150k from Portsmouth to Dorset

For some time, I have wanted to fly from my mother's house in Denmead, near Portsmouth, to Cattistock in Dorset, where my parents-in-law live. I needed a light easterly air flow to take me there on my 4-stroke engine and it needed to be a weekend preferably. Last week, the forecast looked perfect and on Saturday 26th September at 11.20am I took off from a damp field near Closewood House, where my mother lives. I needed to fly around the north of Winchester to avoid the Southampton airspace before heading SW towards Fordingbridge, Blandford Forum and then Cattistock.

The visibility was not great but it was just about acceptable. I spent much of the flight at 800 feet mainly because it was cold higher up and I hadn't put enough clothes on! It was a glorious morning - as I flew over Meonstoke, I saw (Za Rowe) a friend of Mum's waving, so I waved back but she didn't see me. Then I flew low, over a huge traffic jam just north of Winchester: I waved at the cars again. Onwards towards Fordingbridge and Blandford where I flew over my old school (Bryanston). That was the highlight; to remember the good old days! I headed on towards Catistock and flew over Milton Abbey which was indeed a striking sight - we used to play them at rugby and I have given some climbing lectures there in the past. I could see the Cerne Abbas Giant carved in a chalk hillside nearby - (meant to be lucky for fertility if one stands underneath it) - before flying over 'Easters' where Anne and Ross were waving. I did a couple of circuits and landed at a private airstrip which belongs to Chalmington Manor. Thank you to David Woodford who greeted me there with his wife. I had done it - Thank you also to my dear wife, Diana, who arrived with little Sebastian more or less at the same time. It had taken me 2 hours and 40 minutes and I had used only 7 litres of fuel on my Bailey 4-stroke 175. What a machine.

Himalayan bivi flying (Brad Sander)

The Way Back from Brad Sander on Vimeo.

This style of flying rocks! Check out Brad Sander who flew from Hunza, bivouac-style to Mastuj. He was with John Silvester on his Ozone Addict 2, north ridge of Rakaposhi then with an eagle before landing at 4,100m in an amazing SE facing huge meadow. The next day he flew to Mastuj but ran out of tape!

Great video Brad - loved it... Keep it up...

70 miles in the clouds

Ben and I took a day off last Friday 29th August. We had planned a round trip from Denmead. The forecast was good and it promised sunshine. Sadly we got no sunshine but low cloud instead - we decided to go for it as the winds were light...

I took off first and had not done my leg straps up tight enough so back round I came to land with my body shaped like a banana - try as I might, it was impossible to haul myself back into the seat whilst airborne. I was sweating so decided to land and try again. I needed a 10 minute break whilst I drank some water and let my body rest...

Take two and the wing came up crooked so I aborted... Ben helped lay my wing out again and by now I was exhausted... Third attempt and I had to dig deep to get it right. Bingo and I was airborne and in my seat. I circled waiting for Ben. Soon Ben came over the radio... "Yeeeeeehaaaa..." Petersfield here we come... We had programmed a route that would take us to Butser Hill, Midhurst, Petworth, Arundel and on to the coast before flying to Portsmouth and then home.

The cloud was low and at times we had to weave to avoid flying in the cloud at 1200ft. It was atmospheric. We flew over Buriton and the barn that Diana and I had had our wedding reception in - that was fun... we flew over large country houses with heli pads, swimming pools and tennis courts; over large forests and even some nodding donkeys drilling for oil, I presume, near Cocking.We soon circled over Petworth House and the deer park having flown over some polo fields at Cowdray I think, before then heading for Arundel. The clouds looked thick down there so we decided to alter course and head along the South Downs back to Butser Hill near Petersfield. We flew low over walkers and mountain bikers and waved to them all. We then saw a perfect stubble field on top of the Downs and decided to land much to the amusement of the walkers who came up facinated by our machines. We shared a sandwich and then took off again.

By the time we got back to Denmead my fuel level was almost zero - lucky we had decided to cut our route short. I had been in the air for about three and a half hours altogether and gone approximately 70 miles as the crow flies.

Another wonderful day amongst the clouds! All for less than a tank full!
Thank you to Ben and Jeremy, the farmer, of course!

