FOOTLAUNCH

 

October Meeting –Wednesday 8th October at the Plume

 

Safe T-Lines (Rob Davis)

 

GROUND HANDLING

 

During the recent Club trip to Piedrahita, it became apparent that all of us were rusty with our ground handling skills. I have also heard reports from Kettle Sings, that ground handling there leaves quite a lot to be desired. People have witnessed several lucky escapes as a result of well below average skills in launching and ground handling. These have resulted in pilots going for a drag through some one else's canopy. Not helpful.

 

Getting the canopy to do what you want it to do, rather than it dictating to you what it wants to do, requires a lot of practice.

 

I think that everyone should be competent at getting the canopy to do the following as a minimum;

 

Ø      “open it up”, that is tip to tip open, starting with just a bit of the leading edge accepting wind in the middle.

Ø      Make a decent wall.

Ø      Fold half of the wing back over the other and unfold it again, using either side.

Ø      Turn the canopy upside down in a controlled fashion and back the right way up again.

Ø      Bring it up overhead and down again in varying wind strengths and on different degrees of sloping hill.

 

These manoeuvres take practice. When did you last practice ground handling? Was it when you were training? If, when you get to the hill to fly and it is too strong, rather than sitting around or going home, find a flat area and practice. It will stand you in very good stead.

 

The Avon club is trying to sort out a ground-handling clinic and may be even a ground handling competition.... Perhaps we should follow suit? Robin Brown has offered to do a ground-handling clinic for us at some time ……Watch this space……

 

CLIP IN !!

 

A tandem pilot fell to his death on 17th September after failing to hook in before a tandem hang glider flight at the Col de la Forclaz near Annecy in France.  He was left hanging from the control bar and, during the brief time he remained there, was able to give instructions to his young passenger on how to steer the glider towards some trees.  The passenger managed to make a turn and land in a tree as instructed, shocked but unhurt.

The pilot was just finishing his final season of tandem flying before retiring, giving rides to friends and family who had helped him. He had been flying since 1974 and had been a full-time professional tandem pilot for 27 years.

 

A tragic reminder that this type of accident is still possible even after thousands of take-offs. Apparently he had unhooked to re-adjust his passenger's harness - a known gotcha. If you unhook for any reason, remember - you have a greater risk of forgetting to hook in!

It is extremely difficult to lift yourself up over the base bar once you are hanging (even without the extra 10 kilos of harness/parachute and maybe gloves) unless you are young and very fit, or a professional gymnast!


Don't let this happen to you!  Make sure you have some kind of a system - don't just rely on remembering.  Don't let this happen to someone else - check other pilots before they take-off.

 

Keep your nose clean!

 

There’s been a bit of discussion on the web about the effect on handling when the nose cone is incorrectly attached or left off. On rigids it seems a flapping nose cone causes a noticeable pitch down force which has badly frightened a couple of pilots. They speculate that it destroys the airflow over the centre of the wing; this loss of lift forward of the centre of pressure causes the glider to pitch down badly.  So keep those noses clean folks!

 

Firebird Grid (Beauty and the Beast) 

 

The Grid has got to be one of the better looking wings around, nice swept tips and the partially closed leading edge with its circular ports at the tips. They say beauty is only skin deep though, and I wasn’t blown away by the construction (maybe I’m being picky as I’ve just bought a new Sport). Firstly the brake poppers were quite stiff. Not a problem, except a mate had both poppers on his Grid fail in the first few weeks as the rivets let go. Might be a one off problem I know, but annoying nevertheless. The rubber keepers on the lines were quite slack, and on the big ears split A riser the single line was not secure on the maillion at all as the rubber was the same size as all the others. Why not use a smaller one on it? The L/E has some closed cells as one or two other manufacturers are using. I was surprised to see a lot of ripples around these as if the manufacturing wasn’t quite accurate – I thought the idea of the closed cells was to smooth airflow, although that’s a bit of a joke on a paraglider in my opinion.

