Southern Hang Gliding Club

David Bailey?

Neville Styke — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:55 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary I didn`t expect such a good day from Neville Styke:

Love that second photo; it should be submitted to Skywings.

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Nice one Bru .Margate is

craig atwell — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:48 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Margate from craig atwell:

Nice one Bru .Margate is partly out of airspace and so far only Wagga has landed there.

The XC map only shows the

davem — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:33 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Margate from davem:

The XC map only shows the airspace that overlaps your track (maximum north/south/east/west), in case of infringement. Since you didn't go far enough east to touch the western-most part of Manston, you couldn't have infringed it, so it doesn't get shown.

Bloody foreigners....

Charlie Merrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:23 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Margate from Charlie Merrett:

"St Nicholas at Wade" just didn't have the same ring to it.... Besides, Margate is in airspace.

Oh yeah, how come the Manston ATZ doesn't show up on the XC map?

Fantastic friday

PeteC — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:43 GMT

Flight Diary from PeteC:

Date of Flight: Fri, 30 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider
Landing: Northiam
XC Distance: 65.12 km

airspace infringement test

That was Mark Rubinstein l

flybrazil — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:36 GMT

Reply to Forum message 13 Over the back!? from flybrazil:

That was Mark Rubinstein l believe by the way

Mark who?

flybrazil — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:35 GMT

Reply to Forum message 13 Over the back!? from flybrazil:

Oh Grita, l see, 14 then, wow!
Paul seemed to be the first to have gone l believe.
Keny went to near Lewes( ithink)
GTO is nothing like any glider l've flown.....moves in misterious ways....dont think l will be the same playfull pilot anymore if l keep it...seems to be a glider without much sense of humor, but boy it glides!!! best flat turn ever!!! need to learn within a safe environment how to make it turn tighter, thats my only mission on it, otherwise, pretty good new generation glider, wonder if l'll ever again be able to scratch up and down the ridge on weak days?

I didn`t expect such a good day

Youngie — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:53 GMT

Flight Diary from Youngie:

Date of Flight: Fri, 30 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider

I landed at beckley N W of Rye 66.5 km, it took 2-30 hours there,and 7 hour`s back to the dyke 5 buses, it was nice going along the seafront in the sunshine, but if there`s a next time I will let the train take the strain.

SHGC Summer BBQ - Last of the Summer Climbs

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:51 GMT

Event from :

//
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$Full_Name = $_POST["Full_Name"];
$Contact_No = $_POST["Contact_No"];
$Email = $_POST["Email"];
$Quantity = $_POST["Quantity"];
$Cost = $Quantity * 10;
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{

//
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This year, we're making our summer bash bigger and better than ever before - see the summer out in style!

Groundhandling workshop and competition

More fun flying activities

Live music and DJ until late

Bouncy castle, face painting and more kids' entertainment

Extensive camping

BBQ, hog roast and cake

Local beer and cider

...and much more! More activities will be posted here as they are confirmed.

So bring your friends and family for fun and flying activities at our new location in the Sussex countryside.

Book your ticket now - tickets cost just £10, kids go free.

Order Tickets

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Credit/Debit Card using Google Checkout

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SHGC Membership

21 Montford Close

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View SHGC BBQ in a larger map
} else
{
//
// PAGE 2 GENERATED HERE
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echo "

Complete Order

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echo "

Full Name: ".$Full_Name."
";
echo "Email Address: ".$Email."
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echo "Contact No.: ".$Contact_No."
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?>

If the above details are correct click the button below to pay by Google Checkout.

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?>

Margate? Margate is that

davem — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:38 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Margate from davem:

Margate? Margate is that town 8 or 9km further east. What a slacker you are :0)
Cracking flight, Charlie. I'll swap you geography lessons for XC lessons...

Mark who?

Charlie Merrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:33 GMT

Reply to Forum message 13 Over the back!? from Charlie Merrett:

And don't forget Grita - her first XC from the Dyke??

Was that Paul who went early?

How did Kenny get on?

How was the GTO.....?

So many questions :-) back to the vino.

