Unexpected few hours flying on Rybury when the wind dropped for a bit. Very strong wind in the morning grounded all but a brave few and I had left but returned for a little lunch and banter in the gale for some reason . So was very surprised that late afternoon it dropped and after waiting 40mins it was still light and we had sun. It was still strong aloft so was being careful not to get too high. Tricky day but the winter flying is paying off.
An early start up and thanks to Cloudbase Paragliding for use of Rudlers West Hill. Met Lee and the students at 9ish and headed up to the hill top. Nice if a bit light to start with for some soaring and then it became much stronger and pleasant. Met Wingman John on the hill and we continued to fly until it dropped off completely mid day. The wind eventually picked up again early afternoon and with a bit more cloud cover we headed up. It was a little thermic at times but not enough to turn in as yet. Good chance to fly way out from the hill and explore. Ended with a flight down to the track when it got too strong and a bit lumpy. A nice day and about 3 hours flying bagged.
A wonderful, unexpected whole day’s flying on Milk Hill and Milk Hill White Horse. It was great to meet up with folks again after what seems an age of being grounded due to er….challenging weather. Gold stars to Theano Pitrakou for a great first post qualifying flight. Bagged another 2 hours of flying and lots of ground handling.
Another lovely day out winching at South Cerney. The conditions were quite strong in the afternoon. Got a few flights late afternoon and a chance to try a few asymmetric collapses 30%. Met up with wingman John and he started his Tow Conversion course.
With a rubbish forecast the day before and meant to be all blown out I had checked the late evening forecast and things were moving slower and looked like another small window to be gained. So headed down at 7.30am to arrive at 9am on Milk Hill and to a glorious sunny, blue sky scene, fabulous. However arrived to find nil wind at the top so hung around guessing a few folks would be visiting soon. After an hour a few pilots arrived however still light we gabbed the gear and headed to launch. Suddenly the track resembled the M4 with almost 20 odd pilots joining the parawaiting party. Around mid day the wind picked up enough to launch but still not enough to soar more than a few beats so held off whilst ground handling. The front of launch resembled a fish tank with those trying to soar… far to busy for me I held off. The forecasted claggy top cover of a warm front slowly pushed in and cleared the hill a bit to allow me to grab a bit of flying before the drizzle arrived and shut down the flying.
Never seen Milk Hill sooooo busy in a long while, incredible and its early December )
Great again to meet the usual pose and thanks to Lee for taking this pic.
Arrived at Tan Hill around 10am and in thick fog as forecast. It was set to clear and held out. Met up with wingman John and we headed up around lunchtime to the top of Tan and later me up with a few others. We held off until the fog cleared later in the afternoon and by 2.30pm the sun came out. I had to leave early and therefore it was a short flight and then fly down to the barn and landing next to the car. Again it turned out a perfect soarable afternoon for those who flew.
Snatched another flyable window. Unable to get away early in the day I arrived at Milk around 1.30pm to find a few pilots flying. It was top end and with a few pilots pined a little too far south to want to fly I held off. The conditions improved and the wind dropped to 14-18mph and veered a little more to be SW’ly and bang on. I launched but it was still quite strong aloft and therefore stayed out front. It was quite nice for 30mins of flying and landing down by the track on the southerly slope to collect my car. Met up with Tommy. I had a test flight of the new Zunzun mini Paraglider and was great fun.
. So was very surprised that late afternoon it dropped and after waiting 40mins it was still light and we had sun. It was still strong aloft so was being careful not to get too high. Tricky day but the winter flying is paying off.
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