A day off in the Sun

 The gang of 3 reunite at Chapel after  leaving Algo' behind

Sea thermals were working out to sea ........

.........and inland

To cut a long story short it was a lovely day off sitting in the sun with Chrissy S before getting some nice flying in at Chapel as the wind filled in spot in line with the forecast at 15.00. Whilst not epic and you had watch out for the sinky bits it was good fun playing with the sea thermals as they floated by, another few weeks and they should really kick in ;)

Playing at the far end after the modellers went home

Still with the rest of the week not looking to hot can't complain.

Quote of the day "what, no butt holes"

Tethering two Tasters at Perran

Excited or what and we have not even clipped in yet!

A change is as good as a break and it was nice to get out with some hangs after or two weeks away with the Para's in Spain.

On a breezy forecast we opted to head to Perranporth in the hope of having a fun time doing hangy taster days all be it with a few showers around.  Andrew M (Penzance) and Darren G (Swindon) were up for it both having been bought Gift vouchers fro their Birthdays.  Turning up on site it was indeed breezy and it was indeed showery so we cracked on with the theory in the van whilst Kaz made us tea and coffee.

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

 By the time the theory was sorted the skies had cleared a little so out we nipped and got rigging.  Glider introduction done we wasted no time in doing some demo's before the guys got their hands on the glider.  With plenty of lift to be had in the brisk conditions it was not problem getting off the ground but getting back could be trickier.  Under full tethers Andrew and Darren both got plenty of time in the air and with each flight they grew more confident in line with their ability.  By the end of the day they had both got to the stage where they could control the wing despite the bouncy conditions and the wind increasing.

Darren gives goodbye wave before taking

Next thing he is up and away

Once again we have to say how impressed we are with how students who have never picked up a glider before get to grips with the sport over just a day.  Thanks for a fun day guys and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, nice to meet you.

Andrew joins in the fun as they get to grips with flying the hangy

Andrew looks pretty happy with his day

Quote of the day "after you" polite or just sensible??

Out and return – Algodonales the final day

The electrics get packed

So we arrived at our final day and awoke to a heavy downpour and thunderstorm pretty much as forecast. Despite a positive effort we could not improve things and the advance party made up of Bill, Mike, Chrissy and Wyn were on their way back to malaga by 09.30. The remaining crew ate as much as they could before we too cleared the digs for a final coffee in the square which was strangely deserted of pilots, well not that strange actually.

Making our way south in heavy rain we arrived in one piece and after visiting the shopping Plaza we made an effort to visit Malaga itself resulting in us finding the cannabis cafe, and amazing amount of sewerage on the beach and a shop that was actually a tardis.

and people go here on holiday !

Unknown Rock group, such a cool bunch

Car drop offs went smooth and it was a quiet group that whiled away the time in the airport until departure. Such a change from a couple of years ago when we flew till 16.30 having to drag pilots out of the air to make the flight in time.

Have to say Shauns "Riding a cock horse" beat Phils effort

but his wheelie was pretty good

Malaga airport had to put up with us playing 'props', Mallets mallet, wheres Wally and plenty of Shah dap dap buh dah, you had to be there to appreciate it!

Where's Wally ? one

Where's Wally ? two (taken at great risk by Kaz)

So rounded off Algo'2012 which was a real mixture of stonking conditions seeing everyone having some amazing flying and for all of the newbies certainly giving them an exciting introduction to thermal flying. With heights of 4'500 ATO being achieved conditions were certainly good when the weather played ball and some good attempts on the XC front were to be had. Fair to say that on other days the weather and the forecasting was disappointing but good on all who came for taking it in their stride and making the most of it.

Thanks to all for making it a fun time and well done on the flying particularly to the newcomers who despite being thrown in at the deep end as far as thermalling went did us proud in both their flying, take offs and landings.

Looking forward to next year, the accommodation is already booked and the plan is for a two week trip for all with the focus on XC on the second week so if you are interested let us know as it is half full already!

Quote of the day “but I bet the fishing is good”

Castles and Caves – Algodonales day 12

Adi touts for business so early in the morning

Forecast not good with strong winds and rain but this is Algo' so we planned not to got too far from the hill just in case. So it was off to Zahara where we once again embarrassed ourselves on the exercise toys before those fit and willing made the pilgrimage to the top of the castle where Adi spooked Bill out with his wall walking. A couple of gliders did launch off Lijar but with the wind picking up all the time they were not up for long and the spectators on the hill soon cleared.

I must, I must, I must expand my ...... lungs

taking pictures of Shaun taking pictures

Phil, Andy and myself chilled in the square before being joined by the others for coffees and beers, you guessed it the wind had filled in and flying was off the cards.

