June 2008
Monthly Archive
Monday, 30th June 2008
Although the forecast a few days ago had been pretty good for Monday, it was gradually getting worse, giving stronger winds, and we were getting less and less optimistic. When we woke up it was completely cloudy, and breezy. In the end, this morning, we decided to try Clatter – a rarely flown site, though Judith and I have flown it a couple of times this year (Judith got past Welshpool a few weeks ago). Rarely flown, but with a lot of XC potential, and with the right drift you could theoretically get to the Peak District, if not further. Hang glider comps use it in a South Westerly, and have done some good flights from there. Wayne and I took hang gliders as well as PGs, and Judith and John took their PGs – Judith at least expecting it to be too windy for her.
And it was. We drove to the front and dropped off the two hang gliders; Wayne then drove the car back and promptly cracked the sump. So he had to phone work, and get the tow truck brought out to take him back. He didn’t fly because he was waiting for the truck (and probably not in the best of moods). I rigged and flew. It was gusty, and I’ve never flown my HG there, only the PG, and the launch was a bit of a wind up, needing to clear the fence, which I did easily. In the air it was very rough; I think the wind was just too strong, maybe creating some rotor from the hills in front, and also it was pretty thermic. I climbed out to about 1200′ ATO a couple of times, but each time lost it – maybe I wasn’t letting myself drift back fast enough. In the end, I got fed up wrestling the glider, and tried to top land at launch, twice – but overshot, just clearing the fence the second time. I eventually climbed up and landed back by the cars, and had a fine landing, in strong winds. No one else flew, and in fact the cloud increased so there was no sun at all, so we finally drove home (thanks for the lift, James, who turned up later with Graeme).
It was one of my more exciting flights, with a lot packed into 30 minutes! I don’t want to repeat it too soon. I still think Clatter is a great site – and the other times we’ve flown there have been nowhere near as rough as today – but perhaps to be avoided in strong winds when there are also strong thermals. Really, I should have got away in one of the two thermals I had, but I messed it up. Oh well, next time…..
Sunday, 29th June 2008
Judith 29 Jun 2008 | : Miscellaneous activities
It seemed pretty windy this morning, so we had a leisurely breakfast with Dave and Jenny and set off home in a very relaxed fashion. On the way we phoned Wendy Windblows which was claiming 8 – 18mph. Big rush ensued until we got hold of Graeme who told us it was raining, and Wayne who told us it was howling and raining.
Panic over, we went to Moreton Corbet Castle, which is a great ruin in the middle of nowhere near Shawbury. We had a nose around and then went home. It was pouring on the Mynd, so we dismissed any ideas of flying for the rest of the day.
Though later on the sun did come out; and in the evening, at least one HG flew. But too late for us to be bothered going out.
Saturday, 28th June 2008
Judith 28 Jun 2008 | : Flying, Party, party, party...
There was some discussion in the pub last night amongst the comp crowd whether it would be flyable today or not, and I thought not. It was windy at 7.30am and when we drove up to the Long Mynd with the hangie, the comp guys were coming down the hill towards us, having cancelled the day. So no tasks for the Nationals at all. Shame, after the good week last year.
We got to the top of the hill and it was howling. Too strong even for the HG. We went back down the hill and had coffee with Pat Dower and then did a couple of hours of gardening. By 4pm the wind was dropping and a HG launched. We drove back up and Geoff flew.
At night we went off to Newcastle-under-Lyme for Dave B.’s 40th birthday bash. Great do and nice to see old friends again. Haven’t seen Dave and Jenny for a couple of years, but it was just like old times!
Geoff’s comments: I flew the hang glider for about 30 minutes or so. It was actually flyable for HGs for much of the afternoon and evening, but earlier on it was quite strong. My flight wasn’t up to much, really I was just flying for the sake of flying, need the practice on the HG. There was no chance of XC, base very low, and sky indifferent. And I only got to about 500′ (though before I arrived, Wayne had got to 1000′ a few times). But for me, it was essentially ridge soaring. Some people found it rough, but I – even with my low tolerance for roughness – thought it was OK. I think maybe there was a bit of wave, and whether or not you found it rough depended very much on where you were on the ridge. Also, the wind was well off to the south, which doesn’t help at the Mynd.
As we left around 6.00 (to get ready for the drive to the party) Graeme started flying on his PG, since the wind seemed to be dropping. Possibly it will be flyable for PGs for the evening – though at the moment, just before we leave, I can’t see anybody flying.
