What's in a forecast?

The tandems rang in early as the force sat was for dampness to come in late morning and stay for the day.  08.00 and it gaslight drizzle already, not looking good ;( 09.00 things were brightening so we got back in touch with them and started the ball rolling by heading out to Chapel Porth.

Yep sure enough it was dry and the wind was on, whilst we waited for the passengers to arrive Kaz and myself tested conditions on the Tandem Pg and there ws plenty of lift around and no sign of rain, ideal.

Hanna H (Surrey)  was first to go and we were soon up and off into a very lift sky seeing us climb out to 500' in no time to reveal some superb views along the north cornish cliffs.  In amongst the sight seeing Hannah had a crack at flying the wing and did a fine job, nice and smooth.  With so much lift we could play as much as we wished before coming in for a nice top landing to be greeted by Haanahs mum and dad and big smiles.

Cracking views along the coast

Hannah Back on planet earth after a cracking flight

Next off were brother and sister Dean and Laura with Laura being first up. Once again the lift was cracking and they both had super flights with the added bonus of the sun coming out as well and the 'Banner plane" flying by well below us!  Both had a go at flying the glider and with varying results but neither were bad by any stretch of the imagination.  Two more lovely landings and more smiley

 faces from the family and guess what it was still sunny.

Laura coming in

 Dean loving it

Happy faces

In fact the day was a lovely one nothing like forecast what a bonus :))  Thanks to Alistair for his help and to Hannah for her lovely note, sorry to have missed you and look forward to seeing you again.

Quote of the day "so I just pull it a little"

Going Solo

Forecast for the wind to fill in as the day went on we made an early start in the field meeting up with Alistair S (Totnes) at 08.00 and cracking on.  A bit of PLF training and ground handling then it was straight onto the tows as Alistair worked deep into his CPC.

Putting away the tows he steadily moved through the task book and by the end of play we had done them all, well at least attempted them all.  The instability tasks went well and to be fair the Asymmetrics were pretty impressive!  A bit more work on spot landings would not come a miss so rather than just tick the boxes for the absolute minimum we will have Ali back to sweeten him up before signing him off.  Mid day saw him with 14 high flights under his belt as the wind and thermals began to pick up so we called it a day.

Still not a bad week for him with plenty of flying and an EPC and CPC nearly done along with a lot of laughs.

Looks like he will have a rest now apart from a bit of theory and the CPC exam.

Quote of the day "I have sensitive buttocks"

Perfect timing :)

It was near perfect conditions when we arrived in the tow field and for Robin (Exeter) on bis first day of Paragliding it made life easy as he worked through the ground based activities, well maybe there was a level of ability as well!

Alistair (Totnes) was back refreshed after a day off yesterday plant buying and made the most of the morning sweetening up his ground handling and looking good at it.  With the guys sorters the winch was up and running and the fun began.  Robin had an amazing day putting in 6 good flights and moving nicely into his EPC course finishing off with his low (60') release flights and just loving it, a bit different from flying in his day job!

Alistair gives it the thumbs up

Alistair moved deep into his CPC tasks putting away another 7 flights and is on the verge of the instability tasks ..........  A slight delay in operations was caused when a helicopter was seen to disappear below the nearby cliffs presumably to pick someone up. Just as well we waited before towing ali high again as when it reappeared it made a beeline straight over us!

Robin on day one

By 16.00 we were all done and dusted and the wind began to fill and the thermals pop so we wrapped up before heading to the hill at Perranporth where we met up with Luke H for a  13th  Birthday flight.  Kaz tested the air on her Paraglider and gave the thumbs up so we popped out the Tandem  Paraglider and got Luke briefed up.


It was a great flight and don't you just love youngsters they are just like sponges soaking everything up and enjoying it all.  We had a fine time in what were by now classic conditions with the site to ourselves everyone else having given up being there all day just before it got good!  With Sister Lily getting a bit chilly on the ground we came in for a fine top landing and a very happy family picture.

Quote of the day "oh, just do what you want then.......?"

I can see clearly now ......

........ the rain has gone. Just as forecast the morning rain cleared just after lunch and it was ideal as son Lee headed off on the "Bonnie" to get it's mot whilst we loaded the tandem hangy and headed to St Agnes to meet up with Sian H who was down on holiday with her family.  Husband Andy who already flies had bought her the flight as a gift so she could share in the experiences that he gets, nice one.

