FOOTLAUNCH

Firstly, on behalf of the club, I’d like to thank Tim Crow for editing the newsletter for the last 2 years. Hope I can make it to next March Tim! If you have any news, gossip, stories, newsy pictures etc you can contact me at rich@mooncoin.fslife.co.uk or phone me 01684 892415. I fancy including a couple of pictures with each issue. They are only small so I hope no one has any objections.

Thanks. Safe flying.

Richard Sheppard

CLUB STUFF

Next club meeting; on Wed 13^th April at 8:00pm in The Plume.

HURRY HURRY!!!!
SAFETY MATTERS
 

SAFETY OFFICER'S BIT (by Tim Crow)
Sunday 13th March and the first decent W'ly forecast of the year meant busy
sites all over the country. Tragically, as many of you know, there was a
fatal accident involving a low-airtime hang glider pilot at the Mynd, as
well as an experienced PG pilot getting dumped in also at the Mynd, plus a
mid-air at the Dyke. We're all desperate to fly, but the best decision can
be to stay on the ground if it's busy/rough/strong or otherwise on the limit
of your comfort zone. It's spring, thermals are booming, that can mean
crowds and mega-turbulence!!  Watch out when flying post-cold frontal
conditions, especially if you're low-airtime!! It will be rough!

Airworthiness advisory at: http://www.dhv.de/DHVonlineDB/source/technicdatareportnotes.php?lang=EN&templatesetid=-1&sublang=EN&noteid=129

Paraglider emergency parachute RS 2 DHV GS-02-0032-91

On a rescue parachute inner container of the type RS 2 while releasing the rescue chute by applying usual force on the handle, the loop where the release handle is fixed was ripped of. The reason for this rupture was the perforation of the inner container from the seam of the release handle attachment loop. In the past similar problems occurred several times already with inner containers of the type RS 2. The affected containers are the ones which have no reinforcement patch on the back side of the seam.

In agreement with Firebird International AG, the DHV decided on the following safety measures as a precaution:

The inner container for all emergency equipment of the type RS 2 must be rechecked. Inner containers without reinforcement patch on the inside of the container have to be exchanged.

This airworthiness instruction comes into force when it is published in the News for Paragliders and Hang Gliders (NfGH). The precautionary safety measure must be carried out before the equipment is flown again.

The exchange will be carried out by the company Firebird International AG, Faltschen, 3713 Reichenbach, Switzerland . Gmund, 09.03.05 Klaus Tänzler Managing Director

Airworthiness advisory at: http://www.dhv.de/DHVonlineDB/source/technicdatareportnotes.php?lang=EN&templatesetid=-1&sublang=EN&noteid=128

Paraglider harness, harnesscarabiner Parafly Automatic from AustriAlpin

After several fractures of aluminium harness karabiner Parafly Automatic from AustriAlpin during use in 2003 and 2004, the manufacturer was asked to prove fatigue strength against vibration. The last deadline was 1. March 2005. This proof has not been shown up today. Tests conducted in the order of DHV to aluminium harness karabiner Parafly Automatic from AustriAlpin showed low values of fatigue strength against vibration. The in flight safety is gravely affected. The DHV has decided on the following precautionary safety measure:

All harness karabiners Parafly Automatic by Austrialpin, must not be used any more.

The airworthiness instruction comes into effect with the publishing of the NFGH (Paraglider and Hang glider news).

Gmund, 09.03.2005 Klaus Tänzler Managing Director

From the Condors. A word of warning.

 
Confession time. This is a salutary tale that all midweek flyers should read.
 
When was the last time anyone NOTAM'ed prior to flying midweek? I have done it a few times in the past but haven't done it in the last 2 or 3 years at least. Well, today I rather wished I had. Stupid thing was, I had actually thought about doing it this morning but never got around to it.
 
