Eye in the Sky - Mar 2010

Your Flying News Notice Board. Send me your news and photos.

If you're wondering where your report is, hit CTRL-F5 whilst in your browser to make sure you are not seeing a cached version. If it is still not there, it's probably because you fell foul of the Submission guidelines

Report by Sean Staines

Report by Sean Staines The forecast for Sunday was perfect for a trip to Pandy in SE Wales. I was hoping to fly the Hang glider but when we arrived there were no other hang gliders on the hill, so I got the paraglider out for the short walk to the low take off. There was lift everywhere for the flight down to Black Darren quarry, although the strong early conditions prevented many people from flying. 45 Minutes later I got back to launch to see about 8 Hangliders partly rigged. Late starters these hang glider pilots.

I landed and was extremely grateful for the offer of assistance carrying the hang glider from the car park to take off. By the time I had rigged all the other hang glider pilots were long gone and I was a bit nervous of the launch, but in the event it was extremely easy. I did my first 360’s and thermalling on a hang glider. Everard had been right when he told me at the AGM there was no feeling like thermalling on a hang glider. Not at all like a paraglider.

After 35 minutes in the air I decided to land and, despite a crap approach, made a good stand up landing in the bottom field. All in all an excellent days flying.

Report by Shamus Pitts

I wasn’t really sure where to go today, but after phoning Ali I decided to meet him and Paul H at Okeford. They were about ready to go home but walked down to the takeoff with me to find the wind an encouraging strength although off to the NE.

Due to the rotory nature of the takeoff and the strength of the wind I seemed to suffer a small frontal as I inflated which caused me to be yanked off my feet, towards the fence which was quite close behind. I managed to get a foot on to the top of the fence post and guide myself over in to the field behind and land safely. I watched Ali takeoff then walked back and took off as well.

There wasn’t stacks of lift to start with, with just the spur working, but, although the sky was overcast, there were some gentle thermals coming through and I managed to work my way up to about 300’ ATO before heading back to the hill. The next thermal took me to 600’ ATO but the climb wasn’t strong and I headed back to the hill, running out of height when I got to the spur and landing.

The wind seemed to have picked up a bit and gone round to the east more, and my next takeoff attempt was similar to my first one, except with an element of thorn bush thrown in for good measure.... and a bit of a head-landing! Luckily it didn’t hurt and caused much amusement for Paul and Ali, but we decided to call it a day after that!

Report by Jon Harvey

Eventually settled for a coastal flight I intended to go to Batcombe as knew it was flyable, but wanted to check out our local northerly site, between Bridport and Dorchester first, as xc weather showed Portland and Yeovil nearly N. Driving through Bridport, saw the flag on town hall wafting in from the sea. A sea breeze?? Went to West bay, to check that my eye sight wasn't really that bad, no it wasn't, definitely sea breeze, though only 10mph max at sea level. Drove to Eype, and more strength, reasonably direction, so update condors flyphone etc, and away.

Thorncombe Beacon ok but no further, wind too west, so stayed awhile, until wind seemed to be decaying. Scuttled back to east side of Eype and remained flying, until later joined by Gary Frecknall. Again made across the gap to Thorncombe But no further. Gary made a vain attempt, to get round the Beacon, so low in fact looking as if he was walking around. A numbed brain obviously kicked in, and he returned to Eype, ok. Enjoyed over 90 mins airtime.

Report by David Franklin

Here is a few pictures from from the cold and slightly tricky flying today. Once we had left the hill bonfires and birds were about all we had for help today

Report by Colin Davies

A beautiful blue day at Bell with many people enjoying the flying. After a couple of little excursions and walks back to the hill I managed to climb out above Ibberton with David Franklin. There was a clear inversion at 2100' ATO that we could not break through. The climbs down wind were weak and small - it was great to have an occasional a few circles where the vario continued to beep all the way round. David landed at the edge of Wareham Forest but I was fortunate to be high enough to safely cross the pylons and found a thermal on the other side that got me up above Wareham. From there it was smooth bump free glide, admiring the view of Poole harbour and the Isle of Purbeck, to land at Norden near Corfe. The icing on the cake was David being kind enough to call and offer a lift back to the hill after organizing a retrieve - Mega!

Report by Craig Byrne

05/03/2010 Bell The day started not good, my central locking locked me out with keys in ignition and engine running, sorry to pilots who could not get past. Then as i tried to break in it pop ed open happy days lets go flying.

Lots of pilots on the hill and in the air, it was a brilliant day with some good climbs to 2500 asl. I ventured over the back once and after reacing base did not find any more lift and bombed after stickland still just enough to get in in wessex xc league :-) I was lucky and Neil W gave me a lift back to the hill where we all had a good afternoons flying and even Everard was there on his HG.

Spring has most defiantly sprung.

Report by Richard Davis

Got to Bell around 12ish to find, blue sky… sunshine.. perfect wind strength.. and the car park filling up rapidly! After re-acquainting myself with my wing as I’ve not seen it for 6 months! [a scene also being repeated by many on the hill] – got into the air and enjoyed a gentle waft about punctuated by the occasional thermal.

Gary’s café opened for business and was soon doing a roaring business! A good afternoon had by all…. even Everard came out to play!

Report by Gary Mullins

Very light winds everywhere. So, White Horse it is then and wait for a sea breeze. It did eventually pull on but twas pretty weak and lasted for a couple of hours or so. Long enough for a bit of "swoopy do" fun. Was joined by Derek a little later which, corresponded with the arrival of the friendly landowner who commenced to do a bit of gorse burning directly in front of the take off area. Not a word or warning just set fire to it all. Mad dash to scoop up glider and run away from the ensuing floating embers. What joy ! We both had another go but gave up. Nice while it lasted though.

Report by Neil Mccain

Pete's lunchtime sitephone message from Bell didn't sound too promising, but there seemed plenty of sun about and lovely cloud streets at about two grand, so I thought I'd take a chance and head towards Monks and try out my new hot ship, the Warrior. There aren't too many of these being flown by UK paraglider pilots at the moment, but they've got some nifty design features, such as an integrated harness, flight deck and comms system, together with an awesome top speed that makes them a must for budding and experienced xc pilots alike.

Once strapped in, it's easy to forget how complex the technology behind this wing is: the materials felt solid, the handling straight-forward and easy. A smooth level take-off was achieved from a short, committed forward launch and I was soon several hundred feet above take-off. The air was exceptionally smooth and the wide cloud streets were a dream to fly under. Blandford approached quickly, just as quickly giving way to the Drax estate and the edge of Bournemouth's airspace. The controls are particularly sensitive, with banked turns very easy to achieve, so your arms don't get tired. This is where the integrated flight deck really comes into it's own - it's almost a head up display and means you can keep focused on your goal whilst checking airspeed, climb-rate and angle of bank.

Amazingly for such a fast machine it showed no tendency to spin, even when cranked into a 60-degree bank. After half an hour or so putting it through its paces I landed without any drama, gliding low over the trees to come in parallel to the ridge. Awesome! For light wind days, you really should consider giving this beast a go...

Photos show the integrated flight deck (one with Poole Harbour behind) and simple colour scheme on the leading edge above the World's End pub.

Previous reports

Eye in the sky out-takes

If you find that some of the earlier pages don't have a navigation menu, just use your browser's Back button to return to this page once you have finished reading it.