a paragliding blog

Rushup: to those left on the ground

“Had enough?” I’d just landed next to family and friends after a good couple of hours soaring, kiting and ground-skimming in the light lift. Enough? This was my first flight since last November! How can I possibly have had enough?

But their faces told me it was time to go. After all, it’s not fair watching someone else having so much fun. “OK”, I said through gritted teeth, “I’ll just fly down to the car”. At this point, Leo burst into tears at the thought of me vanishing back into the sky for an unreasonably long period of time. Sorry guys, but it just had to be done.

Rushup 10th Feb 2008.jpg

¶ Posted 10 February 2008 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Waypoints for XC paragliding in the North of England

The British Gliding Association maintains a list of waypoints for use in cross-country navigation and task setting.

I wanted a version for paragliding from the sites I fly from, so here’s my own informal list:

AB_Waypoints v1.kml

This is the Google Earth version, for your browsing pleasure.

AB_Waypoints v1.cup

This is the version in SeeYou format for upload to your flight instrument. If you don’t have SeeYou, you can open the file in GPS Dump.

AB_Waypoints v1.pdf

This is a printable version of the complete list, to pore over in conjunction with an aeronautical chart.

Last revison: 4/1/08

Notes

The list consists of 283 waypoints for cross-country flights from sites in the North of England. The best coverage is of the Peak District, with both local points and points for downwind distances in a NNE or NW wind direction.
The waypoints are sourced from the BGA waypoints, from tracklogs available online on the National XC league and Leonardo, and from my own and other pilots’ experience.
At present, there is minimal coverage of the Lake District, Wales and the Long Mynd.
The usual disclaimers apply–use your common sense and don’t blame me for screw-ups. Always check your route for controlled airspace on a current airmap. And before flying unfamiliar sites, check with the local club.
Comments and contributions from other pilots most welcome! Any feedback will be used to improve the list.

¶ Posted 04 January 2008 § tips ‡ Comments (0) °

XC paragliding from the Peak District: how to fly further

The Peak District is an area of hills in central England. Flying XC from the Peaks is a usually a downwind run towards flatlands in the East and South. Typical British conditions are weak thermals, low cloudbases, and moderate winds.

To make long flights in these conditions, the crux is to arrive in the flatlands outside the Peaks with enough height to find a thermal to get you back up to cloudbase. Once in the flatlands, staying up is easier. The challenge becomes navigating the airspace.

On November 18, the Derbyshire Soaring Club held an XC workshop aimed at helping pilots make that critical transition beyond the first 20-30km. This post summarizes the main points.

¶ Posted 21 November 2007 § tips ‡ Comments (1) °

My paragliding season 2007: a review

2007: back in the air after a virtual break of 5 years (even longer since I flew in the UK). So many new experiences: glider, sites, family, friends old and new.

Total number of days flown = 23

Every flyable weekend and the odd flight after work.

Total hours flown = 25

I thought more, but I did actually keep a logbook this year, and 25 hours is all I can muster.

Number of XC flights = 4, total distance = 110 km

3 weekends and 1 after work, all from the Peaks.

Longest XC = 35 km

From Bradwell on 15 April. All I did was follow a guy on a hang-glider as he looked like he had a better idea where he was going than I did.

Best height gain = 4086 ft

In convergence at Souther Fell in the Lakes on 14 April. Fantastic views over Skiddaw. This was the second time I’ve flown at Souther, and the same thing happened the time before.

Flights outside the UK = 1

One short flight from Little Gap, Pennsylvania while visiting in-laws in New Jersey. By the time we’d driven and hiked 5 hours to find the place, it was 5 PM and had switched off. Disappointed not to have flown more in the USA. Conditions were good on a few of my days there, but there just weren’t enough accessible sites and the timing of other commitments didn’t work out.

Number of new sites flown = 7

Most impressive: Moel Berfedd in Snowdonia for the scenery, and Great Whernside in the Dales for working on a day when it didn’t seem possible.

Most memorable moment

The monster thermal I hit off Mam Tor (NW) at 4:30 PM after a long day at work.

