5 p.m and what has become the usual after work tour of the Isle of Man began. Wind looked about spot on from Castletown for a nice Snaefell flight. On arrival it looked strong and the landing field had it very south. Binned this and headed to Sartfell. Of course it was off to the west here!! Was heading back down south anyway so kept going to South Barrule, far to Northerly here.
Club News
Slieu Curn
Myself, Carl, Marty, Chris, Ean and Giles flew off Slui Curn last night…..Jamie had been there earlier and was able to stay up but all we manged was extended top to bots. All good practice for the trainees though…there coming on. Eventually the clag came down and stopped a couple of pilots getting there 2nd or 3rd flights done.
Paragliding Weekend
Busy weekend.
The air show forced us to relocate on Saturday down to Cronk Ny Arrry Laa. A spectacular site, rarely flown. Although it seemed too strong in Douglas by the time we got up the top it was very light, rarely touching ten. Took off and stayed up, just. Top landed, had another go, slope landed, playing in the surprisingly strong thermals that occasionally came through. Bill then had a go….and went down. Keith and Si then turned up and watched martin plummet…Keith then had a go and did well, top landing to let Si have a go. Si did very well so things looked like they were improving. The sky over South barrule looked very good so we decided to head there after some scratching about………seemed a shame to leave a soarable ridge, but the sky looked very promising.
I Like The Way You Move
Its been a month since the manxparagliders returned from Annecy. Here is a 3 minute clip of some of the flying there.
Require a Swanky-Pants ADSL connection and Windows Media Player 9
Snaefell 01-08-05
Found myself on Snaifell at around four with no wind and very deep cloud cover- totally dead.
Jamie and Tony then hiked up and a huge blue hole suddenly appeared and the wind got up to 14-16mph, great. Straight up and off into easy lift with lumpy small thermals that only took us to 30m ato. After about 15 minutes it all suddenly died so I top landed with the others slope landing further down. Within 10 minutes there was again no breeze!?
Si and Keith then turned up. We all prepared for a sled ride to the bottom. I took off with a very fast alpine and got terrible sink all the way down. Just as Jamie took off some clouds formed over the gully , he found some lift and was able to extend his flight. Keith then took off and after working through strong sink found a very good climb over the gully under a large stationary cloud that took him up 150m , 80m ato. After playing with this he then headed off down wind to Mullagh Ouir?, where he decked it on top.
Fly-in
After a wet and windy Saturday (only Martin flew off Slui Lewaige) it was good to get out on the Sunday and get a bit done on the ‘fly-in’.
After a cloudy start the sun quickly appeared and along with it the thermals. Swalesey gave it a go at Ballaugh but it was too far off to the west and he went down.
Next off to Slui Curn. Slack winds led to a glide task towards the Total garage. This left myself , Gold and Giles driving retrieve, pacing around in the goal field like expectant fathers. First off Bill……slope landed after a vain attempt to soar. Then Watty went for glide but landed a little short after finding little lift on the way down. Swalesey and Si then took off together and found some lift, easily getting to the garage with Si probably arriving with the most height. They were then followed by Keith who landed a field short.
Flying 27-07-05
Met up with Adrian, Martin and Jamie who had been looking at Slieu Lew at about 1.30pm. The wind seemed very light so Jamie and I had a march up N Barrule. The background wind was about 2 mph from Ramsey but every now and again a nice steady 6-8 mph came through from the east side. We decided to take off on the east side and had a nice 15 mins floating around in abundant, but very week thermals on the rocky face overlooking Slieu Lew. Both landed at about 3 p.m and then Martin, Adrian, Jamie & I headed of to Slieu Roy, although Northerly on Barrule and westerly in Peel the met was still giving east at Ronaldsway.
Paragliding 26-07-05
Myself , Karl, Ean and Tony flew off Snaifell yesterday late afternoon after getting a £4.60 trm ride up!! Meanwhile Jamie and UK pilot Adrian flew off Slui Curn. It was again very light and we all went down. Karl seemed to find the best lift and stayed up for ages…great top to bottom considering its only his 3rd time off there. After we regrouped we hiked back up to the top of Snaifell and were joined by Si, Keith and Watty, quite a group. We all went down again with Keith finding the best lift this time gaining 50 odd metres before succuming to the feild.
Nice evening.
Paragliding 25-07-05
Slack winds last night. Swalesey gave it a go at Ballaugh but ended up going down. He, Tony, Karl, Ian and Giles then gave it a go at Snaifell. It was very light and landings were fast with all the new pilots quite well spread out. Swalesey then gave an excellent display of the constant aspect landing approach, hitting the spot. Nice flying Phil. Lovely evening.
Looking good for tonight.
Fly-in this weekend. I have not seen a forecast but will try and send a mail on Friday with suggestions. We may have trouble with the rally………..
Flying 23 & 24-07-05
Saturday saw Keith, Simon and myself on top of Slieu Roy at about 2pm. Wind was light between 6 and 8 mph and smack on, and by the time we set up Keith was just able to soar and slope landed. This was followed by Si and myself soaring also. We had 2-3 flights each whilst the wind was picking up to 12-14mph. It was terrific practice ridge soaring 5 meters or so above ground and slope landing. By 3.30 or so Goldie and Ian (one of the clubs newest pilots fresh from the course) rocked up and after a discussion of what Ian was going to do (flight plan) and before the wind picked up any more Ian did a superb reverse launch and had a fantastic extended top to bottom landing safely out front where Keith had landed after his 20 minutes or so. Whilst this was happening Si was in the air getting ‘slammed by big thermals’ (his words), but the reality was it quite good in that we all had extended flights with plenty of lift around. Goldie aka ‘the shadow’ was pleased no one went cross country, and he managed to get a close look at the moss on one of the stone walls prior to landing.
Sunday saw Philip, Si and Keith burning up the sky at Slieu Roy. I was inspired by their stories (I was at another BBQ) of big thermals and 45 minute flights so headed out. Philip said plenty of lift out front but found it quite bumpy (direction NE) there- maybe rotor from hills to north east? I had pleasant 10 minute flight (not quite enough to soar) at 8.30 then yomped up again, but by then wind had picked up to 18-20mph and gone further north. Thought it might have been gust front as there were what seemed black clouds and showers out in the sea. Walked down. But good reminder to everyone how quickly things can change even in our little alps!
Martin, Tony and Swales were also out at Slieu Lewaigue….but with no wind at all there!
Tuesday looks good.