Flat batteries

Sunday 9th August was a beautiful day. I took the family down to Barry’s field just outside Guildford where there is a lovely field. There is lots for the children to look at, chickens, ducks, tractors, aeroplanes, model gliders, paramotors etc…

We packed a picnic (and took the Paramotor down too!) I had not flown for a good 6 weeks so wanted to check whether I could still do it! The plan was to find a shady spot, set up camp for Diana, Sebastian and Daisy, and have a picnic. They then went for a lovely walk and I took off with a plan to fly to Petworth (about 30kms away) via Charter House School, Dunfold (a disused airfield where they film parts of Top Gear) and on to Petworth before flying back to Barry’s field. I took some photos of Charter House School but then realised when I was over Dunfold, that my camera was flat – I had forgotten to recharge the batteries. This was annoying and it was even more annoying when my GPS batteries ran out too! School boy error!

I was only about 5kms from Petworth (over a place called Kirdford) before I decided to turn back to be on the safe side. I had a map, but still, I felt lost without my GPS. I made a mental note to practice more without the use of a GPS in case my batteries run down again!

Back at the field, an hour and 15 minutes later, Diana was out walking with the buggy and I landed and watched this enormous scale radio controlled glider being towed up by a (model) tug! It was very impressive! It was an acrobatic glider and I watched it fly upside down performing stall turns, 4 point rolls and doing fast fly by’s over the field. These gliders don’t come cheap – I believe that one would set you back about £4,000! The tugs are cheaper at around £1,500 - so I am told? Another great day out. Sebastian loved pointing out the all the gliders... (one of his first words!) Glidor, glidor, glidor...!

Daisy Alice Clowes

Daisy Alice Clowes was born at 7am on 10th June, 2009 at the Chelsea and Westminter hospital in London. She weighed in at 3.67kgs and we think that she is the most beautiful baby girl in the world! Of course we do! She is a couple of hours old in this photo. Sebastian also loves having a little sister!

Mummy is tired but well (no drugs except for gas and air!) We are all very proud.

Scottish inspirations...

I came across this video on the web and have to share it with you... What can I say... inspirational stuff... Well done Paolo Bellezze and friends...

Love it!

Latin Highlands from Paolo Bellezze on Vimeo.

Summer flying

What a lovely weekend - easterly winds 18kph plus... we were staying at Mum's and Ben came down on Sunday. I had 'snuck' the glider into the car in the hope of getting a little flying in before our number 2 baby is born (due 3rd June!!). On Sunday morning we managed a little flying at Mercury but the wind was quite strong and verging on the 'not fun' so we landed and went home to mow the lawn.

Later that evening, after supper, we went back up to the hill. The was no-one there except sheep and Ben and I had 30 minutes or so of soaring up and down the ridge before the sun went down. No model gliders getting in the way so it was possible to fly right down to the end of the ridge.

Good to get some airtime and all good for the soul!

(Thank you Ben for the photo)

Flying around London on a paramotor

The email came through from Michel…. “You fancy trying again, with just a small group of us…?” This was another opportunity to try to fly the circumference of London. This was to be without support and a true vol biv adventure over 2 days. The group was Michel Carnet, Laura Turner, myself and my brother Ben. We met at Barry’s field, just outside Guildford and took off at about 5pm. We should have taken off much earlier. It was a beautiful day with light winds and a thermic sky. By this time the air was quite buoyant and the wind had swung around, now blowing from the south, which was good for us because just before Lasham, we headed north and made good ground. We dropped down to follow the Thames over Henley. Low evening flying over the river was QUALITY! Onwards skirting around the airspace at High Wycombe now heading East where we landed for fuel at the dis-used airstrip at Bovington. Ben and I ran down the hill for fuel – Michel and Laura laid out the machines ready for a quick take-off to squeeze in some more kilometres before dark. We tried asking some motorists for a lift back up to the airfield but they were all in a hurry (of course!) and I nearly got beaten up by the boyfriend of the girl I asked – he must have thought I was trying to crack on to her – unlikely as she looked like the back end of a bus! Anyway, we sweated our way back up the hill where Michel and Laura had laid out our gear ready for squeezing in some more kilometres before darkness.

