Big Collin yet again!

Thur 25 August

Calm morning  and didn't look like being worthwhile going out but I headed to Big Collin anyway after lunchtime. As half expected, the wind at the bottom  was very light and variable between SE and S. At the top it was little better but making 4mph at times. While waiting for students to arrive I had a chat with a radio amateur who had set up a temporary station on the top and was chatting to others in the far south of Ireland as well as a Frenchman who called in.

Declan McGill then arrived and the wind had picked up a bit to 10-12mph. I took off on my Firebird Raven straight into lift and had a pleasant soaring flight for a while right above takeoff while chatting to Declan as he stood on the hill. I then came in for a top landing and reckoned it was smooth enough for a beginner.

We then got organised and Declan had two good flights top to bottom from 3/4 of the way up the hill followed by Paul Cunningham who also had two flights. By the time Paul had climbed up again and we were planning flights for them from the top the wind had picked up to 16-18mph. We waited - and waited. Dermot Lagan arrived and we waited again! But the wind had no notion of dying down and was over 20mph at times.

After we returned to the cars for a bite to eat, we got the Gin Zoom S paraglider that Paul had bought on Ebay, out for a look. It was in excellent condition and real bargain but too far advanced for a beginner. I did some ground handling with it, ending with a short flight from part way up the hill. It was noticeable that the wingtips had a tendency to tuck in any gusts when kiting but steadied up when under load after takeoff.

As the wind showed little sign of dying down we packed up and headed home.

Wed 24 August

IP student Pete Stevenson came out after a bit of a layoff. After a familiarisation flight on the Firebird F1rst L wing we got him ground handling and then airborne on his new Firebird Raven L. He loved it and ended up with a soaring flight and a top landing after a number of top to bottom flights and 3 slope landings. He topped all this by taking and passing his EP exam so now ready to get stuck into his CP Novice tasks.