Soaring Dungiven

With a calm morning but a light SW forecast, Martin Bates and I headed to Dungiven at lunchtime. We found the wind on the west face 10-14mph. I took off and found patches of best lift in the bowl to the north. I boated around for a while but with only light gloves my fingers got so cold that I came in for a top landing. Martin then flew - also soaring but also with no great height to be had. Gradually the wind eased  to 6-8mph resulting in Martin making a bottom landing.

I drove down to collect Martin and discovered there was no wind in the landing area. However on getting back to the hill we still had 10-12mph W wind! I took off for another flight but had to work hard to stay up in the intermittent blobs of lift coming through. Eventually I started sinking to takeoff level again and came in for a slope landing.

We amused ourselves for a while ground handling before packing up and heading up the Glenshane Pass. Stopping at the Ponderosa we had an excellent meal, then headed to the Dunsilly Hotel near Antrim for the UHPC AGM. Usual good craic there and new committee elected including some of the old committee for continuity.

Photo shows Martin airborne:

Sunny and cold.

Thursday 24 November 2016

With a forecast NE wind for the afternoon I headed to Robin Young's. Wind was very light so I walked to takeoff, only to find the wind very light and blowing along the cliff from the east. By then I had got an email from Ian Cross reporting conditions flyable at Agnew's Hill and LOA clearance had been obtained from ATC. A quick peek over the back of Young's showed two paragliders soaring Agnew's in the distance.

Just as I was about to head to Agnew's and not looking forward to the steep climb up, an old friend and former UHPC hang glider pilot, Loudon Blair and his friend Jack Montgomery arrived with their radio control model gliders. After Jack's story about being flung into the field by the electric fence on a previous occasion, we made sure to use the proper stile.

After launching his soaring model and flying around for a while, Loudon handed me the controls and I had a most enjoyable time cruising the model around to Ballycoose and back. There was fairly consistent light lift out in front of the car park and when I handed control back to Loudon he brought it in for a perfect landing at our feet.

I decided to head over to Agnew's and arrived to see Ian landing out in front of the cliff and well away from the cars, having lost what lift there was. There was another wing still in the air (Steve Hill) - see photo - and three cars on site but I decided I couldn't face the climb up so late in the day and with wind probably dying (according to the nearby wind turbines) so I contented myself by taking a photo and headed home.

Another wasted journey!

Having heard there was snow on the road at Dungiven I dithered about heading out, although the forecast was reasonable with wind supposed to ease. Donal Hamilton was thinking of heading to Dungiven too but a bit put off by news of snowy road. Meantime Tony Davis had headed to Sl. Gullion.

Since I had been grounded by the weather for a while now and believing the forecast of easing wind, I decided to head to Dungiven anyway. On the way I got a message to say that Donal had decided to go to Sl. Gullion. Arriving at Dungiven W, I discovered that the road all the way to the top was bare tarmac, thanks to the westerly sunshine. There was still a light dusting of snow on the grass. The wind was on the hill but 18-20mph and gusting. Too strong for me. There was low cloud on the hills upwind but Benbradagh well clear of cloud.

After about an hour I took another wind reading - now gusting to 21mph! So much for the forecast! Aside from the wind, the cloud had now come down on the hill so I left, coming out of the cloud about 100ft down the hill. Another wasted journey.

To complete my day, I learned that there had been good flying at Sl. Gullion!

One of those days!

Forecast was a bit 'iffy' but winds looked light except for Met Office low level wind chart giving over 23mph at 1,000ft. Deciding that that would be too much, I cancelled training and went to visit my sister in Magherafelt.

Approaching the Castledawson roundabout I decided a quick trip to Dungiven would do no harm even though there were a few spits of rain. Arriving at the deserted west face at Benbradagh I found the wind bang on the hill and 14-16mph and showers in the distance. With nobody else around I waited a while and checked the wind again as it began to feel a bit gusty although the showers upwind seemed to fizzle out before they hit Dungiven.

The wind was now gusting 14 - 19mph but not severely. I nevertheless decided it would not be a good idea to go flying on my own. The fact that wisps of orographic cloud were now starting to drift up the hill made the decision for me - that was it!

Another disappointing day.

Forecast sounded fairly reasonable but, as is so often the case, the forecast bore little in common with reality and the morning brought calm conditions with low cloud and then some very light drizzle. Hoping it would clear as I had four students anxious to get going, I went out to Big Collin around lunchtime when conditions were drier. Low cloud was hugging the top of the hill and there was a moderate breeze from the SSW - not S as forecast!

