Stunning at Sennen and Celebrations all round

After Yesterdays fun we were keen to get another day in for the hill conversions so made an early start arriving at Sennen by just gone 08.00 to find it looking GOOD :)).  A quick flight on the Delta 2 confirmed things were fine so Bev P and Colin N started to get sorted.

Chris H also pitched up now as a Qualified pilot and it was not long before he was up and away having fun on his local site.

A bit of ground work with the guys soon saw both of them getting it sorted then it was off to the front with Bev to see what she could do.  A different take off from Perran but it was not long before she was off the hill and cruising the ridge in front looking so pretty against a perfect backdrop.  15 minutes of flying was followed by her first top landing and in fact even a spot landing as she demolished her own windsock on touch down!  What a happy lady she was , fantastic.

Next off was Colin looking suitably nervous as he got set to launch.  A bit of break dancing and he too was away and climbing nicely in the smooth lift, well that was until someone flew in front of him!  No drama a bit of glider wash and it settled down again as his dream became reality. Learning a lot on his first soaring flight Colin smoothed out and used the lift well before coming in nicely for a perfectly acceptable top landing and it's not even 10 O'clock yet.  Celebration dance does not even do it justice Colins delight had to be seen to be believed and we all joined in.

With Bev resting a slight strain in her leg Colin made the best of it popping in another couple of flights and even getting a little bit of thermal lift along the way.  With Bev plastered in some Horse gel (courtesy of Colin) easing the strain she gave it another shot and was rewarded with a cracking flight in even better conditions before coming in for a fine top landing and leaving the windsock intact.

Colin popped in one final flight before taking a rest so making it 4 for the day for him and finished off the day with some more ground handling by the end of which he was looking pretty damned good, don't forget it Colin.

In amongst this Chris kept popping up and down rattling up 6 flights and was joined by Adie, Phil, Kaz, SteveW and Graham K.  Graham was getting his first flights on his new Ozone Delta 2 which after a little getting used to on the ground he fell in love with especially the extra scope it gave him in moving around the ridge and beyond.

With the students gone home I managed some cracking flying on my delta before switching the the Zero as the wind filled then returning to Phils Deltas as it eased again.  Good to see Phil and Adie flying the Goose and the Zero in lighter winds as the sun began to drop and having fun whilst i swanned above on the Delta< ideal.

Thanks to Phil for the Fish and Chips and to Dave for his support to the guys despite not being ready for the hill just yet.

 It's been a long journey for both Bev and Colin but has good to see them succeeding can't wait to see them qualify :))

Quote of the day "  :))))))))))))))))"  and that an understatement !

Popping some in at Perran

Light WNW on the cards and the sun set to shine. With Bev P (N Devon) keen to get on with her hill conversion she stayed down ready for an early start. 8.00 and we met up at Perran where the the sun was out but the wind was fresh and the direction off to the south!

Still, being optimists I played around on the zero for a while to see what would happen.  Sure enough the wind came on and even dropped a little, time to see what we could do.  Colin N (Newlyn East) arrived and also got ready for hopefully his first hill experience.

With things mellowing bait Chris H (Sennen) broke out his shiny new Ozone Buzz Z 4 for it's maiden flight and did a great job of it dealing with the conditions and new wing well.  He was soon up there having a ball and under Kaz's watchful eye finished off his qualification to become CPC rated on the hill, keep and eye out for him guys and gals.  He spent the rest of the day having fun whenever conditions would allow :)

 A couple of goes and Bev was up and away into the blue settling down nicely after a few beats and almost enjoying the view!  She did a fine job sussing the correct track line and smoothing out her turns as she mixed it with the other pilots.  Bit by bit the wind started to fill in again so we made the decision to beach land her and after a bit of speed bar practice followed by some Big Ears she descended nicely for a first class landing and lots of happy waving :))) Nice one.

By the time she returned to the top to a round of applause the wind had eased back a little so we gave Colin his first taste of ground handling on the hill.  Challenging comes to mind and it was not long before the wind freshened so stopping "play".

Kaz's Sport 2 135 was sitting there so it would be rude not to fly it, oh what fun they are.

A bit more Zero flying along with Dean F on his new Zero before getting back to work by test flying Jeremy's "new" Hang Glider and doing a bit of tuning on it in readiness for his first flight on it. By now the wind was even fresher and the direction not ideal for him so he too had to hold fire.

Jerry S (Callington) dropped by for a Tandem flight and we had a fun time on the Hangy playing in the lift and chasing the seagulls before popping back in on top with big smiles all round particularly from his wife Sharon who was pleased  (I think) to see him back.

A full on day with lots of flying for Paragliders, Hangy's and speed wings , can't be bad.

Quote of the day  "I never though you had that much control"  makes me wonder why they would ever come up tandem with me!

Right Place right time - well done

Whilst we were paddling Wyn and Phil were up "the Brea" and whilst not a place for the faint hearted a good place to catch a thermal and thats just what Wyn D did.  Phil just missed out and had the job of fetching Wyn back from just short of the Lizard after floating around at Cloudbase some 3000' up, nice.  Well done guys :))

Meanwhile some were having fun at Carbis and we had a fine flight at St Agnes where we met up with the sky gods in the evening.  Fun day all round and hopefully another one tomorrow :))

Quote of the day "where??"

