uneventful flight, no Sunset, but very interesting discoveries!

Thomas's picture
Flight diary details
Date of Flight: 
27 Jan 2012
Takeoff site: 
Mount Caburn
Wing Type: 
Paraglider
Wind Direction: 
WSW
Wind Strength: 
10-15mph
Sky: 
Overcast
Pilots present: 
<5

Just wanted to have a little late afternoon flight, I love flying while the sun is setting! Unfortunately a weather front was approaching when I passed Lewis (at 4 pm) and that was the "beautiful" sunset. Coming from Lewis I had seen a Glider in the air on Caburn, which looked promising. Wind was still fine on the bottom of the hill and I made my way up, finding medium wind and a not too fast approaching front. When I reached the top I found Laura and Ashley from Australia just packing up their wings, really praising the smooth flying conditions here. Starting to chat to them I found out that they are touring the south east on a Tandem bike (!) with trailer (!), with full camping gear (!) and 2 paragliders on board (!). They were just about to pitch up tent nearby for the night, hoping for tomorrows weather to be flyable! Coming from hot Australia they did not seem to mind the English winter temperatures at all, absolutely amazing!!! They intend to be around as long as it is flyable, you might meet them on the hill this weekend!

I had 20 uneventful minutes of ridge soaring and then decided to land because of the front and rain coming closer.