Shining TOR

It was another top Bank holiday... Diana, Sebastian and I travelled up to Hathersage in the Peak District to stay with Michael and Mary. On arrival there were a number of paraglider pilots flying (as I suspected there would be!) at Eyam Edge. We got up there and I was too ill to even get the glider out of the car! The forcast predicted it would be one of the best days for thermic flying this year! I was gutted but know I made the right choice not to fly as I felt light headed and weak! So we sat in field and had lunch while Sebastian crawled all over us!

That same morning Ben had been flying around the Spinaker Tower in Portsmouth on his motor which made me even more green with envy!

Anyway, that night, Ben drove up to see us in the Peaks and the following day, in the evening, we were rewarded with some blissful soaring at Shining Tor in the Peaks as the sun was dipping. I would recommend this area to anyone who has not been here - it is very near the Cat and Fiddle Inn on the road from Buxton to Macclesfield.

I must have been ill as I took no photos! Sorry!

Evening PPG flight

We spent the weekend in the country at Closewood. I took the motor down on the off chance using my homemade carrier for the car which works extremely well. The weather was perfect and the conditions were clear. I took off from the local farm and had an hour or so flying around. There were a lot of light aircraft about and I waved to them. Lots of cricket was happening and I flew as far as Corhampton Golf course, over Hambledon, Droxford (photo below) and Lovedean before flying over Closewood (above photo) before landing. Ben then had a go on my machine as he still has to pick his up from repair. I could clearly see the sea and the whole of the Isle of Wight which is where we want to fly next. Bring it on! (Photos were all taken on my mobile phone)

Annecy with the boys...

I have just returned from a 6 day break in Lake Annecy with the boys. A big thank you must go to my lovely wife for putting up with me and my love affair of flying - Diana opted to stay at home looking after Sebastian while we camped, swam and flew our socks off! Over all I got about nine hours of flying in all together. One flight lasting 3 hours and 54 minutes - my longest flight to date when I flew from the Col de Forclaz to the Dents de Lanfons and over the Lake. It was extremely thermic and I experienced 14ups and 16 downs! I also had the most monumental total collapse of my wing - the wing tips touched and at one moment I could see the wing below me; half the wing then inflated causing me to pendulum massively before the wing opened and started flying again! It happened very quickly and I strangely became more confident having experienced this and how my new wing recovered. I absolutely LOVE my new Aspen II and cannot rate it highly enough. Dave and Sam both decided to land having seen me drop like a stone.

Sam then had his own epic as he was being blown backwards by the strong valley winds towards the lake. He ended up landing in someone's garden narrowly skimming a large pine tree with his butt before swooping down and landing safely much to astonishment of the family having lunch on the grass nearby! Nice one Sam! That night he dreamt about being in a plane crash - funny that! We ate Tartiflette each night, croissants and grands cafe each morning and generally missed lunch because we were flying! This is what I imagine heaven to be like! When it came to finally coming home which came around far too quickly the bonus was seeing little Sebastian and of course Diana. Sebastian was waiting for me in a cardboard box! Pure joy!

Flying en route to Basse Ham 2008

Vol Biv across rural France

There was a large paramotor meet on 28th and 29th June before the French Nationals in North Eastern France in a place called Basse Ham. Michel Carnet was flying there from Dieppe and he asked both Ben and I to join him along with Laura Beaumont and John Caston. I consider myself still to be quite a paramotor 'rookie' having done plenty of paragliding but only having done about 8 flights on my paramotor. I was apprehensive, nervous yet very excited to be flying with such an experienced group. We all caught the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe on Wednesday night at 1am. After a broken sleep under the stairs on the floor of the ferry, Michel asked me whether I dreamt of jets? I said no and he said that I would tonight. I didn't understand what he meant? Karl Hinzer was the back up driver, himself a very accomplished pilot flying in excess of 300 hours a year - he was catching a ride as the back up van driver whilst planning to fly once in Basse Ham.