SBF

Charlie Merrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:29 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich from Charlie Merrett:

Because the meteo wind was quite strong there was only the SBF to the south on my right. I couldn't see a SBF from the north - that's why my track was so far south.

Compare it to my track today when there were 2 SBFs and with a much lighter meteo wind the SBF from the south pushed in past Eastbourne forcing me much further north.

At the end of the flight I was flying in the convergence of the 2 fronts - I flew north through it into the sea air and landed short of the beach while Hugh, who was a few minutes behind me reached the coast because the SBF had drifted north - ie the SBF from the south won and pushed back the front from the north. And he has a better glide.... And he's a better pilot...

If it wasn't for the airspace at Manston we could have just carried on along the convergence. Although it did get a little lumpy at the end :-)

Greta

Em — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:21 GMT

Reply to Forum message 13 Over the back!? from Em:

Don't forget the ladies!

13 Over the back!?

flybrazil — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:14 GMT

Forum message from flybrazil:

Grand day, regardless of the distances flown, l dont seem to remember so many pilots going xc....l've counted 13 pilots in total
Charlie
Eduardo
Pete
John Young
Franco
Emily
Keny
Matty
Hugh
Tfal
Craig
Mark
Paul Wotz
Anyone else?

XC Devil's Dyke to Margate

Charlie Merrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:05 GMT

Flight Diary from Charlie Merrett:

Date of Flight: Fri, 30 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider
Landing: Margate
XC Distance: 123.6 km

On the train heading home, will post the tracklog when I get back and have apologised to the wife...

Lovely day, had the most amazing time playing in the SBF with the cloud forming around me and flying through huge archways of the white stuff and climbing up the side of a wall of cloud. No camera though, doh!

Was approaching the coast near Margate and spotted another glider to my left which made the flight all the more enjoyable.
It was Hugh coming from Caburn - I landed about a km from the beach and he casually sailed over my head on his fancy new Omega8 to land next to the train station. Cheeky bugger. Best I get myself a new glider :-)

Personal best for me, 116km straight line distance but more importantly probably one of myost enjoyable flights ever.

that was more to it

flybrazil — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:05 GMT

Reply to Forum message Wow big BIG XC day for some... from flybrazil:

Eduardo landed just outside the Headcorn cylinder, (tintreden?)and on a conversation he said that on his north of the downs route, he could see that pilots that opted for the south route were seemed to be having a much more easier time during their transitions?
At one point his gps log shows him turning for 31 minutes in zeros, not gaining nor losing any hight!!
Can anyone with a bit more knowledge comment please?
Tfal, you were spot on, patience was the word of the day.

Grading

steveu — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:36 GMT

Reply to Forum message Some frames from my filming at the Dyke from steveu:

Tefal wrote:

They need grading (look a Steve's pic!) also I have the 50MB orginal frames if your are interested.

First of all, it's difficult to get good saturated pictures under the diffuse light you get from an overcast sky. OTOH, the very hard, direct light you get from the sun isn't very flattering. It's quite hard to get good portraits in the mixture of direct and overcast light on a thermic day.

Glen might be able to help you here, but I would look at using some sort of matrix (what are the available ones in Red?) plus using very high gamma settings, with large amounts of knee and black stretch if need be.

I use GIMP for grading photos - http://www.gimp.org/

Shut up, Kevie-Wevie.

SteveU.
HG/PG.

Well done mon'capitain

flybrazil — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:20 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich from flybrazil:

Thanks for the write up Charlie and sharing....On that day as you aproached Folkstone, and sped up to out run it, would l be wrong to think that you had two diferent SBF directions?

Brilliant!

Em — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:11 GMT

Reply to Forum message Some frames from my filming at the Dyke from Em:

Those pictures are really good. I think you have captured the real essence of some of the people.

I like!

Jack and Jill?

Em — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:06 GMT

Reply to Forum message Wow big BIG XC day for some... from Em:

I was further than Jack and Jill, you were obviously at some dodgy angle. I was somewhere on the border of the Thames, then remembered I had to go to work this afternoon, so returned to complete the triangle, so landed exactly where I meant to!