¶ Posted 11 November 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Great Whernside: Goodbye thermals, hello wave

With winter around the corner and high pressure centered over central England today, I didn’t expect the thermals or the wind to be strong enough to soar. Still, I decided to head up the Dales—I’d not flown there since my hang-gliding days on Wether Fell and I thought a change of scenery would be refreshing. Ultimately, I had a pleasant afternoon messing in ridge lift at a site new to me, before wave kicked in and gave me a silky smooth ride up to 3500ft AMSL. What a privilege.

Above the clouds on G Whernside

071104g Whernside Tracklog

More photos and the tracklog on Leonardo

Hamish’s write-up on the fly@speckout blog

The chart

12PM analysis synoptic chart from Hirlam

¶ Posted 04 November 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments (2) °

Nont Sarahs: a worthwhile detour

Nonts is actually the site closest to our home, but it’d never taken my fancy until today. It’s more a gash in the landscape than a hill, and XC flights are limited by Manchester TMA airspace, which is only about 2000 ft above take-off.

And that ceiling did end up limiting my flight. The thermals were unbelievable for the end of October—smooth 2 m/s climbs threatened to take me to all the way to base at about 4 grand and I had to use big ears and speed bar to avoid infringing the airspace.

I landed with a big grin on my face and soon jumped back in the car to continue our journey across the Pennines to visit friends in Chester.

¶ Posted 20 October 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Eyam: A casual affair

In contrast to Wednesday’s flight, today was a casual affair. Having such a recent XC under my belt had alleviated my sense of desperation to get up and away. Unlike Wednesday, I left the ridge high, I stayed high, and I knew where I was going.

Just after take-off, I took a thermal to about a grand, before I headed back to launch in search of company. By then, my old mate Danny had launched on his hang-glider and was showing me the best place to catch a climb out of Eyam. We took a nice, 2-3m/s thermal almost to base at about 5 grand. Gliding towards Stanage, I was glad not to have to scratch up there—I maintained at 2-3 grand before getting to base again to the north of Sheffield. From there, Danny and I parted company; he sped off to the South and I guessed he was on his way home.

Alone now, I sat back and enjoyed the views of Sheffield, a city where I spent my student days. Being more familiar with the territory than with the White Peak, I didn’t need to fumble for my map in my harness pocket. Visibility was good, and it was easy to orientate myself with the windfarm near Penistone, Emley Moor mast and Ferrybridge power station at the M62/A1 junction. Ferrybridge marks the corner of Leeds-Bradford airspace, so my track for maximum distance was clear and the sky looked inviting.

In the end, I opted to try to work my way up the M1 towards home, with the intention of landing just before the airspace. But by the time I’d tracked cross-wind to the M1, I’d run out of height. I landed right at Junction 37 at a quarter to five.

Barnsley from 5 grand

The responsible, family-man in me said that this was the best thing to have done, since YooA was retrieving me for the first time. She doesn’t drive often, and I didn’t want her having a nightmare trying to find me in a field in some place like Ackworth, Fitzwilliam or South Hiendly. My intuition turned out to be correct, as she had enough trouble finding the M1 from Sheffield centre. The timing proved just right for a celebratory curry at Sammy’s back in Heckmondwike.

A grand day.

¶ Posted 11 August 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Mam Tor NW: 30K to the bomb-out field

Wednesday 8th August, 4:30 PM. I’m on Mam Tor (NW) for an after work flight. I’m the first here (from Bradwell) and it’s smack on. Launch…and shit, I’m going into orbit. Enter a state of shock. Frozen, I let myself drift out of the monster thermal and into some ratty air. Glider gets a hammering; I probably over-react and make it even worse. For a moment, I’m fighting with the wing and the air. I want to get down, now.

Engage brain. Even if I could get down, I wouldn’t try to top land NW Mam in this kind of air, and who knows what evil rotors lie waiting in the valley? So I grit my teeth and turn back for the monster thermal.

But I can’t find a core and I’m in broken lift. I’m now over the back, too low for comfort. I eke out a bit more height, and then turn and run to try to clear the rotor.