Ken McConnell was already on site with a student who then got one top to bottom flight and came up for a second. By then the wind had gone more westerly in direction and increased to 18mph at times. Then the cloud descended, putting an end to any more thoughts of flying. Yet another parawaiting afternoon!

Taster day

With an NE light wind forecast for the afternoon (it was calm in the morning) I met up with keen potential pilots Karina Golab and Wojciech Bak for a paragliding taster. Both are originally from Poland but have been living in Newry for a number of years where they run a business. We met up at Corr's Corner at lunchtime and from there headed to Skeagh. The wind on arrival was ENE and 14-16mph.

I was glad I had brought the Firebird Trainer wing as this allowed them to practice reverse launch on the lower slope near the gate without the risk of inadvertently becoming airborne. Gradually the wind eased to 5-10mph and we switched to forward launch which both found a bit easier.

I think we should have Karina out on the hill more often as she brought sandwiches, Coke and even  a box of chocolates that we shared!

With a bit of practice both Karina and Wojciech managed a number of low flights on Firebird F1rst wings with good takeoffs and landings and we called a halt when the wind dropped to less than 5mph and both were getting a bit tired.

Mayobridge (Carmeen)

With a WNW forecast and CPN student Gerry Johnston available, I decided on a trip to Mayobridge where I haven't graced its slopes in a long time.

Arriving in bright sunshine with cumulous clouds drifting overhead it looked promising. Gerry arrived and we made our way to takeoff where we found a brisk 14mph increasing at times to 18mph and slightly off to the North.

I took off to check out conditions and found reasonable lift which at that stage was best at the eastern end of the ridge. Occasional light thermals were drifting on to the hill but the sky was becoming fairly well overdeveloped. I top landed and spent a while with Gerry discussing the site as he had not flown there before. We were soon joined by Tony Davis and then by Geoff Dawson.

We watched as Tony and Geoff took off  and got good height at times then scratching along the hill. Geoff managed to squeeze in on top but Tony had a walk up from a field at the bottom close to the hill. They soon got airborne again and Gerry took off on a familiarisation flight and joined them. Being unused to the site and with two others in the air it was understandable that he gradually lost the lift and landed in a field close to the hill.

Whilst Gerry was packing and getting himself back up the hill I took off for another flight. Geoff and I floated about in varying lift that extended well out from the hill but was a bit choppy at times. I came in for a top landing that took a long time as the wind had picked up. At times I was going slowly backwards; at times I was almost on the ground then twenty feet in the air - but eventually I landed safely on the spot from which I had staarted my takeoff run. Tony had left by this stage and Geoff managed to get down near me. We decided that it was too strong for Gerry to carry out any useful CPN exercises and gale hanging did not appeal to Geoff and me, so we packed up.

A lone figure who had been standing by the stone wall at the top watching our landing antics came over for a chat. Turned out his name is Matt; he's an Irish News photographer who lives in Castlewellan and spotted us as he was driving past on the main road. He said that this was the first time he had ever been up on that hill and was gobsmacked by the view!

More action.

Been without my PC for a few days but now catching up with a new hard disk installed.

Sunday 9 October 2016

Good day training at Big Collin. Ken McConnell was working with a student when I arrived on site. I was soon joined by my student Declan McGill and later Gerry Johnston. Wind was slightly off to ESE but generally straight on at the top and varying from 12-14mph. Declan made eight semi-soaring flights and completed all his tasks for EP.

Gerry had three semi-soaring flights and perfected his forward launch when the wind eased. I had a couple of short flights myself - one on the Firebird F1rst S and one to check out a Firebird Raven S that Keith McGeown was interested in. Keith later turned up and had a great semi-soaring flight and landing on the Raven. Seems he liked it! Dermot Lagan also turned up and flew.

As the wind had dropped towards evening, Alastair McMaster and Ken fired up their paramotors and both headed off into the distance in different directions for some sight seeing. On their return we all packed up and headed home.

Monday 10 October 2016

With a nice easterly wind, Agnew's Hill was the place to be. A surprising number of people seem to be able to avoid work on a Monday as the hill played host to eight paragliders and two hang gliders - yes! hang gliders!! ably piloted by Keith ? and Steve ?

The climb up the hill does not get any easier with age and was very wet and slippery underfoot. I took off on the NE face above the cars and flew round to the E face where there was the best lift, helped by passing thermals. Tom Carson having cleared things with ATC Aldergrove for ascent into the Class D airspace overhead, for the next hour I had a ball, playing with the ridge lift and thermals to 880ft above the top of the hill. I was joined by Geoff Dawson and Colin Lown.

