Flying is wonderful, its about freedom and exploring new places, getting to cloudbase, Its about viewing the mountains from above and seeing things from new vista's that can never be seen whilst on the ground. I love it
In the past 10 days I've had some spectacular flying in the Lakes and Scotland, but after many of these flights I go home frustrated that I didn't go further or close the triangle I'd planned and all because my rating of satisfaction for many flights is based on the points scored
In Glencoe I climbed out when others landed, I flew onto, and climbed up the face of the Buachaille past climbers on the crags above the snow topped peak, on down the valley to the Aonach Eagach ridge and back to the Kings House Hotel whilst managing to get back up to cloudbase on two occasions from almost landing I've walked and climbed these peaks and now seen them from above, but still I was not happy because I should have gone further, scored extra points, others had done that and moved up to a higher position in the XC league
In the lakes I had a wonderful flight on Swinside playing in the seabreeze convergence cloud, flying to Hopegill Head and then to Whinlatter and landing on the Top to bag another Wainwright, but I could hear on the radio people flying on Blease and flying big triangles and then scoring big on the league. Wrong choice of site for points
That afternoon I went to Walla and had my best flight at this site flying across the middle of the lake, back to Bleaberry Fell and down toward Borrowdale before landing for a beer at Castlerigg, still not many points to add to my meagre collection
The following day I had to work and watched from my office at home wings climbing out at Clough to great heights before disappearing down the ridge to gain more points
Leagues bloody leagues comparisons with others of how far you can fly how many points you can collect, declaring flights to gain multipliers for extra points flying ridiculous routes and getting back to the start for more points.
The problem with all this is that it leads to misery and discontentment.
That is until the day arrives when you’ve gone the furthest and you do that one rare flight and go big and score mega points or set a site record then the points are just so wonderful. You are the hero of the day, a skygod in your head. So I have decided I will continue to collect the points and be miserable for the sacrifice of one day scoring the jackpot flight and beating the rest.
This all has to be put into perspective against what a bloody fantastic thing it is just to fly a paraglider and soar on the winds and ride the rising currents of air over the mountains across the lakes, so when I don’t collect the points and I land I’ll try to think about where I’ve been and what I’ve seen and how bloody lucky I am to do this wonderful fantastic thing called paragliding
The Misery of Chasing Points
Moderator: Club Moderators
The Misery of Chasing Points
Feel the fear and do it anyway!
Wonderfully put, Chris the shear thrill of flying.
PS. Chris are the bright lights on your risers, Bottle Top's.
On your photo!
PS. Chris are the bright lights on your risers, Bottle Top's.
On your photo!
Last edited by RonDon on Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Everyone who lives dies, yet not everyone who dies, has lived. We take these risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping us ...
- ron freeman
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- Full Name: Ron Freeman CFI
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points !
I Chris, competition flying is a whole lot different to casual flying.. there are many great pilots out there who can fly to cloudbase and achieve good distances going XC but when you have to perform when the heat it on ! this is a totally different ball game..
Some pilots can do it without thinking and most have to work very hard to suck up the pressure to perform at their very best most of the time.
The more work you do on the bottom (preparation) the more relaxed you will be in the air and the great flight will be achieved.
So many times I listen to pilots on the hill and they talk of this and that but no preparation has been done.. its all spur of the moment stuff and after their flight they wonder why they have failed.
I'll give you 3 good tips to successful XC flights - Preparation, preparation & more preparation
Some pilots can do it without thinking and most have to work very hard to suck up the pressure to perform at their very best most of the time.
The more work you do on the bottom (preparation) the more relaxed you will be in the air and the great flight will be achieved.
So many times I listen to pilots on the hill and they talk of this and that but no preparation has been done.. its all spur of the moment stuff and after their flight they wonder why they have failed.
I'll give you 3 good tips to successful XC flights - Preparation, preparation & more preparation
Maximise your time & dosh do both Hanggliding & Paragliding
- gary stenhouse
- Superstar
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- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:21 pm
- Full Name: Gary Stenhouse
- Location: Company Director
for me its more about the time in the air as much as anything else for example
if I went to glencoe and ended with a 1 hour bumble and found out some flew for 3-5 hours then I would be disappointed.
however if I done a 3-5 hour flight but no real distance I would be happy, the thing is its the preparation the others put in that makes the difference.
barney and the guy will work out the best routes to take to avoid see breeze etc to keep them focussed through what will be very challenging flying. as we will turn up with no route in mind so end up doin a bumble about playing it safe landing back at the car.
today is a example to you go to carlton with a goal in mind or see what happens?
with a goal you are more likely to go cross wind and ths can make a huge difference between a short flight the coast or big flight.
lately I have landed super happy every time as I have been flying little sites and made some good flights
if I went to glencoe and ended with a 1 hour bumble and found out some flew for 3-5 hours then I would be disappointed.
however if I done a 3-5 hour flight but no real distance I would be happy, the thing is its the preparation the others put in that makes the difference.
barney and the guy will work out the best routes to take to avoid see breeze etc to keep them focussed through what will be very challenging flying. as we will turn up with no route in mind so end up doin a bumble about playing it safe landing back at the car.
today is a example to you go to carlton with a goal in mind or see what happens?
with a goal you are more likely to go cross wind and ths can make a huge difference between a short flight the coast or big flight.
lately I have landed super happy every time as I have been flying little sites and made some good flights