Pre flight brief

Andy does a good "Bolt" impression at launch

Classic conditions had developed with the morning rain clearing, a fresh Northerly breeze and sunshine you could not ask for more.  Andy helped out at launch and we were soon off and up in the seemingly never ending lift.  The sea looked stunning along the cliffs and the air was clear giving super views up to Trevose head to the NE and St Ives to the SW.  We had a ball playing and after a little encouragement Sian had a go at flying the glider doing a fine job, maybe solo next time??

Stunning view to the NE

and the SW

Kaz was ready for us as we came in to land after a cracking flight and the kids looked pretty happy to see mum back safe and sound, nice one.

Carex turned up whilst we were derighing so we hung on to see him off and left him skying out as we drove away, hope you had a good one ;)

Quote of the day "is that a fishing rod ?"

Sunday at Sennen

A day away from the field and it was off to  Sennen Cove where a moderate NW breeze was forecast. After a morning of paperwork we arrived just after lunch to find it light and scratchy and well off to the west.  Some had been flying earlier and it was good to catch up with Carl R and Steve L  who both had super flights and now building their hours nicely having fledged a few weeks ago.

A little wait and things began to improve a bit but not enough for Carl and Steve to decide to head back to Perran on their way home.  I popped in a little flight and then no sooner had they left than the wind came on and filled and all was good allowing flying from the far left right around to Gwenver and back, ideal.

talk about being relaxed, Jenny waits to take off ...

Jenny D arrived ready for a Tandem flight on the Paraglider and we were soon clipped in a ready to go.  We had a nice flight all be it in by now less lift conditions and plenty of time to chat as we floated above the beach and discussed life in general, boy you meet some interesting people in this sport.

Up and away the Tandem climbs out

With Jenny safely back down it was time for a rest and a coffee and by the time that had cooled the breeze had returned to give some super evening flying in classic conditions.

Kaz enjoying some time to herself

Alistair who had come along to watch kindly packed the Tandem acting as a small nursery for a number of young children who came to watch him, could have made a few quid there I think!

Classic Kaz landing pose

Quote of the day "you should have been here earlier"  how many times have you heard that one! as it turned out "you should have stayed here later;)"

New Kid on the Block

We had a new student in the field bright and early, Alistair S (Totnes) was down for the week and this was his first day at Paragliding.    Alistair got right into it with the ground work and by the time Frank and Geoff had arrived he was well underway.

Alistair gets to grips with the ground work

With good progress we had the winch up and running by lunchtime.  Alistair popped in his first towed flights whilst Frank and Geoff both headed to the top of the line to get high flight experience in.  With Geoff now ready to come out of the Paragliding course and move over to the Paramotor side he spent the rest of the day sharpening up his ground handling.  Frank continued into his CPC and soon looked pretty comfortable in the harness and ready to move on.

Alistair meanwhile put in some additional flights to move him into release flights and nicely into his EPC, not bad for day one.

With the wind filling in towards the top end we called an early day for a relaxed pack up.

Quote of the day "zzzzzzzzzzzz"

Patience is a virtue

Driving into the field you could have been in France picking up a pilot from an out landing, boy is this Cornwall at it's best :) .

The sun was out the wind was light and the guys were up for it so whilst  Kaz got Heath L(St Austell)  and Sean (Falmouth) going on their taster days with the Paragliders I got Jamie (Penryn) started on the Hangy.  The light winds became fickle making it hard going all round but think the Hangy had the upper hand, probably youth was on it's side!

Jamie gets set to go whilst the Paragliders play 

A bit of a rest and with the wind filling in it was all goo. Now the Paragliders had a different challenge with wings inflating easily and not quite so willing to come down! The Hangy just adapted and Jamie was soon "flying" it across the field as he practiced the ground work.

Lunch cooled us down and gave a welcome break before we set the winch out and with conditions still on the breezy side we opted to get the Hangy going.  One demo flight and the wind flicked direction, all move.  By the time we had reset the wind dropped off to next to nothing so time to catch up wight the hand tows on the Para's.  Boy it was hot, but with Peachy as the "winch" and the guys behaving we got through them with out collapsing!