Sadly you bombed out near Horsham and failed on the epic triangle trip

:)

Some frames from my filming at the Dyke

tefal — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:01 GMT

Forum message from tefal:

follow the link

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/102969728926173173248/DykeFrames#5499787033344728738

then click full screen
then F11

They need grading (look a Steve's pic!) also I have the 50MB orginal frames if your are interested.

p.s. Note how shit my wide angle lens is (see Greta pic)

what??

tefal — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:35 GMT

Reply to Forum message Wow big BIG XC day for some... from tefal:

you mean on the buses?

It's Too Easy

Neville Styke — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:16 GMT

Reply to Forum message Wow big BIG XC day for some... from Neville Styke:

Well, I like going out on just the cloudy days; it's more challenging!

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Wow big BIG XC day for some...

tefal — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:24 GMT

Forum message from tefal:

Me Craig and Franko all bombed (we made the mistake of going inland, we should have gone around the front on such a weak day). In the end we just got weak small climbs that were rather wind blown (think it was more Epic up-top, Hugh said it was fast flying up there).

Oh and before I get too good with my excuses, Edwardo proved that it could be done inland and got to near Ashford? He did appear to piss all over the two and a half though? The naught boy (I don't know, these jolly foreigners).

Charlie has gone all the way. He has now joined Mark's exclusive Margate on a PG club (from the Dyke). What is Charlie on? I mean the guy is not even flying one of the latest rigifoil hot ships? He is a the top of his game at the mo...

Hugh went to the wrong hill doh! but still managed to squeak away from a low save over Caburn carpark on his new super duper red Omega 8. he too went to Margate (but from Caburn).

Matty flew brilliantly getting to Ashford (80k) as did Pete C. managing to get to Northian (70k?). Funny thing was, I had the chance to join you when I was at the race course before Lewes But though5t "No the punters are going the wrong way" :-)

Greta, buoyed up By Emile's recent success, absolutely thrashed her, managing to XC to Stamere Park against Emile's Jack and Jill :-)

not sure who I've forgotten?

Oh and being a cheap bastard I decided to get the "Adult explorer" bus ticket £5.50. It was brilliant, I mean I got all the way back from Horam area (three buses including the 77) to the Dyke for that price. Down side is that even though I landed at approx 2pm but didn't get back to the Dyke until 5pm B-)

what fun.

How far did you go?

tefal — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:21 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Fun while it lasted from tefal:

He He :-)

no apology required.

MarkR — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:18 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Fun while it lasted from MarkR:

And I can't blame that for my poorer thermalling performance.

How far did you go?

Sorry!

Charlie Merrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:51 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Fun while it lasted from Charlie Merrett:

Sorry if I scared you Mark, wasn't aware of getting too close to you but I know my separation comfort zone can be a lot closer than some.
Especially when I know the other party is a very competent pilot.
Hope I didn't put you off your thermal :-)

Charlie

Let them eat cake!

Lucho — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:49 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Lucho:

You keep flying girl!!!

And if they want cake, tell them to revise the ASDA run (unless, of course, your happy to provide).

Congratulations.

Lucho — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:41 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich from Lucho:

Once again, Congratulations in all matters!!

Thanks for the detailed write-up, it helps us aspirational types.

Fun while it lasted

MarkR — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:36 GMT

Flight Diary from MarkR:

Date of Flight: Fri, 30 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider

Arrived at 9.30 to find lots of ready pilots and no wind (but report of a big thermal having gone through).

First flight ended up slope landing below the paddock while a couple got away. The second flight I managed to get up high although I got scared when Charlie passed right under me. I watched Emily and Franco low out front catch a thermal and climb swiftly right past me as I was pootling about. Very impressive. At 11am, at about 2,500' ato, the work part of the work/life balance started calling and I contemplated ignoring and seeing if I could get any further than an Asda flop but in then end pushed back into wind to land in the clear (no crop, no lines) field in front and to the right of the Dyke where I was able to climb back up to the car.

Plenty got away; I am sure we will hear where to. Shame about the work thing but it was fun while it lasted and a good way to start the day. Need to work on my thermalling however as I was being out-climbed by all those around me.