Thursday dawned a perfect day and once we had found a suitable field free of crop we unloaded and put our machines and gear together. It was about 9am by the time we were ready to take off and soon we were all airborne. John had mistakenly put his propellor on the wrong way round so I felt relieved that even the pro's make mistakes. We followed our maps and GPS's heading for Laon and then on towards Rethel. As the sun came up it got more and more thermic and we got bumped around a fair bit - we were still able to fly hands off with this reflex wing technology. Ben was nearly sick - he had to swallow down some vomit! Nice! We flew over many wind farms, canals, forests and flat fields full of crop. As we were flying during the week we did expect to see some low flying mirage jets. One actually flew straight through our group above Laura and below John and I. Michel just cried out... Yeeeeeeee haaaaaaa! It was a near miss and my pants were by now brown. Those were the only two jets we saw on the trip. I was starting to see what Michel had meant!

We checked our fuel levels using mirrors to see the tanks behind us. Laura was flying a 2-stroke and therefore did not have the economy that our 175 4-stroke Bailey machines had. We circled a fuel station and landed after about 3 hours. We refuelled, had some lunch, checked our oil and checked for loose nuts and bolts etc... The wind had got up and so we were forced to wait until it died later in the afternoon by about 5pm. We all took a siesta in the shade under a tree. Michel had a shower and motorists stared at us as if we were aliens with our strange looking flying machines. At 5pm, we took off again and now the air was smooth with the setting sun behind us. The air was fresh and clean. A micro light came up and buzzed us, we flew low over the barley fields and saw deer running through them. It was, as John Caston said, QUALITY. We flew over Laon which was a very pretty town. The sun was going down as we landed on a small airfield near Rethel. We joined up with some other French pilots also heading for Basse Ham and that evening we all had beer and pizza in the local pizzeria. Ben and I slept between our motors and fell asleep looking at the stars and dreaming of jets! It was the end to a perfect day having flown about 263 kilometres. On Friday, we took off a little too late as we only managed 30k or so until the strenghening wind forced us to land in a hay field. Ben had been forced to land earlier as his machine had stopped. It turned out to be the 'big end'.

I had a wedding to get back to on the Isle of Wight on Saturday so the journey for me was over. I caught a ride to the train station and was back in London by 7pm that night. Michel and John finished the journey to Basse Ham flying the last few kilometres late in the evening in less than perfect conditions. Ben borrowed my machine and flew over 3 different countries in one flight from Basse Ham on the Saturday - I was very envious but lucky to have been able to take two days off during the week. Thank you must go to my wife Diana who was at home looking after our son Sebastian. I am extremely lucky to have an understanding and beautiful wife!

South Downs under power...

What can I say? Pure, unadulterated and blissful flying over the South Downs under power. The photo shows Ben with Brighton and the sea in the background...

Iñaki Ochoa de Olza

It was in Namche Bazar in the year 2000 when I first met Iñaki. He strolled into the lodge and greeted us all with a huge smile. We were off to climb Ama Dablam and I have to say that it was definitely one of the most enjoyable expeditions of my life. From this time onwards, I kept in touch and saw him when I next came to Kathmandu in 2004. He was a man of extreme modesty and in Rum Doodles he always insisted on paying for his food even though, having climbed Everest, he was entitled to free food. I remember eating there with Ben and Joby and chatting away about life, filming, photography, climbing and, of course, the next expedition – we had had to turn around on Everest that year before the summit and Iñaki always said that if you want to climb it you will… there is no rush! He was always hugely encouraging and passionate and had dedicated his life 100% to the mountains and friends. His home in Pamplona was full of climbing books, prayer flags and photos. One particular photograph that stuck in my mind was him on top of K2. He even had an exercise chart that he filled out every day which showed how long, the type of exercise, how much altitude had been gained etc. He was undoubtedly the strongest and most ambitious climber I had ever met. He was very clever and spoke fluent English, French, Italian and Nepali. He had stories of meeting with the Maoists on the way back from climbing Makalu – he and Joby thought they were going to get robbed or hurt but they ended up sharing their food with them before they helped carry their gear and heavy ruck sacks off their land! He thought the Maoists were friendly as he was able to communicate with them. He always said that Kathmandu was like his second home!

My brother Ben had climbed Cho Oyu in 2001 with him also topping out with him and Bob Jen.

