Can this really be the UK??

Well judging by the tempature YES but judging by the amount of flyable days since our return from Lanzarote NO! Amazingly we got out again this time to Perranporth where i needed to test fly some gliders and also had agreed to meet a visiting very low airtime Hangy pilot. Arriving just after midday it was already getting breezy enough for the Paragliders although a few persisted as the wind picked up.

Test flying done Andy R with only a couple of hours under his belt since CPC was ready to go. He did a fine job in the brisk conditions and enjoyed a good hour soaring before coming in for a lovely top landing, his first at Perran. A huge smile on his face said it all, well done Andy.

Maybe flyable again tomorrow but Friday looks breezy. Frostbite still looking good for the weekend......................

Power Play

It was a decidedly cold one in the filed after a heavy morning frost. Stuart H was down from Brighton to hopefully sort out a Powered HG assesment. The wind was fine so we quickly got down to it and by after lunch he had put away some good flights including a jaunt up to Portreath over to Redruth and back again.

We were joined in the field by Al J on his Powere unit and he had a fine hour or so cruising uptio St Agnes before going inland sightseeing over his house then returning to the field in a chilly state.

All went well and Stuart is nicely sorted. Maybe a bit more tomorrow or maybe we will head to the the hill at Perranporth.

Looking like the frostbite comp' may be on for the week end.

Two to One

Dan heads off up the line in fine style

a winchmans view of a Hangy launch

Brake dancing !

Old folks re union with matching arms and legs on

the left, trainee winchman Kev on right

The Hangers outnumbered the Paras in the field today as we finally got back to "work" after our "holiday". Nigel W up held the Para's side having a good day finishing off his CPC tasks with a couple of fine Asymmetrics and then practicing Big ears again before just enjoying the ride. Conditions were near perfect although the field could be a little drier.

Dan L was up for it on the Hanger and put away 14 flights moving him through his EPC tasks and into his CPC ones. he had a great day which he rounded off with a couple of very nice high flights in front of his in laws, no pressure there then.

Terry P dropped down and moved onto base bar conversions and prone flight on the hanger so moving him closer to his CPC . Hopefully we have a spell of good weather which will see the guys keep up the good progress. Kev T was out again to get some practice on the winch and again did a fine job.

I gathet we had plenty of our ex students out on the hills at various sites all having agood time.

No T shirt and shorts

Brett soars over launch at carbis

Bill N comes up to join us as happy as ever

It was a sunny but decidedly cool day at Carbis Bay where ther was a good turn out of Paragliders and a couple of Hangies as well. We spent the afternoon drying out the Tandem Paraglider by taking Steve H up for a spin then Wanda's lad Onoke who at the bottom end of the weight range saw us well up there. great views some sea thermals and plenty of smiles.

Bill N probably set some kind of record putting in the most flights for the day and leaving in a hurry as a little behind schedule, hope Eilleen not to mad with you Bill.

Tim J and Graham A both held up the Hangy side and having a good time as the wind picked up meaning the Paragliders crept around the sky whilst they swanned about at will.

We also had well over half of the Lanzarote team (2010) turn up all shivering in the somewhat cooler climate but still having fun. Good day all round.

Every where you go take the weather with you

Passengers eye view "don't look down"

"She's behind you"

Kaz enjoys a British sunset

After a late drive back we arrived home at 6.30 am and managed to grab a couple of hours kip. Then it was off to the doctors for an update on my knee (Kaz).

After spending the week in Lanzarote but not being able to fly I went with Graham to St Agnes. Well it seemed we brought the weather back with us as conditions were perfect (the sun shines on the righteous) I had a lovely flight gaining nearly 600ft and was joined by Graham and Leroy on the tandem. I knew landing would be tricky as Knee painful so I headed for Steve's stone amongst the gorse (thanks Steve).

I felt very privileged to come home to such a day and I think it is set for most of the week.
By the way thanks to all who came to Lanza and well done!

Lanzarote - Up, out and return.

Last look at the villa before we head off

With all the kit in the cars it was a bit tight

Farewell look at Famara, "thats where I want to go next time" James

Sam and Lisa think back over a full on week

Cirrus streaming in from the west, a change in the weather maybe??