Ready to go and the wind was zero, we waited for a little breeze and finally it came so we cracked on with the Paragliders.  Heath and Sean both got their first flights in and by their third ones were looking pretty good with good take offs , smooth control movements and stand up landings, sweet.

Frank H (Bodmin) and Geoff P (Plymouth) finished off their EPC flights and did their first high flights seeing big grins on their faces and Frank almost got excited, but not quite.

Jamie had been as patient as they come and it was well rewarded as thew breeze filled in a little making it easier for his first flights on the Hangy.  A nice moonwalk was followed by a few low flights on the tethers and he rounded his day off with a stunning flight across the field with no tethers at all, brill!

The crew

Peachy the bike, Geoff, Sean, Heath and Frank

oh and yes Jamie sneaking in in between!

So a long old day and lots of effort but a good result all round, well done guys and gal and big thanks to Peachy for being Steve Mc Queen for the day.

Quote of the day "who sat on my lunch box?"

The boys are back in town

Yep back in the field were Fergie and Treeve on the Paramotor and they were joined by Frank and Geoff on day two Paragliding/Paramotoring respectively.

With the Paramotor twins turning up early they were soon ready to go and it was not long before Fergie was popping in the launches and landings and improving nicely, almost competent I would say!  Seriously though it's great to see someone so willing to get it right and make Paramotoring look like it is supposed to happen rather than in the lap of the Gods.  With Fergie worn out it was Treeves turn and he too did a fine job honing his skills before putting in a nice long flight to round off his day and give us some peace and quiet.

Nice ground work

Geoff gets it up .....

...... and away

Frank and Geoff played with a spot of ground handling before we got the winch set up and the lines running.  Once again Frank was first up setting the standard which Geoff followed.  Steadily the guys worked through the EPC tasks moving into release flights, gentle turns and finishing off with tighter turns over their ten flights each.

Frank looking good on launch

don't know what was going on here, but each to their own!

A rest in proceedings saw me take up Geoff's Revo 2 wing coupled to the school unit resulting in some stunning views as I skipped along the top of the cloud that had formed over Godrevy before heading back to work.

bringing back Geoffs wing

Chill out for Kaz and Frank

By the end of the day the guys were ready for a rest so a little theory then it was off home, good day, good company, good fun what more can you ask:)

Quote of the day "that took a bit 0f getting up"

Packed at Perran

A relaxed morning whilst we waited for the wind to fill in a little then it was off to Perranporth for some hill soaring and Tandem flying along with some hang glider rigging.

Arriving on site just as it got properly sharable, although some may disagree, we whipped a hangy off the roof for Will G down from the far east, well London way at least to have aloof at and for me to hopefully test fly if the wind picked up enough.

Sunbeams :)

With Will rigging I sneaked in a flight on the Delta 2 whilst the air was clear and enjoyed some nice soaring only joined by one other.  Thinking it might be nice to land I was amazed (no not really) and saddened to see that about 9 Paragliders (aided by their pilots I guess) were laid out across the top landing area and one was standing on launch inflated. After several high profile accidents and several more incidents including some on this site have we learnt nothing??  Some of the "offenders" were sadly ex students who after leaving school were good as gold rigging and glider checking out of the way and only being in the launching or landing area when doing one or the other. Now further down the line there they were being part of a problem that many of them had discussed and complained about at club meetings, what has happened?

Anyway rant over I came in and managed to avoid the lines (although not all did), wings and even bodies that littered the area before moving swiftly out of the way.  A bit of glider running with Will filled in the time until the wind and lift was sufficient to take the Tandem up with Wolfgang (Germany) as passenger. Wolfie had tried last year when on holiday but the weather did not play ball but this year he was in luck.  We had a super flight with plenty of time to chat and check out the scenery.  With the lift dropping off a little we hung around until with just enough height we nipped in on top.

The lift came and went giving plenty of chances to fly for those who wanted it.  Lejair arrived for their summer holiday along with 6 hopeful hangies but despite them keenly rigging the wind never filled quite enough for them to fly.

Nice to catch up with ex student Carl at the end of the day who after a little confidence building was soon off and had some cracking flying as the evening lift kicked in.  Stick with the A's and Brakes Carl until you are very comfortable and don't let others mess you up by introducing new tricks to early, there will plenty of time for that if you feel the need.

