Monday, April 23, 2007

Saturday 21st April - White Horse


On Saturday 21st April, I flew for just under 3 hours over the White Horse behind Milk Hill in Wiltshire. When I arrived it was quite windy so I sat and had a sandwich. I then laid out my gear and checked it before deciding to give it a go. I pulled on the brakes and was lifted straight up. It was a beautiful afternoon and I managed to fly all the way along to the road and thought of crossing it when I was high. The lift was not quite good enough so I decided not to. Also, my car was parked by the barn at the opposite end and I didn't feel like the long walk back. At one point there were about 14 gliders in the air including one hang glider. I was the second last person to land as the sun was setting. I flew as far as I could back to the car before landing and packing up. I was smiling! I think I have a paragliding problem - I can't stop thinking about the weather or where to fly next. I am dreaming about flying cross country from thermal to thermal...

Friday, April 13, 2007

Paragliding - Easter weekend, 2007


Diana and I spent Easter in Devon and on the way down we stopped for some flying at Westbury. It was a beautiful day but the winds were light. The flying was very 'scratchy' and I probably managed about an hour of flying in total that day (Easter Friday). Met up with Jim Mallinson, Mark Russell and Eddie Colfox who were all flying 'hot ships'! I was flying my old Gradient Topas (1-2 glider).

On the way home we stopped in Dorset to see the parents-in-law. After lunch, I dragged Di up to Batcombe where the skies looked epic. Very light winds again, however, and persevered ending up with four top-to-bottoms. Mark Russell was there with his tandem and so was Tony Farthing from the Devon and Somerset Condors. I returned home dreaming of flying more this summer!
On May 11th Olu Deniz bekons in Turkey where we shall be flying with friends for a whole week! Bring it on...