how fare want's you fly my friend? well tryet tomorrow, today, it's just too much, let's have a pint, and try again tomorrow, or you might never have a pint again...
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/i ... _14_02_07/
Paragliding World Cup Manilla 2007...flying hardcore
Moderator: Club Moderators
Scary..... very scary.........
Look at this pic from the sequence:
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/i ... G_1059.jpg
Count the gliders flying straight toward the storm..... including the two about to enter cloud!
Look at this pic from the sequence:
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/i ... G_1059.jpg
Count the gliders flying straight toward the storm..... including the two about to enter cloud!
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John Wallis
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- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:17 pm
- Location: Northumberland
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Mike Brown
- Regular
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- Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:00 am
Having spent a number of years flying in and around this sort of stuff those photos are shocking!! I would have turned a 737 away from a cell like that well before the distance those photos were taken from. Any large building Cumulus cloud is not a pleasant place to be inside never mind a CB!! Life in a CB is another world all together you dont want to be any where near them believe me. Very rarely they can be as smooth as silk when you enter one but usually all hell breaks loose and at these times I often wished I had a job as a council bog cleaner instead!! The thought of being within 15miles of any CB on a Paraglider makes me feel sick just thinking about it! It was our Airlines policy to avoid large CB's by 25miles (where possible!) and that was in an aeroplane designed to take it!!
I have seen people flying along on Model ridge with a CB building behind Carlton and thinking its fine! Maybe they got lucky that day and it was but one day it'll get you nowt is more certain!
So my advise is if you see little fluffy Cumulus starting to grow quite rapidly or there is a big black thing starting to appear or early morning there is a lot of Cumulus Castelanus about, be warned land or go do something else!!
I think we all do this for the pleasure it gives us and not to be sh*t scared by it which is definately what you will be if you end up in a Biggy! (or DEAD!)
Fly Safe
Regards
Chief Tosser!
I have seen people flying along on Model ridge with a CB building behind Carlton and thinking its fine! Maybe they got lucky that day and it was but one day it'll get you nowt is more certain!
So my advise is if you see little fluffy Cumulus starting to grow quite rapidly or there is a big black thing starting to appear or early morning there is a lot of Cumulus Castelanus about, be warned land or go do something else!!
I think we all do this for the pleasure it gives us and not to be sh*t scared by it which is definately what you will be if you end up in a Biggy! (or DEAD!)
Fly Safe
Regards
Chief Tosser!
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John Wallis
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- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:17 pm
- Location: Northumberland
Mike I wonder if low airtime pilots are aware of clouds like this? We tend to take it for granted and I wonder if it's worth a little piece on various types of clouds and what they can do to you. I think all the club coaches could help with this one.
Is there anyone out there not sure what a cu nimb looks like or what it can do to you if you go with 10 mile of it??
Don't be shy this is a good time to learn.
JW
Is there anyone out there not sure what a cu nimb looks like or what it can do to you if you go with 10 mile of it??
Don't be shy this is a good time to learn.
JW
Livetrack24 wannyjollis
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
I understand the concept of cloud suck and would never go near a set of clouds like that, but I could do with some more pointers.
For example, lets say you're flying around and you can see a big dark cloud approaching (not a monster cu-Nimb, just obviously a very active cloud).
At what distance does it start to exert it's affects? 1 mile? 10 miles?
What happens if you are near the ground? I remember my first trip to East hill and pilots were scratching around deliberately to stay away from cloud suck before deciding to call it a day and land. Is this OK? or only for the very experienced?
Cheers,
Mike
For example, lets say you're flying around and you can see a big dark cloud approaching (not a monster cu-Nimb, just obviously a very active cloud).
At what distance does it start to exert it's affects? 1 mile? 10 miles?
What happens if you are near the ground? I remember my first trip to East hill and pilots were scratching around deliberately to stay away from cloud suck before deciding to call it a day and land. Is this OK? or only for the very experienced?
Cheers,
Mike
Its a good point. From a novice point of view it can be difficult to judge when a cloud stops being a friendly cloud and starts being a nasty one. I was left on my own last saturday and landed because i didn't like the look of a cloud and was asking Ian about it afterwards, because i was probably being a bit too cautious, but figured better safe than sorry..........
