Nice Bike!

 Tom gets set to go

 Off and away on his first tow flight

 Steve concentrates as he does his first flight

m'mmm new kick start :)

It was off to the tow field for us whilst the rest headed to Carbis Bay to play.

Against the forecast it was breezy to start with but did drop off nicely as the day went on. In the field we got going with Steve W (Truro) on day one of his EPC Paragliding, Tom G (Canada) who on a visit to the UK had done some hill work in Sussex and fancied carrying on whilst in Cornwall and Phil L (Redruth) on day 3 of his EPC/CPC course.

With Tom and Steve getting to grips with the basics and Phil practising some ground handling in the brisk enough conditions we hoped for conditions to mellow.  Phil took time out to do his EPC exam and passed well with 100% correct and his timing was perfect as by the time he finished things dropped off nicely.

Kaz popped in a couple of demo'flights and it was all go.  Phill had the lines to himself to start with and quickly finished off his EPC tasks towing higher and putting in the turns in preparation for going to the top.  Steve and Tom soon joined in for their first tow flights and both did really well settling in quickly.  By the end of the day they were both releasing and Tom with his previous experience had moved higher up the ling and was putting in turns.

Phil meanwhile got into his CPC tasks completing 3 super high flights and relaxing back into the harness.  A super day all round congratulations to Phil on his EPC and to Tom and Steve on their excellent progress.

Tim looked happy on the motorbike complete with new kickstart, clutch cable and lever, daisy will just love it.  Nice to see Bill N drop by on his way back from Carbis where they had had a fun time  just in time to help us pack up, thanks Bill.

Playing Dodgems

It was always going to be an interesting day based on the forecast for frequent heavy showers but on the other hand in between the showers it could be good so not to be missed.

On arrival at Perran Paul H was just popping his glider back on the roof having had some fun flying in bouncy but lifty conditions before heading to the shops.

We wasted no time in rigging the Tandem and tested the air with Fiona A as passenger. It was Fiona's first flight on a Hangy and we had a great time in the classic conditions giving her a chance to fly the glider.  With a large cloud approaching we nipped back in on top just before the wind picked up and the rain came down.

Franceska C (Taunton) was along for a Hangy tandem flight as a Birthday present  and arrived with the wind so was put on hold whilst we waited for the showers to clear.  After a couple of big ones a nice sunny spell arrived and we were up and away.  Amazingly the wind now eased back to Paraglidable levels and we were soon having to work hard to stay airborne.  Twenty five minutes of fun flying up and down the ridge gave us plenty of time to look at the cliffs and even the seagulls nests before a sinky period made the decision to head to the beach.

We had a classic super soft landing on the wheels to round off  a nice if not overly high flight.  Franceska was delighted with the whole experience despite having to walk back up the dunes whilst i flew the glider back up in the now increasing wind.

Back on top and things looked much better so Fran' took the chance of another flight and we popped in a quick 10 minutes in again classic conditions allowing us to play with the glider a bit more.  A nice landing this time back on top saw the end of play as the clouds returned. 

A fun day even if it was a bit hard work to make it happen but when it did it was well worth it, light winds tomorrow ??

Magic on Monday

 Graham A flies high on the tandem hang Glider

Graham takes control as we soar the lift

 Happy faces after a super flight

Kaz comes in for a super top landing

08.45 saw us at Perran where Mike C and Steve d were already in the air on Paras although it was top endy.  As the wind eased a little Steve came in to finish off his tandem rating and in challenging enough conditions did a fine job of it taking me up for a couple of fun flights on his kit and making it all look nice and safe. Well done Steve hope you have lots of fun in the future taking up friends and family.

A good mixture of para's filled the air as conditions continued to improve but by late morning the wind began to fill and they began to land, it was time for the hangies.  There were quite a few out including Paul H, Gay J, Kaz P, Graham A and Nigel W and all had fun in the super conditions although some landings were less than perfect .......

Graham A from Plymouth (a magician amongst other things) came along for a Tandem on the Hangy with a view to taking up the sport. We had a super flight playing in the lift, Graham had a go at flying the glider and seemed to switch onto it pretty quickly.  A nice landing rounded off the flight and judging by his smile and enthusiasm we may well see him again soon, check out his flight here .Rain stopped play by late afternoon. A super day to be out and good for all :) 

Fabulous Friday

 The Guys get rigged at the start of play

 Phil L impersonates a startled Rabbit

 Phils L gets in the air and looks good 

 The loneliness of a HG instructor as Dave D goes prone

 Simon L sets off in fine style for his first flight

 Keith B begs forgiveness for his sins before flying

It plainly worked as his performs a faultless launch

Who would have believed it, after a breezy day yesterday which saw some excellent Hang Gliding at Perran and Chapel the wind dropped off again and the sun came out to make a cracking towing day.