We landed south of Potters Bar in the dark (just inside the legal time!) and slept out under the stars in our sleeping bags and bivi bags. We were tired having flown about 132kms. A big thank you to Andy who met us there with some refreshments and a little fuel. Andy flies locally nearby so knows the area well. Sadly we could not persuade him to join us for a drink in the pub which was conveniently near our chosen landing field.

Up the following morning at 4.30am to get ready. A couple of muesli bars, some water and we laid our wet wings out from the dew. There was nil wind. We had to run fast to take off. We were soon flying into the rising sun above the M25. (The above photo of myself and Ben was taken by Laura)

The world was waking up. Over Epping forest and Stapleford airspace before heading south to Damyns Hall aerodrome. We flew straight over the Thames by the Dartford Bridge and over Dartford. I was shivering with cold – why hadn’t I packed some warmer gear – and I needed a pee! I thought for a brief moment of just wetting myself as I was desperate and thought it might warm me up. Fortunately, I thought better of it and held on… trying to concentrate on the route ahead!

We were flying into a headwind, so we dropped down low leaving Swanley to our right and flew low over the golf courses in a lovely valley. This was fun. We then rejoined up with the M25 and spotted a van that had caught fire and about to explode I think – long traffic jams had jammed up behind and the Police were on the case. We were now flying back towards Guildford but we needed fuel so we landed at Clackett Lane Services and filled up. The wind had now strengthened and launching was easy – a few steps and we were off, flying once again low next to the North Downs – very scenic and a good end to another wonderful adventure, when we landed back at Barry’s field… (total distance flown: 264km) all upon our doorstep! I told you that we would be trying again soon!! We all took photos, and Ben filmed the whole thing, we want to organise a lecture later in the year for St Luke's Cancer Centre (Laura's charity). The venue will most likely be in the Guildford area.

Now we are just dreaming of the next vol biv adventure and I have some ideas!

Watch this space and see you in the air...!

Windy conditions

We arrived on a very wet Friday night with the promise of a good forecast for the weekend and for our attempt at circumnavigating London. Saturday dawned bright but the north easterly wind was just a little too strong. A few pilots did take off but most landed near Reading ending their day there. For us and everyone else, we decided to stay put hoping for lighter winds later in the day. By 4pm we were still waiting on the field and by this time had decided to drive to Damyns Hall where we had been due to fly to that day in East London.

Some pilots flew that evening as the sun was setting. We met the locals in the cafe and had a good feed which they refused to charge us for (THANK YOU Gary, if you ever read this!). Michel gave a briefing that night and we decided to be up early and out first thing. It was calm when we woke and we quickly sorted our machines. Ben, Luke and I were first off out of all the pilots. The wind was strengthening and cloudbase was only 1000ft or so... We decided to go for it heading off towards the Thames crossing it near the Dartford Bridge in cloud! We headed over Dartford and then were over more open country thankfully, waving to the golfers on a course below us.

We rounded a turnpoint at Chevening Park before following the M25 south of the North Downs. We had been travelling at about 75km/hour (groundspeed) but now we were being hit by rotor and turbulent air as we were now in the lee of the Downs as the wind blew over them before hitting us. It was very bumpy and we saw one pilot (Simon Harding) land by Clackett Lane Services. We were crabbing side ways along and trying to fly back upwind required full bar. It was rough and we decided to land near Simon and call it a day. We had only flown 34kms but it had been an experience. By the time we got back to the car at Damyns, everyone else had given up and we got home at 6pm - tired but happy after a fun weekend. Only about 7 pilots had taken off that day - 2 reached goal at Guildford in rough conditions. For me, it was not fun and certainly not worth the risk.

We plan to attempt the flight again soon... in better weather!

Thank you to Michel Carnet who organised the whole event and to all the volunteers.