Deal or no Deal

simon — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:52 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich from simon:

Fantastic! What happens when you practice?
(How was the trip home?)

Apco inner bag

Ian Grayland — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:41 GMT

Lost and Found from Ian Grayland:

found at the dyke yesterday attached to Dave Smith's windsock

now in the boot of my car awaiting collection

XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich

Charlie Merrett — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:59 GMT

Flight Diary from Charlie Merrett:

Date of Flight: Wed, 28 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider
Landing: Sandwich
XC Distance: 122.2 km

Franco asked me to write something up for the forum and hopefully this will be of some interest to those going XC.

Sorry if it's a bit long - it'll probably make more sense reading it while viewing the tracklog alongside it.
Click here http://www.xcleague.com/xc/flights/20101688.html?vx=04 to view the flight.
If that doesn't work go to www.xcleague.com and League Tables and scroll down to about 90th and then click on my flight (122.km)
Click on the XC Player tab and change the track colour to By Climb to see where the climbs were.

Wasn't expecting much from the day but as I was driving to the Dyke saw 2 wings climbing out around 9:30.
Expected it to be windy but got to launch and it didn't seem too strong so didn't hang around getting ready.
A blue sigma marked a climb off the spur to the right and Carlo, Emily and I joined him with Craig climbing upwind of us We left the hill at 10:15.

Got to base about 3200 ft amsl and lost sight of Carlo and Craig.
Headed east and by the time I was clear of the cloud saw Craig on my left pushing north onto the face of the downs and Carlo to my right heading towards Lewes.
I saw gulls climbing between Craig and I so turned left but watched Craig fly over them and not get anything so opted to turn and head towards Asda as the SBF was still over Brighton.
Got a weak climb over some brown fields just north of the A23 and drifted with it till I had enough height to glide to Lewes where it normally works and where there were good clouds building.
Got bit of a drilling on the way and was quite low (700ft amsl) over the A27 near Kingston. The wind was very west there - probably sea air feeding down the valley and it kicked off a very good climb (5m/s) that took me up to 2300' where I lost it and went on a glide to Caburn which had a good cloud over it.
The cloud didn't work but I got a climb just behind Airworks (marked by gulls) which got me back to base at 3300'.

Had a decision to make then whether to push inland towards Heathfield (my normal route) or stick to the coast. The SBF was well developed over Alfriston but blue beyond Hailsham over the Pevensey Levels.
Remembered what Mark Watts had said about going with the wind to Rye and then using the SBF (sea breeze front) to push north east to Deal.

I chose to take his advice and headed over Hailsham which normally works well. Got nothing over the town and then decided to take the "dry" route and skirted around the north of the Levels.
Found a weak climb and pushed into wind (NW) and then drifted with it til the climb bumped into the SBF and it kicked off properly.

The SBF then appeared out of the blue below me and on my right near Bexhill so I pushed more inland towards the tree covered ridge running into Hastings. Surprisingly got a good climb off the trees there and then headed off towards the flats near Rye.
At that point decided to try and use the SBF and so flew towards the coast where it was visibly forming. Don't normally like using the SBF as it's generally pretty rough and if you drop into the sea air it can mean the end of your flight.

Got a climb in the SBF at Winchelsea and then pushed towards Rye. After Rye it is very flat north of Lydd and all the fields were kicking off a lot of lift but it was very broken and not very strong. I guess because of the wind.
Didn't want to go down there so bumbled along in the quite strong wind and broken lift until I could get to the higher drier ground near the M20. That normally works a lot better and it did this time too.
Got my strongest climb there up to 4300' and realised I could make 100km. Had to push quite hard then inland on the bar to escape the SBF which was becoming quite well developed near Folkestone and marching inland.

Got past 100km and was pretty tired having not flown properly since May so considered going into land north of Dover. Saw a gull climbing out of the field I was heading to and thought: it would be rude not to....
Got to 2500' where it got pretty rough and so left it to go on final glide to the biggest, flattest field I could find.
Bumped into quite a lot of fairly rough lift on the way but didn't fancy making it to the beach and so landed about 4 km short - quite relieved to be on the ground after 4 hours.

