Phil (left and high) completes his paragliding Hill rating
James C up and away on his first hill soaring flight
Phil l comes in on the hangy after his first hill flight on it
Happy hangies
Bill plays with the ASKA before heading off the hill
Grace flies high as she takes her tandem hangy flight
Looking very pleased with herself as grace poses with myself and Noel :)
We (myself and Phil L) arrived early to hopefully finish off his hill paragliding before the wind picked up when we would start his Hill hang Gliding, nothing like cracking on with it! On arrival it was windy and well off to the North and even a bit damp so we waited. Slowly against the forecast the wind eased a little and pretty soon a few paragliders were soaring the bowl in nice lift although still a bit north for Phil. Bit by bit the wind backed to the WNW and eased further until it was really scratchy, again not forecast. But patience is a virtue and Phil held himself on the ground as we stared out to sea looking for a sign. It came and within 30 minutes he was up and away in cracking conditions mixing it with the rest and looking very confident on his fourth hill flight.
Keeping a close eye on conditions he slipped in for a top landing after 15 minutes just before the wind began to increase noticeably becoming top end for paragliders. Hill conversion completed in fine style, well done.
A quick test of the air and demo flight on the Hangy and it was time to get it in the air. Now joined by James C also hoping to get his hill conversion going things were looking good. James was first off and did a fine job on his first soaring flight slowly settling in and smoothing out as he cruised the cliffs, dodging the odd paraglider kept his concentration up ready for his first top landing which he went ok and even ended looking good. Big grin from James and nervous look from Phil as it was now his turn!
No worried Phil did a great take off and settled down quickly his previous experience on the Paraglider serving him well. In increasing lift and flying very smoothly he was soon above the Para's and "loving it". Fifteen minutes later and he came in for his first top landing a little far forward resulting in a fly by, no worries his next attempt was fine and even bigger smile.
With a good breeze up we cracked the ASKA out on a small que formed with Bill N leading the way followed by Mike C and James W all of whom had some fun flying on it and all soaring fine and again "loving it". Bill put his order in there and then and I can see these becoming very popular, talk to the guys for an unbiased opinion and then to us for a test fly and hopefully buy :)
By now conditions were classic for Hangies (and ASKA's) and it was time to get the Tandem out. We had arranged to take Grace a young lady up who is raising money for two charities and for whom it was a real challenge. With graces parents and grandparents present we did a test flight with Noel S her carer to check things out and get his opinion which proved great on all fronts, and Noel enjoyed it as well!
Next it was Graces turn, despite her nerves and doubts she did an excellent job at launch seeing us away cleanly and soon well above the cliffs. " How are you doing grace, you ok?" reply " I'm smiling" guess that says it all. We had a fabulous flight with grace enjoying every minute and its hard for me to imagine how she must have felt having to different senses to appreciate what was going on. I think she would have stayed up all day if she could have but we had others waiting so after 20 minutes we popped back in on top to a round of applause. It was a very different Grace that unclipped from the glider that clipped in, Fantastic, and she raised a good sum for her charities.
A short break and it was Richard P (Bristol) who joined me having been given a voucher as a Birthday gift. It was something he had wanted o try for a long time and he picked the right day. We had a cracking flight as well playing with the glider and the lift as the sea thermals popped through. Another top landing and it was Johns turn.
John is James's uncle and had come along to see what James kept raving on about and figured that a Tandem was as good a way as any. With dark clouds out sea and the wind picking up a little we had a fun time with Johns nerves easing as we floated along in the increasing lift. It was an ideal way for him to relate to James's passion for Hang Gliding and so nice to see him take an interest. 15 minutes later and the clouds were getting closer and the wind picking up as was the lift, time to get in. We judged it spot on as soon after touch down the wind veered 50 degrees and the dampness started again giving us just enough time to pack up before the heavens opened.
A great day with lots of smiley faces. Well done to Phil on his paragliding hill conversion and First Hangy soaring flight, not bad since he only started learning at the end of January, to James on his first hangy Hill flight and he only started in Feb' and particularly to Grace on going for it and putting her trust in us.
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