It was almost like Wednesday apart from the fact that we were towing in the opposite direction.  Whilst Kaz got Simon L (Plymouth) started on day one of his Paragliding course along with Phil L (Redruth) on day two of his I took Dave D (Newquay) to the tow line to make the most of the conditions.

Dave had a cracking time (again) popping in the flights and made good progress into his CPC tasks over his 9 flights for the day converting to the the base bar and prone whilst perfecting his 180 turns and spot landings.

Phill L joined in on the tow and was soon releasing the line and putting in turns as we towed him higher and higher putting him well into his EPC tasks by the end of the day.

After the hard work having been done by Kaz Simon L came over to launch for his first ever flight on a Paraglider and made my life easy by popping in 4 perfect flights ending with a super release flight to set him up nicely for his next day out.

Kieth B (Dartmoor) was also along and after a bit of ground handling refresher popped the Paramotor on his back and went for a nice flight around the field. His take off and landing were super not putting a foot wrong so proving despite having not flown since October he has not forgotten what we taught him.

With everyone full up we packed up in the sunshine, what a nice day :) 

Playing at Perran

After working at home in the morning we headed at to Perran porth for some fun flying in the afternoon .  On arrival it was leasantly breezy but not too breezy.

With the guys who had been at Chapel porth in the morning where they had some super flying packing up as the wind veered we rigged.  A quick blast on my T2C proved conditions as perfect and soon the rest were rigging quickly.

Andy R Kaz and Nigel W (newly qualified HG) all had super flights in the abundant lift and all had super landings to boot.  It was a very nice afternoon and a good time to practise for the Frostbite comp' coming up at the end of the month fingers crossed.

Wonderful Wednesday

 Dave d heads off up the line for his first high flight

Paul W gets his hand back in after a long break

 Top of the tow for Paul

 Taking turns the guys share the lines

 Michelle comes back to land on the tandem

Adi and Michelle after some fun flights and still smiling!

 

What a super day and hopefully the start of things to come in the Tow field.  On arrival the field was covered in mist but by the time we had the kit out it was burning off and the sun was shining.

It was a relaxed day, a good thing after a bit of a break due to the weather, allowing us all to get back in the groove.  Dave D (Newquay) was back for his second day in the field on a Hanger and he was joined by Phil L (Redruth) for his first day on a Paraglider.  After a little bit of line untangling we got going and soon Dave was popping in the flights. In super conditions he made great progress working through the turns and building height until by the end of play he towed to the top of the line having completed all his EPC flying tasks.

Meanwhile Phill worked away with Kaz going through the basics in preparation for his first flights.  Mid afternoon saw him arrive at launch and he was soon off on his first flight.  Phil did well with each flight smoother than the previous and every landing on his feet and nice and gentle. The whole experience was good enough for him to sign up for a course so keep an eye on his progress.

In between flights Michelle (Suan W better half) and Adrian (Suan W's friend) came up on the tandem to experience some stunning views along the coast and over the county.  Both were great passengers and had a good time enjoying the whole experience from start to finish.  The colours of the grass and sea along with the sunshine made it more like summer than January.

Good also to see ex student Paul W out for some ground handling practise and a couple of tows to get his hand back in after long break before heading back to the hills.

The end of the day saw our new trainee winchman take the sticks out of daisy's hands to give me some running exercise on the hangy.  A bit more practise and I am sure he will be fine ..........

Thanks to Suan W for the lovely piccies, put one in for the KHPA comp they are cracking

Making up for it Monday

After Sundays disappointment we pinned our hopes on Monday and with the forecast / tides we opted to head to Chapel Porth where we hoped to catch the low tide for Charlies first flights.

On arrival the wind was ideal and with a couple of hours to go there was as yet no beach. By the time i had tested the air on Charlies glider the beach was opening up and by the time Charlie was ready there was plenty.  With Kaz already up on her hangy and a couple of Paras hanging in the breeze Charlie went for it.

A cracking take off was followed by a couple of slightly wobbly beats the she settled in and was up and away getting smoother by the minute.  Charlie had some lovely soaring before coming in and performing a classic top landing as smooth as you like, nice one.  By the time the tide was on the return she had popped in a toal of three flights and accrued nearly an hours airtime and a big smile.