 

On the hill the first thing I noticed was that the wing was slightly lighter in weight compared to my Sport, so presumably the material is a grade lighter. However that meant the wing L/E sat up nicely for inflations in the lightest of breezes. Unfortunately the general ground-handling was quite hard work as the wingtips start to come up even in the lightest wind. Now ground-handling is like foreplay, you just want to get it over as quickly as possible and get down to the real business of flying. Anyone displaying more than a working knowledge of it is obviously in league with the Devil or has far too much time on their hands, but you don’t really want it to be hard work. When the breeze picked up to a soarable 10-12mph the Beast really came out. I even resorted to straight-braked launches, something I haven’t found necessary on any of the other modern gliders I’ve tried. The brakes were very positive and responsive – almost too much on the ground as any slight over-braking resulted in the wing immediately spinning or falling back. It also seemed to move around sideways a lot on the ground and overhead, so much so that it was difficult to keep it still for any length of time. Not a problem if I wanted to launch quickly, provided it came up nicely, but if I tried to stand and assess the conditions, look for birds etc. the wing rapidly skated off to the side and collapsed, usually just as it looked like a thermal was on its way.

 

After a lot of sweaty ground-handling in light conditions I had a couple of decent thermalling flights. Airborne at last and climbing in lift, the Grid was a different experience to the monster on the deck; the handling was great, nice and positive with responsive brakes. The brakes were set at a comfortable length and nicely progressive in action, loading up steadily with travel. Banked over and circling in a thermal, it’s an absolute beauty to 360, no problem at all working the light thermals. I was mostly flying alone so can’t comment on the actual performance, except the climb rate was the same as a dried up maize leaf that circled up with me for a while. Circling with a couple of others on another occasion it kept up fine. On full speedbar the wing seemed solid, even in rough conditions, and not as much travel was needed as my Sport to get full bar so a stepped bar isn’t needed. Pulling an A riser to induce an asymmetric induced a bit of a turn, more so than the Sport I think but nothing dramatic. Big ears came out on their own fairly quickly.

 

All in all this glider would really suit Alpine flying – light wind launches and thermal flying. In this country launching in a breeze would certainly test your patience. If you’re a relatively inexperienced pilot then you’d fall in love with this beauty in the air, but it could well break your heart on the ground. However, take heart if you’ve got one as you’ll rapidly become one of the best pilots around at ground-handling for sure.

TC

 

Competition Tuning the Icaro Laminar

 

The factory pilots on the Icaro Laminars were hard to beat at the Worlds in Brazil. They certainly put the locals noses out of joint - the Brazilians wanted to protest against their "2nd VG" which apparently is used to pull the sprogs up in rough conditions! The sprogs are set super low for better glide, with the option of raising them in flight if it gets rough, so there was obviously a worry on pitch stability in race trim.

 

Allegedly it was very interesting how bad the mental state of some pilots turned out when they saw a line fitted on a glider which they didn’t have on their own.

Of course the Laminar pilots say the "2nd VG-rope" was not the reason for the better performance of the Laminar MR in fast glides.  And it was also not possible to protest against something that improved safety!

Maybe the Moyes boys on the Litespeeds should have the 2nd VG because there’s never been so many gliders with such low sprogs on a World’s take off and guess what - a Litespeed with low sprogs tucked!

 

 

The Last Thermal of Summer

 

