Big Collin today

Early indications were that maybe Big Collin would be flyable although the Met Office low level wind chart was giving 20kts at 1,000ft. I should have heeded that. Wind on the hill turned out to be very gusty - mostly averaging 18-19mph but frequently gusting 13-26mph SSE. Another lovely day for a walk but no change in the wind so after an hour I went home.

Gusty

I went out to Agnew's Hill W in the hope of getting a couple of my students airborne. No good - wind gusting between 13 and 24mph by the lane at the bottom of the hill. Went for a walk on the hill for an hour - no change in the wind so I came home!

Good day at Dungiven West

After speaking to Martin Bates who was heading to Mayobridge to join a couple of others there, I took Keith McGeown out with me to Dungiven W just after lunchtime. Wind looked strong and a bit gusty at home but we decided to take a chance. We were glad we did. Coming within sight of the hill we saw three paragliders up high. They turned out to be Ian Cross, Maurice McBride and Mark Piggott all jockeying for position in the hope of an XC flight although conditions were completely overcast and remained like that all day.

Colin Lown was at takeoff practicing his Mitsos launch technique (using A and C risers), Simon Finlay and Davy Boyd also got airborne. Wind was 10-12mph, occasionally 14mph. Gerry Johnston (CPN student) was getting ready to fly, so to check out conditions for him I took off on the Skyman Heartbeat M using a Cobra launch and quickly got into a good climb in a large smooth thermal marked by Maurice - Donal at this stage was high downwind and looked to be off on an XC (turned out later that he didn't get far, having to fly in and out of lift at cloudbase in decreasing visibility he turned back and landed within walking distance over the back road). I left the thermal at 800ft above takeoff and flew out into the valley to lose height before turning to top land in the usual spot.

Gerry had five soaring flights with attempts at slope landing on four of them and practice Big Ears when he got height. Keith, who had finished all his EP tasks last September felt confident enough to go for a soaring flight. He ended up having four excellent soaring flights following detailed flight planning and minimal radio guidance, achieving 3 good standup slope landings and one at the bottom landing area. Keith topped it all by passing his EP exam. Now ready for the rest of his CP Novice tasks.

It seems that there was good flying at Mayobridge and also at Magilligan today too.

Too windy at Young's.

With a NE wind forecast and despite the Met Office low level wind chart promising 23mph at 1,000ft, I headed out to Robin Young's Hill anyway. Arriving as the only occupant of the car park the wind did not seem too strong so I headed up to the top takeoff with my paraglider. Wind was bang on the hill but seemed a bit too strong - confirmed by the windmeter that showed 20mph gusting 26mph at times. There was some lively looking cumulus around, mixed with bright sunshine. I texted my students to tell them not to bother making the journey.

I was soon joined by Dermot Lagan and we had a wander round the clifftop and round by Sallagh Bowl with Dermot, who hasn't soared Young's yet, getting some site assessment practice in. In the strong wind it was easy to demonstrate the rotor behind the cliff by throwing up a handful of dry grass and watching it swirl all over the place. We were entertained by a soaring buzzard in Sallagh Bowl and the views across by Ballygally Head to Scotland were crisp and clear. Apart from me getting a mild dig from an electric fence, we managed to sort out the EU Brexit argument in advance of the referendum next week!

After wandering about for over two hours it became apparent that the wind was not dying down and as it had now moved more Northerly there was no point in waiting so I had the rare privelege of carrying my kit back down to the car. A Northerly wind here generates severe turbulence on the NE facing hill.

...and again!

Saturday 11 June. Mist and haze all morning and into the afternoon. I took a quick trip out to Big Collin more in hope than expectation around 4:30pm. The wind at the bottom was straight on the hill and just 5-6mph so it looked like a flight was 'on'. At the top the wind was varying from 12-18mph with some gusts. I took off in a slight lull and straight into good lift. Unfortunately  that was followed by sink and the rest of the flight was the roller-coaster we sometimes see at the Collin. I put it down to wind shear because I was being bounced around in a headwind whilst the windsock by the car was only showing a gentle breeze. Anyway I landed ok by the car in hardly any wind. As soon as I finished packing, the rain came on.

On the way out the lane I noticed a dead sheep and 'phoned the farmer to let him know. He was a bit concerned as, having rounded up and checked all the sheep yesterday when we were there, he thought they were all ok.

Big Collin again!