Having taken a couple of days off work I went to Bossington again today where the conditions were very like yesterday. The wind was a bit less strong and there was more orographic, but it was intermittent and take-off and bottom landing were always in view - it was only landing back at the car-park that was not always an option. I was the only one there but had no qualms in taking off and flying in a similar manner to yesterday, ie quite far out in front and not too high. (I know I said I was going to take my hang glider today, but the forecast was for less wind so I didn't.) 
About 8 minutes into the flight at about 12.25pm, I was over the mouth of the stream at about take off height (I think, I can't remember exactly, but I know I wasn't high) when I noticed a small black object coming downwind straight for takeoff from the channel and getting bigger extremely quickly. I immediately pulled sharp figure of 8 turns to make myself visible and I think the plane (Tornado? - I'm a girl, I don't know what it was other than a military fast jet) seemed to alter course slightly up and away from my position. It all happened very fast, obviously, so it is difficult to judge minimum distance, but I reckon probably max 1/4 mile separation laterally and probably somewhere around 300 - 500 feet higher, so diagonally a distance of around 1/4 mile? Although I hadn't actually felt in any immediate danger from this encounter, I was extremely glad not to have been anywhere near, above or in front of take off at the time or it would have been MUCH closer. (I would even suggest that if this had happened 24 hours earlier when 5 of us were flying, there might have been serious, possibly even fatal, consequences.) The other immediate consideration following the passage of the jet was "where's the second one?" as they nearly always come in twos. This didn't actually materialise but I spent all of the rest of my flight keeping an extremely good look out and scanning the horizon.
 
I also decided that rather than land right away, I would continue flying but stay below take off height and in front of the hill. I made this decision on the basis of two factors:
 
1. assuming the pilot had seen me s/he would almost certainly report the fact back to base, thus diverting any other training missions away from the site for the rest of the day, and 2. in the unlikely event of any other jet flying the same route it would overshoot me as it would be flying at least 200 feet higher than take off height.
 
I'm planning to speak to Tom Hardie this evening anyway, so will ask him whether I should file an airprox or not, but if I do have to, then I will certainly have to take full responsibility for not using the NOTAM system when I should have done. (I've even written an article in Skywings about it in the past, for heaven's sake, so I really should know better!)
 
Take care and use the freephone number if you're planning on going flying midweek - even if you phone from take off, it's better than not phoning at all. The number is: 0800 515544. You will need to give them the site grid reference and min/max expected flying altitudes (be generous to yourself if in doubt and if you're planning on going XC then tell them so they know that you might be downwind of the site as well).
 
Maybe it would be helpful to print a list of our site grid references in the next Airheads as a reminder to everyone and I suggest we also print the NOTAM freephone number in Airheads each month along with the normal club contact numbers list.
 
 
All the best
Harriet
Incident Protocol
 
On Sunday 5th December 04 at Nont Sarahs, Huddersfield an accident occurred involving a serious injury to a paraglider pilot. It transpired that the visiting pilot collided with boulders part way down the slope, resulting in a serious fracture to his pelvis. 
 
He tried to attract the attention of other pilots in the air by slowly waving his arms, but despite the fact that he was unable to change his bodily position or move his wing, his efforts where in vain and ignored. After a period of time he managed to contact the emergency services himself by way of his mobile telephone and they arrived a short time later.
 
Because of the nature of his injuries and the difficult location the Air Ambulance was requested and attended, landing nearby. Whilst the Air ambulance crew attended to the casualty at least two Hang-gliders decided to take to the opportunity to get into the air and fly above and around the incident, including above and around the Air Ambulance. They landed when requested to do so several times from a nearby pilot
who was shouting from the ground.
 
We must do our utmost to avoid creating any ill feeling with the landowners of our sites or any of the emergency services, therefore our responsibilities as BHPA and BHPC members, as local soaring club members and as pilots should remain foremost in our minds and be evident to others. Therefore in the event of another accident here is a timely reminder to all pilots (whatever level): -
 
If a pilot is on the ground and is in distress or appears to be in distress, don’t wait for him or her to summon help. They may be unconscious or in this case seriously injured. Be aware of this and if you suspect something is wrong, even if it means
landing and a bit of a walk down the hill to check, then do so.
 
If an accident has happened, summon help immediately and then try to find a Club Coach, a site warden or an instructor on site, if one is not available then nominate an experienced pilot or responsible person to take charge and co-ordinate the scene. Explain to them the circumstances and remember to tell them if you’ve already called the emergency services, this will prevent multiple calls. They should then try to ensure the scene is made safe, basic first aid (if possible) is carried out and a list of witnesses is obtained. In the case of the Air Ambulance called to the scene, use any equipment available to make a large “H” on the ground. This is a signal to all pilots in the air and it means “ALL LAND” immediately. Everyone should then remain grounded until the incident is fully over and the emergency services have left the area, especially the Air Ambulance.
FAMARA FIASCO
 
Here is a cautionary tale for those pilots that fly on Lanzarote, other coastal sites or anywhere that creates the possibility of an out landing leaving you stranded somewhere exposed. The Pilot is a chap called Henry Blackshaw – a very nice chap and a flier of considerable experience (more so now). 
 
