers off the hill amongst them recent ex student Graham A, Lanky Al (back from his break) and Rick on his new U2 all joining Paul h who was flying seated on his Falcon. Pilot X joined in the fun on the Eagle 145 and had a cracking soaring flight putting in another 15 minutes in close company before carrying out a first class top landing to round off a very rewarding day.

Lots of good flying and nice to see lots of ex students out getting in the airtime along with the more experienced guys coaching them (thanks to Paul and Bill). We rounded off with a sociable meal in the pub in good company. Perfect.