In 2005, Diana and I went to visit him in Pamplona and he asked me if I wanted to run with the bulls with him. The following morning I met with him at the beginning of the run where we bought newspapers to roll up and then sang…

“A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición…”

I was terrified, but Iñaki was a true local and ran every year for each day of the fiesta, so it felt strangely safe to be doing it with him! As we waited, he told me that his leg had been trampled on the day before by a bull. After the bull run we went and had a drink in the square before he drove with us in his car down to the seaside with him to relax on the beach and swim in the sea. When we got back to Pamplona, Diana and I went and had a drink outside in the scorching heat while Iñaki went and rode 100kms on his bicycle. Another example of his complete and total dedication. This day will remain with me always.

He only occasionally drank the odd half glass of wine and coffee was usually an expresso - he couldn’t understand why people had to drink buckets of it. He was passionate about Bob Dylan being fascinated by his lyrics. Dylan wrote a song called ‘Not dark yet’, where the lyrics sing, ‘behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain’. Iñaki found the Himalayas both beautiful and painful to climb! He was a romantic and always had time for his friends who were more meaningful to him than mountains. He loved children and when our son Sebastian was born he said that this was better news than climbing any mountain. The other thing he enjoyed was Monty Python and the Life of Brian. At Camp 3 on Ama Dablam he starting quoting from it laughing and singing, “every sperm is sacred!”

He then said in his wonderful Spanish accent, “You remember that one? I went to a very special English Academy!” In 2006, Ben and I once again found ourselves in Kathmandu. We checked into hotel Thamel. Iñaki was also staying here and it was always lovely to catch up before an expedition and then to meet up afterwards again. He was a world class mountaineer – we were just amateurs but this never mattered to him - he had time for everyone.

On 23rd May, 2008, Iñaki passed away suddenly whilst trying to climb Annapurna (8.091m) with friends. He had turned around very close to the summit. It is a devastating loss to us all who had the good fortune to know him.

Happy Birthday Iñaki (29th May). My heart goes out to all your family and friends. You are now in a better place at rest high above the mountains and clouds.

No te olvidaremos…

Flying at the Blorenge

The weather looked ideal... Ben and I took the day off and at 6am we set off hoping to fly Pandy - in Wales. It took us about 3 hours to get there and to our dismay, when we arrived, we noticed in the site guide that Pandy was closed throughout May due to cattle grazing! DOH! We were not happy! So, we drove to the Blorenge where we met up with a couple of other pilots, including Steve from Axis Paragliding who had been doing some tandem flights. At first the wind was light so our flights were not long but the wind increased and I took off and was immediately catapulted skywards on my new Aspen II. It felt so crisp and precise. It tends to pitch back upon entering the thermals but I can get used to this.
I followed a kite in a thermal and soon found myself over the back of the hill. It was getting late so I decided to run for the car which was parked at the twin aerials. I landed just short in the ever increasing wind strength but happy with an hour or so of flying in the fresh air. Ben sadly snagged a brake line on a rock and broke it upon launching so not such a good day for him. A long way to go but if you don't try you will never know what sort of day it could have been!I enjoyed playing with my new GPS connected to my vario and was impressed by the way it can tell me the wind direction in degrees. Very useful indeed. Still a lot more to learn but hoping for some XC flying sometime soon. Got back in time to put little Sebastian to bed and to relieve Diana. Thank you for letting me go! This is where I landed, amongst the springy heather not far from the car!

Wingsuit video

Check out this wingsuit video which shows how low they can fly. The mountaineers are even waving at him! Nice...

Adrenalin Hunters via Zapiks

Flying on the Isle of Wight

We have just returned from the Isle of Wight where we spent a long weekend staying in a beautiful thatched cottage in Afton (West of the Island - near Freshwater) It felt as if we were abroad somewhere and although it was just a long weekend, it felt like a proper break from the 'smoke'.

Before we left, I had joined up with the local paragliding club on the Island as an associate member. I met John Bentley (Treasurer) and he gave me a site guide and on Saturday, the weather was on our side and we managed to fly all day at Limerstone Down. A perfect site with wonderful views over the entire island with a soft grassy take off. The sun shone and I notched up another 3 hours or so on the Aspen II glider. A lovely 'machine'. Now all I have to do is decide whether or not to buy it!?

Diana managed to go riding with the local stables and so came back smiling too on the Monday morning while I looked after our little Sebastian! Now I am back at work watching the rain pour down the windows - at least its not flyable!

