Phil was up early ..........waiting for the sunrise
the rest of us were more patient
So Algo' 2013 starts in earnest with a
beatiful sunny morning and not a cloud in the sky. The guys were up
early rested from he days travel and up for it.
Breakfast got things started with
Golden Grahams all round and no Bill to give the hard stare as the
boxes emptyed! Only joking Bill, really miss you not being here.
Looking for a fairly early start we were all sorted and out of the
doors by 09.20 for our first trip up the mountain with the normal
stop offs at the north landing fields for the newbies.
You could have been in heaven Bill
The vehicles got quieter the nearer the
top we got as a mixture of tension and excitement grew. On arrival
it was a little breezier than expected but nothing to worry a group
of west country hill soarers and whist others struggled the guys and
gals all made it look easy ;)
Lets go flying :)
Hill briefing completed and views
soaked up we got the kit out and got set to fly. Graham K leapt in
front of Michel who had already demonstrated how to fly around the
whole launch / rigging area in reverse whilst dodging vans people and
gliders …....... a good launch and team Cloud 9 were away, Michel
followed suit and next was Phil L complete with new Delta 2 / Verso 2
for it's maiden flight, a bit of brake dancing saw him off and away.
Peachy having sussed it all looked like he was just walking of a hill
in Cornwall followed by Julie S who made a stylish launch in her pink
flying suit. Shuan S stepped up to the mark for his first flight of
a big hill and made it look like he had done it all before, Martin J
and Ollie C on his first ever hill launch also did us proud, no bush
munching, fantastic!
name this dance step
and this one
and this one
and this one
and finally the one step !
Conditions out front were a little
bouncier than one would expect so early in the day and Shuan got the
rough end of the stick with a couple of good surges which got him
into active flying doing a couple of nice damping actions to settle
the wing before getting his first introduction to thermalling as he
circled up above launch before heading out to smoother air over the
landing field. Phil sussed just how much more active a EN C wing is
giving him plenty to talk about.
One by one they all landed in one piece
in what was a light breeze down below with a mixture of excitement
and relief.
Kaz and myself were down there as quick
as we could and soon we were heading back up as the cumulus began to
form. Back on launch the wind was lighter and the lift more apparent
so we had a bite to eat and watched the entertainment. Once again
Graham K led the way and was soon circling up joined by Michel and
Phil climbing out above launch. With reports that it was mellowing a
bit the others got ready whilst Michel and graham headed off towards
twin peaks led by Phil now getting his new toy sussed and loving it.
Martin and Peachy launched but the lift
was elusive and they had a prolonged flight down as the wind began to
switch to the south launch. Ollie was next away and with a bit of
coaching was sson in a nice climb before heading round the corner
towards the landing field where he hooked another good one seeing him
2500' ATO and loving it before practicing “big ears” to help him
get down, what a flight for the boy. Shuan made a first class
forward launch in very light conditions and found some strong sink as
he made his way around the corner but then floated into better air
making the landing field easily and performing a good landing.
Ollie high and loving it
Julie had a bit of a line tangle and by
the timeit was sorted it was time to moce to Ponientte launch where
things were getting busy. Whilst I recovered the boys including
Michel and Graham who had landed out near to twin peaks, well done
guys, Kaz drove back up to get the others off on Ponientte.
Peachy threads the needle
By the time we were heading back up the
guys were flying and we passed by the landing field just as Peachy
cam in to do a perfect landing and we got it on film:) On launch it
was busy but we worked our way into the launch and it was not long
before Michel did his own reverse type launch leaving Shuan and Ollie
with me. Despite the pressure they both got away fine and after a
bit of navigational help by Kaz in the Cafe field came in for good
landings to round a pretty full on first day and three different
take offs for both of them, its a bit different from Cornwall!
Everyone collected it was back to base
for showers freshen up's before they headed out for food in the
square whilst Kaz and myself chilled out.
So day one over and a lot learnt all
round and plenty to ponder on, lets hope the rest of the holiday
carries on like this ;)
Quote of the day “which lines for Big
Ears?”
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