Surprise Surprise :)

A bell at the door and outside is Lois much to our surprise, the plan was for him to call last evening before driving down from Bristol. Still that's youth for you and at least he is keen!

Another ring and Bill N drops by, now there is another nice surprise and a good excuse for a cup of tea.  With no towing on the cards we opted to head to Perran in the hope of getting Lois at least a top to bottom as the forecast was on the light side to say the least.

Whilst Lois rigged the hangy Kaz and myself popped in a few flights on the Paragliders in varying conditions which saw one or two walking back up from the beach.  Another surprise when a Pg over does it an drops in hard after a short spin.  Hopefully nothing too serious but better safe than sorry.

Dramatics over and back to flying as we wait for the wind to rise and the tide to drop for the hangy. patience is a virtue and we bided our time before sending Lois off for his first hill flight.  The plan was for a couple of beats then off to the beach as conditions were still on the light side. As it was we had another surprise as Lois soared up and down the dunes doing a fine job.  However it was never going to be enough for a top landing so after a good 10-15 minutes he headed off to the beach for a super landing and then a nice stroll back up!

So a day of Surprises all round, you never can tell ......

Quote of the day "you grip stand I'll push a little"

Two on one Fun !

Despite a call for students on the "Whats on" page we only had one keen one but as things were already in place we went ahead anyway in the interests of getting some day one work out of the way so making life easier in the future.

Carl R (Plympton)  cam along for a go at Paragliding with a view to taking it up along with hopefully speed flying in the future.  Whilst Kaz stayed at home carl and myself got the basics out of the way in the tow field where it was just like summer.  as the morning progressed the sea breeze kicked in making life easier and a nice line of convergence set up a little further inland.

Carl ready for the first one

By the time Kaz arrived we were pretty much ready to tow and conditions were spot on, sun shines on the righteous.  Demo' flight out of the way and carl was on the line for his first flight on a Paraglider and looking suitably nervous.  No worries it was a cracker with him putting a super flight across the field and looking good all the way.

that can't be bad

Big smile after the first one

that was it he was hooked and by the time we stopped  he had put away a total of 7 flights and was well into his EPC tasks.  Whilst conditions got a bit bouncier and the seagulls climbed out over the field we gave flying amiss and played with some more ground handling to round the day off.  It's amazing just how quickly some people twig to it ;))

Playing with the wing

Hah ha

 So probably a couple of days work in one and a very happy if slightly tired Carl, hopefully we shall see him again soon as the weekend looks good.

 Quote of the day " I need a split leg"

Gooseing about

A breezy start to the day was at least dry and with  forecast fro the wind to ease back we hoped to head to the hill for a Hangy tandem.  Arriving at Chapel it was nice to see a good number of hangies rigged and ready and just as I carried to the front the first one took off as the wind finally eased to sensible :)

By the time Tony c (Illogan) arrived for his Tandem flight conditions were perfect and it was not long before he we clipped in and ready to go.  We had a cracking flight playing with the lift as we soared above the cliffs and spectacular scenery sharing the air with several other gliders. tony had a great time and got a chance to fly the glider doing a fine job of it as well.

By the time we had landed the wind had eased a little more so i cracked out the ZERO and took her up for a fun flight which encouraged Phil L to get the the new Little Cloud Goose out of the bag. After a little chasing the Goose around Phil got it under control and was soon airborne and starting to play. With a standard harness on the Goose it was playful enough and Phil did a fine job of showing off it's responsiveness ......  I gave it a go and yes it is a lively bird, light on the brakes and ready to play with the weight shift harness adding to the fun.  Popping a split leg harness on it made a huge difference keeping the lift playful nature but making it nice and predictable with it, good move.

The Goose and the Gander

Rounding off the day with a flight on Sam A's Sport 2 135 was perfect. Great day, great flying, great company ;)

Quote of the day "that's the first swallow this year"  ...........

Oh and watch out for some missed blogs being added over next few days due to several "requests" ....

Carnage

A morning of "weed picking"  was followed by a cup of tea with Peachy in the Kitchen when we decided to take a trip to Carne for a change to see if we could get a bit of airtime in.

On the way we got news from Phil and Adie that they had been flying but the wind had picked up and gone off so were heading home.  Well as we were nearly there and had hangies on board we carried on to have a look.  Passing Phil and Adie on the way encouraged them to return and soon we were assembled on launch where yes it was a bit breezy and a bit off...........

A chat with the farmer resulted in us heading to the lower fields and cliffs where things looked a lot better and it was not long before I was off and away.  Kaz quickly joined me followed by Peachy. Crossing crane beach opened up more cliffs and then crossing over Pendower even more along with higher ones as well.  It was enough to encourage Adie to get his glider out again and Phil to pinch mine when I landed.

We all had several super flights and fun flying along with plenty of laughs, this what it's about, can't wait to swim, fly, fish and BBQ here this summer.

Quote of the day "would you like a de brief on that"