The good news is that I am hoping to pick up my mended paramotor from Paul's workshop on Friday?

A Bad Day!

The day did not start well on 15th April. There must have been something in the air? At 7am, I loaded the car with toys; the paraglider and the paramotor. It was rammed full, so much so that Ben had to travel in a separate car. Diana was visiting a friend on the Isle of Wight with little Sebastian. On loading the car I noticed that something was different... all my CD's were gone? I then realised that some bastard had found the car to be unlocked (I was sure I had locked it?) and 'hoovered' everything up! I was not happy. Then on the way down to the Dyke I took the wrong turn and got lost! On reaching for my new road atlas I realised that the thief had also 'hoovered' this up too! The sun was out and it surely could get no worse?

We drove to the Dyke, winds were light but it was going to be thermic for sure. I noticed a single magpie flying across the slope - another unlucky sign! There were already a few pilots there waiting. We thought we would drive to the field and have a short flight on the motors. Having set everything up and done all the preflight checks, I pressed the START button and discovered that the battery on my machine was flat so it would not start! Ben had a short flight which was a good thing. We saw gliders getting serious height above the Dyke so rushed over there to try our luck. Just as we arrived the sea breeze kicked in and killed all lift by which time I had only managed some ground handling and a 2 minute flight. We packed up and went back to the field by which time Michel Carnet had arrived to show us how to start the machine with his hand. A good thing to know how to do in case one lands out! He had a flight and suggested I go for a long one to charge the battery up.

I put the harness on where Michel had landed, I was some way from the wind sock and Ben was infront of me. No problem, I thought, I can do this. The wind was quite fresh but definately flyable. The wing came up fast and I walked towards it as it came up. I then pulled the brakes forgetting I was on a reflex wing as I had been previously on the Dyke with my paraglider. Reflex wings do not tend to over shoot like paragliding wings. So, by pulling on the brakes I caused the wing to come back down causing me to be pulled off balance slightly - I increased throttle, took off, touched down again being blown 90 degrees to the wind. I should have aborted but instead kept persevering. I should have stopped the engine but as the battery was flat I suppose I did not want to in case it wouldn't start again? By this stage I was travelling fast being pulled downwind with the engine still going. Huge mistake. I hit the ground fast and did a huge headplant. It all happened so fast.

Fortunately I was wearing a helmet!
Fortunately the propellor hit the cage causing it to stop as I hit the deck!
Unfortunately the propellor is gashed - I need a new one!
Unfortunately the cage is now a jumbled mess and totally written off - I need a new one!
Fortunately I was not hurt and walked away from this!
Fortunately Paul Bailey has said he can repair it fairly quickly!
Unfortunately it will cost me an 'arm and a leg'! Fortunately not literally!

All in all, not a good day for me. I even forgot my packed lunch and had to share with Ben.
But some important lessons learnt and it will all be the same in 100 years. Toys can be repaired and it it all just materialistic so not at all important!

I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of the stricken engine, Ben took the one below once we had dismantled it - I could hardly bring myself to look at the damage! I know Paul will do a fine repair - his skills are immense.
Thank you Ben and Michel for support on the field - I'll be back!

Flying over Hogs Back - Guildford

3rd April and I went to collect my engine. I met Ben and Laura at Barry's field and we had fun flying low along the A31 waving to the cars! Spring is definately on the way as I did not have to wear gloves.

Day off at Coombe Gibbet

Once again, Ben and I 'bunked off' work and drove down to Wiltshire. The forecast was good and we hoped to get some airtime in. The wind was northerly and so we headed for Coombe arriving at 8.45am. There was already one yellow glider in the air. It appeared to be quite windy but in the winter, the winds always appear stronger - its the cold. I had my winter suit, plus 3 other layers. I had been longing for this moment to try the Aspen 2. Due to the strongish wind, I opted to launch a little further down the slope. I popped it up and was lifted into the air immediately. The wing was noticably faster than my old Topas and so responsive. I headed west over the trees to the end of the ridge. There were some punchy spring thermals around. Ben launched 20 minutes later to join me. Soon we were flying with the kites - this was the life. I tried out big ears and the speed system and the acceleration was easy. The air in parts was a little rough but I felt confident on the wing - I did have a small frontal collapse but it popped out at once.

