28 / 06 / 2009 :: Golden Ball
| Name | :: | Bob Johnston |
| :: | _at_ | |
| Date | :: | 28 / 06 / 2009 |
| Direction | :: | South |
| Comments | :: | I thought a xc was a sure thing given how hot the day was going to get but on getting closer to the hill top cover rolled in and never cleared all day, so although a hot day next to no sun on the ground and little wind. got about a hour in including one climb out to 1000 above but didn't leave with it as it was weak and felt for sure I would have ended up 5k behind the hill facing a sweaty walk back! still it was flying and I got to try a demo glider out, UP Kantega XC seems very nice so far:-) |
| Pictures | :: | http://www.tvhgc.co.uk/photo_gallery/ |
| XC League | :: | TVHGC :: National |
Combe 21 June
Replying to Al's post, at last it was brilliant to see a good Combe flying day, although in my first BCC I was disappointed not to get away. I'm not sure anyone got away over the back which made the hill very busy indeed; you really needed 360 degree vision to stay safe! There were thermals all over the place but as it was lightish breeze it was sometimes hard to stay up and lots were landing then taking off again. Yes, it did pick up later on and got a bit stronger in the evening, with fliers airborne until very late. The last two to fly were Cloudbase CP students who were thrilled to get a couple of soaring flights each and some top landings, having watched all day to learn what life's like in the "real world" of a busy slope.
Mrs Moose
Combe 22 June
I was in Swindon and suddenly thought it looked promising so I hurtled over to Combe about 6 with Lee Bligh and just the two of us flew until 8.30pm. It was still lightly thermic and soarable with beautiful sunset views, well worth the effort!
Mrs Moose
Malverns 23rd June
orecast looked promising and we headed up enthusiastically with Lee Bligh, Chris Williams, Mike Long, Ian Pepper and new CP student David Ebbs (to watch us, not to fly), but on the way there were some formidable building clouds and sure enough, it was easterly but very strong and rough looking so we did the traditional parawaiting-thing all afternoon. First highlight was an RAF Tornado coming in fast and low from the east and skimming over our heads on a wingtip.
A few intrepids flew and 3 apparently got to Abergavenny, then about 7pm it eased a fraction and there was a mass take off. Cloudbase's CFI, Lee, was flying a delightful lady on the tandem who had learning difficulties. She had come all the way from Somerset with her father and waited patiently all day so it was great to see her fly off at last to the Beacon at 1000ft ato, out front to the showground and then land with the biggest smile you've ever seen. We left with Mike and Peps still in outer space somewhere. All in all, a lovely day with a classic Malverns evening to end it.
A few intrepids flew and 3 apparently got to Abergavenny, then about 7pm it eased a fraction and there was a mass take off. Cloudbase's CFI, Lee, was flying a delightful lady on the tandem who had learning difficulties. She had come all the way from Somerset with her father and waited patiently all day so it was great to see her fly off at last to the Beacon at 1000ft ato, out front to the showground and then land with the biggest smile you've ever seen. We left with Mike and Peps still in outer space somewhere. All in all, a lovely day with a classic Malverns evening to end it.
Mrs Moose
21st June - Combe Gibbet
BCC at Combe on Sunday, and the hill was thronged with eager pilots from across the South of England. Conditions were nicely soarable allowing plenty of separation for the most part, though as the morning went on the sky filled in and the lift dropped off a bit. Max height gained was about 1500' ato.
Some of the best thermals were right along the ridge to the west, and some intrepid pilots made it beyond Rivar Hill gliding club - some even made it back! Looking back to launch was quite an impressive sight, with about 40 gliders in the air at times.
The wind gradually dropped off, a few waves of drizzle came through and most pilots landed about 2pm. I left after this - did things improve again later on?
Al Wilson
Scratchy Sunday afternoon at Liddington
After a night at Stonehenge, waiting for the sun to fail to appear, it was a late start for me, arriving at Liddington at 4ish where 4 or 5 wings were scratching about rather unconvincingly. I spoke to Fi, who was at Combe Gibbet with the Cloudbase team demoing the new Team 5 wings, but her report of crowds, collisions and not much lift persuaded me to join the scratchers.
