Archery
Archived posts from this Category
Wednesday, 21st May 2008
Posted by Judith on 21 May 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Flying
It was windy when we woke up this morning, and it seemed to pick up as the morning went on. Certainly blown out for Corndon. We toyed with the idea of driving to the Malverns, but thought that it would be too windy there too. Instead we did some archery, gardening and some work.
By 6.30pm it seemed to be calming down and the forecast is rubbish for the next few days, so we thought it would be nice just to have an evening flight. We went to Corndon.
It was 7pm by the time we got there and had looked at the conditions and it seemed too late to let other people know, but we phoned Wayne, who lives close enough to get there in 15 minutes. I launched first and although it was windy, there was very little lift about. I scratched around the SE face and eventually managed to get over 150 feet ATO. Geoff reported that the wind was picking up on launch and I could feel it when I tried to push out into the valley. I was pinned for a while but then it dropped off again and Wayne and Geoff launched. Intermittently it was a little bouncy, but otherwise fine.
We all landed and Wayne and I had another go. I worked every little bit of lift I found and eventually got enough height to land back by the cars. By this time it was definitely beer o’clock, so we headed to Bishop’s Castle to the pub.
It turned out later that we made a big mistake… Malverns were flyable and lots of people did a good distance. Next time we’ll go on the off chance!
Wednesday, 14th May 2008
Posted by Judith on 14 May 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Flying
The forecast was windy and it seemed that way at 10.30am. We did a bit of work, then went and did some archery and then phoned the weather station around 2.30 to see what was happening, because the sky looked so good. It was giving 4 – 22mph, which sounded rough, and we assumed it would be an underestimate anyway because it was east and the Mynd is, of course, a west facing ridge. But the sky looked good, so we went to Corndon anyway.
On the hill it was blowing a constant 16 – 20mph – perfect for hang gliding. Geoff rigged fast and launched. He thermalled up to 1000 ATO, but lost it and came back to the front. 20mins later he top landed because his vario batteries had gone flat (in spite of them being relatively new!). The wind picked up whilst he was in the air and it was blowing over 20-odd mph when we decided to pack up for the evening. Graeme came out with his HG, as were were carrying down, and Mark Leavesley flew his new race harness before going to the PWC, but it was still blowing fairly strongly in our garden at 7.30pm when we got home, so not really paraglideable for me.
In retrospect, it was a mistake to go out so late – we were put off by the large variation in wind speed, but it would have been much better to be on the hill, and see what it was really like. A good XC day missed, at least for Geoff on the hangie. If it’s marginal, always better to be on the hill, rather than trying to second guess what the conditions will be like. If you’re not there, you can’t fly. A lesson we repeatedly have to relearn!
Friday, 9th May 2008
Posted by Judith on 10 May 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Flying
The weather was grey and murky in the morning so we worked. It seemed to brighten up a little in the afternoon but it was so light we decided to go and do some archery, rather than going flying. It was a mistake. The sun started to come out whilst we were shooting and it was clear that it could potentially be a good day.
We raced back to Corndon but it was 6pm by the time we launched and very light. Geoff launched first and was able to maintain. I launched second and managed to scratch my way up to 100 feet ATO and then bumbled into a thermal which took me to the dizzy height of 248′ ATO. A second flight took me straight to half way up the hill. By the time I got the bracken out of my lines it didn’t seem worth lugging the glider back up the hill, so I folded it up and walked back up. 15 minutes of airtime. Wayno also went down, but was determined not to be defeated by the hill, so walked back up and did a heroic dash to the road, only to miss the power lines by 3 feet.
Michaela reported some wind on the east face, but by this time it was so late and very light so she didn’t bother and we went to Bishop’s Castle for a few pints instead.
Thursday, 8th May 2008
Posted by Judith on 08 May 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Miscellaneous activities
Beautiful sunny weather today, shame it was howling…
We went to do some archery and collected my funky new green Salomon jacket which I got from my Ozone Open team sponsors, Beyond Extreme.
On the way home we stopped at the Mynd to take some photos for an article I have written for Skywings. Geoff was the reluctant model. He’s a natural. He even went into a supermodel sulk when he got cold whilst I was changing the camera batteries.
Geoff has also finished the XC page (see link on right). Cross countries viewable in Google Maps (2D, lots of stats, no need to have Google Earth on your computer) or Google Earth (3D, nice graphical view of altitude, fewer stats, need Google Earth installed). Not yet put up our XCs of the last few days, since he managed to mess up the tracklogs. But some sample flights there.
Thursday, 1st May 2008
Posted by Judith on 01 May 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Flying
I’ve made a pretty good recovery and am walking normally again. I can even drive.
It was sunny when we got up, but raining and gusty by 9.15am, so we decided to can the day and go to do some archery. On the way across the Mynd the sky was epic downwind, but we could see one cunim and three distinct showers upwind. A more gung-ho pilot would have turned back for their HG (if you could avoid the big showers it would have been a really good day), but Geoff did the sensible thing and we went to shoot. Within 10 minutes of us starting it rained! We braved the showers and had a good session, sheltering when necessary.
On the way back across the Mynd we could see a massive thunderstorm over Bishop’s Castle and we drove through some heavy rain. At about 6.20pm I decided to look out of the window (just for a laugh) and was amazed to see two guys soaring on the Long Mynd. I sent out a 3jam message (where were you guys an hour later?) and we headed up to fly.
Geoff flew on his PG (I’m saving my knees for a better day) and had a nice time. He flew way along the ridge and it didn’t switch off until 8pm. Six pilots flew in all. A nice end to the day.
Friday, 25th April 2008
Posted by Judith on 25 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Miscellaneous activities
A relaxed day for us, cold, occasional rain, and windy …
Archery in the morning, I bought a new helmet, we did some DIY, Geoff attended a few sessions of an online conference, we played squash in the evening. Hopefully, Saturday will be flyable, at least for hang gliders.
Monday, 21st April 2008
Posted by Judith on 21 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Archery, Flying
Weather seemed to finally pick up a bit and it wasn’t quite as cold as previous days. It was warm enough for us to brave the outside world and go for our first archery session of the year. The field was very boggy after a big competition shoot on Sunday, but it was good to shoot again. Funny how you discover muscles you didn’t remember you had in the first place!
In the evening it seemed to have dropped off enough to go flying at Corndon, but when we got there it was strong. Two other guys turned up whilst we were reading our books in the car, but we decided to can the day when it became clear that the wind was actually picking up. Tomorrow looks better. Fingers crossed.