I landed after 2 hours as someone had had an accident when he tried to top land. It turns out that he stalled the wing trying to top land. From the air, I heard him call for help on the ground before others ran to help him. The helicopter air ambulance arrived straight away. I think the pilot broke his arm quite badly which was a great shame. Ben and I had to get back to London after this as Ben had an evening meeting.

Another great day of flying... It was good to get back home to Di and of course little Sebastian too!

The calm before the storm

For the last few weeks I have been gagging to fly my demo glider (Gradient Aspen 2) that Richard Westgate has lent me to try. On Sunday 9th March, Ben and I got up early and drove to Butser Hill, not far from Closewood. We got there at 9am and between us we managed lots of ground handling and about 20 minutes of flying between us on Butser's West facing slope. By 11am the wind was blown out. There were no other pilots there!

I loved the feel of the Aspen 2 on the ground - I found it very responsive and it flew a lot faster than my ancient Gradient Topas which I have had for about 10 years. I want to try it again in better conditions and ideally, I'd like to do some thermalling before I buy it but so far, it's looking good for the summer.

The weather is windy and rainy here in London which we hope will pass quickly by...!

Flying over Butser

Sunday 17th February, dawned a perfect day for some paramotoring practice! That morning, Di, Sebastian and I went for a lovely walk around Sheepwash Lane and around Denmead Golf course and into Creech woods. Cold, frosty and crisp with ice on the ponds. We just needed permission to take off from a local field...
While I was out, Ben spoke to the local farmer and he very kindly allowed us to take off from the field infront of his house near Denmead. I fluffed my first take-off, Ben then took off and flew for half an hour or so while I was trying to work out where the wind was coming from - it was so light and the sock was all over the place. Eventually I was airbourne, narrowly missing a large oak tree! I wriggled into my seat and soon was flying with Ben trying to break through the inversion layer. I had stupidly forgotten my radio so we had no radio contact at all but we had a basic flight plan... I had always wanted to fly over Closewood House, before we knew it, Ben and I were flying above the pig farm next to Closewood and surrounding area - what pure joy!
10 miles away, I could see the Radio mast on top of Butser... so, I put my Dudek ReAction wing onto fast trimmers and pointed that way... following the familiar roads, cutting corners where I could... Flew over the Warrens - did not look like they were home, past Catherington (where we used to tobbogan when we were small) over Clanfield and on to Butser. The wind was stronger up here and I was on full speed bar checking my ground speed. I saw them walking dogs and stopping to look up at me in this strange flying contraption! What a feeling! Something I have wanted to do for a long long time.
By the time I had returned to the farm, still airbourne, Ben had landed as he was cold - he was laying his wing out a second time and I watched him take off again from the air. I saw him head off towards Droxford so I followed and we flew together for a while, over the Griffiths' house where they were playing tennis! I wonder if they saw us? Over Hambledon and the church where we got married, on to Droxford over the Slaters' and then over the fields until we were over the Wilson-Youngs! The sun was setting in the distance, the engine was purring and we were LOVING this! Our first XC on a paramotor. My winter flying suit kept me warm but I could have done with some warmer gloves. My fingers are prone to the cold having previously had frostbite before in several finger tips.

Ben flies a lot slower than me due to his wing (APCO Karma) and he was making slow headway but I flew back over Creech woods to the golf course where we had walked that morning then did a low pass over Closewood again before flying back to the farmer's field. Ben landed first and then I came in rather fast; frighteningly fast actually. I turned to avoid Ben and ended up doing a downwind landing... luckily the ground was soft and I got away with it but I did fall flat on my face! I was more worried about my new machine!! What a day. Ben came over with a massive grin on his face... "I can't believe you forgot your radio" he said! I had been airbourne for about two and a half hours and only used 7 litres of fuel! These Bailey 4-strokes really do just 'sip' fuel!

Thanks to brother Ben who had remembered his camera up there! Great shots!! Thank you also, VERY MUCH, to the extremely kind farmer! You know who you are! No names on the internet in case you get inundated with noise and other pilots choosing to land in your lovely field! And, Thank you to my lovely wife Diana, who was waiting patiently at home with Sebastian - next time we will try not to be so long!!!!