Going no-where

[MadDog]

Can't quite make my mind up about yesterdays flying at Wether Fell.....To say that you were enjoying yourself, and couldn't imagine a nicer way to fill your day in would be slightly untruthful....
I know that there is flying and there is flying.....but yesterdays flying?
Let's see now, you are being hauled up.....the glider is going backwards....there is a massive bank of cloud, below and behind you just waiting to gobble you all up....the speed bar....( Why do they call it that?)
is down around your ankles....I mean.....when you are really stuffed, then you are really stuffed.....I kept thinking about that old TV cigar advert.... I could just hear the double bass playing.....
Just sit back and enjoy what you've got bonny lad ....there just isn't nothing you can do about it..... and that's just what I did....after all there is always someone worse off than yourself.....and that was the someone below and even further back than me....I saw him pulling big-ears and thought to myself......Not a wise move son.....Don't know what happened to him, but I hope he got home to his loved ones with the same Bone structure that he had when he left them that morning.....
I had my own dilemma to face....and I faced it by deciding that the only thing I could do, was stick with the plan, which was of course that there was no plan...just keep pressing the speedy up thingy, let go of the brakes, get the camera out and face it like a man and slowly but surely I did start to creep back to take off.....that wasn't quite the end of it, but I will bore you no further....
Now isn't it funny though....you sit there in your little harness world, in all appearance....the master of your own destiny, you look around you, at the gliders to your right and left, some higher, some lower....and to your eyes, why ....they are the same as you, masters of their own destiny as well.....
How wrong can you be?.....aren't looks deceptive?.....never believe what you see...
I wasn't the only one fighting for my life.....we all were....
Brian Day, reached for his speed bar only to find it snagged and unusable ...so it was goodbye to him and exit stage right.......and pick me up at Semer water if you please....
I must admit, it all seems very amusing now. but now that I look back at it, the flying had all the hallmarks of disaster
And there you go.....Conclusion?
Para gliders and wave do not go together.....I will think twice about flying at Wether-Fell.....or elsewhere, for that matter...If I ever spot the signs that where obvious to anybody with half a brain....That's why we take Neil with us.....but he still didn't see the obvious...
If the wind is coming and going, and people are going up, when it's just too light for others to get off.....Or if you see banks of lowish cloud with the dangly bits going in all directions. then it's time to consider whether or not it's worth the risk of flying......as it happens, yesterday, we weren't getting
particularly high, a couple of grand probably....but if it were the six and seven grand stuff that you normally get there.....then I would say that you are definitely going to be in trouble, in fact, it just doesn't bear thinking about.....My memory isn't that good....but wasn't it Colin Ryder, way back in the eighties, got to some ridicules' height on the self same hill?.....somewhere around the 18,000 foot mark.....Can you imagine being that height on your bag of washing? .....why ya buggar, your mother would never see her son again.....
So there you go then....Keep on your mums good side and don't let her catch you going backwards, when you should be going forwards....You know it makes sense
And if you ever get to get a word in edgeways when Super-Ron is talking. just ask him about his wave flying experiences during the few years that he won the Scottish open.....
Well worth the listen!
And a couple of pictures....Looking back at take off....and Gary and Neil getting ready for take off at Fremlington Edge!

[gary stenhouse]

john you should be wrighting books for a living, beautifuly written with stile.

all you need now is a big xc and life will be complete

cheers gary

[ron freeman]

Great write up John and totally honest, Iv'e flown many national HG league championships on Wether fell ! brilliant site and a well known site for powerful wave..

Iv'e only flown a paraglider in gentle wave (deliberately) past experiences on hangglides in wave.. the more height you get the more speed you need so you will always struggle with paragliders in wave, be very careful John you would not want to hit rotor flying a paraglider !

If wave conditions are forcasted.. study theses conditions thoroughly before you end up in very strong lift then disappear into cloud !

Colin Ryder took off from Glenshee and flew to 16,500asl !
John Dunker took off from Wether Fell and flew to 13,500asl

Brian day.. get it sorted

Love the pic's

[brian day]

Brian Day, reached for his speed bar only to find it snagged and unusable ...so it was goodbye to him and exit stage right.......and pick me up at Semer water if you please....

It happened twice in one day!!!!!Not amused
Checked before take off on both occasions, now sorted, not to my liking, but the brummel hooks now complete with tape.
Fortunately there was no panic, plenty of height, picked a good line and made a run for it, problem was getting down Eventually managed it at the far side of Semmer Water, spiralling most of the way,,,,that road from the lake to Semmer take off is steep! took me 20 mins to walk up to get a moby signal and call for the troops to rescue.
The evening 'bloof' as it was described was far from smooth either!
After a very long winter with little flying I had to get back in the saddle very quickly with some active flying and some quick descison making.
Make sure there's a plan b and c!!!!!!

[gary stenhouse]

its interesting looking at my track and see how much i spent going backwords though i was always traking to the north to get into the clear air. with more speed it would of been more spectacular but i still think it was one of the most amazing flights and seeing john to my left kept me feeling happy

chees gary

[ron freeman]

Gary, for years some members like to take the pi.s when I talk about wave flying.. I am so pleased that you have now fully experienced this type of flying because you cannot discribe what its realy like until you have done it, well done.

Next time do it on your hangglider with that extra speed.. amazing

[gary stenhouse]

i can only imagine how it would of been like on the rs when you know you can just pull forward when you like. i have never experienced such smoth lift other than the smoothest of fly downs. a priveledge that had left me much higher then what we flew as the experience was so different and the view was just mind blowing. but the whole time one eye behind looking for my escape if things got rough or just got too high. you should get that phantom out some time and enjoy the performance

cheers gary

[ron freeman]

I do but not tried for wave yet..

[gary stenhouse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU6s-dujjQs
this is the video alex took yesterday watch and enjoy

[GlennP]

I'm glad John put this honest account of the flying at Weather Fell.

I thought I'd seen some posts from low airtimers thinking they'd missed out on a great day and kicking themselves.

I hate to think of some poor red ribbon pilot on a DHV1 having a crack at that on Weather Fell.

Most seemed to be flying DHV2s or 2/3s with full speed bar. At 1min 22 sec on Alexs video Gary seemed to be going backwards on his high pef wing.

Alex was pulling some fairly advanced manouvres to get back down on his video.

Take some of the 'great day on (insert hill)' reports with a pinch of salt . Great day if you've got 200 hours , don't mind taking risks, have current skills and a high performance rig.

After a poor winter flying wise I'd hate to see some rusty or low airtime pilot disappearing into the cloud on such a day just to get their feet off the ground.

Thanks for the great write up John. Another cracker!

[colin keightley]

I wouldnt read too much into the big wingovers from alex ive never seen a good flying day where alex isnt at some point getting his glider nose down.