a paragliding blog

2008: my summer of (para-)love

Andrew Beevers — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:01:06 +0000

Autumn leaves are falling and I’ve got the blues. Flying-wise, 2008 was my best summer of the past 17. I achieved my long-term goal of 50 miles with a 100K flight. The success was due to my work shift finishing at lunchtime on a significant proportion of the few good XC days. (more…)

Nonts and Hawkswick: summer should have been like this

Andrew Beevers — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:48:33 +0000

August 2008 was the dullest since 1929. An improvement finally came in the second half of September. I enjoyed the dog ends of the summer thermals at Nont Sarahs on Thursday 18th and at Hawkswick on Saturday 20th.

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Glide ratio: how much does it matter?

Andrew Beevers — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:02:17 +0000

Stepping up to a higher performance glider or switching to a race harness could earn you a better glide ratio by 0.5 point. But what does this actually mean in terms of flying cross-country in the UK? I decided to investigate the theoretical answer with a few “back of the envelope” calculations. And I discovered that—on the average glide in the UK—a 0.5 pt inferior glide ratio will cost you only one circle in the next thermal.

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Curbar: farewell Finningley

Andrew Beevers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:52:29 +0000

The best (and the most frustrating) thing about flying XC in the UK is the constant challenge of the rapidly changing weather. On Saturday 23 August, a transient ridge of high pressure presented a narrow window of opportunity between weather systems. With bad air downwind to the east and a front approaching rapidly from the west, I was delighted to get another 50K out of the day.

Photo of me thanks to Mike Miller

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Eyam: 54 Km for bronze

Andrew Beevers — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:26:05 +0000

After this latest flight, I felt like I’d just won a bronze at the Olympics. Chuffed to have gotten something out of the day, but a tad disappointed not to have pushed a bit further.

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Czech Republic, 12-25 July 08

Andrew Beevers — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:04:02 +0000

The Czech Republic might not the first place that you’d associate with the term “paragliding mecca”. But the facts are: 275 Km flown this May, 309Km over in Poland and some world-class manufacturers. And the interest extends beyond paragliding: Czech has produced writers like Kundera and Kafka, and Leo’s 3 year old Czech “girlfriend” from the UK was also on holiday there. We’d never been before, so we just had to take a look.

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Eyam: My first ton

Andrew Beevers — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:50:15 +0000

I saw Roger Federer on the TV the other day, explaining what it felt like to win his first Grand Slam. “Overwhelming relief. It doesn’t matter what else you do in your life, you’ve won a Slam”. Those words echoed my sentiments after I achieved my first 100 Km flight on a paraglider in the UK. Granted that 100K on a paraglider is a piddling feat compared to a tennis Grand Slam, but it’s all relative. Just as many tennis players never win a Slam, so many pilots never fly 100K.

After nearly 20 years of trying, I finally got to the right hill on the right day at the right time and in the right frame of mind. On Friday 4th July 2008, I took off from Eyam Edge in Derbyshire shortly after 1pm and flew a distance of 108.5 Km via a turnpoint to land 4 1/2 hours later near Ripon, North Yorkshire, 98.8 Km away from take-off (OK, 1.2K short of an “old-fashioned” ton, but I’m no pedant).

Crossing the M1

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Hawkswick: just chillin’

Andrew Beevers — Sat, 03 May 2008 06:44:38 +0000

I decided to be adventurous and try a site I’d not previously flown, so off I went to Hawkswick in the Yorkshire Dales.

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Bradwell: back to ‘base

Andrew Beevers — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:14:05 +0000

Finally, the first afternoon this season that you could term “nice”—proper cumulus clouds to over 5 grand.

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Mam Tor: First February Thermals

Andrew Beevers — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Today was too cold for Yoo A and Leo, so I left them at home and enjoyed a guilt-free 3 hours in smooth 2-3 m/s thermals. The thermals maxed-out at about 2500ft—so we couldn’t go far—but it was very pleasant nonetheless. Roll on Spring!

Tracklog

Photos of the day on the DSC forum