well what a day at bleaze we had

[gary stenhouse]

well what a great day with some nice thermals and strong ridge lift it was not a place for new pilots. i must say i have had a few kickings and every time its always jenkin off the gully. then talking to gary hume on his hg he said the same and over blease gully he went negative on his glider which takes a fare bit.

but after 3hours 38 minutes i finaly manged to push out far enough and get back in to close a small 15k trinagle after blood and sweat. i thought it was going to be an easy task but with 20 plus kmh wind it was not too easy and i had to constantly use bar.

cheers gary

[gary stenhouse]

http://www.xcleague.com/xc/flights/2010602.html?vx=0

looks likes stags fell was doing big things today, i thought i heard some radio talking as they left the hill with mike cav flying over 100k yet again and ed flying 83k the rest were 50 and 20-30k all great flights but i see the start of the cheviots had him decked pretty soon, he should of known better than to head east as the cheviots are illegal to fly through without special permision or you get sink sink sink

cheers gary

[Kitt Rudd]

I think you will find mike was stopped by a combination of airspace (otterburn) and running into a easterly sea breeze

I on the otherhand was decked by dithering

[ron freeman]

Now't to do with the Cheviots Gary... you should know that sea breezes deck everything ! unless you have a paramotor

Anyway with all this big hill flying Gary its time you started to break some NHPC club site records

[gary stenhouse]

if only but i think the lambing in northumberland goes on forever and by the time it is over then spring is over an the seabreezes will come in on most good days.

we need to get dispensation for good xc days and be allowed a 20 minute window to get up and away and then we could be in bussines.

i guess staggs was a good choice but with members only and only 6 gliders then did not want to go there and upsett the locals. still can not understand this ruling as its like having a road with maximum cars its either open to fly or not as the size of staggs could take 20-30 gliders and still not be crowded.

dithering who forgot there airmaps as i could hear some folk talking who sounded a bit lost?

cheers gary

[Kitt Rudd]

I had a full compliment of airmaps my mistake was flying slow and getting stuck at the A66 but then again did fly some way with Paolo which is always good

[gary stenhouse]

interested how others found there flying on saturday?

its funny how we all fly the same skies and yet we can all get different air the same air yet interprit it differently.

i mean my thoughts were how smooth 90% of the air was exept those bloody gullies over to jenking though i am sure they are not thermals as devils. still not so happy when the wind is quite so strong as there was times when you had very little forward speed. yet i kept on seeing gliders right at the back of the gullies where even on a 2-3 and good forward speed i would not of put myself there. i was not sure if this was just me being cautious or others not realising the possible dangers expecialy in top end conditions.

still we all make are own decisions but remember what lies behind you and if you are on a spine back then you best be on your guard.

cheers gary

[nickonanova]

i agree Gary, personally i'm not a fan of crowded skys and consider myself some thing of a wuss, i think this is why i tend to fly further out from the hill and seek lift there, i thought the air felt good on saturday there was some strong lift and sink to match, especialy over Jenkin, as usual the glider behaved very well and i was very comfortable with the conditions. i didn't have any urges to get close to the ridge as i thought the wind was a tad strong and wouldn't have taken much of an increase to have a lot of people in big trouble. having said that if i had gotten closer and followed you into that gullie at the far end i might have flown back to takeoff instead of having to walk i guess we all fly for different reasons and with different goals and comfort levels. one day i might push myself to fully exploit my wings capabilities and join the guys doing big distances but as i know it is more than capable its just held back by the numpty dangeling underneath. ho hum enough of my rambling what did every one else think???

[Chris L]

I was surprised what forward speed I had whilst I was flying considering the strength of the wind on the hill at launch.
I didn't have any problems and was happy to drop back into the gullies (ie fly between the spurs) along Blease on the way down to Souther whilst maintaining between 9 & 15 kph forward speed.
Strong thermals down at Scales but well established and nothing untoward.
After flying to Jenkin I found the wind to be coming through in stronger bursts but crossed low from Blease and just wasn't high enough to stay up despite getting in close
Re-launched from Lonscale Fell to find I was going backwards after gaining height and with speedbar on pushed forward to the landing field at Jenkin.
In my experience I have found Jenkin more difficult flying conditions v's Blease particularly in higher winds or when the sea breeze comes in from the West and hits this first and starts to get rotary from the gullies etc
Great days flying though, but keep an eye on your forward speed when flying and signs of the sea breeze coming in

[John Wallis]

I think if you see pilots over the ridge top on even a slightly windy day they either don't know the dangers or they are just stupid. Paragliders aren't built for wind or serious penetration, conditions like that will get you. Slightly different on a hang glider as you have more performance. Spring thermal big gulleys wind Ughhh

[brian day]

I must admit it took me a great deal of time to take off, as I felt that the wind was, strong and increasing. I couldn't believe the number of pilots flying in the gullies and at the back of the ridge in such conditions. Even after a long wait, when I was happy with the conditions, I wasn't going to venture to either area. There was certainly enough lift about further from the hill to enjoy height and the scenery.
But hey, every man to themselves, we alll make our own decisions where and when to fly, assess the risks and descide where to fly.
But I would always be very cautious in the big hills.