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!

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!