Strawberry and cinnamon torte

MarkR — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:51 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from MarkR:

Strawberry and cinnamon torte? Crikey isn't the Dyke overcrowding problem bad enough without advertising cakes too!

too true!

Em — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:25 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Em:

And there will be strawberry and cinnamon torte at the Dyke tomorrow morning to demonstrate the point. New recipe I've tried out to pacify Beanie, so he'd better be there!
You can all take thermalling tips whilst eating your cake :)

Right, off to work now... better keep the dreaded 'W' word in the balance too!

And yes - us girls like to dance, especially in poppy fields!

"whilst doing a celebratory

Andrew Craig — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:42 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Andrew Craig:

"whilst doing a celebratory jumpy-dance round the poppy field"

What are you, a girl or something?

Balance

MarkR — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:21 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from MarkR:

Some of us seek to find the perfect work/life balance while others work on their fly/bake balance.

Thankyou for the feedback...

Em — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:25 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Em:

Dear Beanie,

Thank you for reminding me that I should be in the kitchen, apron-bound baking most hours of the day.

Sorry for getting ideas above my station. I'll try to keep my feet on the ground safely in some comfy slippers.

Off to dust off those baking trays...wonder if I can somehow attach a min-oven to the pod harness so I can bake and fly!

And about Brian...although I loved him dearly, I think perhaps he was a rebound after Buttercup, but with Harrison this could be a match made in heaven!

Dyke

Simon P — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:46 GMT

Flight Diary from Simon P:

Date of Flight: Thu, 29 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider

Good day at Dyke - topped out at 3000ft

STILL FOR SALE DUE TO A TIME WASTER

DaviBird — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:54 GMT

Reply to Personal Advert Timex Expedition WS4 2010 wrist watch for sale from DaviBird:

STILL FOR SALE DUE TO A TIME WASTER

Dearest Emily...

Beanie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:32 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Beanie:

Dearest Emily,

I hear you are having a fantastic time running around the countryside here and there and generally having a lovely time flying high in the sky and here and there and everywhere and back...

But... and here is the important bit...

Its not cake making is it....

You know none of this cloud hopping is ever going to amount to anything, whereas your cake making is by now legendary and ensures you are admired,adored,worshipped and loved by all those paraglider pilots who you are neglecting terribly...

While you are having a lovely time doing your very funny jumpy-dance thingy around the poppy field, they are sitting mornfully miles away from you, starving hungry and definately not eating cake...

With all best wishes....

Beanie....

(PS You know I'm only joking...Bloody well done Em it's great to see how well you are flying these days, even if its not with Brian...)

Great climb out!

tefal — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:48 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from tefal:

Just thought you'd like to know that last night, when we told Claire about your XC and how well you were doing compared to her, she said:

"Yer! we'll see about that, who does she think she is?"

Just thought you ought to know that's all :-)

New PG Deal club formed

tefal — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:31 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary XC Devil's Dyke to Sandwich from tefal:

err, that would be with you and mark in it then? Nice one Charlie!

Ha!

Neville Styke — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:00 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Neville Styke:

When I said to Ian Greyland, on Monday, that it looked good for an early start Weds. and Thurs., he said:"It'll be to strong for us paragliders", so you proved that it WAS o.k.!

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Mostly Overdeveloped

Neville Styke — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:54 GMT

Flight Diary from Neville Styke:

Date of Flight: Mon, 26 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Flex HG

I got to the Dyke about 10.45 and there was little sunshine due to over-development, but it looked better to the north and east, which seemed to be drifting towards us. Ian Grayland said that there'd been some 10-up in the sunshine earlier. Two P/Gs were flying but not getting more than 200'. As I rigged up it seemed to be getting too windy for most of the P/Gs. I took off about 12.40 under 8-octa and got to 250' at times, but was scratching below take-off. I eventually top landed 30 mins. later and waited until the sunshine appeared at about 1.15. There was a good looking thermal with a couple of seagulls in it just east of the power lines, but I wasn't sure if the wind was north enough to have a good chance of getting to it. A bird circled for two 360s in front of take off and Steve Purdie took off on a dual flight. Once he got to the lift it extended for quite a large area, so I took off again at 1.30 . After gaining 400' around take off I headed towards the power lines, where the good thermal had been 15 mins earlier, and where there was a dark looking cloud. Before I got there I hit a good thermal and stayed with that 2-up climb to near cloudbase at 2700' a.m.s.l. where it fizzled out. Pulling forwards there was no more lift and the sunshine had gone so I top landed at 1.55.