Our last day of this trip and with a late flight booked we hoped to make the most of it. Everyone was up early and we were cleared out by 10.00 from our lovely villa which had done us proud for the week. A final heat on the egg comp saw Mark consolidate his lead and take the trip title as Master Boiler.

We headed straight to Mala under a lovely sky with some nice looking cumulus and plenty of sunshine, it was already 23 C at 11.00. On arrival the first Paraglider launched and I was quick to follow into what turned out to be lifty if bouncy conditions. Sam, James and Mark all quickly followed and it was not long before we were all thermalling up nicely. Things continued to improve lift wise and soon we were all well over 1000' above launch and spreading out over the flats towards the coast.

James had a stonking flight heading up the coast he found good lift and climed to 2000' ato gliding past Arrieta and onto the next village where he looked like landing before hooking a nice thermal enabling him to come all the way back, his first "out and return flight". I ended up just short of cloudbase waving at the inbound airliners as they went by whist Sam and Mark swanned around. The guys all landed at the bottom as the wind picked up at launch and I flew to the cafe on the beach after nearly two hours flying, where we met up for a coffee in the sun.

Back on top things where pretty breezy and the wind had backed to the north with convergence cloud setting in. We opted to give a second flight a miss and headed to the airport via Famara, just in case. Everything went fine on the return flights even arriving in the UK early so can't be bad.

A cracking trip with excellent weather, good flying, lovely villa, some super flying and great company. Everyone got a lot from it in there flying making it a good one for me, thanks guys. Special thanks to Kaz for giving it her all despite not being able to fly on doctors orders following a skiing knee accident, hopefully next time.

Talking of next time we do have some interest in another trip in February, anyone else up for it???

Lanzarote - Island magic, asymmetrics and Video Bars

Now thats how an egg should look

Sam launches to join (as you get higher) Mark, James and Lisa at Mirador

A James eye view of a classic site

Lisa looks pretty pleased with herself at the end of the days flying

Was it the video bar or dancing girls at launch, can't quite remeber

With a breezy forecast we ere fully prepared for a days sightseeing and cave exploring as we loaded the cars following Mark F taking a firm lead in the egg comp' with 4 near perfect examples.

Mala was flyable (as some were) but didn't look to much fun so continued north. on arrival at Mirador we put the cafe on hold and headed to launch where amazingly it was good. After a quick check out flight James, Sam and Mark were all soon in the air and having fun. The girls held fire as condition got quite lively in "nice" thermic conditions which saw the guys gliding over a huge area. After an hour or so Kaz, Lisa and myself left them to it and headed to the amazing cafe for a coffee and to take in the views.

News cam through that Mark had landed at Orzola whilst James and Sam were back on top so we nipped off to pick him up. Arriving back at launch the guys were again taking off in by now smoother conditions to enjoy the late afternoon / evening shift. Lisa then gave it a shot and was soon top of the stack floating around over the bowl taking in the breathtaking view and wondering how she was ever going to get down!

They guys played with there top landings and launches and James went for his Asymmetrics for his pilot rating and did a great job of them looking calm and collected throughout. As the sun began to set Lisa managed to work her way down and came in for a superb top landing with a huge grin on her face, nice one.

Eating out in the old port we had a super meal and a few drinks in the video bar which is always a fun place to bewith good music and retro videos. It wa ahappy if tired group that bundled into one car for the ride back and a few 43's whilst checking out the days piccies which I will get around to. Last day tomorrow and guess what , the weather looks good so with a late flight back hopfully we may just get 7 days out of 7 flying ............

Lanazarote - Lisa leads the way

Sorry but with a forecast for increasing wind we made an early start so no egg comp' today. We dropped by Famara on the way to hopefully find a slot but it was not to be so we headed onto Mala. Arriving first it was not long before more pilots arrived. Mark, Wanda, James and Sam walked to the top whilst Lisa and myself took the easy option staying at the lower one.

Lisa was first off showing the way and was soon joined by James Sam and myself . We all landed at the bottom where James took a healthy interest in riser bags before we headed to the Cafe by the beach for cold drinks whilst Mark and Wanda sunbathed on top. The wind filled in and swung back to the north so we dropped back to Famara where it was fairly well off so with news that El Cochillo was on we moved on.

The top take off at El Cochillo was breezy enough in the compression and proving challenging so we opted for the lower one. Sam, Mark and James were quickly in the air enjoying the evening lift and late thermals. Wanda joined them as the wind eased further and they all flew till the sun went down before landing on top.