Next it was off to Perranporth where although the wind would be off there would be beach.  Sure enough it was off and there was beach! I did a quick test flight finding it surprisingly lifty before Charlie gave it a shot.  She did well in the challenging conditions soaring up and down but unable to get enough height for a top landing. A good decision was made to head to the beach where she performed a fine landing near the steps.

Tim and Kaz helped her up and with a second site under her belt Charlie cracked her hill endorsement.  Great to see a 16 year out with her dad having so much fun.  Keep an eye out for her on the hills and in the air.  That's the first qualification of 2012 :) 

Soaking on Sunday

Early birds catch the worm and so it was at Perranporth with Kaz getting rigged and ready before most people arrived.  Kaz popped in a nice flight on her hangy between a couple of mist banks before top landing as the next one approached.

Charlie was now ready and with conditions looking good it was just a matter of letting the next bank clear before she took off for her first soaring flight.  In came the mist down came the drizzle and after a couple of hours we concluded it was in for the day.

Shame as once again there was a good turn out of both hangies and paras (some of which did manage to fly) and a shame because we have a lot of wet kit!

Tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Hanging in the wind

 Checking conditions or sniffing armpits ??

Gliders rigged and ready

A brisk NW saw us head to Perranporth for some hangy work and again it was good to get out.  There was a good turn out of hangies with pilots arriving in a steady stream and the rigging area filling up.  Charlie k (Winchester) was down to start her hangy Hill conversion having learnt on the tow with us at the end of last year.  The plan was to get her used to the hill with a bit of tethering before letting her loose over the next couple of days.

We had a fun time flying her on the ropes and Charlie got the hang of it very quickly in ideal conditions which saw her floating nicely on her Wills Wing Eagle 145 giving her the chance to practice prone conversions along with "soaring". 

Finally the wind eased back a tadge and with Tim K (Charlies dad) leading the way on his Atos and putting in his first flight since an interesting launch in St Andre gliders began to get airborne.  It is fair to say that it was windy enough and as the direction moved more to the north conditions became more challenging.

Not everyone flew with the lighter pilots giving it a miss but those that did all landed safetly and enjoyed themselves.  Hats off to Shad for driving from London for the day and thanks to Nigel W and Shad for their help on the tethers.

Lets hope tomorrow is a better day .

Dualling and Dolphins

 Amy soars high and spots Dolphins whilst Andy R rigs

 Coming into land with Benan on board

Happy faces after some cracking flying

After such a long spell of windy and wet weather It was great to get out and up in the air again.  Whilst the masses headed to Perranporth we chose Chapel as the forecast was for the wind to increase and back so as we were hoping to get some hangy tandems in that is where we went.

On arrival conditions were fine for paragliding although there was a little north in the breeze.  By the time I rigged the Tandem the wind was on the increase and backing to come smack on as forecast, ideal.  Whilst waiting for the tandems to arrive i took the opportunity of test flying a Rush 3 and was soon up around the 400' mark having fun, such a lovely wing.  Spotting the tandems arrive it was back to earth where by now it was breezy enough.

Amy who had had her Dual flight bought for her as a birthday gift by her good friend Benan back in March was along and surprised her friend by returning the honor with a flight as a gift for Benen who's birthday is in two days time. 

Amy was first up and after a good launch we were soon cruising the ridge in the smooth lift.  With her eyes wide open Amy soon spotted something in the sea and to both our delight a pod of Dolphins (well possibly Porpoises) appeared and began playing in the surf. It was a real privilege to watch them surfing the waves and doing full front flips clean out of the water, amazing.  For the full 20 minutes we had not only a cracking flight but also the best seats in the house for their aquatic show.  Coming back to planet earth Amy bubbled with enthusiasm , she had waited a long time for the flight but what a cracker it was.

A short break then it was Benans go.  Another lovely take off soon saw us up and away and having fun. Whilst the Dolphins had moved on the wind had filled a little giving better lift and the chance to play around with the glider.  We had a fine time flying over the area where Benan has spent many hours but now seeing it from a very different aspect.  A cracking landing rounded off the flight and it was big smiles all round.

Super to meet the girls and Richard their friend and super to see youngsters (18) out having fun and really appreciating their environment .

Andy R sneaked in a quick fly on his hangy as the forecast drizzle approached  making our timing perfect.  Lets hope for a few more days like this :))

Quote of the day "There's something you don't see every day!"