The Castle climbers from the bar in the square

The scenic route saw us arrive at the big cave and the dry dam where those brave enough took the mountain goat path to the dam and the rest looked on in awe. Then it was off down into the cave where we realised the torches were at home, how good mobile phones are as torches.

the goat path to the dam, not for the faint hearted

Down the face of the dam, who's feet are those ?? not mine that's for sure 

Anyone speak Spanish ? think its says Caves open to all :)

Big cave or small people ?

Adi pays attention to Phil's gynie' lesson and learns something .....

With the damp starting to arrive we headed home before having a very nice meal in the posh restaurant and very nice it was too.

Quote of the day “I think it's dropping”

Blow by and Wave goodbye – Algodonales Day 11

Another sunny rise in Algo

The hill was buzzing with a good forecast, blue skies and light winds. It was busy ish at launch on Lijar and the gliders looked really colourful all bunched up and ready to go. The early launchers pretty much went straight down but in fairness they were students but made good markers for those waiting to go.

Chrissy in the midst of it all

Wyn ready to take on the world

Andrew contemplates the world

With a steady stream of gliders going off the south launch and some off the SE team Cloud 9 got organised and we worked our way to the front of the que where one by one we fed our pilots in . Chrissy was first to go and soon disappeared around the corner onto the main face and it was not long before she was reporting lift over the main landing filed as she climbed out. Phil and Bill took off in quick succession and Adi not far behind all focused on not letting Phil slip away. Shaun, Wyn and Andy were next and Mike joined in the fun getting back in the air .

Man on a mission

Secret agent Shaun starts a new career as "Wheres Wally"

The lift was there but not as regular and as strong as expected seeing quite a few miss it and drift down to land. By the time everyone was off and Kaz and myself headed down the sky was clearing. On the way down some gliders were skying out under some cumulus to the east and there was the indication of wave in the air.

Adi gets set to chase Bill who's chasing Phil

Mike gets back in the air after his lay off

To cut a long story short (and to let Phil tell you himself) Chrissy and Phil went high with Phil topping out at 4'500 ATO and flying to Olvera where he landed safely and Chrissy punched the head wind nearly making it back to the landing field.

We left Chrissy still in the air to take the others back up and she kindly agreed to go and pick the Sky God up making life easy and the turn around a quick one. Back on launch and things were changeing, all launches were off the south face and the wind ws brisk even by Uk standards. Plenty of wave clouds around made even the locals a little nervous. Having watched a couple of exciting failed launches we sat back and waited. Kaz took one group to Poinientte launch where some pilots did launch but the active flying required along with the various collapses made the decision a pretty simple one.

Early evening saw things mellow and gliders launched from both take off's . all that wanted to fly got away nicely and mixed it with the french before heading out to the main landing. Phil and Chrissy reappeared but were not tempted to go and I don't blame them. I took a quick flights down (and it was quick) with a nil wind launch and nil wind landing concentrating the mind.

Again a great day for some and a little disappointing for others especially after such a good forecast.

Quote of the day “ittttsssss reallllllly collllllllld upppppppp hereeeeeee”

The day the morning after - Algodonales day 10

The night before .........

Well the update on last night is not good. The boys had decided to visit Poco Poco at 17.00 and stayed there until they had drunk it dry of 43 after which they moved onto JJ's by the time we caught up with them around 22.00 things were turning into a bit of a mess. In fairness Adi and Andy managed to keep some sense of sensibility but Wyn, Shuan and Phil were a little worse for wear and seemed to struggle with the basic skill of eating chips.

So to today and as I type Phil has just come down the stairs remarkably bright and breezy but we shall see how long it lasts! Shuan is as neat and tidy as ever and Wyn, well all I can hear is some groaning from up stairs …................

Wyn contemplates his egg ....................

Amazingly one by one they appeared and whilst not quite as bouncy as normal they were much better than expected. A light NNE saw us head to Montellano in the hope that it would be below the low cloud that formed on top of every hill around. Montellano was no different and after a visit to check out the landing fields we were off to the top to join the FlySpain group already there. Slowly, very slowly the cloud lifted to above the hill and gliders launched for top to bottoms. Wyn and Adi took the opportunity to pop in some flights and I joined in for a float down as a little more heat came through the cloud.

Phils get's to grips with Phippsy's bushy eye brows 

Adi popped in a couple of flights as the cloud got above the hill

Decision time, and both FlySpain's XC group and ourselves decided to move. We opted for Ronda la V as Lijar was still in cloud in the hope of getting some evening sunshine there. Passing Lijar gliders were flying but we carried onto Ronda as it looked sunnier that way. On arrival the cloud that had pestered us all day duly arrived and shut the hill down reducing the breeze to a very light one as we rigged. Patience is a virtue and finally the cloud began to thin letting some sunshine onto the hill. Bill and myself tested the air which saw me slope land at the base of the slope and Bill test the air out front which proved no better.

