Again!

Low cloud and some drizzle in the morning at home. Mark Piggott reported flyable conditions at Dungiven just after 11 am. After speaking to Colin Dowey on the 'phone we headed there.

Colin had already arrived when I got there but nobody was flying. I soon discovered why - wind gusting to 21mph. Mark had flown earlier but was now packing up. Former hang glider and paraglider pilot Brian Dawson had dropped by and we had a bit of a catch up since I haven't seen him in a long time. Seems like he might be persuaded to come back into the sport.

John Wallace with a paramotor pilot friend and my CPN student Gerry Johnston arrived and we waited for conditions to ease. Mark had left, soon followed by Colin and the paramotor pilot. After a couple of hours with no sign of the wind subsiding the rest of us called it a day.

Another wasted journey.

Calm at home this morning. I went out to Big Collin at 11:30am since I did not believe the Met Office low level wind chart which was giving 23mph at 1,000ft. Wind at the hill was Southerly but on top at the southerly face I discovered that I should have trusted the Met Office this time as the wind was gusting 18 - 27mph! I texted student Paul Cunningham to tell him it was yet another parawaiting day.

Time to go home!

A good day at Big Collin

With four students lined up for training I headed out to Big Collin at 10:30am even though the wind appeared to be calm. On arrival, that was the picture in the landing area - windsock planted by Ken McConnell who had arrived before me was hanging straight down although the one he had on top showed some wind.

My student GT Jakutis arrived and we got started on ground handling, soon to be joined by Jonny Morton as the wind had picked up to 8-12mph. The wind then increased as a number of other UHPC members arrived and took off. It was obviously a bit rough. I took off on my Firebird Raven about half way up the hill in 14mph wind to check conditions for the students but found it too gusty, with big lift followed by big sink as I soared along the lower ridge, eventually landing by the lane near the car.

GT and Jonny spent the rest of the day practicing reverse launch and other ground handling exercises with both the Firebird F1rst and the Firebird Trainer in the gusty wind that was quite strong at times. The experienced club pilots who flew were getting a bit of a bumpy ride but all landed safety.

With my students getting tired but having succeeded in mastering the wings we called it a day at 4pm. Although I had texted the other two students on arrival on site, they did not turn up.

Foggy one

Forecast light SE wind indicated flying and training at Big Collin would be on. On the way there, it seemed obvious that the hill was covered in cloud and a very light drizzle had started. Arriving at the hill I found the forecast light SE wind but parking at the usual layby I was already at cloudbase and could only just make out the lake upwind. I texted my students to tell them not to bother and decided to wait in the drizzle to see if there would be any improvement. I noticed that some of the metal lane marker poles had been replaced by short plastic ones as arranged by Alastair McMaster with the wind farm operators. I understand that the rest are also due to be replaced.

I was soon joined by Dermot Lagan and later by Colin Dowey. We sat in the car for some time commiserating and talking about paragliding instead of doing it. During this time the lake kept appearing and disappearing with visibility blotting out the nearby farm buildings on one occasion.

Gradually the drizzle eased a bit and cloudbase lifted to further up the hill. Colin was itching to get some ground handling practice and followed the wind round to the southerly side when it shifted. He managed to get some low level soaring for a while but ended up with soaking gear. Dermot and I decided that it was not worth getting wet. We helped Colin to pack his wet glider and we all called it a day, hoping for better tomorrow.

First of 2017

Thursday 5 January 2017

With things to do in the morning, didn't get out until well after lunchtime and headed to Big Collin. SSE wind was 16-19mph on top. I had one soaring flight staying well out near the lane and 100ft or so above takeoff. Some mild turbulence. Penetration difficult until Big Ears used. Ended up bottom landing near the car as sunset had arrived and I didn't fancy packing up in the dark.