Great fun!

Em — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:13 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Em:

Yes, I got to Plumpton, then, whilst doing a celebratory jumpy-dance round the poppy field I watched Craig fly over my head!
First time I've got to cloud-base over here too!

What a fab morning!

A good day

Charlie Merrett — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:13 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Strong and early from Charlie Merrett:

I climbed out with Carlo and Emily and Craig wasn't far away.
We all sort of split up and I ended up on my own. Nearly landed near Lewes but got a low save in the sea breeze.
Had a very nice flight and ended up at the coast between Sandwich and Deal for about 120km, my best in the UK.
On the train now but will write up some more details later.

Strong and early

Andrew Craig — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:42 GMT

Flight Diary from Andrew Craig:

Date of Flight: Wed, 28 Jul 2010
Site: Devils Dyke
Wing: Paraglider

There were wings quite high as I drove to the Dyke at 0900. Lift was plentiful and sometimes quite feisty. I don't think anyone got away early, but later on -- 1030? -- after a lull, a gaggle got a good climb and left. I heard rumours of Carlo at the University and Emily at Plumpton Green -- tell us all about it!

Cake

steveu — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:23 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from steveu:

Kevie-Wevie wrote:

What happened to the jelly and ice cream, and cake?

Jelly, ice cream or cake will only be available to you after your stint on the pole or doing the lap dance.

SteveU.
HG/PG.SteveU.
HG/PG.

Ahhh

tefal — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:54 GMT

Reply to Event July social evening. Topic: Thermalling and climbing out. from tefal:

Hey Dave you know we all luvs-ya.

In fact I'm free on Thursday so I'll cycle over to your talk (to keep you honest :-)

Thermalling

kenny — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:45 GMT

Reply to Event July social evening. Topic: Thermalling and climbing out. from kenny:

Very funny Tefal about the glasses, but I agree with you there, I was at Thernham the other day and Dave was climbing out at around 2500ft going up strong big ears in speed bar on and didn't realise there was a C B growing above his head!!!!!

Derek Griffiths

Mr Flibble — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:29 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Mr Flibble:

No Andrew, Derek was on play away not Play school :)

What happened to the jelly and ice cream, and cake?

Zip Wire and Parachute Repack Day

Bernard T — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:00 GMT

Event from Bernard T:

For details, see http://shgc.org.uk/node/8902

"I used to work on a show

Andrew Craig — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:36 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Andrew Craig:

"I used to work on a show where one of the minor roles was nicknamed "Mr Spanky", does that count?"

My little sister used to watch Play School. I remember Big Ted and Little Ted, but I don't remember any character called Mr Spanky.

With hindsight

steveu — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:04 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from steveu:

Hi Andrew,

With hindsight, and as one with an editorial background, maybe the choice of the word "hard" or "harder" in a sentence with naked was possibly not a good idea. Perhaps difficult was more what you were after....

Too late now, Berey is already headed your way with a magnifying glass and tweezers and will be asking for coaching.

I used to work on a show where one of the minor roles was nicknamed "Mr Spanky", does that count?

SteveU.
HG/PG.

you are not the only one

MarkR — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:37 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from MarkR:

I too was a naked civil servant.

Mr Young!

Neville Styke — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:31 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Neville Styke:

What would Elaine think?!!!

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Next Zip Wire & Repack Day

Bernard T — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:47 GMT

Forum message from Bernard T:

THE NEXT ZIP WIRE & REPACK DAY
AT KNOCKHATCH, HAILSHAM, IS ON
SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER 2010
* * * * *
Morning session only: 9.45am @ 1.30pm
LIMITED PLACES AVAILABLE
If you've never seen the inside of your reserve, if it hasn't seen the light of day for several months, or if you've never tried rehearsing a real deployment.......then come along to our next ZW&R day.......it might just save your life! We've even managed to reduce the price still further and it's now way cheaper than a standard repack.
You must have current BHPA membership for insurance purposes. Cheques (£18 per person), made payable to @B. TAGLIAVINI', together with a SAE, to be sent to:
ZW&R, 27 Campbell Close, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1DR
(Please include your mobile / contact number, and ideally your email address.)