Phippsy gets up as the sun gives a helping hand

10 minutes later a bit more sun and we decided to line up for the glide to the road. Launching first I found a little lift and worked the ridge with the others taking off one by one some staying up and some gliding off to the road. Wyn and myself had the best of the lift giving Wyn some ridge soaring and seeing me at cloudbase although to be fair it was not easy. Everyone landed safely by the road and were soon on their way back to Algo' once more.

Nothing to do with today but it's a nice piccy :)

A quieter night out with a lot less drinking going on strangely enough.

Quote of the day “do I go over them or round them?”

Whats in a forecast - Algodonales Day 10

Morning Cloud over the Mountains

Creaming up for the day

Waking up to a blue sky and good forecast hopes were high and with XC fever in the air pilots made sure radios were working and vario's were charged.

In anticipation we headed off slightly earlier than usual for the main hill only to clock more wind in the Repsol flags, cloud blowing over the hill and the French driving down! Change of plan and we headed to El Bosque where hopefully the wind would be lighter.

Cloud 9 takes over the hill

Is that a monster coming over the hill, is that a monster (no its Mike)

Tour de Andalucia passes by

On arrival it was indeed lighter so much so that it was practically none existent and what there was was actually off the hill. Whilst pretty much everyone (all the various groups) arrived checked out the landing field then headed up the hill we stayed put as Mike did a bit of ground handling to test out his foot and even got them off the ground. By the time he had had enough a fine film of wet stuff appeared so we retired to the local bar at the bottom of the hill for coffee and light entertainment.

The wet stuff got wetter and by mid afternoon it was back to Algo to finish off the XC chat, tea, coffee and beers and an evening out.

Every picture tells a story .............

Lets hope the forecast for tomorrow is more reliable.....................

Quote of the day “better to stall your car than your glider” ok I know my driving is not that good.

Blown Away – Algodonales day 9

Breakfast at tiffany's

More rain overnight and some low cloud when we woke but things quickly improved and after some perfectio eggs we bundled into the vans and headed off up Lijar to the main launch. Gliders were already flying and staying up by 11.15 which is unusual and low cumulus were forming overhead, hmmmmmmm.

Everyone got their kit out and got ready but we kept our powder dry to see what happened. With gliders drifting in and out of cloud a few hundred feet above us no one was keen to go off and I can't blame them. By the time the cloud rose and it looked more sensible the wind had gone to zero and began to flick to the NW. After 15 minutes of steady but light wind from behind we repacked and headed off. Passing the NW launch we stopped briefly to watch the take off's before carrying on to Ponientte launch where things looked better.

Wyn ready to join the fray and get up and away (to cloud base)

Phil climbs out (finally) before heading south

Not sure whats going on here

Gliders were pretty much going straight down but as the sun came round onto the face things improved and by the time it got stay upable the guys were ready with Bill leading the pack. Bill may have been a little premature as he drifted down and out of sight but he hung in there and despite our doubts re appeared after a long absence and clawed his way back up. They guys got going and in a fairly short time everyone was off and away and in the air with Phil bringing up the rear …..........

Some climbed out easily whilst others had to work for it but all got up way above the top (all well over 1500' above) and had a ball with some getting their first real taste of thermalling and loving it. Adi did a cracking job of thermaling up from just above the fish field to join Wyn and Shaun of whom made it up from low down themselves. Kaz kept an eye on things from a lofty perch up near cloudbase before heading off to the landing field to be there for the arrivals. One by one they headed down having had their fill and made good landings in what were fairly bouncy conditions.

3 Amigos after some cracking thermalling in lively conditions

Andrew returns to the fold

Phil came over the radio to ascertain Bills location before announcing that he was going over the back and heading towards Ronda V. Bill was not far away and not much lower and it was not long before he followed suit. In the landing field the boys were more than happy to follow them by road after their epic flights and a celebration beer!

You can relax Michel as we found Bill about half way there beside the road and Phil a few k further on so no postcard today. Both were pretty chuffed to say the least and so they should be.

We found Bill in the middle of nowhere and Phil a little further on

Back together again

In the back of the vans they jumped and it was onto Ronda V by road. Arriving together it was breezy enough but not to much so after a site brief I took off from the main launch to prove it nicely soarable but not the ideal launch point. Kaz showed them where best to take off on the lower launch and made it look nice and easy and was followed by the guys and gal. Cloud 9 took over the ridge in fine style with no one else there we had the place to ourselves, yummy.

Adi gets set to go at Ronda la Veja

Top landings were fine (sorry Simon and Mark) for those who chose to and the lift was a mixture of dynamic and thermal. As evening drew near Bill took off to lead the team down to the roadside landing field on a mini XC and soon a line of pilots were heading out and away. Kaz and myself got in the air and followed a few minutes later to join a happy band who all got there fine.

Cloud 9 pathfinder squadron heads out led by Winco' Bill

Thanks to Phil, Adi and Mike for bringing the cars down and rounding off a cracking day during which so many firsts were made.

Quote of the day “what's your go pro doing under your pillow!” “in your dreams”