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 ????

Happy Days

Strange day to plan but based on last nights plan (amazing could still remember it!) we stuck to it and headed to Vault bay to play.  Sam A and Dave K were already rigged on site with their hangies and the wind was nicely on at 16 - 18 mph and whats more bright sunshine ;))

Sam A gets ready to go for.... see the quote of the day

With the guys hesitating a little due to the lack of seagull activity (can't blame them) I was selected to test the air, ideal another chance to fly Sam's Sport 2 135 :)  It was fine although the lift was gentle it was steady so after a nice 10 minutes I was back and Sam was off.  Kaz rigged her hangy whilst Adie got his first real go on his new Little Cloud Spiruline XL and joined Michel K (on his paraglider) in the air to have a cracking flight and get the fell of it.

Adie gets set to try out his new toy

Off and away as he heads to the lift

and up and away on a cracking day with only one Little cloud in the sky!

Kaz was next off and so the afternoon went on with Hangy Dave (Newquay) joining in the fun and me getting to have a go on Adies Little Cloud, which is v nice and quite different from both the Zion and the Aska, kind of somewhere in between, before a final work out on Sam's hangy again.

guess who on what, don't you just love these gliders :)

Perachy and Paddy (along for his first hill soaring flight) both decided against flying their Paragliders which was fair enough especially as against the forecast the wind picked up a tadge as the afternoon went on.

Nice and sociable on site, almost relaxed !

Bust size checking, well my excuse is measuring for a new harness whilst hangy Dave in the background makes like a scarecrow or is he learning to Paraglide ??

Says it all I guess from Adie's point of view :))

A super afternoon with nice company and some very happy faces.

Quote of the day "that was the best flight I have ever had"  that can't be bad.

Wenchman Training

Forecast .... light winds in the afternoon and Sunny .... reality moderate gusty breeze and sunny so at least we were half way there!  Still a late start saw us in the field where Todd A (Torquay) was hoping to finish off his final tasks for his CPC and John R (Indian Queens) was hoping to get back up on the Paramotor.

With conditions on the bouncy side Todd concentrated on his ground handing and made excellent progress moving from struggling to almost looking like a pilot in a couple of hours.  Seriously he did really well and it's always so good to see it click and instead of masses of brake being used and bodies fighting wings it becomes almost poetic, whoops getting a bit carried away now.

Getting set on the Hangy 

Phil studies the technique

John R arrived early afternoon and concluded for himself that it would not be a good idea to fly so we spent an hour or so on theory and cups of tea sat in the sunshine out of the wind.  With the  arrival of Phil L who had had enough of his nice warm office we took the opportunity for Kaz to have a go at towing hangers. With myself as pilot and Phil as Marshall Kaz quickly got the knack of it and mastered the double release back off after a couple of tows.  So with Kaz looking good we thought it would be time for her to tow a less experienced pilot ....... Yep Phil was next and popped in a couple of nice tows getting the chest release sorted on the way.

Sweet landing

Phil looks a bit less relaxed as he does his first chest release flight ........

............ but a lot more relaxed as he comes in after it !

Whilst not the most productive day as far as flying went it was still a good one with some useful and necessary ground covered.  Nice to see Pete L drop by and hope to see him back in the air soon.

Quote of the day "it's painted"

Tucking and Diving at Carbis

With a Tandem Pg flight planned we headed to Carbis B early arriving on site at 08.30 just behind Nigel W and at the same time as Steve M who did a quick spot of topiary on the "car park" (much appreciated by all) before walking to the front.

It was bright and sunny but light so whilst flyable you had to keep a close eye on the gulls to go up and a close eye on the sink cycles not to go down!  Michel K (still raving about the Delta 2) joined us after an hour or so and finally Al K made up a full contingent.  Conditions slowly improved but not good enough for us to encourage a 5 hour round trip for the Tandem so they will come another day.  A good slot saw us all playing with bits of lift before the cold got to us and we nipped in for a warm up.

20 minutes on the ground got the blood moving and with Al and Michel doing well over Carbis kaz and myself opted for one last flight before heading of to the dentists...... Looking at the sea you could see various patches of wind coming in which we concluded could well spell good lift so I wasted no time in getting off, ideal steady lift soon saw me hundreds of feet up and whilst Kaz got set to go a nice core saw me circling up to a couple of grand (nice but cold).  The drift was due east up top so something strange was going on and with large areas of lift it was easy to get about.

Kaz launches at Carbis before the excitement

Kaz launched and I  watched her along with Al and Michel who had come back from Carbis scratch the ridge, strange.  next thing Kaz nips in for a top landing and change of underwear having experienced a nice frontal collapse as the wind swung off to the east down low making conditions uncomfortable .......  Thinking an XC trip may not be wise i flew over to the Hayle side before losing height to land in an easterly breeze at launch.  A few lessons learnt / re learnt and especially just how quickly conditions can change ........ even when it looks good for the guys up high don't get to excited as down low it may well be a different story even only 5 minutes after someone else has launched ...... Will Geordie Have His Cat Aboard Today .......

Quote of the day "it's a

bit rough"

A new Buzz on the Hill

In fact 2 new Buzz Z 4's on the hill to be precise :))  Hoping to catch an early breeze before the wind was forecast to drop off we headed to the hill early arriving at 07.15 just behind Sam a from Devon!!  It was already light but as we had Shaun S (Penzance) and Paddy B (Penryn) already on route for their first taste of the hill we opted to stay. A little bit of a breeze filled in seeing Sam and Kaz make the most of it as the guys arrived so at least showing them what hill soaring is all about!

Shauns new toy and we get our first look at the Buzz Z4

Ever optimistic we cracked on with a bit of ground handling and hill introduction before breaking out two new Ozone Buzz Z4's for the guys. This was my first look at them and they do look noticeably different from the Z3 with smaller cell openings and more cross bracing inside but fortunately still using sensible durable lines, nice.