September 25th, the nights are drawing in and those fantastic flying days of summer are already drifting away into pleasant hazy memories. Thermalling along at cloudbase suddenly seems just a distant dream and spring a lifetime in the future. But it’s forecast to be a nice day (again) with a light breeze SE going SW so mid-afternoon I drive along to Haresfield and find the usual suspects sitting around on T/O. Howard pops his new Aspen up and wafts off in the light breeze. He manages a few beats before getting sunk out (for the second time I’m told). It’s been up and down since midday, never really soarable so we all hang around chatting in the warm sun. The breeze picks up again and Rob K. from Quedgeley lobs off on his Octane, manages a few beats then lands back on T/O. After a few minutes he re-launches and starts to do a bit better; that’s good enough for me and I take off to join the bitty thermal. Actually it’s rather a nice one; a bit broken at first, but soon consolidates into a decent climb and we both wind up over T/O. The drift is fairly slow, but that probably helps keep the thermal together and we both drift towards Gloucester. Embarrassingly, Rob on his baggy old Octane comprehensively out climbs me, but hey, I’m still getting used to my new wing! Soon 4,500’asl pass and still I’m climbing; Rob glides off towards Quedgeley and home whilst I relax and take in the superb views. Off to the SW the Severn disappears into a golden haze as the estuary glints in reflected sunshine from the mudflats and sandbars (tide’s out as usual). A couple of training gliders from Nymphsfield cruise around enjoying the Autumn bonus thermalling with me whilst down below the traffic roar from the M5 is clearly audible as harassed drivers join the headlong rush as far as the next jam – suckers! Way up here there’s nothing but peaceful enjoyment, the smooth lift is just so easy and an inviting line of flat cumulus stretches over Gloucester. It’s an aerial motorway with only me on it, and I’m in no rush that’s for sure. Drifting towards Robinswood Hill I pass over the old RAF sites used to park all the shiny new cars; they look like acres of glinting dinky toys from this height. An Intercity train crawls along like a brown caterpillar with a shiny yellow nose as Gloucester city is laid out directly below like a fantastic living map on which cars crawl around like ants. I cruise along at 5,000’ above the chaos below taking in the views; acres of houses and the canal running along Bristol road to the docks complete with the tall ships. Gloucester Cathedral is still impressive, but far from imposing at this height. Staverton runways are clearly visible a couple of miles to the North, and a couple of light planes are flying around in the circuit. Still circling, I can clearly see my own house at Highnam only two miles to the North West. I go for the easy option and glide over and a few minutes later I’m slowly circling overhead at 4,000’ plus in the warm afternoon sunshine watching the kids playing on the school field and scanning my own back garden for any life. Out of the lift line now and I’m slowly losing height; it takes a while but soon the ground is there and I drop into the park for a gentle touch-down only 100m from home. What a fantastic flight – I’ve hoped to do this since starting paragliding 9 years ago, but in a true SW’ly it’s a lot cross-wind, and anyway Haresfield is a poxy site that’s a sod to get away from! Still I finally did it and boy, it was worth the wait; that had to be the most enjoyable 12km I’ve flown this year.

TC

 

Things for the Better Half to do

 

This is for all those who stay on the ground whilst their other half is enjoying flying - going out and sharing those great days can be fun! Keep yourself entertained with the following activities:

           Tell PGs that their bum looks big in that.

           When HGs are landing shout "S-S-S-S-Smack!"

           When PGs are landing shout "S-S-S-S-Splat!"

           When PGs are getting dragged shout "Yee-hah, ride 'em cowboy!"

           When you drive someone's car dig around in the glove box.

           Sing your favourite song over the radio, and then repeat it.

           Write comments in the dust on people's cars; Air slut, Get a life, Wish I was a PG, Wish I was a HG, Social Outcast etc.

           Hide a batten whilst a HG is being rigged and watch the frantic search for 5mins before 'finding' it.

           Take the carabiners off a PG harness and ditto.

           See how far helmets roll down the hill.

           When there's no wind insist it's blown out.

           Say "See you in the landing field!" when everyone is going XC.

           Tell the HGs to 'keep the brakes tight and inflated!' and the PGs to 'pull the bar in and don't forget to unzip before landing'.

           Say things on the radio like "I can't find my pink thong - are you still wearing it?"

           Insist you spend as much time and money on your own hobby.

           Take a cool-box full of drinks down to the landing field and watch how flight times plummet.

 

 

Vintage Mad Farmers

 

Neville Almond writes: Once back in 1989 I landed near Hungerford, a mate driving past stopped to help, and the farmer went berserk. It was either £10 or I would be locked on the estate. After 20 minutes of gentle (on our side) dialogue, the farmer stormed off, and we followed to the farmyard. He blocked in one side with a BMW, another with a Range Rover, and then we escaped on the 3rd side and tried to make it around the shed - but were then faced with a JCB...one of the big ones with 4 big wheels, with the scoop up at windscreen height. We stopped, but he ploughed into us.......and pushed us back around 10 metres.