Over the last 10 years I have become a regular visitor to Lanzarote for the winter flying. One of the best sites there is the Famara Cliffs which top out at over 1800 feet and stretch for approximately 10 miles, enabling a ridge run out to the northern tip of the Island where they terminate at Mirador. For a large part of their length they are vertical faces which drop straight into the Atlantic, offering no option if forced down but a water landing with no where to swim to. The only place where it is possible to land safely is by the old salt pans up at Mirador, however this will leave you with a day long carry out on an old packhorse route up the cliffs (speak to John Aldridge if you want a first hand account of this!).
 
The cliffs face north-west and with a fresh breeze from that direction offer an easy and spectacular out and return. Often there is a bit more north in the wind so creating a bit of headwind; the better for making sure that you will make the return leg quickly and safely. However, beware when the wind goes too far round to the north?.
 
This year I arrived on the island for another week's flying on Sunday 6th February. As luck would have it the conditions were north-westerly enabling the Famara ridge run both on the Sunday and Monday. The latter day's flying including being able to fly out over the harbour at La Graciosa, topping out at over 4000 feet over the cliffs and a landing on the beach at Caletta, shortly followed by the customary herbal sedative and Dorada beer, bliss!
 
On Tuesday the conditions had deteriorated. The wind had strengthened
(30 mph on the hill, 20 mph at height) and had gone round to practically due north, with it forecast to be north-easterly the next day. The weather had become more broken as well, a large cu-nimb was about 20 miles out to sea, the cloud base was lower and there were heavy showers scattered around the sky. The wind strength made it unsafe to use the 1200 foot "high" take off we had used for the previous two days so we opted to use the lowest one, at about 700 feet.
 
I cheerfully rigged my Laminar ST04, took-off and bimbled up the ridge. The strong headwind made progress a bit slow but the lift was plentiful enough and I had no difficulty crossing the various gaps on the ridge taking me eventually onto the beginning of the cliffs. Things were very different to the previous day. Cloud base was at 2000 feet, just over the top of the cliffs, and it was necessary to push out to sea to avoid being sucked into the grey stuff. I flew a couple of miles along the cliffs then loitered, waiting for a heavy shower and consequent low cloud to clear from further up the cliffs near Mirador. I then pushed further up the cliffs which drop down to about 1500 feet after about 4 miles. I was now also struggling to stay on top of them.
 
My awareness as to my altitude was not assisted by the fact that I had my main altimeter set to height above take-off, which of course was 500' lower than the previous days. Never mind, I thought, I was just going round a corner which causes a 20 degrees change in direction to the cliffs, placing them squarer on to the northerly wind, bound to take me up! The hoped for lift was not to be found and suddenly I woke up to the fact that I was now at about 1200', 4/5 miles from the nearest landing and starting to go down increasingly quickly. It was time for a quick decision.
 
I decided to turn back the way I had come in the hope that I would be able to connect to the lift I had left on the high section of the cliffs. No chance! I found myself getting drilled on the corner where the cliffs change direction slightly. Here the vertical face of the cliff is set back slightly, with its erosion having created scree slopes that start about 700' below the cliff tops and slope down to the sea. This scree and debris is in turn eroded into a series of steep spines. Where two of these spines reached the ocean they had created a slight cove, with a strip of boulders about 75 meters long and 10 meters wide along the back of it. Time for a good spot landing. Trying to put thoughts of "I can't believe this is f*****g happening!" to the back of my mind I addressed my concentration to the task in hand. Assuming any wind would be northerly I tracked parallel to the boulders and turned to execute a reasonable "fly on the wall" on rocks with an average diameter of 1m. The only damage was a slightly bent base bar. A result in the circumstances, and certainly better than a swim to the bottom of the Atlantic.
 
As the euphoria of landing ok started to wear of it was time to take stock.
 