Maybe I need to change my deodorant or something, but as soon as I got to the top of the hill, all but one of the scratchers decided to fly to the bottom and head off home. Andrew and I then enjoyed what he later described as the best conditions of the day; fairly smooth and enough depth to the lift to allow a foray out as far as the road, but only strong enough to get about 50 feet above take-off and no thermic activity. 40 minutes later the wind backed and slackened, effectively stopping play. The ever-keen Mike Long appeared to replace Andrew, but the wind never recovered and after a few sinky attempts we flew to the bottom..
Chris Williams
Chris Williams
Gin Bobcat on Nat Y Moel
Here's Dan having some fun.
Combe 24 June Mini triangle
I arrived on the hill with an hour's grace as had to get home for lunch and was running a little short of credits as had had a good flight on Saturday, my plan was to use the light winds to try to fly home to Kintbury.
Some of the usual suspects were about and there was a generally jovial mood on the hill. I got myself ready pretty quickly and almost as soon as I was ready a nice cycle came through.
I took off and saw a Nova to my right climbing well while all those who'd turned left were sinking out. I followed and the 2 of us climbed together towards base although the Nova left he lift at around 800m, I stuck with it and slowly got to around 1300m I then headed off on glide towards Kintbury, slowing down to make the most of any lift that I hit along the way.
I then took off a glove turned, got my mobile out to tell Leanda that I would be flying over shortly, only to bimble into a thermal that peaked at just over 5m/s as I was trying to dial with one glove resting on my flightdeck, I then had a comedy ride back to base holding onto my phone in my gloveless hand, hanging on to the brake handle desperately trying not to drop it.
As soon as I went on glide I quickly stuffed my phone back in its pocket and quickly put my glove back on my hand, headed off towards Shalbourne, but not daring to risk the wrath of my wife headed back to the hill landing 45 minutes after I took off.
Richard Barber
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/215994
Some of the usual suspects were about and there was a generally jovial mood on the hill. I got myself ready pretty quickly and almost as soon as I was ready a nice cycle came through.
I took off and saw a Nova to my right climbing well while all those who'd turned left were sinking out. I followed and the 2 of us climbed together towards base although the Nova left he lift at around 800m, I stuck with it and slowly got to around 1300m I then headed off on glide towards Kintbury, slowing down to make the most of any lift that I hit along the way.
I then took off a glove turned, got my mobile out to tell Leanda that I would be flying over shortly, only to bimble into a thermal that peaked at just over 5m/s as I was trying to dial with one glove resting on my flightdeck, I then had a comedy ride back to base holding onto my phone in my gloveless hand, hanging on to the brake handle desperately trying not to drop it.
As soon as I went on glide I quickly stuffed my phone back in its pocket and quickly put my glove back on my hand, headed off towards Shalbourne, but not daring to risk the wrath of my wife headed back to the hill landing 45 minutes after I took off.
Richard Barber
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/215994
14th June - HG aerial tour of the TVHGC sites, starting from aerotow at Clench common.
First aerotow of the season from Clench Common. All the usual suspects were out, for what looked to be a great day. Provisional plan was to fly to Sparsholt (nr Wantage), then Newbury and back. I got the third tow of the day and released at 1500ft into a weak climb, with Justin and Craig overhead. Justin went exploring and got nothing, while Craig and I stayed with it to close to base. Leaving Justin climbing from low down, we headed north over Malborough where Craig beat me to the next thermal and headed on towards Aldbourne. I tracked north to near Liddington then over Sugar before crossing the M4. Justin caught up and took a wider track over Liddington. We met up again briefly at the Sparsholt turnpoint and turned south again. With a reasonable westerly wind I decided not to go all the way to Newbury, and instead headed east of Kintbury, then on to Combe to pick up what looked to be a good cloud street. Found lots of PG's doing no flying on Combe and no lift under the cloud, so pushed west along the ridge. After taking a couple of weak climbs I eventually squeezed round the north end of Shalbourne gliding club and got a climb from ridge height on Ham hill. From base I glided into wind across the valley to Savernake where I topped up to get back to Clench and arrived with 3500ft. The clouds up the Pusey valley looked inviting, so I pushed on upwind and got the best height of the day at just under 6000ft. I called it a day once I got level with Rybury, and scooted back downwind past the white horse and Golden Ball. A few turns in a thermal east of Golden Ball gave me enough height to get back to Clench safely. The last 4 km were a steady 4 - 500ft/min sink. FAI triangle distance 81.3km.