Matt gets set for a go on the hangy whilst the guys play

Shaun kindly let me have a ground handle with his wing which confirmed the ease of inflation of the Z3 remained in a nice and controlled manner along with easy going ground handling charateristics.  So the guys spent a n hour or so getting used to the wings which to be fair are very different from the good old school Elements sharpening up their skills nicely.  The threat of rain finally materialised when a large cloud that had been out to sea made it's way in and you could see the gust front coming.  Ideal I quickly popped into Shaun's wing and gave it a test fly as the front approached bringing in the wind.  Once again super handling, very much like the Z3 but with a little more performance a perfect successor to such a good wing.  Five minutes was enough as the white horses were galloping in so it was back on top with a big smile.

Paddy, all dressed up and nowhere to go as we wait for the wind 

The rain never really made it to us passing by to the south and the wind came and went backing to the south as it dropped.  We waited it out and slowly the wind that could be seen out to sea made it's way in and came back onto the hill giving enough for the keener pilots scratch a little but slope landings were the order of the day.  However it was ideal for the guys to get more time in with their new toys and they made the most of it.  There was also just enough breeze for Matt (Plymouth) to get going on a Taster day on the hangy and soon he was floating along the top landing on the Condor making us run for a living.  Matt did really well relaxing bit by bit although his keenness to become airborne needed curtailing!

Matt gets his feet off the ground on an early run

Late afternoon saw Graham A (Devon) crack and go for a nice flight to the beach to keep his hand in. this inspired Shaun and Paddy and soon they were both set for their first flights off the hill.  In light conditions they both did cracking flights on their new wings doing themselves and us proud and even finding some lift on the way!  What's more they were back up on top in double quick time and joined graham A for another flight down, that's enthusiasm for you.

You can never do enough of this .....

So a fun day in the Sun and whilst not as flyable as we hoped still a very good and useful one, well done guys.

Just about summed it up !

Quote of the day "I'm in love with it already"  and that's someone who only tried one of the Z4's for 5 minutes on the ground:)) and then ordered one ........

halfy halfy

That's the way it panned out with half the day in the field followed by half the day in the classroom.

A cracking looking morning saw us head to the field where the sky was blue and the wind light but already convergence cloud could be seen building up not a good sign that early in the day.  Cracking on we wasted no time in getting going and soon Todd A (Torquay) was off to the top of the line to continue his CPC tasks. Todd now well settled into his flying made good use of the available time putting away Active flying and Speed bar tasks along with some good spot landings before the rain arrived.

Joining him was Paddy B (Falmouth) who having completed his CPC tasks spent the morning having fun and building experience as well as practising Big ears along the way.  Spot landings to paddy have always come easy and today was no different.  By the time Shaun S (Penzance) arrived the convergence cloud was pretty much on us and the first drops of rain fell so we nipped towing in the bud and headed home for some theory work.

Just about sums it up .....

Over several cups of tea the guys refreshed their theory before Todd and Shaun took their CPC exams both doing a fine job and passing nicely followed by a debrief on the incorrect answers by Kaz so learning along the way.  With enthusiasm high we headed to the "shed" where the guys tried on harnesses for size and shape followed by helmets and generally getting kit sorted as they need their own from here on.

 A check of the weather showed the chance of some hill work tomorrow and the possibility of an early start for Shaun and Paddy , we shall see.   Well done on passing your exams guys and it won't be long before Todd joins Shaun and Paddy in gaining his CPC rating :)

Quote of the day "nice helmet ........"

Rain stop Play!

With a nice forecast all be it the chance of the odd shower in the afternoon it was another day in the field and things looked good.

Todd gets back into it with a classic launch stance

Todd A (Torquay) was back and joined by Paddy B (Falmouth) who is nearing the end of his CPC tasks, Graham A who having not flown for 3 months since completing his hill rating fancied some refresher work, Mark S (London) who came along for a bit more towing and experience and Emil K who was starting a Paramotor conversion having learnt paragliding with us a while back..  The wind took a little while to settle but we soon got underway into a light NNE.

celebrating a good one :))

Todd was up for consolidating his high flights before moving into his CPC tasks and gave us (and himself) a challenge with a variety of techniques making it unwise for Kaz to pull him to the top, guess he had slept since last being out when he looked pretty good!  Still it was not long before he got it sorted and was looking good and popping the high flights in and moving nicely into his CPC tasks.  Paddy finished off his CPC tasks and had fun just flying around and building experience.

 Graham A (Devon) made a fine job of getting back in the air on the tow looking like he had never been away and smiled the whole time, back to the hill for him feeling confident I hope.  Mark s popped in a couple of tows and worked on tighter turns as having come from hang gliders had not quite worked out the delay time in a Paraglider, well at least an Element!!

Billy Whizz (Graham A) follows suit with a cracker

Emil meanwhile had practised ground handling with the Paramotor on his back before doing the run around bit to get the torque sussed.  Finally he did a few practise take off runs and aborts in readiness for his first flight.

Emil gets the hard work out of the way

Then the rain came, it had been sitting all around us all morning but finally closed in and sent us scurrying to the van where we spent the next hour or so doing theory in one van whilst Emil took his hill exam in the other which he passed making him fully qualified on the Paraglider so watch out for him on the hills.

.......... and relaxes

With it plainly not going to clear we headed home to complete the theory side and for Todd and Paddy to take their EPC and CPC exams respectively which they both passed, well done.

Lets hope for a full day tomorrow but at least it means we keep up with the theory side:)

Quote of the day " I think it's going to miss us" ..................

Thanks to paddy for the piccies (once again)