After an hour my fingers were too cold - I only had the light summer gloves - so I top landed clost to Donal Hamilton's laid out paraglider. Donal was doing nose man for Keith and Steve launching their hang gliders and I had a brief chat with him before he headed skywards just after Geoff top landed. Hands warmed I was soon up to join them, with Dermot Lagan now airborne. Tom Carson and Dave Tweedie had been flying earlier but had now bottom landed and soon departed.

I flew to Shane's Hill and back, getting fairly low in the dip and thus putting me downwind of a couple of active wind turbines. There was no turbulence experienced at all which is interesting in the light of the proposed new windfarms to be built across the Star Bog Road in front of the main ridge. After another hour there was just Donal and myself in the air and we both noticed a significant increase in windspeed within one beat of the cliffs. My groundspeed was down to 1.4mph at one stage without speedbar. At that stage cold fingers had made themselves known again so I flew down and landed by the windsock near the cars, followed by Donal.

Ken McConnell had arrived and got a short soaring flight as the rest of us packed up. I rang ATC Aldergrove to let them know we had finished and after the usual post-flying waffle, we headed home.

Update

Nothing happening for me on the flying front for a wee while. Spent nine days as an 'extra' on a film shoot (for film called 'ZOO') on various locations around Belfast and further out. Then last weekend I spent at Tollymore National Outdoor Centre on the edge of the Mournes  on a course to renew my REC Emergency Care first aid certification that I need as a BHPA Senior Instructor. This has to be renewed every three years.

The craic at Tollymore was good and the course has a high practical content so you are outdoors a lot dealing with simulated casualty situations. Others on the course included Game of Thrones tour guides who had not been on a course before and outdoor leaders of various sorts. Accommodation and excellent food are provided and coffee, tea etc is on tap whenever you want. It's a little bit mentally tiring but you certainly get your first aid skills sharpened up and the latest developments and techniques explained, demonstrated and practiced.

One of the other people on the course was James Linford. I taught his brother Charles to fly a hang glider many years ago (1970s) but we had lost touch. It was good to have an unexpected 'catch up' and to know that Charles if fit and well and living in England, although not hang gliding any more.

Bad day came good!

Thursday 15th September 2016

No wind and very low cloud this morning but as the cloud slowly lifted I went out to Big Collin. The hill was by then clear of cloud and the wind was off to the S and 12-15mph at takeoff. I had a quick flight with a few soaring beats before slope landing after my student Keith McGeown arrived. We then got Keith airborne for a similar flight but as the wind went more westerly we left for Agnew's Hill.

More success there. At Agnew's west the wind was spot on for direction and a bit on the strong side at times on top. but mainly 14-16mph. Keith had a ball. He soared on his first flight and inadvertently top landed under full control - maybe just to show me! He followed that up with four more flights semi-soaring  and doing big ears and rear riser steering when he headed out for his spot landings at the bottom.

We wrapped up around 6pm just as the cloud was descending on to the hill. On the way down Shane's Hill road we could see cloud starting to fill the valley below - looked like quite a temperature inversion at work.

Young's and Agnew's - no good.

Took student Keith McGeown out to Robin Young's Hill. On the way we could see that Agnew's Hill was covered in cloud. No surprise then to find Young's the same. We decided to wait to see if the cloud would clear and were joined by Dermot Lagan. Ian Cross rang from a cloud covered Sl Gallion.

We noticed after a while that the wind had moved more easterly so we went to Agnew's. No luck there either with cloud covering the hill so we gave up.

Another 'no good' day.

Low cloud, light wind and drizzle yesterday (Tues).

Lovely sunny day with wind on the hill at Big Collin today (Wed). Windspeed on top 21mph gusting 37mph.

Crazy weather!

Dungiven - hoping!

On the strength of a favourable forecast I headed to Dungiven west. Ian Cross, Maurice McBride, Colin Dowey, Dave Tweedie, Ian Fraser, John Wallace, Tom Carson and Phil Barron were already there but nobody flying as rain showers were approaching and the wind was too light for soaring. Good to see pilots I hadn't seen for a while. We were kept entertained for a while by Phil flying his radio controlled drone.

Macedonian pilot Alex Velichkovski, now based in Letterkenny and his wife and child turned up. Alex is relatively inexperienced and was looking to get checked out with a view to getting BHPA CP Novice rating under the alternative entry system. Dave and I watched as he laid out his wing properly, then put on his harness and prepared to attach the risers without checking the harness and wing. I explained briefly about daily inspection and showed him how this was done. When looking over his harness I noticed, and remarked, that he did not have a reserve parachute. He said he would not be high enough for one to be any use. I explained that I had successfully deployed a reserve at 300ft and even on a straight top to bottom flight here he would be much higher than that, although the need to deploy would be most unlikely. He said he planned to get a reserve 'chute!