 

The scoop stopped inches from the windscreen. My mate stepped out the car, and the farmer peered down from his cab and said 'You’ve just driven into moy JCB'. The problem now got worse, as my (normally) even tempered mate saw red, and said 'I am going to f**** k*** you''. This really was now a very big problem, as he was a black belt (and taught) tai-kwondo. I left the scene for 3 minutes, and didn't witness a thing, but did come back to calm things down. The Police (3 car loads!) were really amused on arrival (a JCB + scoop stuck into a car, with a HG trapped between the 2!). They called the farmer by his first name..............it transpired he had history – a conviction for using his 12 bore to pepper the tailplane of a sailplane.........I won't bore you with the rest of the story, but after emerging from the police station 4 hours later, overall, it was actually quite entertaining.

 

 

Go 4 It 2003 Current Standings

 

   Paragliders                                                                   Totals

    Tim Crow        88.2     72.5    48.4     46.7    46.4    42.7    35.6    32.7    28.1    24.1      19.3       17            14.5    11.8     10.0    538.0km

    Bryan Hindle    94.4      51.3    15.2                                                            170.9km

    Chris Smith    16.6          8.2                                                                        24.8km

 

   Flexwings

    Derek Evans    59.3      28.7                                                                        88.0km

    John Bevan    8.0                                                                                              8.0km

 

   Rigids

    Nick Collins    133.6    60.0    14.0                                                          207.6km

 

Pssst . . . Which ex Malvern member and hang gliding stalwart wrote a letter to the recently combined American Hang Gliding and Paragliding mag moaning about not wanting to read articles about PGs, and obviously couldn't be bothered to turn over the pages! He's turned into a right grumpy old git.

 

ADVERTS

 
Aeros Xtreme Hangliding Harness. As new.  Would suit 6ft Medium build.
Please Email Frank on Sammi@Lawstroud.freeserve.co.uk
Or Telephone 07775817845 or 01453 791479

 

Trekking Ritmo 41 XL 90-120 kg. Sail in excellent condition with new lines (fitted in  1999 but only test flown for two hours since) ACPUL 12 A's. Would make a good paramotor wing or 1st time stable learner wing.
I am the only owner and know it's been looked after from new, flies great on a hill and winch launches easily (it's a really steady forgiving wing, I've used it for years without a reserve)

Open to sensible offers telephone me and we can organise a test flight view of the wing

 Phil Cooper  tel 07947 824370   email:PHILCOOPERALICE@aol.com

 

 

Woody Valley X-Act airbag PG harness. Medium, blue/black 
(£460 brand new) less than 20 hours, looking for £225 ono.
dean.naylor@axa-tech.com
 

Freex Spear Large, Blue 20 hours, DHV 2

Freex Spear Medium, Blue 70 hours, DHV 2

Offers invited on both.

Ian Clague 0771 472 0583

 

UP paragliding harness, medium, excellent condition. C/w cross bracing and back protection,

£100 ono

Alan 01452 504000 (Glos)

 

Harley Sirocco (Large, 92kg-120kg) Acpul 12A rated, c/w harness; £250 ono

Dennis 07876 492406

AIRTOPIA

New Gradient Aspen is the best DHV2

Airwave Sport is the best DHV1/2

 

Vol Libre magazine makes the Gradient Aspen its glider of the year….the best DHV2 glider available today, an incredible achievement considering the quality of some other DHV 2 gliders that are also available.  After being in production for some time the Airwave Sport is still the best DHV ½……

Call for a copy of the translation….

We believe the DHV 1/2 Gradient Golden will also be a class beater. We have demo gliders available now…

!