Fowey

Just back from holiday and the weather was perfect for flying. Sadly I put my back out and spent most of the holiday on my back, in pain, unable to even pick up my 15 month old son Sebastian! It was sad! We were staying in a beautiful cottage just 2 miles from Fowey on the south coast. My brother Ben came down and flew along the coast a few times trying to tell me it was boring so I wouldn't feel too green with envy! He lied! Check his blog for photos if you want to be green too! (http://benclowes.blogspot.com/2009/04/coastal-flying-in-cornwall.html)

The most exciting news is that we are gonna join the paramotor rally where pilots are flying around London over 2 days. If you want to join us please check out this link. The event is open to all competent XC pilots. Ben and I plan to give a lecture afterwards in aid of St Luke's Cancer Center, showing film and photos from the flight. Venue and date TBC.

The start and finish points will be Homestead Farm, a small campsite near Guildford. One of the aims of the circumnavigation is to raise money for St Luke's Cancer Centre, just round the corner from the campsite.

The confirmed 264km route (which was finalised on 14th April) will be flown clockwise, with an overnight stay at Damyns Hall aerodrome where there will be an evening BBQ and full English breakfast.

There is no entry fee for the rally, but both Homestead Farm and Damyns Hall aerodrome will charge small fees for the use of their facilities.

Details can be seen at the following link...
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=d7v5wp7_8cb2f4ccd&pageview=1&hgd=1&hl=en

Michel Carnet is organising the event.

Let's hope for sunshine...

Cornwall

The good news is that I collected my Bailey 175cc paramotor on Monday. It is fixed. One of the bearings had broken resulting in quite a bit of damage. This was what caused the vibrations at 1,500ft a few weeks back. Basically, the engine had to be rebuilt and the crankshaft was also replaced for a larger and stronger one (all under the guarantee) - Delighted with the service. These machines are continually undergoing development and improvements are being discovered all the time.

The winds are howling and it is raining but I am hoping to fly the Cornish cliffs next week so I shall keep you posted with some photos if flyable...

Remember that the clocks go forward this weekend so we can spend even more time outside! Roll on the summer...

Big Fat Repack

On Sunday 22nd March I drove to Reading with Ben to learn how to repack our reserve parachutes at the Annual Thames Valley Club 'Big Fat Repack'. I was very impressed with the organisation and we both learnt a huge amount. The day started with a lecture which showed us not only the basics of repacking a reserve but also how important they are and that they are not just ballast we tend to carry around in our harnesses. They do save lives and we, as pilots, need to know how they work. If in doubt, throw it...

A zip line had been set up across the sports hall. We clipped in at the top and then pushed off. My reserve is mounted at the top of my harness and the handle is on my right shoulder. I threw it and by the time I had reached the bottom, there it was, billowing out reassuringly behind me. I was amazed to see how quickly they do open when packed properly. It gave me a lot of confidence. Ben followed down after me and he too had no problems.

We then set about repacking them in pairs. The manuals helped and it took about half an hour for each reserve - bearing in mind, this was our first time and our attention to detail was great as we did not want to get it wrong! We had some questions and there was someone on hand to help us which was great.

After lunch, we drove to Liddington (NW site) just off the M4 and had an hour of soaring in the late afternoon in quite strong winds. The end to a perfect and very useful day. I would encourage anyone who has not been to go next year. I shall be packing my reserve next time and I will consider attending the Big Fat Repack again...

Thank you to all involved.

mini out and return

Tuesday, 17th March. Light easterlies and blue skies. It was perfect. I got to the site at Mercury at 11am. There were about 9 other paragliders and a couple of hangies there. The wind was about 10-12mph and several pilots were not launching but I felt it was all right. Lovely ridge soaring to begin with - the aero modellers were also out on the far end of the ridge. The thermals started kicking in around 12.30pm and I caught one up to 2000ft above the ridge and decided to see if I could reach Whitewool (about 3kms away) where I could see about 4 paragliders soaring. There was lift everywhere and I had plenty of height. There was not much room to go any further due to airspace restrictions from the solent airspace, so I headed back to Mercury on full bar. On my Gradient Aspen 2, I made it with plenty of height to spare. It was great. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the lift chasing the birds. It was a wonderful way to spend a Tuesday afternoon!

Bring on the summer...

Emergency landing

Last Saturday saw another spring day and we were staying at our friends who have a farm near Andover in Hampshire. It was the perfect place with plenty of space to take off from (so I slipped the old 4-stroke machine in the car together with all the baby gear, cots, bags, food and push chair! Thankfully, Diana, my wife, is used to this game!)