On the way down I had been concentrating mainly on setting up my landing, but had got the firm impression that there would be no way out on foot. My GPS told me that I was just over 4 miles in a straight line from my previous day's landing point on the Famara beach, probably 5 miles around the bay. I had no radio but did have two charged mobile phones and a strong signal. I phoned Ray Cooper, the resident English pilot. He wasn't sure exactly where I was, but thought it may be possible to climb out to a footpath that runs along the cliffs from the Famara beach. I was happy to try because I was anxious to avoid calling out the emergency services unnecessarily and, it was only 2.30, so I still had plenty of time?.
 
I packed the glider away and stashed it in a gully, which gave the only access from the scree to the shoreline, the rest of this boulder "beach" having a 100' vertical face at the back of it. With my fully loaded harness bag on my back I then scrambled up this gully and started to traverse and climb the scree to see if I could connect with this path to the south. The climbing was very difficult. The scree is in fact made of a combination of compacted soil, stones and rocks. It was only just not too steep to climb on most of it, and was unpredictable in how firm a footing it gave. It was particularly difficult to descend on. The process was made stranger by the permanent presence of a huge flock of seagulls that were continuously circling over me and making one hell of a racket. Their noise and activity seemingly triggered by the novelty of a human on what was otherwise their exclusive domain.
 
Over an hour later, having reached 700' and confronted with a towering spine back joining the vertical cliff face it was apparent that this was not the way out. Another hour later and having tried the same exercise to the north, this time going too far up a steep face so that I had trouble getting back down, I realised that there was no way out by land. It was now time for a re-think.
 
One group of friends had been trying to reach me from Famara whilst others had headed to Orzola, the fishing village at the north end of the island to try and get some sort of a boat organised. The ferrymen who operate the ferry from there to the island of La Graciosa agreed to turn out upon their return to La Graciosa at 6.00. I therefore returned to the shoreline for 5.30, by now dirty, hungry and thirsty from the futile efforts to climb out.
 
The promised 20' boat turned up at about 6.30. It would not come very close into the shore because of all the boulders in the water and the rough sea condition. They waved me round to the next bay, where I was able to scramble round to because the tide was out. This was in fact no better and a stand off developed with myself waist deep in water and them not being prepared to come any closer. I was anxious to save what I could of my kit (the words of a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing!) and was not prepared to abandon everything in my harness bag to the sea, which would then have been necessary if I had swum out to the boat. Had I known what the night had in store my decision would have been different. The boat then went off and I finally resorted to calling the emergency services. It was now getting dark.
 
The emergency services initially thought that they could get to me overland from Famara. By the time that they appreciated that this was impossible it was now dark and I was told further efforts would have to wait until the light of the next morning, and to make myself as warm as possible. Fair enough I thought, quite liking the idea of bivouacking next to the ocean, notwithstanding the lack of food, drink, bed or shelter. I returned to the gully where my glider was stashed, dressed myself in all my flying clobber and cheerfully zipped myself into my harness, whereupon my legs, which had got soaked in my efforts to wade out to the boat, started to warm up and count the 12 hours or so away to daylight.
 
All went well for the first couple of hours. I even phoned up my sister in the UK and cheerfully described my oceanside location and the pleasant sound of the crashing waves etc etc. It then started to rain, gently at first, then progressively harder. There was also a fresh breeze and, by now soaked through, I started to get cold, very cold. I was trying to get to sleep but struggling. A zipped up hang gliding harness is very restrictive, I had a fancy new helmet which is faired at the back, making it impossible to sleep on my back, and rock doesn't lend itself to sleeping on your side. In any event my thoughts of sleep were soon overtaken by the weather.
 
At about 1.30 it started to rain, hard, very hard in fact. The rainstorm that night was the heaviest on the north end of the island in the last year. It caused the track up to the take off at Mala to be washed away and the closure for several days by flooding and mudslides of the new road up the east side of the island. Initially I just tried to close the gap between my top and the base of my helmet.
 
Then I began to be sprinkled by tiny pebbles that I could hear pinging off my helmet, rather like some elf further up on the cliffs was entertaining himself by aiming them at me. A minute later there was a crash and a rock the size of a breeze block landed by my head. At the same time I heard the sound of running water coming from above me. My shelter was turning into a storm drain. Time to move!
 