The guys ate out while Kaz and myself ate in enjoying a nice swim under the moon whilst the BBQ cooked, almost romantic!

Lanzarote - Smiley moons and flying

The gang go swimming at papa guyo beaches

Mark takes of at Femes in the evening

If you look hard you can see a glider out there somewhere as the light fades

Smiley Moon for smiley pilots

Seafood BBQ, yummy

Sitting here writing the blog in a very nice tempature with a seafood BBQ underway makes me realize just how lucky we are compared to many.

A strange day all round. A bit hazy when we woke up but with a warm southerly breeze so maybe it was sahara sand in the air. The important matter of the day was taken care of at breakfast where it has to be said that Mark F took a firm lead in the egg comp', Sams go tomorrow.

Macher was the place to be and I think every flier on the island thought so too as there was a good gathering there. However conditions were flyable but not always soarable. Whilst others held back or ended up slope landing we decided to go for a glide comp' and Mark, James and Sam headed out in a long line to fly down the road towards the villa. James took the honours putting a couple of hundred meteres on the others although a small wall did suffer. Wanda got away and headed out but with sink around she opted to slip it in by the school. Lisa was next off doing a super launch before heading out the sink had increased as had the wind so she made the decision to pop it down in the field between the lines. Kaz and myself soon hand them back at the top ready for the next one.

Things had got a bit rougher and it wasn't long before the hill cleared. The group were up for some swimming so we headed to Papagyo where we had a lovely afternoon on the beach and even I went in the sea so it must have been good. There were some lovely sanpipers running around the beach along with various other birds that Sam pointed out.........

As the sun dropped we headed back through Femes where we stopped to see if it was flyable. Kaz went for a coffee whilst we walked up. It was breezy enough but with a bit of effort Mark James and Sam all got away in the fading light. Sam landed at 18.45 with it as dark as you'd want it under a smiling moon superb.

Then back to the villa via the supermarket to pick up supplies for a seafood BBQ which hopefully will be nice!

Lanzarote - fly -swim - fly

8.45 in the morning the view from the lounge

James B blows the boiled egg comp' big style

Phippsy coming in to top lans at Macher on the morning flight

Sam gets some air in the pool

Don't ask........

Blue sky greeted us as we got up and the tempature moved upwards. The day started with a spectacular failure in the boiled egg comp, Marks turn tomorrow. Arriving at Macher it was already breezy but dooable. The guys were reluctant so they pushed me forward, oh well it was a chance to fly so off I went on Mark F's Buzz and had a fun time looking down on the wierd clouds rolling in from the sea. Seemed fine to me but to be fair conditions were on the change and whilst some other pilots flew our boys gave it a miss in favour of waiting till later in the afternoon.

Lisa put in some usefull ground handling before we headed back to the villa to make use of the pool and had a fun afternoon before heading back up the hill. Mark, James and myself all had some flying and some exercise so working on our stomach muscles. We then went for the glide angle comp as the wind went off but after I managed to get off in a fair cross wind the wind went from over the beck so making the rest unable to launch and me landing on the fast side.

An evening "off" saw us eating out in the "port" and amazingly not even the mention of a "BP".

Lanazarote Malaverous day

Times are hard so we have cut down on the packed lunches

Mark James and Sam have the hill to themselves at Mala

Lisa puts in a good flight before the others arrive

Sam looking cool as he comes into land

Evening flying at Macher rounds off a perfect day

Another hard day in Lanzarote with the tempature at 22C. Mala was our chosen site and on arrival we met the other British group at the bottom wondering what to do. We decided to go up whilst they opted to check out somwhere else.

It was light on the lower launch so we wlked to the top as a couple of wings took off and managed to just stay up. By the time we got up there things were looking better and with everyone else landed we had the place to our selves. The guys were quickly off the hill and with a mixture of gentle ridge and thermal lift (as the sun came out) they had a good time. Sam A made it to cloudbase whilst James B explored well out in front in ever more bouyant conditions. Mark F practiced getting low and coming back up again so perfecting his thermalling technique. Lisa W and Wanda S both got some airtime in working well on their launches and getting better for it.

We spent the afternoon there with the guys putting in several flights in and it wasn't till after a couple of hours that we saw the other group return to fly.