An interesting day if somewhat  disappointing seeing Perran at it's worst ....

Quote of the day "it's warm and wet" ..... some of the guys went to high cliff

Tasters and Powering up.

It was off to the tow field despite a risk of rain and how lucky it was that we went as it turned out good :)

With freshly cut grass making the field a real pleasure life was good.  Whilst Kaz got going with Frank H and Geoff P both along for day one of Paragliding / Paramotoring courses respectively I got on with Fergie and Treeve who were back for more Paramotor fun.

The Paramotor boys get going

Treeve was first off and after a bit of ground play and a dummy take off he was set to go and go he did.  A fine take off despite the heavier payload was followed by 10  minutes of pain as Treeve struggled to get into the nearness.  A waggle of the legs in response to"would you like to land?" saw him come in and land as pretty as you please, can't be bad.

Treeves face says it all .......

Another good landing on the cards

A bit of strap fiddling and Fergie got clipped in and was soon away performing a perfect launch and having a cracking flight out to the coast enjoying the view as well as not having to struggle to stay up.  Another top notch landing with out any encouragement and a big Fergie smile, nice.  With the fear of having his manhood finished off permanently  Treeve got into the harness his eyes almost watering at the thought.  However, after a good launch the strap adjustments did their job and Treeve slid in nicely much to his delight.  A super flight ensued sand it was a much happier pilot that came in for a super landing, these boys are good.

Frank gets it up

Geoff ready for a pulling by Peachy

With the Day Ones ready to go we got the winch set up whilst the Paramotor boys refuelled and changed wings.  Peachy did a "demo'" flight followed by another by me just to make sure then it was franks first flight.  In a light breeze he was off and did a great job flying as smooth as you like and not jumping at take off as promised. In fact it all went so well that after a soft landing he sat down with a huge grin.

No pressure on Geoff then,  in fact half as good would have been fine but Geoff pulled out all the stops and did just as well and even stayed on his feet at landing, super.  With the Paramotor having popped in some more flights and exploring the surrounding area the sea breeze finally collapsed and the WSW breeze moved in seeing us swap ends and reset for the tows.

Quick Treeve get the camera, Fergies coming in !

Playmates

By the time we were sorted conditions were perfect and both Frank and Geoff rounded off their days with another couple of good flights.  Baked in the sun it was a tired crew that packed up before we abandoned the kit in the field and headed west lots of pasta and bacon.

 Kaz and Phil get some moves going as I get my dancing shoes on.

looking forward to getting the guys up again as they move into their EPC's swell as having more fun with the Paramotor duo.

Quote of the day " stop the pain but leave the swelling - please"

The long way round!

The end of a long drive !

After a morning of deliberation and a few text messages from "on site" we opted for a trip to Freathy.  Loaded with all the toys and Peachy we set off having arranged to meet a tandem passenger on site.

Halfway there and all change as on update saw us switch to Struddick, Peachy was pleased as he had never been there before ;).. On site ourselves and guess what it was light and with low cloud, not ideal.

Still we stayed around and watched Bill N and Mike B make the most of what little lift there was until they had to slope land . Gave the Tandem and airing and got it damp before we (and everyone else) called it a day and headed home.  Still nice to catch up with the guys and to see Steve L who seems to have had a good time since leaving us and made a good impression on those that he has met, well done.

Heading home we decided to drop by Godrevy for a check out, yes you guessed it, it was on ;))  We all had a "fun" fly and with plenty of lift coming through there was plenty to play with.  Hunger finally got the better of us so it was off home to re charge.

Kaz  gets a view of the bay

Peachy one of the pond

So a 100 mile round trip and you end up flying the site closest to you (5 miles), still at least it was not all wasted .

Quote of the day "whats for tea ?"

So much Soaring Sunday

Sennen or Perran that was the question weighing  everything up the choice was Perran and thats where we met up with Jenny S along with her friend Ted and her new Wills Wing Sport 2 135 ready for its UK test flight.

At the front it was breezy and off to the north and tempting to head to Sennen but the decision was made to stay so we rigged the Tandem HG and Jenny's glider.  By the time they were sorted the wind came more on a little and it was play time test flying Jenny's wing, oh what fun it was.  Putting her (the glider) through her paces all was good and flies as straight as an arrow straight out of the bag.