Ripping my harness off I went and stood to the side of the bottom end of the gulley, about 3 meters across from my hang glider which was lying with its thin end up the slope. Two minutes later I could hear the deep crashing of a large rock bouncing down the gulley. In the dim light I could just make out the form of a two foot wide boulder as it bounced into sight, onto the middle of the glider ripping a 1 meter hole into the cross country bag, and then onwards into the sea.
 
I decided to abandon the gully and in the darkness felt my way round the corner on to the shoreline, which was just a few yards wide with the tide being up. At this time the air became full of the sound of stones and rocks hitting the boulders on the shoreline around me. I kept myself pressed to the cliff face to try and avoid being struck, but before long some object struck me on the left side of my head and left shoulder. The helmet did its job and luckily my shoulder could still move and, although badly bruised, nothing had broken. I decided I couldn't afford to remain on the shoreline and to return to the front end of the gulley where there was a slight overhang and hopefully not in the path of any more bouncing bombs funnelled down it.  Pressing myself under the overhang I found myself a small boulder to perch on and used my open harness as some form of a blanket. This is where I spent the next six hours, ticking off the minutes until dawn. The rain, water torrent and rock falls slackened off and my biggest enemy became the cold. I was soaking and there was a cold northerly wind coming off the ocean.
 
Physical activity involved a combination of hunching up to minimise my outside area and standing up to move about vigorously when it felt like I was seizing up and my bodies shivering and shuddering was not adequate to generate the necessary heat. Mental activity involved breaking the time into segments, which could be counted off, whilst trying to avoid the temptation of looking at my watch too often. Occasionally I treated myself to a rendition of "Oh what a beautiful morning" or "I do like to be beside the seaside" and other such suitable numbers.
 
As I expected the hours between 3 and 5 proved to be the hardest. As dawn arrived slowly through the overcast and drizzle at a quarter past seven I cannot pretend that I was in a good shape. It's easy to see how sleep deprivation, cold, thirst and hunger can be used to reduce peoples' spirits when others (the Americans for example) wish them to do their bidding.
 
I had spoken to the emergency services again by phone at about 6, expressing a preference for a helicopter. At about half past seven a coast guard cutter turned up and marked my position by holding station off-shore. A helicopter arrived an hour later and was able to touch down, gently on the boulders, by virtue of the fact that the tide was now out, exposing a 30 yard wide shoreline. They didn't want to hang about, apparently because of the risk of rock falls, so a crewman ran across, grabbed me, we ran to the aircraft and were out of there in no time. I was able to take my battens and harness bag with me, but my now filthy and boulder struck glider was left behind.
 
The cloud was still low so we had low level fly around the north end of the island and down the east coast to the airport, where I had my first food in twenty hours and drink in sixteen.
 
My glider has now been recovered at considerable (and probably wasted) expense by the Graciosa boatmen. It remains to be seen whether it is salvageable, I will assess it when I return at Easter. 
The rest of my kit has cleaned up well enough.
 
What lessons are to be learnt from this tale of woe?
 a.    Be wary of distractions or other events affecting your concentration. I had received some very bad family news the day before which I may have been better reflecting on quietly, or at least not having quite such an ambitious fly.
 b.    Be alive to how changing conditions can affect the viability of what may be an otherwise familiar and easy flight.
 c.    Be alive to how conditions can change during a flight. At the
same time or very soon after the lift switched off where I was it also switched off on the main cliffs behind me, flushing people who were there onto the Famara beach. This is normally a reliable site. 
 Analysing it since it seems that this was due to the wind continuing to veer through north and probably the effect of sink/switching wind from the large clouds that were about.
 d.    Unless you know the forecast and it to be good, do not assume that you have all the time in the world to sort out your predicament.
 e.    Carry emergency food and water. A few cereal bars and an extra litre of water would have made a big difference to me.
 f.    If you face a difficult and challenging walk/carry out do not waste effort and sweat carrying kit out, you can always come back for it with help.
 g.    Do not refuse any form of rescue for the sake of convenience/equipment unless you are certain of the conditions and an alternative rescue.
 h.    Have well charged radios and/or telephones, preferably both.
 i.    Use a constant datum for your altimeter setting. Zeroing on take off is a recipe for disaster.
 j.    Always have a well charged GPS. Mine proved useful in retracing my steps when I had tried to climb out and would have been useful in pin-pointing my position had I been in a location where I had been harder to locate/find.
 k.    Unless somebody is definitely in a better position than yourself to judge how accessible you are then rely on your own judgement (not always an easy call!). The first words I had spoken to my friends after landing were "Unless you are a seagull the only way out of here is by helicopter".
 l.    Have a system for calling in with your companions if you don't meet up after flying so people will be alerted to the fact you are missing. I was lucky to have mobile coverage where I was.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Historical Pictures
Our outgoing editor had a near miss back in 1982. I didn’t know Tim at the time but have since learnt that it was his glider I took a picture of after he’d flown downwind into a tethered training glider at Edge Top in the Peaks. I was too gob smacked to take a shot of the actual event. Tim walked off with a scratched ankle.
 