Then it was heading back to the villa via Macher where everyone got to fly again in the evening lift as the sun set all rounded off with a nice glide out to the landing field on route to "home".

A supermarket raid gave provisions for a mega BBQ courtesy of chef James and comi chef Lisa. A nice swim in the pool some table tennis and pool a bit of a laugh and it was time for bed.

Forecast is for more sun , yummy . Ok I know still no photo's, just to busy having fun....

Lanzarote - Wandafull Day

Breakfast at Tiffanys, wish you were here Bill
Rigging up at Mala

Lisa shows them how it's done

James has a nice one at Mirador

The pool at "home" as warm as you'd want it

Well what a day. We had a relaxed start letting the guys and gals catch up on a few zzz's then after a fine breakfast (including Golden Grahams Bill) and the start of the boiled egg competion we headed north to Mala. Conversation varied in the vans covering a huge range of subjects from liposuction for air passengers , STD's (where I learnt some things I had never heard of) and even some talk of flying.

On arrival at Mala it was light and a bit off to the North but the gang showed the way with Mark F first off followed by James B, Sam A and Laisa W. They all had nice flights landing well in the bottom landing zone. We made the decision to head to Mirador to see what was on there. Again it was light but we made the best of it with some gentle soaring on both the upper and lower cliffs. A committed take off was needed but the guys all dealt with it well and Lisa did really well skipping through the rocks to do a fine take off.

Then it was back to Mala for an evening flight. mark Sam and Lisa got off quickly to enjoy some nice soaring as the evening drew in. Wanda S made her first flight in 13 months making it look like she had never been away from it and rounded it off with a cracking landing and a round of applause. Great to see her back in the air with a big smile. We packed up as darkness fell and headed back to the Villa.

A fun evening with a dip in the pool followed by a lovely meal (largely due to Lisa and Sam) plenty of beer , wine and 43. It was a late night as we sat under a beatiful star lit night mmmm.

Will definitely sort the photos out later, honest...

Lanarote Day One we fly to the sun..

Mark F launches Lanzarote 2010 from the lower lower lower launch at Famara

Sam A gets his first flight in Lanza and enjoys some scratching and slope landing practice

James B just pleased to be in the air during a British winter

Lisa W and James study the famous glasses

Sam studies what he's been drinking

Despite the problems at Gatwick we all got away on time with no hassle and arrived in Lanzarote only 10 minutes behind schedule. The group was made up of Sam A. Mark F, Wanda S, James B, Lisa W Kaz and myself. Lisa met us in Lanzarote arriving within minutes of us so making life easy.

Car hire was straight forward for a change and we were soon heading to the villa which was a "new" one to us. It's a cracker, nice views, warm pool, plenty of space and loads of hot water, is got a thumbs up all round. Everyone settled in quickly and unpacked the basics then it was off to the hills. A ride up the local one Macher saw it flyable but light in the afternoon sea breeze so we decided to head to Famara where we found it nearly smack on and breezy enough so we headed to the lower launch. Here it was fine and the guys were quickly in the air playing on the lower slopes. Mark James and Sam had a fun time chasing each other on the ridge whilst Lisa and Wanda settled in with some ground work.

Then back to the all you can eat chinese for a evening meal with everyone buzzing. An early night saw everyone sleep well in readiness for a full day on Friday. Good to fly on the first day.

Will add photos soon

Starting off the New Year

It was a lovely sunny if frosty day in the tow field to get 2010 going. A nice return to towing saw Terry P on the Hang Glider get back into it and learn all about airspeed (or the lack of it) before moving ahead well and getting in his first high flights so setting him well on his way to CPC.

Nigel and Sara were out on the Paragliders and proved they had not forgotten it all over the Christmas break. Sara took an early day after some ground work and one high flight due to a leg strain she picked up over Christmas somehow leaving Nigel to crack on. He had a great day and moved well into the final stages of his CPC flights doing Big Ears, Asymmetrics and active flying as well as just having fun.

Mark F was out to get some flying in and helped out by giving trainee winch man Kev T someone to practice on. Between them they did a super job and had plenty of fun. Nice to see Bill n drop by for a chat and thanks to Coady for getting Kev into the swing of things,

As the field thawed out the Truck was put to good use removing vehicles one by one from far end, roll on the dry weather.