Al a Carte

So with all the compulsory moves out of the way today's morning flight we could chose our poison. Wyn, Phil, Mike and Lee opted for Ampmax Spin followed by and Ampmax with stall, and having a go at SATS, Sam went for 180 reversal with wing over, 360 roll reversal then wingovers, Al decided on stalls followed by spiral and wingovers and myself ob 180 reversal, 360 roll  reversal, Spiral and wing overs, well that were the plans and not a 'moon over'  on the menus.

So fully briefed off we went and yes the bus was a mixture of silence and chatter.  All out at 1700m launch and everyone was keen to get going as the cloud started to build.

Lee away first as usual started us off we could hear Jocky on the radio getting him going, first two manoeuvres good, attempt at SAT, nearly then radio communication failure as Lee's radio went for a flight of it's own!! Still he had a fun time and enjoyed himself on the way down.  Off we went in a steady stream and did our best Sam was up for ever having elected not to do any rapid descent moves and had a ball getting the top marks for wingovers.  Acro Al added Helico's to his repatuire accidentally furthering the legend.

I spiralled like I have never done before, then performed a coupe of acceptable 180 reversals before getting as close to a loop as I am ever likely to in the first 360 reversal , that quietened me down!  The next one was good setting a record time of 17seconds, well tht's what they told me. Wingovers overcooked added to the fun.

the wrong end of something

It's not just me Wyn can do it as well :))

and finally Al got it wrong and set up for the Helico!

Next it was the turn of the rest of the SAT boys with Phil leading them in. They all did great Ampmax Spins and stalls before going for it.  The results ... Phil, just in then out but close, give it a bit more and ....Spin with stall recovery, try and try again so close but no cigar but a fantastic effort. Mike C first attempt no quite, second go spun then into stall and out, 3rd go yeeeeeehowwwwwww he's in and loving it, nice recovery. Forth go for Mike and no problems so cool, now knackered Mike took it easy with some nice wingovers to the beach to a huge round of applause to become the King of SATS.  Finally Wyn comes out, like the others first moves good but try as he might he could not quite get her into the SAT and the video revealed why, hand position is critical, still he landed with a typical Wyn smile.

Al on approach, the sign says it all

Lee comes home

 Phil back in one piece

Wyn as happy as ever

So with us all down safe and sound it was hugs all round along with a lot of relief. It was a happy band that headed off for the debrief. With one last flight left in the offing if the weather plays ball despite at first thinking of giving it a miss everyone is now hoping the weather forecast is wrong, we shall see....

The King of SATS

The boys crack out their best moves

With flying canned for the day we chilled in the bar watched various Gopro videos of daring deeds including Glens of his loop which he looked pretty happy with :)

Happy Bunny 

Quote of the day "Heinz Beanz Meanz SATZ"

Turning inside out over Turkey

07.00 briefing then into the truck and up the hill like a load of suicidal lemmings. The truck was quieter than normal possibly something to do with the brief that included full stalls and searching for Spin (who ever he may be?).

No hanging around at the top, Lee led the way for Kernow so was the first to experience the delights. One by one we followed and one by one we got into all sorts of situations with Al K stealing the show with a an inverted stall recovery moving into a strong spin and spiral before a perfectly executed "moon over" so gaining the new name of Acro Al.   Seriously, everyone did well although some had an easier time than others.

Wyn gets it right 

Sam demonstrates the manoeuvre whilst Phil monitors it

it must be the stress of it all .........

A full breakfast followed by the second briefing where we were set up for spiral dives, roll reversals of varying degrees finishing off hopefully with lovely wingovers.  Cloud on the mountain gave us a break with the bus heading back up at 15.30 so we all went away to ponder.

The guys run over the next task list

whilst Mike gets some shut eye in

After a brief respite it was back into the truck and off up  the hill in the ever increasing silence ......  Arriving at the top it was cloudy and cold but as ever the chances were we would get a slot  and a slot we got.  Take off's varied from nil wind forwards to gentle breeze reverses off the north launch which is also now paved Kaz will be pleased to know.

cloudy on launch as we get set to go

Lee ready for first away

Heading out to the manoeuvring area passing over the lower cumulus brought us back into sunshine above the blue sea with a tiny white boat in it.  So here we go Spiral dive, good locked in stabilised, nice ease it out gently , fantastic got it :)) now one to the left ok not too bad, back to the right, yep got them sussed, all going well.  Next, oh no another stall, ok lets be more gentle on the release, super, things are looking good.  Sharp 90 degree turns fine, 180 reversal into big wing over.... woops not so good resulting in a spin and recovery (fortunately).  Ok maybe we should do the search for spin, yep got them fine.  Into wingovers, big wing overs, not to bad but need to control the top tip a bit more, LOOK at the wing, oh that's better :)  Land phew.

here we go again

and again

                                               and this bit is actually under control, I think

We all went through something similar with slight variations and all landed feeling a little queasy but in one piece.  Debrief was fine leaving us with a choice of manoeuvres for tomorrow, Sat Spin Loop the choice is ours .... you just gotta check out the blog tomorrow.