Luckily this traumatic experience 
has had no long lasting 
psychological effect on Tim. 

Around the same time we used to watch a chap called Gerald Williams run down Edge Top strapped to a square jump chute. We all thought he was mad but have since been proved wrong… well, he may have been mad, but he was definitely onto something.

 
FLYING DIARY

Fri 18th March Haresfield SW 5-10mph
Dropped off after lunch before becoming smooth and easily soarable later in
the afternoon. Good fun soaring the trees in the warm sunshine with a couple
of others. TC

Sun 6 Blorenge

Excellent fun on the Blorenge, though bitingley cold. Jim did very well on the HG (brave man to carry up that track) Which reminds me, how do we get a key for that gate ? Anyway after flying for some time, Jim decided to top land. I was really impressed when he touched down to close to the edge and went straight into a run and off again. Made it look like he`d been doing it for years !! Shame he landed on his belly next time round, forgot the landing gear eh Jim?

Even Bryan flew!  Even though he did pick the worst time when the wind had gone completely.  It was good to see an expert us what little lift there was when everyone else had landed.  Was it Bryan or the wing...?  ;-)

Chris S says - I found some weak lift near the second tree line on the way down to the landing field which got me back to 178 metres above take-off. I was heading for the Sugarloaf but sank out over the town :-(  There were scraps of lift everywhere but nothing really usable. On the whole a top day with plenty of fun for all !

Jim C says- Yep Dave's and Chris's top to bottom was great, there was some sort of magic lift out there. Chris has a theory but I will let him explain. I got one flight early on for about 50 min good flight but started to get a bit rough so I came in, took me three attempts to top land and you could not describe my final landing as text book. Did not jump of again as it was a very light, and then turned of to the north, so I was not happy with the take off options on a HG (would like to have a chat with someone about this) so didn’t even attempt a top to bottom, and so had to carry back to the car, which I think was harder then the carry up! not a pleasant experience.

There are reports of someone doing a 50k flight to hay from somewhere near the Long Mynd, again I think Dave JH has more info on this.

DAVID J-H says - I spoke to Mark Leavesley earlier today. He said that a group of pilots had got away from Corndon and made it to Builth. When he went over the back he was quite low but found lift and made it up to the inversion at approx 3200ft., where it was really rough, Eventually he broke through the Inversion and climbed to 4800ft. He flew over the guys at Builth and landed at Hay-On-Wye by the River. (54k I believe) Outstanding. I think this year is going to be a cracker.

And Rob Davies did 20km from Leckhampton!! Nice one.

Fri 18th March Haresfield SW 5-10mph

Dropped off after lunch before becoming smooth and easily soarable later in the afternoon. Good fun soaring the trees in the warm sunshine with a couple of others.

 Sat 26 April

Nice day and cycling through at Kettle Sings even though the wind was well off to the N. Had a nice flight to base with Bryan and Gary. Unluckily it dropped off and a heavy prolonged shower came in at about 2:30 and a lot got very wet. I bottom landed near a farm and took refuge in a barn whilst it stair-rodded it down! I think Bryan and Nick did the best thing – surfing the storm front, nice one. Tim C

Pandy and Malv seemed ok today a few people got away and Jim did his first Kettle flight - looked good too and landing to me Jim - how was it? I took off at a pretty poor time but reckoned the black cloud over Worc was only going to get worse! Caught 6 up 200 below launch and then followed advancing front to Garway-almost to Pandy!. That very nice man Chris picked me up and took me all the way back to Malvern - thanks again Chris. I’m interested who was flying the paraglider with me somewhere north of Ross- how did they get on? I broke south into nothing and lost it! Nick C