Bernard Tagliavini - 07958 460616

No need for more detail...

tefal — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:31 GMT

Reply to Event July social evening. Topic: Thermalling and climbing out. from tefal:

... "It must be howling and rough & don't forget your glasses" :-)

Thermalling

bryan_driffill — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:56 GMT

Reply to Event July social evening. Topic: Thermalling and climbing out. from bryan_driffill:

How come no one asked if this talk is a load of hot air?

Bryan Driffill

AKA Devils Dyke local fairy

"So... Andrew... What

Andrew Craig — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:02 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Andrew Craig:

"So... Andrew... What exactly is harder than it looks?"

Keeping still for hours on end while all those art students paint you.

Thanks. Also had it pointed

Neil_C — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:01 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Another frustrating Rybury day from Neil_C:

Thanks. Also had it pointed out by email that Google Earth is great, but you can't beat a terrain map. I hadn't noticed the big hill in the way.

Can we not invite some land owners to the summer party, ply them with cheap beer and get permission to fly a few Westerlies signed and sealed while they're in a merry (or incapable of rational thought) mood? I'll chip in a few bottles of scrumpy from the cider farm on Lewes Road.

No, he means the west-facing

davem — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:34 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Another frustrating Rybury day from davem:

No, he means the west-facing hill that you can see from the Dyke, on your right. It's not a nice place to be - you have to fly above trees, and you tend to go over the back very low. It did, however, give me my longest ever flight some years back. I took off from the Dyke, landed at Newtimber Hill, then flew off. We're not allowed to fly there, but there was nobody to stop me... :0)

What a great link!

Neil_C — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:36 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Another frustrating Rybury day from Neil_C:

Nice tip, thanks. Have to admit, I posted half hoping somebody in the know would have a better Westerly idea.

I guess by Newtimber you mean the little bowl I can see on Google Maps that's just North of Saddlescombe? Shame we can't take off from there! If there's a bit of North in it next time then I'll definitely have a crack at that. Owe you a beer if it works :o)

Bloody Foreigners

Ian Grayland — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:22 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Mostly Overdeveloped from Ian Grayland:

He means English 10, or 1000 fpm. Since our altimeters are calibrated in feet, by tradition we measure climb and sink rates in feet a minute.

as you know, 2000 fpm is extremely rare here even in surges. that's second time round on my vario when the whole display goes blank and the audio becomes a meaningless squeak.

the strong lift wasn't really in the sunshine though, it was more a matter of under the active cloud. was still climbing for a bit with big ears and bar 'til I found the sink hole I was looking for alongside.

EDIT: oops crossed replies

Climb Rates

Neville Styke — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:05 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Mostly Overdeveloped from Neville Styke:

10 knots up, not m/s. That's 1000'/min which I guess is about 5m/s.

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Ian Grayland said that

craig atwell — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:04 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Mostly Overdeveloped from craig atwell:

Ian Grayland said that there'd been some 10-up in the sunshine.
Please confirm there had been 10ms in the sunshine? - or am I reading that incorrectly.

me thinks...

tefal — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:51 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from tefal:

... a little too much projection going on there :-)

face painting

Youngie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:41 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Youngie:

I like the idea of face painting.

Pray tell...

Lucho — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:17 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Lucho:

So... Andrew... What exactly is harder than it looks?

Repartee.

Neville Styke — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:58 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Neville Styke:

Is it me, or is this quality?!!!

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

Why Rybury?