Turkish night at the hotel saw a happy bunch now joined by Michel K and Terry all full of it. The belly dancer was the main attraction for some ..... turning Acro Al into Agro Al but we controlled him. early night for me to put my menu together for tomorrow.

The good boys and......

 the lechers ......

Quote of the day "well that's off the Al a Carte then"

A Picture says a thousand words

Ok brief resume as let the pictures tell the story....

Up at 06.00, update on task briefing, yikes..... Off up hill at 07.00, onto at 08.00  take off from then on...  Lee was first off from the Kernow lads followed by a steady stream at 10 minute intervals.  Everyone did well  with some more exciting then others (mike c springs to mind) but in fairness some radio problems did not help, or as jockey said was it clotted cream in the ears ???  The flight consisted of B line stalls, frontal collapses, dynamic frontals, accelerated frontals, BIG BIG Ears and finishing off with wing overs.  Lee was noticeable with his Moon overs which will be added to the next course!

A good looking bit but you did not see the bit before

Ok this was the bit before

followed by this

and this

and finally this

So with the first flight out the way we debriefed and had a break whilst we waited for the weather to become suitable for "manoeuvres", something to do with the parachute pulling you under the water!

a "well behaved" B line stall

and a BIG BIG Ears (they can get exciting)

The second flights started with a super glide out seeing all of us well high when arriving in the area,
. we then went into the Asymmetric tasks in simalar format to the frontals ending with but including a 360 asymmetric before moving onto stall searching and once again the wing overs.  Yep you guessed it some were more exciting than others .......

Final debrief then off for supper and a wind down (or was it a wind up) before heading to bed ready for another early start,,

even the meal seemed ablur just like the rest of the day

What, Who ??

Note to ones self, let go of the A risers after initiating a frontal collapse

Quote of the day  "la la la, la la la"

Tunder in Turkey

The forecast rain arrived along with some loud bangs and bright flashes, well at least the forecast was right!  So a more relaxed morning with our initial briefing for the SIV at 11.00. Breakfast saw several discussions varying from time travel to the size of Al's hands We made our way to the meeting place where we were greeted by the "Team" and we met the others on the course some doing SIV and some Acro.

You know what they say about a man with Big hands

Only a few inches in it .....

Jocky gave a very reassuring chat and outlined what we would be up to on our first flights , B lines, Deep Stalls and Wing Overs, sounds like fun ........

Next it was off to the beach for a site brief with Chris, Jocky's launch Marshall and another Instructor to get the lay off the landing area and how they would like us to do it.

the morning briefing and we are taking no chances .....

....... whilst Sam takes a few

The rain was still falling so we headed home for an hour or two before returning to pick up Bouancy aids and waterproof radio bags (hmmmmm) and a further brief briefing from Johan the other Instructor who will be in the boat.

With flying canned for the day everyone split up to mull it over before meeting in the bar as evening approached.  The last supper ensued with some trying to drink away the worries whilst others wanted to keep a clear head ..... tomorrows another day.

Quote of the day " you nervous?"

Turkish Delight

With the threat of a non flyable day ahead everyone was keen to get a coupe of flights in especially as the pre frontal Cirrus moved in backing up the forecast.  Having settled into the breakfast routine we were all ready and raring to go by 10.00 (Turkish time) and piled into an overcrowded truck for a rough ride to the top.  The seating arrangements worked out nicely for Phil and Lee .....

It was crowded in the bus

The Tandems get set to go, stunning view over the back with snow on the Mountains

At the top the word was that it could be better for thermals as the inversion was visible just below launch and the hope was we could stay above it.  The early birds headed out to play over the sea whilst Mike, Mark, Wyn, Sam and myself  waited for better things. We waited and waited until finally i cracked and flew out and ..... flew down followed by Sam and Wyn. having not picked up the lift we also headed out and did our best to prepare for the forthcoming course. Wyn joined me in the landing circuit and we touched down in style. Mike did a bit better and Mark practised his SAT's .  Having lost the lift Mike also came down performing a pretty impressive spiral down and making a superb judgement to make the beach.

a different perspective of Olu Beach

Lunch and it was all back into the transport (now an air conditioned transit) and back up for the second flight. With a nice breeze we were soon all off and in very smooth conditions flew out before descending to the beach at various rates and styles before all ending up landing very compactically in a group with Sam and myself synchronising nicely. Al admitted to attempting the Dynamic Big Ears, but no one actually saw him so who knows??

the sun on the sea :))

end of flight no 4

Having met up with the remaining two pilots who are to join us on the SIV course tomorrow and another pilot who was drying out his kit after a dunk in the sea (one of three) we retired to the bar for eats and to "look forward" to the morrow.

the sun on Phil

Just because one man hugs another doesn't mean .....