Second hand canopies

Edel Atlas small                   fab condition 65-80kg                              £600.00

Trekking Sunbeam              very clean      95-110kg                            £875.00

Firebird Ignition                  excellent low airtime 75-95kg                   £825.00

Nova X Act                          Very Low airtime 85-105kg                       £900.00

Nova X Act                           plenty life left    85-105kg                        £450.00

Nova Xyon Large                    Good 105-125 kg                                     offers

Edel Sabre xLarge                     Fair  100-120kg                                     offers

 

The New Stuff

Canopies from Ozone, Gin, Gradient and Airwave, demo’s available, part exchange a possibility!

Call Robin tel 01453 827202

Mobile           07973 844449

www.airtopia.com   robin@airtopia.com

We are very easy to find, just off junction 13 of the M5, check out the map on the web site…..

 

 

Flying Diary

Sunday 28th Sept
Mynd NW 8-12-0-6mph. A good street came through late morning and a few early birds got away whilst a Litespeed disappeared upwind. The rest were stuck around T/O as it stopped working, then a shower stopped play for an hour mid-afternoon. Sunny after but it dropped off; just as we were thinking of leaving a couple of brave souls found some zeros in front prompting a massed launch and much aerial combat. Luckily the zeros got better and Nigel D and I had nearly an hour playing at base with a few others before we decided to fly back to land at Craven Arms. Nigel hitched back and will tell you how he ended up in a police car - something to do with sheep and bushes allegedly.
Reports of flying at Bluff, Builth and Selsley as well. Good day all round then (but not for the sheep).
TC

 

Thurs 25 Sept
Haresfield SSW 4-8mph. It had been up and down since midday according to Tom and Rob D; Howard had a couple of hops ending at the bottom. A bit of a cycle came through and two of us wound it up; the drift was slow but the climb stayed together and I had a fantastic flight right over the middle of Gloucester. The views were just amazing, and small cu's were working so it was easy to stay at 5 grand whilst enjoying it. I had an easy glide over to home, wound off 4 grand and landed outside my house just in time for tea. Superb, the best 12km ever!
TC

 

Haresfield September 24th
Took off from Haresfield on my paraglider in virtually nil wind and got up to 2000 feet. Landed at Quedgeley
Frank

 

Saturday 20th September 5.30pm. (20% Paramotor)
Well what an experience ! I took off in virtually nil wind and headed off WSW to join up with 3 Balloonists over the Kidderminster - Bromsgrove valley. Bit of slow moving dark cloud to the west, but thought nothing of it. After 20 minutes I had caught up with the Balloons, who were now heading due east. When I got there I realised there was no need for the engine as there seemed to be some restitutional lift. So off with the motor and glided on towards them. Then I found that I was going up at quite a rate (2.5 m/s) I thought it must have been the dark cloud? I headed off east and came across sink again in the clear sky. I had out run the balloons by about 2k now, so I headed back towards them. Again I found strong lift and turbulence. Once in the lift, it was quite smooth if a little strong. It was at this time I realised it was the small weather front providing the lift and not just a dark cloud. So not to be out done, I decided to "surf the front" and had great fun in and out of the lift, again no need for the engine. After about 45 minutes It started to get a bit rough and the light was starting to go, so I thought I would head off through the front back down to the landing field. No chance, the headwind was about 20mph and the GPS suggested ETA of about 2 hours back to takeoff. Not enough fuel for that, so I headed off east to look for a suitable landing field. In the end it was right next to Hewell Grange prison. Great 75 minute flight and only 1.5 litres of fuel had been used. I'm really glad I experienced those conditions. I doubt if I will come across them again!?
Cheers, Richard

 