Alex's flight plan as agreed with Dave Tweedie was to fly to the bottom landing area doing necessary turns on the way. There was no windsock or other indicator in the landing field and he asked us if the wind would be in the same direction at the bottom. However he did not appear to know that wind direction could be found from drift over the ground. He did a good reverse inflation, turned and took off with about half brake applied all during his takeoff run. He flew into lift but followed the plan to fly down, overshooting the landing area and landing on his backside close to the fence by the lane further down the hill. No harm done.

As there seemed no sign of conditions changing, everybody else left - some going to White Mountain to see if conditions might be better there. After I got a 'phone call from Maurice to say that it looked flyable at White Mountain I was about to follow when Dermot Lagan and his wife arrived and the wind then picked up to around 10mph. We prepared to fly but the wind then died again. A couple of hours later conditions had not changed so we packed up and went home.

It seems that those who went to White Mtn did get some airtime in light thermals for a while.

Saturday 27 August 2016 - Big Collin

Attending the club barbecue, organised by Phil Barron, at Benone was the plan. So, with a forecast SE wind it seemed that a flight at Big Collin before heading north would be a good start to the day. Hardly had the thought occurred to me than I got a text from Dermot Lagan who was already on site and reporting soarable wind. When I got there, Dermot could be seen ground handling at the top of the hill whilst at the bottom, Ken McConnell was busy instructing a student in the same art.

When I got the top the wind was slightly off to the East and varying between 14-16mph. I took off and got sink followed by lift followed by sink but, working the lifty bits, I managed to gain 100ft only to lose it again and did a slope landing just below the top.

The wind had picked up a bit and was now around 18mph most of the time with the odd slight lull. I took off again in one of these lulls into conditions that were a lot more boisterous, with lift well out towards the farm upwind plus associated sink. I managed ten minutes before I decided that I was not enjoying this very much and went down and landed near Ken and his student after a bit of a roller coaster approach.

Dermot wisely decided he did not want chucked around like that so he walked down and, after a chat with Ken and his student, I headed to Benone to join the party.

BARBEQUE

Well - what can I say! Phil Barron, his good lady wife Louise excelled themselves in laying on a barbeque, helped by a few friends, that would be hard to beat. A large gazebo with an extension had been constructed on the beach in case of bad weather and for sleeping accommodation if needed. Those who arrived early were treated to Phil's famous stews, brewed up on a gas burner while the barbeque was being fired up. The recipe for the stews is his trade secret so no point in asking, but taste delicious. Boxes of burgers, bags of baps, lettuce, tomato, onions, sauces, disposable bowls, plates, glasses etc were all there waiting.

Gradually more people started to arrive bearing bags of logs and wood offcuts, booze of various sorts and a firepit consisting of an old washing machine drum was lit. This worked extremely well and kept us warm well into the small hours of Sunday.

  Once Gavin's big barbeque was ready, a steady stream of burgers, topped up with sauces etc started disappearing into baps and down hungry throats.

While all the preparations were going on, Al, Walter and Rory were zooming round the area on their paramotors. Gradually as the evening wore on, some people drifted away - particularly those who had children along or who had children at home to go back to. That left a hard core group huddled round the firepit, lashing back the drink and talking rubbish. One or two seemed to have a wee bit of a balance problem at times.

Dee down!

Strangely, the talk did not come round to paragliding until well after midnight. After 1:30am we were joined by four ladies from the nearby campsite who had decided to go for a run on their bicycles along the beach in the middle of the night. Like moths to a flame, they were attracted by the glow of the firepit and the waffling bodies gathered round it. After a bit of banter they left and the rest of us drifted off to sleep in cars, tents, vans or wherever around 3:30am.

Some five hours later, those of us who had stayed close to the action, helped to dismantle the gazebo, clear away the rubbish and generally leave the beach undisturbed.

Since the wind was on the hill, Dermot Lagan and I went up to takeoff. Wind was around 14-16mph with occasional gusts to 20mph. Since we were both semi-knackered from the late night and little sleep we thought it best to give flying a miss and headed home with our memories of a cracker event.

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.