Turksih Moon

A fun meal ensued with the usual video analysis and much joviality.

The evening rounded off with Phil reading the Lyrics of She Bop (Cyndy Lauper) and Sam explaining them.

Quote of the day "best to pull out now" ....................

Turkeys in Turkey

The Turkey trip starts in earnest with an early morning breakfast well 08.30 where we all seem to have recovered from the previous days travel.  Bundling into Hectors transport we headed off up the hill chatting eagerly but getting progressively quieter as we got nearer the top until by arrival we were all quiet.

Room with a view

Loading the truck

View from the top

Still it did not take long for us to recover and soon we were all laid out , checked and ready to go. forward launches were the ideal way to go and every one got cleanly away and headed off out to the blue yonder.  Being last off I followed Mike C o the right where we played along the spine back in broken lift with Mike making the most of it.  One by one the guys landed having not only soaked up the view got acclimatised
and pulling a few manoeuvres' on the way down.

Laying out

Inflating

ATO

Classic Olu shot

On approach

Plenty of chat, some refreshing orange juice and a mid day snack then we were back off back up to launch. the afternoon flight saw Wyn D, Al K and myself having some fun on the spine back again in now slightly rougher lift before heading out to join the others who had again done all sorts on the way down. Al and lee headed off to visit Butterfly valley where they stayed for a long time, a very long time before rejoining us well after dark, it's a story worth hearing..........

A fun meal in the Hotel nearly resulted in food all over the floor as various amongst us described their attempts at what mainly sound like some kind of skateboarding trips.

Various Go Pro videos  showed the truth .........

Most headed for a relatively early night  Quote of the day "Tomato Tomatoes"

A new Toy to take to the field :)

A full on day in the field was planned with a light NE due to drop and veer so looking good for all.  On arrival at 10 in the field the wind was indeed light and NE so we set the winch out whilst the guys got ready.

Peter V (Launceston) was along for day one of a Paramotoring course and worked hard through the morning under Kaz's watchful eye getting the ground work sussed.  Meanwhile Tim (on the winch) and myself got towing underway with Todd A (Totnes) on the Paraglidier finishing off his final CPC tasks with Big Ears and Asymmetrics in fine style and just loving it.

Shad gets some airtime in alongside the Paragliders

Miles T (Illogan) was back (again) and after a bit of ground work to get the feel of it joined in on the tow on a Paraglider with some recapping before finishing off his speed bat tasks.  Shad C (London) put in an appearance for the Hang Gliders taking the opportunity to get back in the air whilst down on holiday and made a fine job of it despite a few interesting approaches!

As lunch time approached the wind despite the forecast increased and backed and conditions got a bit on the rough side putting a hold on towing whilst we waited for things to ease back.

Boys just love toys .......

a bit of theory never comes amiss

Triston J (   ) was out with his shiny new Parajet Volution and keen to fly it but bided his time with plenty of ground handling on his Synthesis looking well sorted despite the variable conditions.  John R (Indian Queens) joined in the ground handling whilst also waiting to get his second flight on the Paramotor in.  Conditions were still breezy after lunch so the guys all played with ground handling including Phil L and Paddy B (now waiting to go to the hill) and all looked good, even new boy Pete was getting it sorted, ideal.

Pete gets going on his first flights

 Late afternoon and Miles cracked having to leave the field to go and fix a pipe (he is a plumber) and that was the sacrifice we needed.  No sooner had he left the field than I tested the air and gave the thumbs up.  Peter was soon off and across the field on his first flights and doing well, by the end of the day he had popped in 4 nice flights including a release and all with stand up landings, nice.

Todd, Paddy, Phil and Shad all made use of the lines whilst I got the Paramotor boys ready to roll.  First up was Triston on his new unit which sounded lovely and looked superb as it went up for it's maiden flight in Tristons hands.  His normal sweet take off was followed by a drift to the right as the extra torque of the unit kicked in and when combined with the low hang points made a noticeable difference from the school unit.  Still he dealt with it well and had a cracking flight followed by a sweet landing.

Triston "purring" along and just loving it

John R followed suit on the school kit and was off and away cleanly and sitting in the harness before he knew it.  In now classic conditions he had a ball until the cold got the better of him seeing him return to the field for a super landing and a round of applause, excellent.

John has a cracking flight on the school unit

With the day drawing to a close we knocked it on the head and the wind got lighter and the temperature dropped.  Phil and myself played hunt the keys with me both winning and losing at the same time but at least the Truck got packed nicely, again.

Quote of the day " weight has quite an effect doesn't it"   how long you been flying ????