Justin landed near Shalbourne, having pushed a bit too far south east. Craig was already back at Clench having had a good flight, but struggling low down for a long time north of Hungerford. Others had a hard time getting away due to weak conditions low down.
Malcolm Beard
13th June Milk Hill to Kettering (135km) HG
Arrived about 11.00am to find no-one flying, but a few PG's sat around. One other HG there (Craig). By the time we had rigged the wind had dropped and PG's were having a few short flights. Initially the cycles were very short lived and both mine and Craig's first flights were brief and ended with landings in front of the fence.
By about 1.30 the cycles were starting to last a few minutes longer and after getting bored waiting I took off when I saw two PG's starting to climb. Craig followed a few minutes later and we climbed back over the top car park until the thermal broke up. Craig glided forward to get onto the front face, but had to land and walk the last bit. I pushed a little way along the south face and hooked a nice 500ft/min climb to get away. Cloud base was around 5000ft as I crossed the M4, and it was relatively easy to Wantage, but got low at Grove. After a bit of scrabbling got back up to near base and followed a line of cloud to my goal on the outskirts of Oxford. I couldn't bring myself to burn off 3500ft to land and get the guaranteed retrieve, so pushed on North.
OD around Bicester slowed progress, but got pretty good air through the gloom and got back into sunshine east of Silverstone. More cloud at Northampton and a long glide without much lift left me 400ft off the deck and unzipped for landing, but got a low save and climbed out over Pitsford reservoir. eventually landed just past the A14 NW of Kettering.
By about 1.30 the cycles were starting to last a few minutes longer and after getting bored waiting I took off when I saw two PG's starting to climb. Craig followed a few minutes later and we climbed back over the top car park until the thermal broke up. Craig glided forward to get onto the front face, but had to land and walk the last bit. I pushed a little way along the south face and hooked a nice 500ft/min climb to get away. Cloud base was around 5000ft as I crossed the M4, and it was relatively easy to Wantage, but got low at Grove. After a bit of scrabbling got back up to near base and followed a line of cloud to my goal on the outskirts of Oxford. I couldn't bring myself to burn off 3500ft to land and get the guaranteed retrieve, so pushed on North.
OD around Bicester slowed progress, but got pretty good air through the gloom and got back into sunshine east of Silverstone. More cloud at Northampton and a long glide without much lift left me 400ft off the deck and unzipped for landing, but got a low save and climbed out over Pitsford reservoir. eventually landed just past the A14 NW of Kettering.
Craig got away from the front face to fly home to Shrivenham.
Malcolm Beard
2009-06-13 Nant Y Moel
Pretty wizzo day. Lots of uppness, interesting air. A bit tiring with all the active piloting required to keep me wing over my head! Flew and flew, chatted a lot did a bit of coaching. Weird shaped thermals with a peculiar drift had me scratching my head trying to work it out! Even had a tip fold and my glider didn't fall to bits! Hoorah! Good time was had! Loads of vid to edit so will post it when it's done!
Reech
Reech
Milk Hill 13 June SW Thermic XC to Oxford -updated with photos from Jason
I was going to head up to the bpcup, but the weather wasn't looking too promising, so decided to fly from Milk Hill, intially the wind was a little too far off to the south for Milk Hill itself, but Wallace, myself and Ken all boated about and got some climbs, but definetely weren't getting away.
I bit the bullet and tried to fly round to milk hill white horse and got drilled down before the fence, so had to walk round which sucked!
Got onto the face to find Wallace and Kirsty already there and then the 3 of us took off, I immediately headed off down the southerly face and found myself landing near the bottom of the hill just east of the white horse and so had to struggle back up before taking off again, although i took off into something quite meaningful which was nice.
By this time Kirsty and Wallace were well above and I tried to thermal under them with an Omega 6. Initially we were doing quite well and I thought we were going to get away with it, so kept turning for a while only to drop out of the bottom of the lift and then land about 500m behind the hill. The only bonus was a small leash of deer that were lying in the grass almost exactly where I was going to land.