Windy Gallion

Thurs 18 August

Calm at home all morning. Had to call with my sister in Magherafelt late pm so, since the wind seemed to be picking up from the east, I decided to have a look at Sl Gallion. Arriving at the east face and facing into wind, I noticed that opening the car door met with a bit of resistance. I had just got the car serviced the day before so a stiff door had nothing to do with it. Digging out my trusty wind meter and stepping out I soon discovered that the wind was 24mph gusting 27mph - car door closing strength and a bit too strong for even a mini-wing I thought. But since I didn't have a mini-wing I abandoned that thought and hung about for a while but with no sign of the wind dying off, the lure of a cooked meal at my sister's enticed me away.

No good

Went to Big Collin with a student Declan McGill on the strength of  a forecast, to find that what little breath of wind there was came from the west - no good for this site. We then headed to Agnew's Hill West to find flat calm with occasional less than 2mph coming from every direction but mainly south! One of the turbines at Big Collin in the distance was slowly turning and continuing to indicate westerly wind there but it seems the energy it took to turn the turbine left nothing to travel on to Agnew's. After hanging around for a bit and no change in conditions, we went home.

Dungiven

Arriving at the hill around lunchtime the wind seemed a bit strong. Phil Barron and John Wallace had flown earlier and landed in rising wind - now 20mph as measured by Willie Kane. Noticing that the sky seemed to be lighter well upwind we decided to wait. Owen Rea and Gavin Rabbett turned up hoping to fly.

After a couple of hours the wind eased  to 12-14mph and Gavin took off, followed by Owen and me. There was plenty of lift around and as the wind had backed slightly towards the south west I decided to head over to the headland over the road. It was quite choppy in a few places - but then the wind got stronger and I was at 800ft above takeoff and going backwards even with big ears and speed bar. There was nothing for it but to prepare for a top landing behind the headland. as I got lower and let off the speed bar and big ears I found I was descending vertically and this is how I landed. Meantime, Gavin and Owen who were lower and flying near takeoff managed to top land before it really picked up.

Putting the wing and harness in a stuffsack I walked to the front of the hill and took a wind reading - 22mph with prolonged gusts to 26mph. Definitely too strong to fly so I walked down to the road by the bridge. Willie kindly drove down and gave me a lift back to the car. There seemed no prospect of the wind dying down so we left.

Yesterday - Thursday - with a strong NNW wind on the beach at Benone, Martin Bates and I spent a cracking couple of hours with the X-Sails in the 18mph wind until the incoming tide stopped play. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWxF9a6j-sc&feature=youtu.be.

Yet another day at Big Collin

Sunday 24 July 2016

Five students were raring to go this morning but conditions did not look too promising. I went out to Big Collin to take a look anyway around lunchtime. The SE wind was a light 10-12mph occasionally 14mph on top but a succession of slow moving showers could be seen upwind. As a result three of the students elected to give it a miss but Paul Cunningham and Keith McGeown turned up in hope of getting a flight during a gap in the showers.

Keith managed two semi-soaring flights from the top - taking off in 15mph wind - slope landing on the first and a target landing by the windsock on the second. Paul had a flight from half way up, landing by the lane.Then the rains came.

After Paul did a bit of flying suit modelling and with no sign of the rain stopping, we left.

Another day at Big Collin

Met up with my CP student Keith McGeown at Big Collin. Wind was well round to the South and light down at the cars. Part way up the hill the wind was stronger but starting to get gusty. I called ATC and got clearance into Class D airspace to 3,000ft! Keith had a short top to bottom flight with good stand up landing but on climbing the hill again further up the wind was getting gustier and stronger - around 11-12mph gusting to 19 and 20mph at times.

When it eased a little bit I took off to explore conditions but it was a bit of a roller coaster and no place for a student. Students George Darragh and Paul Cunningham had arrived but since it was too gusty to fly we went over Daily Inspection, Site Assessment, Pre-flight checks and practice reverse launch procedures with the ground handling Firebird Trainer. This was a useful exercise as all managed to control the small wing well in the gusty wind without risking getting airborne or dragged. This is Keith having a go, with Paul and George watching:

I had another check flight on the small Firebird F1rst wing. Conditions were soarable but still moderately turbulent with a height gain of about 50ft enabling me to get in for a top landing.

Later we had to dive for shelter from a succession of light showers that swept through - then floating the wing in the air to dry it!

An attempt to ground handle the F1rst wing in the bottom landing area proved to be a wast of time due to the unpredictable gusts so we eventually called it a day after calling ATC again to report that we had finished activities on the hill. They were most appreciative of both calls.

Martin Bates also had a soaring flight on his Skywalk Chili wing in a rare less gusty spell.