Still, I flew, had a nice landing, so much, much, better than nothing!
Friday, 27th June 2008
Judith 27 Jun 2008 | : Archery, Flying
The arctic June weather continues. We had pretty much written off today, what with a forecast of howling gales and plenty of rain. However, Nigel Rue insisted on the Beyond Extreme forum that it would be flyable on the Long Mynd today and he was right. People started flying about 9am, so we sent out a 3jam. I sent out an update about 5 minutes later reporting the drizzle which had just started. It was going to be that kind of day…
We got to the Mynd in time for the comp briefing. Most people had gone home and only 29 people signed to fly the task. They set a 31km task to Morville, with a turn point at Black Knoll and then on to Wenlock Edge, so basically two ridge runs with two gaps to cross. Seemed like a good plan.
Calvo was hoping to be able to have a second task later if the sky cleared up. The window was going to open super fast to get everyone on course to allow for the second round in the afternoon and we all got our gear out and I signed to free fly the task. We could see rain pushing in to the south end of the ridge (the turn point) so the launch window was postponed. James D. flew tandem with an Ozzie relative, and Marra had a little fly too. It was off to the south and getting a little breezy by this point.
Twenty minutes later the window opened and most pilots took off, but a lot of people didn’t seem to go anywhere very fast. WSW or SW can be deceptive on the Mynd. It seems less windy on the ground than it is in the air and the airflow is cleaner on launch than in the bowls. You can also get rotor in the gully by the road coming up the the front of the hill. This is what happened to a few people who pushed along from launch low. Several had collapses and the task was stopped within 5 minutes of the window opening. A rebrief was organised for 2pm, with a view of going to Clatter if the sky improved and the wind dropped.
We went off to Church Stretton to do some archery. We shot about 60 arrows and were getting nicely warmed up when the rain started. Ho hum. We packed up and went to the briefing, not intending to trail out to Clatter ourselves. They binned the day at 2.15pm, and it has been raining off an on ever since, and it’s still windy.
Last day of the comp tomorrow, so the weather should improve soon.
Thursday, 26th June 2008
Judith 26 Jun 2008 | : Boring stuff
More rubbish weather. I blame the comp.
Wednesday, 25th June 2008
Judith 26 Jun 2008 | : Miscellaneous activities
Our work-life balance was pretty rubbish today. Too much of the former. But then the weather was pretty poor, far too windy to fly anything.
In the evening we went to Phil and Wayne’s excellent XC talk in Bridgnorth. It was reasonably well attended with 16 people there, and well worth the trip. Nearly all the content was applicable to both hang and paragliders.
Geoff has expanded the XC Tips (see link at top of the page) to add in some more gleaned from last night. Visit that page, and please do add in your own tips as comments.
Tuesday, 24th June 2008
We went flying at Bache. The BPC crowd was there too, obviously. The forecast was for strongish winds, so we wanted to get there early. I was determined to get off before the launch window opened to avoid the crowds and to be high when the first gaggle set off.
I launched two minutes after the window opened and got pretty much straight to 1200′ ATO. It didn’t seem enough to cross the forest behind and everyone else was pushing back forward, so I did the same. I encountered a strong headwind and big sink so I went straight down. I only managed to squeak onto the moor to the right of the upper take-off. I was nearly in the gully, so a bit worrying.
It was a 25 minute walk back and then a 20 minute line untangle, by which time the sky looked rubbish. Geoff was flying and could have gone over the back, but would have had to go very low. Because it was so windy he had trouble penetrating at times and in the end he bottom landed, after a bumpy ride down.
I retrieved Kai, who had only gone 10km (along with about 40 others), and we went for a beer, etc. Prize giving was this evening, and John Stevenson is Long Mynd round winner and is currently overall winner too. Nationals start at the Mynd tomorrow. Forecast is lousy.
Geoff’s comments:
It was a pretty poor XC day. Comp goal was only 31k, Montgomery, but only one person made it. I didn’t go over the back, partly because it was windy, and I was worried about landing my PG in strong winds; also because it’s the boonies for a while from Bache, and the retrieves can take hours, as there is no mobile signal for miles. Bache is also difficult to get back to. In hindsight, it was the right decision – the majority of pilots did around 10k, not worth it at all – however, really I should have gone, because you never do know, until you go, what sort of day it really is. So I made the right decision for the wrong reasons (makes a change from making the wrong decision for the right reasons).