Blustery day at Skeagh again.

Yesterday (Friday) at Skeagh looked promising. Newcomers Willie Armstrong and Paul Cunningham on their first day were raring to go. The wind initially was northerly and a reasonable 10-12mph. With the BHPA required paperwork completed, we got set up on the lower slopes for the usual introductory daily inspection and ground handling among other basic explanations. I had noticed that the wind was now becoming a bit gusty and this was confirmed when I demonstrated ground handling with the medium Firebird F1rst wing - far too much of a handful for beginners.

So the secret weapon was deployed - the small Firebird Trainer. Both Willie and Paul had initial difficulty with reverse inflation and control but by concentrating on what they were doing right and encouragement for getting more things right, eventually both managed to keep the twitching wing overhead. As the afternoon wore on the wind and gusts increased. Martin Bates and Dermot Lagan joined us but by then the wind on top was 20mph. After a battle to keep his lightweight Skin wing from wrapping itself up on the ground, Martin had a short hop from half way down the hill. Dermot wisely decided not to fly and both of them left.

Shortly after they left, Willie Kane appeared - he had been working in the area and came up for a chat. Down at the bottom the wind was still gusty and increasing at times to 18-20mph. We called it a day and two happy chappies looking forward to more action on a better day.

Picture shows Willie, Paul and Martin.