Got back from Dune Du Pyla On the Atlantic coast near Bordeux last week. Spent two fantastic weeks enjoying the coastal soaring and HOT weather. It was flyable 9 of the 14 days. The site is excellent for beginners and those looking to have some real fun in the relative safety of the dunes. The locals are nuts (think along the lines of 70 degree bank angle wing-overs very close to the ground with someone hanging from their ankles!). They made me realise how much I still have to learn. The best part of the trip aside from the huge boost to my airtime was the confidence and skill I achieved with my ground handling. I saw so many people who couldn't hold the wing over their heads and a few even trying to alpine launch in 15 mph winds (and suffering for it, maybe pilots who only fly alpine sites?) For anyone travelling in southern France the Dune is a great place. It offers something for all levels and is a great place to brush up your skills and practice low level manoeuvres and landings. In late August the sea breeze sets up at about 1pm and if its to strong in the afternoon its normally possible to fly early evening until 7-8pm. Overall a great coastal site. The only downside I experienced was witnessing two unnecessary accidents. One lady trainee was blown over the back and hung up in the trees (launching in to strong conditions combined with a lack of experience, didn't attempt big ears or have a speed bar) and the second was a German guy who flew into the railings of a stairway ( no helmet or boots). You will see a lot of pilots without protective gear at this site.

Simon

 

Tues 9th Sept
Frocester WNW 12mph. Lots out on the promise of a good day, but when the cu formed it was very ragged and although half a dozen of us limped away in lumpy thermal. AFAIK everyone was on the deck after a couple of kms. Then it picked right up and went SW.
TC

 

Saturday 6th September
Flew Rhossilli. 16mph on take-off, though it felt stronger in the air. I got 1700ft above pimple. They were also flying at Woolacombe and getting to cloudbase
Frank

 

Great flying with Bob and George in and around Nice / Cannes / Grasse last week. Superb sites of Monaco, Greolieres, St André. Flew all 7 days with great thermalling, height and distance (out and return).
Best flying was 1030 till 1230 and then 1530 to 1730. Thermals between these times were like 'rockets' - 1500 ft/min in one of them !
Very nearly impossible to get down at times - even big ears still sent the gliders up! First time I have elected to opt out (land) of early afternoon flying.
Met Robbie W , Mark T and Bruce G (flying the new proto sport 2 in evening lift of 0.0001 m/s - looks very impressive (the glider not him!))
Best holiday flying week I have ever experienced. Well recommended for 40+ hours post CP.
Richard

 

Monday 8th Sept
Kettlesings, SE-NE 5mph. Too light initially and the demo Grid is a pig on the ground. Eventually some good thermal as it went North; thermalled around at 3,500ft for an hour or so as the sky got blacker and filled in.
TC

 

Sat 6th Sept WNW Fresh
Demo Firebird Grid. Too strong at Tredegar so went to secret site X (C.H.) on the way home. Took off and found it was still too strong; had an unpleasant top to bottom using a lot of bar, barely penetrating in gusty conditions (not recommended). Fair play to the Grid, it didn’t twitch once.
TC

 

Thur 4th Sept
Kettlesings SE-SSE 12mph gusty. Cycling through strongly, really rough and not very nice in the air. I missed a couple of climbs as Garry Sandell got away from Castlemorton (his canopy flapping in the climb like a very flappy thing allegedly). I took one and finally got away, loads of sailplanes over the back, probably from the Nationals at Nymphsfield. I kept blundering into the middle of their gaggles as they hogged the best thermals. Eventually got over Ludlow at 45km and decided to wind off a lot of height to land at the same place as Sunday for another cuppa and lift back to civilisation. Well, somethings are better than just clocking up more kms. Garry did a fantastic 86km but didn't get a cuppa. On Castlemorton it was interesting with several flappy moments and Steve Castledine fell in a tree. Don't worry, the tree is OK.
TC

 

Tue 2nd September
Light variable W. Another classic looking Simpsons sky only this time it didn’t overdevelop immediately. Someone must have done something good, probably in Wales. The previous days overdevelopment put me off going out, darn it. And Richard W managed to get away from Frocester for 80km just to make me feel better.
TC

 

Mon 1st Sept
Leckhampton N 10mph. Inspired by the great w/e flights in the unstable airstream, not least Neil Robert’s 172km, quite a gaggle turned up. The early birds got the climb and we unpacked and watched as Rich Westgate, Gary S and another went for it and allegedly repeated Saturdays epic. On T/O the great looking sky instantly overdeveloped and stayed that way all day. After 2 hours of not much, a decent climb swept a lucky few up to great heights and nice cruising around over Cheltenham at 2000ft for a while, but that was all.
TC