That afternoon I took off in light winds and flew around the farm taking pictures before flying on towards Ibthorpe where they live in a thatched cottage. I was circling above this little village, taking more photos, when the engine started vibrating violently, all power and revs were lost and I was losing height! I was worried that part of the propellor had come off causing it to become unbalanced? So I cut the engine at 1500ft and drifted down to land conveniently by the cottage but unconveniently 6km from my car!

I studied the engine and nothing was visibly wrong. I am still not sure what the problem was as I still have to get it repaired but I suspect that it could be the bearings inside? I'll keep you posted. A great shame as it was a perfect evening with a red skies and silky smooth air...

Flying in wave

Saturday 21st February was a beautiful day. I was down in Hampshire and the wind was from the west. I had been having some problems with starting my paramotor and the last few attempts to fly were thwarted by flat batteries and the machine just not starting. It turned out to be the ignition gap that needed adjusting and now, I am delighted to say that it starts immediately... everytime... and Saturday was no exception.

The wind was 6 or 7mph from the west. A reverse take-off and I was airborne in a few steps. I took some photos of the farm then flew on to take some more photos of a friends house and on towards Butser Hill on the south downs where the paragliders were trying to fly. The air was very bumpy and as I was flying on my own I had plugged my headphones into my vario so I could hear the lift (and sink!). I found that there were large localised areas of big lift and I was going up fast on idle. I then flew towards Droxford and flew into an area of huge sink - so much sink in fact that I thought I would have to land. I flew back towards the farm and managed to escape the sink before hitting another area of lift and once again, I was rocketing upwards on idle (flying in a straight line!). I later discovered this to be wave conditions. Michel Carnet had been flying down in Brighton the same day and had experienced exactly the same conditions. A first time for me. I was only up for an hour and a half but what a beautiful day...

Hope you were all having some fun outside somewhere...

Skiing to work in London!

Last night I was up at 4am... I looked out of the window and there was a deep blanket of snow outside with large flakes falling! I have not seen this much snow since I was about 10 years old when we really did have cold winters! Gosh, that makes me sound old!

So... I dusted off my mountaineering skis, found an old set of skins and skied to work! It was quite funny to see the reaction of people! I thought that I would get snow balls thrown at me and that people would think what an idiot, but not at all; everyone was in a jolly mood and most said "hello" or "what a good idea" or "can I take your photo?" etc. etc... Makes a change from London town in general!

The highlight was skiing down Balham High Street, when the Halal butchers gave me a big cheer! I was surprised, as I have to say, I did feel a bit of an idiot and a little self conscious, at first... by the end I was used to the funny looks I was getting and was longing for some steep powder! No such luck in down town Balham!

But it was fun for a Monday morning! Battersea to Balham on skis... (Mostly flat except for Balham hill, which is sadly, only a 'green' run!) Di, Sebastian and Uncle Ben came up onto the Common to take some photos... Thank you Uncle Ben for the photos!

Winter Flying (9th January)

Ben and I drove down through the mist from London to Hampshire. I doubted that we would be able to fly at all - the forecast had promised sun but here we were in thick mist in the car! We passed the South Downs by Butser Hill and the skies cleared in front of us... Great we thought, we may still be able to fly...

We quickly got set up in the field near Denmead. My motor started but Ben's was flat due to the cold possibly? I went up for a quick fly and then landed as it is always more fun flying together. I flicked over the propellor by hand and it sparked into life.... Yeeeehaaaaaaaaaa... We were in business and before long we were airbourne looking down on the clouds and the wintry land below us...

Happy New Year

The New Year kicked off well with high pressure drifting down from Scotland giving us a few days of cold, clear and crisp weather with some sunshine. I managed to fly on New Year's Day and on the following day at Mercury in Hampshire, as the winds were from the East. What a wonderful way to see the New Year in!

Now back at work and this morning, we woke to snow in the streets and then intermittent snow all day with more forecast this week.

Little Sebastian (our son) is one year old on Friday and he started walking just before Christmas!

Let's hope for a happy 2009 and hope you are getting out and about wherever you are...

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!