Well that was a first for me. Flying in front of a storm for 40km before I bottled it when another big cloud out front blocked my way. Was that you Nick that passed me near Much Marcle? Bryan H

Had a good flight at Pandy after getting there half three just as it switched off. It took a while before the wind picked up, just after Nick had landed near Garway. In the meantime a paraglider pilot top-landed next to the only other hang glider being rigged on the hill, and toppled slowly onto the left wing, bending the three outermost battens. Watching the irate little Welsh guy who owned the glider square up to the bovine English gent (a foot taller) who performed the stunt was a sight to behold! He straightened the battens and we both flew a few bowls up the ridge under threatening clouds. Nev Almond well above was keeping away, as they looked cu-nimmish. There wasn't any rain falling so I thought what the hell, I'll push on up the ridge as far as I can. I got half way across the gap without getting below ridge height, and then turned back, conscious of it being late in the day. It was silky smooth mostly, apart from the last 200' into the bottom-landing field, which put me off my stroke. I nearly overshot, and took a pair of flares to get my nose into the dirt. Thanks to DJH for throwing me off and Nev for the lift back up the top. Gordon A

Sunday 27^th

Went up KS about 4pm. Ian and 2 others there. Wind light and off to north. Spent a lonely but fun hour scratching about on NE side of PG take off waiting for some evening buoyancy that never happened. RS

Monday 28th

A few on the Malverns but the light wind was off to the S and no-one got off AFAIK. TC

I was down at the bottom of Castlemorton about 5:30. 3 PGs flew down. Balloon had taken off from Eastnor Castle about 5pm – went NW for ¾ hr then came back and landed just north of its take off position. RS

There I Was...
There I was, being yanked skywards and spinning with my arms jammed through the risers calling for my mum…
It was a hot, windy July day when my girlfriend and I had arrived in Piedraheta. Although it was windy I was DESPERATE to go flying. We parked up at the unofficial camp site in the hang glider landing field. There was a group of 20+ French hang glider pilots just getting ready to go up the hill so I managed to blag a lift with them.
 
When we got to the top no one was flying and we were confronted with the strong metio wind at over 90 degrees from the thermic wind. As anyone who has experienced Piedraheta can tell you this is a recipe for dust devils in abundance. Being DESPERATE I quickly got my kit ready and clipped in, paying little regard to the occasional dustie ripping past the cars behind the hut on take off. The French guys were more than happy helping me –the mad Englishman- as their wind dummy, jumping on my wing on several occasions as dusties went through behind take off.
 
I waited for a lull, all looked good, I popped the wing up and it sat calmly above me. A few steps and I was airborne. I had decided my flight plan would be to fly straight out from the mountain and into the flatland in front. Suddenly the inevitable happened! I felt a sudden blast in the face like I had flown into a brick wall then an incredible force – as if a giant Jonny Wilkinson had just booted the bottom of my harness and punted me skywards. The wing did not take kindly to this and immediately flipped over forwards and started to spin. In a panic I thrust my arms between the risers and prized them apart to stop them getting twisted.
 
So there I was, in a dust devil approx 50 meters above the ground, wing spinning, arms through the risers and vario screaming! The thought went through my mind to reach for the reserve handle when the voice of reason (heard for the first time that day) told me “hang on, don’t throw yet, your going up…”. I looked at the wing which was trying, and failing to fly, admiring the colour scheme of both surfaces repeatedly and in quick succession all to the soundtrack of an intermittent screaming vario. Then, as suddenly as it had started, with one final collapse, everything went silent except for the sound of my heart trying to force its way out of my rib cage! I pumped out the deflation and set a course for Piedraheta.
 
Then I suddenly felt incredibly strong lift under my right wingtip, like when clipping a strong thermic core, only the wing did not drop out of the core! It was as if something had grabbed my wingtip and yanked me up and sideways. Then I felt the familiar feeling again, the boot up the arse and spinning sensation! Two more times the dustie sucked me in, chewed me up and spat me out before spitting me out for the final time with some large collapses for good measure!
 