Its easy enough when they are obviously one way or another, but seems to be a fine line to judge in between..........
Its easy enough when they are obviously one way or another, but seems to be a fine line to judge in between..........
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John Wallis
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- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:17 pm
- Location: Northumberland
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John Wallis
- Seasoned
- Posts: 4072
- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:17 pm
- Location: Northumberland
Some good points already mentioned.
Mikey ....Cloud suck on East Hill? You should be so lucky.
Cu Nimbs or CBs Just keep out of the sky is the easiest.
Fair weather Cumulus in a high pressure system are generally no bother as the high pressure will limit vertical development. Cumulus in a low pressure system you will need to keep an eye on how they are building. If you can't see above you look at the size of the shadow on the ground if the cloud is large and building land or get away from it.
If you are thermalling to wards cloud you want the lift to decrease as you near base. If the vario starts going ballistic and the lift increases as you approach base you need to move fast to the sinking edge of the cloud. Some large cumulus can reach great heights without over development. These clouds are full of ice and not the place to be on a paraglider.
You may have heard Ronnie Freeman talking about "Wave" This is the magical lift that comes with the air flowing over hills or mountain ranges. There is also great danger with wave and it's associated "Lee rotor cloud" Beware of this cloud at all cost. Read the link as it describes wave and associated rotor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_waves
A short story
I was walking with the kids up Jenkin Hill in the Lakes a few years back and we stopped to have a drink and a sarnie beside the paraglider pilots. There were two blokes within earshot discussing how they were going to fly into cloud as they had read you can navigate by the sun. As my shoulders were going up and down like Muttleys I listened on. There wasn't much wind on the hill but the cumis were of a canny size and were offering "Much" lift. I eventually spoke and suggested that they didn't enter cloud as you cannot see the sun. In fact you can see *uck all and you can't navigate when you're in them unless you have certain instruments which they didn't. They asked who I was and replied that's not important just don't do it.
I went a touch further up the hill and lay in the sun and watched. One guy took off and climbed vertically and it wasn't very long before he went into cloud, I don't know how long he was in as I didn't see him come out by the time I started climbing again. But what was worth hearing was the conversation on the radio
It sounded like someone has a grip on his shallots as his voice was several octaves higher. My money was on him not doing it again.
Mikey ....Cloud suck on East Hill? You should be so lucky.
Cu Nimbs or CBs Just keep out of the sky is the easiest.
Fair weather Cumulus in a high pressure system are generally no bother as the high pressure will limit vertical development. Cumulus in a low pressure system you will need to keep an eye on how they are building. If you can't see above you look at the size of the shadow on the ground if the cloud is large and building land or get away from it.
If you are thermalling to wards cloud you want the lift to decrease as you near base. If the vario starts going ballistic and the lift increases as you approach base you need to move fast to the sinking edge of the cloud. Some large cumulus can reach great heights without over development. These clouds are full of ice and not the place to be on a paraglider.
You may have heard Ronnie Freeman talking about "Wave" This is the magical lift that comes with the air flowing over hills or mountain ranges. There is also great danger with wave and it's associated "Lee rotor cloud" Beware of this cloud at all cost. Read the link as it describes wave and associated rotor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_waves
A short story
I was walking with the kids up Jenkin Hill in the Lakes a few years back and we stopped to have a drink and a sarnie beside the paraglider pilots. There were two blokes within earshot discussing how they were going to fly into cloud as they had read you can navigate by the sun. As my shoulders were going up and down like Muttleys I listened on. There wasn't much wind on the hill but the cumis were of a canny size and were offering "Much" lift. I eventually spoke and suggested that they didn't enter cloud as you cannot see the sun. In fact you can see *uck all and you can't navigate when you're in them unless you have certain instruments which they didn't. They asked who I was and replied that's not important just don't do it.
I went a touch further up the hill and lay in the sun and watched. One guy took off and climbed vertically and it wasn't very long before he went into cloud, I don't know how long he was in as I didn't see him come out by the time I started climbing again. But what was worth hearing was the conversation on the radio
It sounded like someone has a grip on his shallots as his voice was several octaves higher. My money was on him not doing it again.Livetrack24 wannyjollis
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”