When I don’t get the half-expected trashing, I look down for possible landing fields. Hell, I don’t want to walk this far back to the car after a bomb-out. I’m not going down, so I concentrate on the lift, and edge my way towards another glider way above me who is climbing out smartly from Lords’ Seat.

Eventually, we both end up under a big cloud. I’m at about 4,500ft and starting to get cold. Don’t fancy freezing at base, so I push on under the cloud, and I lose the other glider above and behind me. Relaxed at last, I start snapping pics.

Perhaps I’m enjoying the view too much, because I’m soon back down to around take-off height. I look around for a road to land near, but the main road is some distance away, so I have to work scrappy lift which might drift me there. After about 20 minutes of zeros, I get a solid ride back up to 4 or 5 grand. Sod the main road, I’ll go for the next one.

Anyway, where am I? Mam Tor has disappeared into the distance. My map is stuffed in the back of my harness. Despite contorting my body to the extent I was worried I might fall out of my harness backwards, I couldn’t reach it. From memory, I know that there’s airspace above me, FL45 or FL55. I’m not certain on the position of the boundary between the two, so I don’t go as high as I could. I snap a few more pics with the hope of checking where I was later on Google Earth (left my GPS at home). I notice the big reservoir to my left, which at least I know marks the start of East Midlands airspace, but don’t remember the height. And is that drone the sound of a plane? Where? Paranoia. Have to trust myself. I don’t know exactly where I am, but I know I’m in the clear for a few more miles until I get out of the Peaks.

Carsington Water

Just to stay on the safe side, I track to the East towards a nice looking cloud. Damn, it decays before I get there and then I’m scratching again. Before I know it, I’m approaching a landing field in a village (Grindon). A thermal is kicking off as I come in on final approach, but I’m too low. I’m down. 6PM. At least I didn’t bomb out. I’m satisfied, but…where is the main road? I’m late for dinner and I have to work early tomorrow.

I hike 3 miles to the Ashbourne-Leek road. Oops. Not too many cars. After an hour, I get a lift to Leek. With the sun going down, and few signs of public transport, I decide I’ll have to pester my friend Sam for a retrieve (thanks, Sam!). While waiting, I treat myself to a Chinese meal in honour of my first XC from Mam Tor (NW). Bliss.

Landing at Grindon

¶ Posted 08 August 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Moel Berfedd: Buzzed by the buzzard

“Daddy Biiirrrrd”, yelled Leo as I came into land. My little lad had been watching me fly with only a buzzard for company for the last 25 minutes. Perhaps he’d thought that the buzzard was the baby bird, and that we’d just had a wonderful time playing together in the smooth air.

I wished the relationship between the buzzard and myself had been as cosy as that. In fact, the buzzard had spent the entire flight trying to intimidate me.

I’d kept approaching the buzzard’s rocky home, desperately trying to gain height. There was reasonable lift over at her place, in contrast to directly in front of take-off. But every time I flew towards her territory, she gave a blood-curdling cry. Then, if I still didn’t turn away (into the weaker lift!) she would take-off and buzz me. I started to think about what her hooked beak and talons might do to either myself or my glider, and eventually decided to wind her up no further. After all, it was her mountain and I was clearly an unwanted guest. The weather seemed to concur with my thoughts—I felt drizzle in the air and went down to land before my glider got wet.

As I packed away, I felt elated to have had the chance to fly in such a wild and beautiful place. I’d love to come back on a better day and fly the Snowdon horseshoe. I can hardly imagine what a buzz that could be.

The Flight

07 06 10 Moel Berfedd

I forgot my camera, so I made this Google Earth screen grab.

¶ Posted 10 June 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °

Rushup: thermals return

The weather in May sucked so bad that I should have felt like a lucky man when the thermals finally returned to the UK today.

But when I read Will Gadd’s post about his day’s flying at Golden in the Rocky Mountains, I couldn’t help feeling bitter. Now that is one lucky man.

07 07 03 Rushup Flight on Leonardo

¶ Posted 03 June 2007 § my flights ‡ Comments Off °