Gloucester Cathedral

Holy communion and craft stalls in the cloisters

Westonbirt arboretum

Enjoying the lights

Westbury - Saturday 30th November

Shocked to hear about Pete Coad and saddened I won't be able to share the hill with someone I've known since a teenager down in Devon.  This one's in your memory Pete...

There were some thermals about early on

Should have top landed while I had the chance

Harting - Saturday 23rd November

Ok the days are getting fewer and further between now but last saturday was excellent with thermals to 800' ATO. Tony jumped the Coking gap and got back again but only courtesy of some seagulls marking a climb in the middle of the gap.

Seems to be a sailplane express route around here

Malcolm joins me down the ridge

Now where's those clouds?

Love the view down that ridge

Battle bonfire boyes

Very smokey evening at battle last night

One casualty

Our pergola bites the dust...

He shoots and

Fails to leave the hill.  Nice day with some pleasant thermals to cloudbase <3000' but no clouds to head for. Better luck next time.

Flying is so much more fun when you're clear of the PG soup.

Saturday 5th October

Hmm Westbury tomorrow...will it be good enough to  score greater than 40k for the XC league to get back to 3rd place.  Suspect 130k is out of the question, although that is 'just' a 45k pre-declared triangle, so thats the goal then.  Time to play in SeeYou.

Triangle set all I need is the right weather

Royal Victoria Park

Walk along the beach and woods.

Wendy and Totem pole on Hamble Common

Westbury wednesday?

So current forecast for Wednesday is NW'ly so looks like I have a chance of a flight at Westbury. Here's hoping.

Too ambitous

So Nev has set a 38 mile triangle and i've gone for my ambitious 80k flight again.  And again I fail to get to the first turn point.  After nearly decking it I give up and rush over to the west just north of Frome and then back to Westbury with loads to spare. 

Working it at Westbury

Still at the White Horse

Why's it always so blue short of my first turnpoint? Scrabbling out of a hole past Melksham

A much better view of Westbury

On the way at last...

I'm going to have to learn to not set an over ambitious into wind leg. With the correct plan an 80k+ triangle was easily doable on Saturday.  So have now defined one with a minimal into wind leg at 68k using westbury as a remote start to optimise the cross wind elements... Now all I need is another good westbury day.

The fat lady sings after we all bottom land

So a last valiant attempt at a task, but no one activates so this years BOS ends with 4 valid tasks for the rigids and 6 for the flexis from 15 days of competition.

Being the one series of events dedicated to hang gliding it's always great to meet up with pilots from across the country.  Just a shame the weather played some disappointing games with this years fun and games.

The final flight I had 350 fpm descent from the blorenge.  Given my sink rate is around 120 fpm this means 230fpm of descending air...no wonder the flight was so quick.

Down Down way on down

Oops Forgot me gloves...

Not airborne long enough for it to matter though

Where was that field....Still height to burn

Bbbblorenge it is

A rather windy day on the Blorenge.  Justin has won the day with 26k.  Majority of the field is down under the 10k minimum distance.

Hopefully a better day tomorrow.

More history

So St Fagan museum of welsh life yesterday and Llancaiach Fawr manor today. Oh and New Tredegar winding house.

Back to the Iron Age

Castell Henllys today...

Dewstow hidden gardens and grottoes

Fascinating place...

Ager the clean up...

Cleaning out my harness and found this little collection in the boot protector.  Come on Woody Valley surely you can come up with a cleaner more aerodynamic design than this?  Preferably one that doesnt scoop up stones when walking to launch.

Today I shall be mostly spotting moving tractors

...oh and stationary traffic around stutgart.

The AIR factory is in a beutiful setting with views of the lake, mountains behind and a fairy tale castle on the hill.  Landing fields in front with the odd paraglider who will have gone up on the cable car a few hundred yards up the road.  Most visit their againand have time for a flight.

Big thanks to Felix, Tim and Sven for sorting out the issues caused by unnecessary and unrequested changes to my glider.  Probably a new sail for me next year...

... Each and every highway...

Monday morning in Zurich. Tsunami deposited with buyer in Grenoble.  On to Germany and the AIR factory...

Last sunrise

This is the sunrise in the gorge on the day of departure.

...of this I'm certain

Well actually not at present.  Down to Andy, myself and Ilya today in the rigid comp.  Andy in goal and me 2/3rds the way round the course.

Just had prize giving Paul held on to second place despite not flying today. Interesting task on a day that tailed off rapidly unlike the previous week.

Flying and thermals were infinitely more fun today than yesterday.

Some thoughts tomorrow.  Car packed ready for the epic return via Germany.

And the end is near...

An ambitous task round the Tremp valley was set but at the time of writing only shedsy hsd activated and a few others got drilled over the back.  Most of the rest of the field either landed at the bottom or did not fly with very few making more than a few hundred over take off.

For the rigids Mike had a broken tip rod so could not fly. Paul, myself and Ilya were in the bottom field only Andy is know to have gone over the back.

Scoring tonight is very relaxed..

Off into the flats

A short task yesterday 86km via a sinin the NW airle turnpoint to calaef aerodrome. Unfortunately problems with anothee rib in the glider meant I was on of the last off.

So onky 20ks and no goal cake for me. No rigids made goal and only a few flexis. Those that left early reported great flights flying up the side if the clouds in front of ager to over 8000'.

Meanwhile the tail enders were coping with a 20 mph westerly.

Lee side clouds in front of take off in the NW air.

Andy tells Richard how it is...

Belgian Day 2 - 29th July

Here is Belgian Day2 Tracklog:

And on the fourth day they rested

So rain this morning, lots of cloud cover and CuNbs last night. Time to play with the glider, fiddle on the computer and have a look at Ballaguer old town after the siesta.

Will attempt to upload track log pictures to the posts for each rigid task if all goes well.

Nicely judged little task

A short one today to get us all round the course before the CuNb formed and/of the high cloud came in and killed the day. So 65 km round 4 turn points. Andy won yet again with mike in second and me in third but only 14 points between second and fourth.

Personally still happy as that's now 6 goal flights from 6 tasks.

Ferro Rocha here we come

So yesterday's task was a 154 km race to the big hill nicknamed the ferro Rocha which is the most awesome ridge I've ever flown. What's more it's parting gift was the biggest smoothest 7.5 up to 10,500 feet that I have ever experienced.  Oh and it was nice and cool up there.

Wayne must have had the most bitter sweet of days having flown 95 miles he ended up 150 m short of the goal cylinder. Correction according to the scores he was 8m short. Blimey Wayne you should have just walked the last bit!

Andy and Paul are leaving me dead on the speed so I'm solidly in third place in the rigid comp.  Handy having all those flexwings around to mark the thermals. About the only time I'm sure of what to aim for and have the courage to go on a fast glide is when there is a good gaggle climbing ahead.

Results here: http://bhgcresults.wikidot.com/2013-nationals:results

Track log below:

Day 1 British Nationals

So a good day with a 105km task.  All 5 rigid pilots in goal. Andy was having instrument problems again but  hopefully his back up worked and we'll know the scores in the morning.

I intend to see if I can get hold of the class 5 tracklogs to put in SeeYou and then publish them here in a single picture.

And my track log...

I wasn't expecting that!

Insted of the normal not enough pilots in class 5 for a prize they gave out first, second  and third so all three pilots got to stand on the podium.

The other unexpected event was yhe club class winner was the only pilot to achieve goal on the final day was a female pilot.