I finally flew away, shaking and sweating, cursing my own stupidity, straight down to land going slowly backwards in the town. I packed the glider and walked back to the camper van. “Did you have a good flight” asked girlfriend, a little concerned at my white appearance. There was only one possible reply in my mind. “BEER” I whimpered. I spoke to the French pilots that night who confirmed they sensibly did not fly, especially as on glider had been picked up and hurled across take off – whilst still zipped up in the bag!

COMPETITIONS

Chris Smith emailed this info but for those without computer access here it is:

We have entered a single PG team into the BCC again this year.  If there is sufficient interest I guess we could always add another (come on you HGs!).

For those that don't know, the BCC is an informal inter-club competition that is designed to encourage low airtime or pilots that are new to competitions to fly in a relaxed and fun environment.  For me it is mostly a way to go out flying on new or rarely visited sites, meet new people and encourage others to do so too.  It is suitable to low airtime as well as our XC hounds.

We had good fun last year and did quite well despite the very poor organisation (as far as I know the final was never held).  I'm sure it will be even better this year with the changes (see below).

If you are interested in supporting this event please let me know ASAP.  A team consists of 2 to 6 people but we don't have to have the same members for each event.  I'd like to get at least 8 - 10 people lined-up so we can have some reserves to call on.  Even if you are not in the team there's nothing to stop you from tagging-along and flying anyway!

Generally the events are provisionally planned a week or two before the day and it's good to know who will probably be able to attend soon after it is announced (not on holiday, etc.).  Then a day or two before things are confirmed.  I will help to get us entered into events (and we may even host one on the Malverns?) but I need some commitment from team members that they will contact me before the event to confirm it is on and that they will be attending.  The weather doesn't always cooperate and we may have to travel some distance for some competitions so it does need some commitment from everybody involved, even if things don't work out.  I'm amazed at how much effort some clubs put in last year, particularly the Southern club who came up to Wales from the Brighton area most weekends.  I know they are just as keen this year!


Amy and Martin Stanton from the Avon club have decided they could better run the competition and so have taken on organising it this year (so far it looks like they will do much better!).  All the details are on the new website:  http://www.flybcc.co.uk/

There have been a number of changes for this year, almost all seem like a good idea to me.  The highlights are:

All the entry of rounds, teams and scores is now down through the website.
All information will now be up to date to the minute.
Each captain/team will be given their own login and password to manage the teams
There are no semi final rounds
The teams with the best six scores go through to the final
You can score against other teams more than once.
A current league table will display the leader board.
You will not be able to score unless you have paid and are entered on the website
A smartgroups is available for captains to use to discuss rounds or queries.

We should be able to attend more events because the restriction on only scoring once against each team has been removed.

Don't forget, let me know ASAP if you are interested and please let any others not on this mailing list know if you think they might be interested.

Cheers, Chris Smith

Subject: BRASS MONKEYS RETURN

Hi Y'All,

The Brass Monkey Home (return match) Match will be on weekend of May 7/8 2005.

Mynd site has been OK'ed

I have provisionally said Malverns OK (subject to committee ratification!!!)

Will be good the have the Kernows and South Devons and Condors?? up here.

Keep this weekend free!!!!! Regards, John Bevan

Go4it 2005

Rules

1.    UK flights only.
2.    No infringement of airspace.
3.    Must have Pilot rating or be under instruction from one on the day.
4.    Flights between 01/12/04 to 30/11/05.
5.    Co-ordinates for T/O and landing required plus distance from point to point in Kms as a

check. Flights will be scored to nearest 100m.
6.    Defined flights (BHPA rules) Coordinates for turn points in addition. Double distance
       awarded provided 60% of flight outside ridge lift.
7.    Stone's throw award for smallest flight submitted (or known about) provided
       distance 5km or greater (previously 3 miles).

NAME                TOTAL Km
Bryan Hindle 40.4 40.4
Rob Davies        20.4 20.4

HUMOUR SECTION

Notes taken from Aircraft Maintenance Log (true… allegedly!)

(P = The problem logged by the pilot.)
(S = The solution and action taken by the engineers.)

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P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

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P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

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P: Something loose in cockpit.

S: Something tightened in cockpit.

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P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on backorder.

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P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

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P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

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P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

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P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what they're there for.

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P: IFF inoperative.

S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

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P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right.

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