Dull and misty all morning. I went out to Big Collin where there was a 10-12mph SSE wind on the hill but with a low cloudbase. Being a bit optimistic I rang Aldergrove ATC for clearance in case by some miracle I got high enough to get into Class D airspace. The official number (9448 4282) was answered but I was quickly told they were too busy and they gave me another number to ring. That other number (9448 4281) was answered by a pleasant young lady who kept me on hold for a while then put me through to Simon Savage - I gather he is Operations Manager. Simon apologised, saying that this was the first time he had to deal with our LOA arrangements. Of course I told him it was my first LOA call too.

I explained that it was unlikely that we would infringe Class D because of the light wind and low cloudbase but was letting them know just in case and to check if ok. There was no problem and we were cleared to 3,000ft ASL until 6pm local time (which is when I said we would be finished).

Martin Bates amused himself practicing ground handling and low flights on his ancient Airwave Voodoo wing. I took the large Firebird Raven half way up the hill and took off. Lift was a bit intermittent - mostly little more than ground skimming - but I eventually managed to get enough height for a landing on the top. I walked down to where Martin was playing and we were joined by Ian Fraser and his brother who was on a visit from Iceland (the country - not the frozen food store in Glengormley!).

Ian managed a couple of low soaring flights before packing up to go and collect children from school. I took off into a surge of lift  which continued out to the farm and approaching cloudbase, followed by sink but managed to scrape back to another top landing. I then flew down to try to land by the cars in the second layby but there was lift everywhere. I eventually landed in the usual bottom landing area nearer the gate.

I packed up the Raven and had another flight on the Skyman Heartbeat. After five minutes or so the wind eased and I landed by the cars around 4pm and 'phoned Aldergrove ATC to tell them we were leaving the site. About five minutes later while I was packing up, I could hear an aircraft hidden in the low cloud overhead on course towards Aldergrove!

Earlier in the day I had 'phoned Dermot Lagan who had bottom landed at Cregagh Hill but said that Tom Carson, Dave Tweedie, Maurice McBride and Colin Dowey were flying there.

Monday 6 June 2016

Discovered wind on the hill at Big Collin again - but gusty. Windspeed at the top was varying between 16 and 20mph with a gust or two to 26mph. Down at the lane 8 gusting 14mph at times. No point in getting my student out in that. I had a new Large Firebird Raven for one of my students so decided to take a look at it and maybe do a little ground handling.

Having walked up about 10yds from the car I laid the wing out, did a daily inspection, clipped in and did a reverse inflation. All looked good so dropped the wing again. Second go at reverse inflation had me becoming involuntarily airborne resulting in a short rollercoaster soaring flight and landing back beside the car. I reckon the wing is ok for many happy hours flying!! Dermot Lagan arrived but wisely decided not to fly.

Knowing that Dave Tweedie had gone to Shane's Hill and reported 8-10mph wind there earlier, I headed round to Shane's, arriving just as Dave was putting his gear into the car. He had been able to soar - just - but not getting any height. We noticed a lamb that appeared to be ill, lying by the gate so, when Dave left I drove up the back lane where Sandy Magee, the farmer, and his team were clipping sheep and told him about the lamb. He thanked me and said he would take a look.

Quick evening session at Slieve Gallion

Saturday  4th June. After chasing the wind - what little there was - I called at Robin Young's to find a very light wind coming and going and well off to the east. Whilst debating the possibility that Agnew's might work, I got a text from Uel Glendinning who was at Sl Gallion to say that there was a nice 10mph wind bang on the easterly small ridge.

I headed over to join Uel, letting my EP student Paul Cunningham know as he lives in nearby Maghera. Paul joined us on the hill just before 5pm just after paramotor pilot Chris Stockdale had a quick top to bottom flight on his paramotor wing (without the paramotor) as I was preparing the Skyman Heartbeat for a flight. I managed to get quite a few beats in before the wind eased and I, too, ended up at the bottom. Fortunately the ridge there is not that high so a walk back up is not too bad.

Paul got organised with the small Firebird F1rst and, after a bit of getting used to ground handling in a stronger wind - up to 14mph at times - he had three very good top to bottom flights with standup landings.

Good day's training at Big Collin

Although the wind was light and variable from zero to 8mph we had a good day on the hill. John Kelly and Colin McQuaid were out for a taster day and Paul Cunningham was on his first EP training day. The light and variable wind - mostly on the hill or off a bit - still allowed lots of forward launch practice for all three.

When all three were well practiced and had a rest we started moving up the hill. By the end of the day Paul had flve flights from near the top of the hill with Colin and John flying from half way up. All three made good forward launches with good inflight control under radio guidance and good stand up landings at the bottom.

Martin Bates and Dermot Lagan also flew from the top a number of times. Tom Carson and Colin Dowey called by then went and got some airtime at Shane's Hill and Agnew's.