With that sorted Jenny hopped onto the Tandem HG for an experience flight in preparation for her first hill soaring flight.  She had a great time getting the tracking sorted and flying the glider, well worth while.

Charlotte ready for the off

thumbs up

Charlotte M (Torquay) came along with her family for a tandem and it was nice to meet her dad Gordon again who we had taken up a few months earlier.  With conditions improving as the wind backed we had a super take off accompanied by a yelp from Charlotte at take off and were soon up there and loving it.  Charlotte had areal ball soaking it all in as the sun shone giving the sea the most amazing colours.  A lovely landing rounded off the flight and with Charlotte totally beaming it was a real pleasure.

Kaz flies by above over a huge beach

setting up for landing

With things getting better all the time it was Jenny's turn to give it a go solo so after a test flight on the good old Mars by myself and a couple of demonstration flights she was clipped in and ready to go.  A lovely launch from the bowl soon saw her soaring up and away and settling into it.  A little guidance on where to fly and bit by bit the  radio got quieter as she got it sorted.

After a good 20 minutes we opted for a beach landing which she did in fine style and a few minutes later Ted and myself were down there and greeted by a very smiley girl :))  A short if steep carry up to a suitable launch and it was not long before I flew the glider back to the top for more celebrations.

With Kaz's glider not being used it was time to play and play I did chasing Phil L around the sky as well as seeing what angles we could get the gliders into and we managed a few ....

Classic go pro shot !

stunning colours on the sea as the tide came in

Ted had seen enough and decided to make the most of the by now spot on conditions by coming up for a tandem flight.  With his sailplaning experience we had a fine time and it was not long before the questions turned to "what happens if you do ........or........."  the answer "well let's see" ;)  A great flight and once again a great passenger.

Good to see so many hangies out having fun , Kaz, Sam A, Phil L, Chris W, Andy R and Geoff R in addition to Jenny and myself. thanks to Phil for the entertainment and to Sam for setting him up.....as well as trying to steal Chris's glider.

Hey ted got any nice piccies  of the Mars and Jenny I can add?

Quote of the day "you got Kaz's bra?"

A day at the seaside & BBQ'ing:))

What do you do on your day off, go to the seaside of course and with a NNW light breeze forecast thats what we did heading to Sennen cove.

The Toy Bus

Loaded with all the toys we covered every base and arrived to find it light and not too lift but as usual Sennen was stunning and the sea inviting.  A quick (very quick) tandem with Dawn confirmed that the lift was not as good as the breeze would indicate.  Still it came and went and we had a fun time playing on the Paragliders and socialising with the Peachy's and Chris H in a very relaxed manner.

Peachy spreads them!

Kaz on finals

Kaz and dawn went for a swim and Peachy and myself nearly went for a Kayak but just as we were about to head for the water the lift returned so we changed plan and got back into the air resulting in a super flight across to Gwenver and back before Kaz came back up and "stole" her glider back!

Happy Days

Where else would you want to be ?

Flying done it was time to head home then off to the KHPA BBQ, lots of Beefburgers, lots of sausages, lots of talking , lots and lots of dancing and lots of fun, what a super day :)

Quote of the day " is that your sausage Adie? " would have been all right but it was said in the gents !

Birthday Treat

The evening saw us head to Perran as the wind eased and backed making it a very pleasant evening for Paragliding.

Pam (Camborne) was along for a Tandem flight on her Birthday bought by Pete her husband of over 40 years.  Whilst we rigged the hangy the wind dropped further so it was out with the Paraglider, so good to have options :)

Pam gets up on the Tandem

Off into light lift we hugged the dunes making the most of it and were soon up and away.  With Jerry O joining us we moved off to the Golf club end to enjoy some clear air  and the views.  A bit of a play and a long chat before heading bad k to the main ridge where we joined in with Colin N who was getting some good light lift flying in. Back on top it was big smiles and hugs and Pete looked just as pleased as Pam :))

                                                Pete and Pam look pleased to be re united ;)


Kaz and Colin played and worked on their techniques getting  the best out of what was to be had before a slight change in conditions saw more lift arrive.  A bit of staff training and fun was to be had before hunger got the better of us, thanks to Colin for the apples, and it was off home just before the sun set.

Colin and Kaz share the air

Staff training

Quote of the day "pull it harder!"