Gusty at Agnew's West

Having been away in Canada for the last month, I was keen to get some students out.

I met Aaron Wilson and Bill O'Donnell at Corr's Corner and took them to Agnew's West for a paragliding taster. Keith McGeown and Gerry Johnston - last minute CPN bookers - also came out.

The forecast had been promising - 6-9mph westerly. Of course when we got there we found the wind gusting 8-16mph at the bottom. Undaunted, after an introductory session, the good old Firebird Trainer was put to work. Aaron and Bill then took turns at trying to tame the beast in increasingly gusty winds - 8mph gusting to 16mph. They both succeeded in keeping up with its wild plunges in the gusts. That will stand them in good stead when they get their hands on the full size wing.

We quit after 3 and a half hours as the wind was increasing with gusts to over 20mph. Keith and Gerry wisely decided to parawait as the wind on top of the hill was gusting to 33mph!

Flying highlight of Canada trip was a number of flights in a Luscombe flown by a former member of an aerobatic display team.