I then struggled back again and cursed the sky as I could see Wallace boating along at cloudbase. I eventually got back to the correct bit of the hill and had a little bit of banter with Ian Pepper and Mike Long when suddenly everyone took to the air. I scrambled after them and saw 2 wings going for it, I scraped over the back below them (I must learn to leave hills with more height), after a bloodyminded 15 minutes scrapping around in weak and useless lift, I finally found something to get me up towards base, still a long way below Jason Smith who was thermalling irritatingly well above me.
Eventually I got to near base and the 2 of us headed off on a mini glide before topping up to base. Jason out thermalled me again, so much so that on the next glide I opened up my flight deck and emptied the 8ltrs of ballast I was carrying.
Unfortunately, the other glider disappeared off on his own and I think bombed out somewhere near Marlborough.
Jason and I then thermalled together and looked for lift together all the way to Oxford which we may have overflown a little below the 1000ft minimum as we were convinced we'd find a booming thermal, it wasn't to be, so we landed in a field just outside the city centre.
The weather is now looking good for Combe tomorrow, so good luck everyone!
Skirting round the edge of Brize Airspace
I bit the bullet and tried to fly round to milk hill white horse and got drilled down before the fence, so had to walk round which sucked!
Got onto the face to find Wallace and Kirsty already there and then the 3 of us took off, I immediately headed off down the southerly face and found myself landing near the bottom of the hill just east of the white horse and so had to struggle back up before taking off again, although i took off into something quite meaningful which was nice.
By this time Kirsty and Wallace were well above and I tried to thermal under them with an Omega 6. Initially we were doing quite well and I thought we were going to get away with it, so kept turning for a while only to drop out of the bottom of the lift and then land about 500m behind the hill. The only bonus was a small leash of deer that were lying in the grass almost exactly where I was going to land.
I then struggled back again and cursed the sky as I could see Wallace boating along at cloudbase. I eventually got back to the correct bit of the hill and had a little bit of banter with Ian Pepper and Mike Long when suddenly everyone took to the air. I scrambled after them and saw 2 wings going for it, I scraped over the back below them (I must learn to leave hills with more height), after a bloodyminded 15 minutes scrapping around in weak and useless lift, I finally found something to get me up towards base, still a long way below Jason Smith who was thermalling irritatingly well above me.
Eventually I got to near base and the 2 of us headed off on a mini glide before topping up to base. Jason out thermalled me again, so much so that on the next glide I opened up my flight deck and emptied the 8ltrs of ballast I was carrying.
Unfortunately, the other glider disappeared off on his own and I think bombed out somewhere near Marlborough.
Jason and I then thermalled together and looked for lift together all the way to Oxford which we may have overflown a little below the 1000ft minimum as we were convinced we'd find a booming thermal, it wasn't to be, so we landed in a field just outside the city centre.
The weather is now looking good for Combe tomorrow, so good luck everyone!
Epic looking sky
Skirting round the edge of Brize Airspace
Back where I belong, thermalling ahead
At Base at the top of our 3rd thermal
Approaching Oxford
Barbs
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/215259
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/215259
Monks Down NE 18 kmh to blown out
I arrived at Monks at 10am, the wind was a touch off to the east and a little strong, but okay.
I took a little time getting ready as I am not a huge fan of flying on my own, but once ready I popped the wing up and as it felt fairly solid, committed to the air. After climbing up a little it became apparant that the air coming up the ridge was thermic and the true direction was much more off to the east that had been obvious on the ground. This meant that I was potentially in the lee of whitesheet and that if I went for it, i would be tracking straight over Compton Abbas.
After 5 - 10 minutes I landed and packed up. I then met Ian Hobbis and a couple of others who'd decided to have a look, but by this time it was massively blown out and still a bit off to the east.
I got home to Kintbury and met up with a friend who'd seen 3 paragliders flying over Hoe Benham at around 3pm that must have flown from sharpenhoe, the sky looked epic at that time and with the seriously strong winds, they would have had a shot at a 200km flight - I will be watching the league with baited breath!
Richard Barber
Barbs