Neville Styke — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:34 GMT

Reply to Flight Diary Another frustrating Rybury day from Neville Styke:

If it's just an X/C launchpad, why not take off from the Dyke in a westerly and drift/dive straight over to Newtimber? You can often have the westerly facing ridge of Newtimber to yourself until you get a thermal to go over the back with. Don't get caught out by the sea-breeze sneaking in from your left or you'll end up in the bottom landing field! I've even gone to Newtimber, thermalled up and got back to the Dyke paddock with 1000' to spare.
Here's an old X/C from Newtimber:
http://flyingdiaries.blogspot.com/2006/04/david-williamson-on-his-old-record.html

" It's got to be rough to be good!"

As possibly the only member

Andrew Craig — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:08 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Andrew Craig:

As possibly the only member of the SHGC who genuinely used to make his living naked, I can tell you that it's harder than it looks.

Chris's pole and Kevie-Wevie lap dancing

steveu — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:58 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from steveu:

Last laugh? - Not something for our friends on the other side of the pond to get wind of - they won't see the funny side. ;-)

As for Chris's pole, nothing that a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers won't fix.

Kevie-Wevie will take an IOU. Just pray that no one else takes any photos, or they will be very costly to redeem. (Both IOUs and photos....)

Unt I did (Eddie's chorus)

SteveU.
HG/PG.

Burn baby, Burn

Lucho — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:37 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Lucho:

Mr.Furter wrote
"Expect a large number of drunken men to be chorusing Disco Inferno, shouting out to "Burn the mother down!", without knowing what it means, stupid mothers....."

Last laugh will be on you then when the irony of the combined date (of the event) and chorus sink in. :)

Oh, as an aside, is Kevie-Wevie genuine and can anyone split a tenner?

i will supply the pole

Neil Rudland — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:32 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Neil Rudland:

Sorry Chris but your pole wont be to the required length!

Okey Dokey

Beanie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:49 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from Beanie:

Ok popcorn bought.... Flame on...Dave - Tefal....

I think its 15-all....

Timex Expedition WS4 2010 wrist watch for sale

DaviBird — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:30 GMT

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Bad news

steveu — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:54 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from steveu:

The pole dancing act is Tefal.

Kevie Wevie is the lap dancer.

It'll be like something out of "the Rocky Horror Picture Show".

Gandhi will be the "Candy man". Who will be Frankenfurter?

Berey knows that the biggest task any father faces is keeping his daughter off the pole. The biggest (or even sole) value of any father is that ability, to keep her from having to tell strange men that she's on the pole to pay her tuition fees at Uni. When was the last time you saw a genuine female student paying her tuition fees in five pound notes?

If there's karaoke then expect Tim King to do a Tom Jones cover, Kiss, Sex Bomb, Delilah or whatever.

Expect a large number of drunken men to be chorusing Disco Inferno, shouting out to "Burn the mother down!", without knowing what it means, stupid mothers.....

SteveU.
HG/PG.

I have a lap u can borrow !

Dean Turner — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:24 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Dean Turner:

I have a lap u can borrow !

International Whaling Commission

tefal — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:35 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from tefal:

At least I'm not the subject of the International Whaling Commission.

Further more, at least my senility has'nt got me to the point of repeating myself yet. Hmm perhaps it was the thought of the pole dance that unbalanced you :-)

p.s. Oh and Emily says I have a lovely face. (Or she would if I gave her a cheap harness ;-)

POLE

berey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:47 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from berey:

Hi Emm i will supply the pole

POLE

berey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:47 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from berey:

Hi Emm i will supply the pole

Face painting

berey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:42 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from berey:

I for one am very pleased there is going to be face painting because Tefal could do with it i only hope it is very thick paint.Mind you the face painter will have to be very creative to do something with that boat race.

Scratch that..

Sam Jenkins — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:48 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from Sam Jenkins:

found it!

CAPE?

Sam Jenkins — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:48 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from Sam Jenkins:

Hi Tefal,

What exactly do you mean by CAPE? I'm looking on RASP, but can't find it.

ta

Another frustrating Rybury day

Neil_C — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:32 GMT

Flight Diary from Neil_C:

Date of Flight: Sat, 24 Jul 2010
Site: Rybury
Wing: Paraglider

Headed down to Rybury on Saturday for the second time in the past couple of weeks. It's a fair way from SE London but in a Westerly it seems to be Rybury, Milk Hill just behind it or, erm, that's it for the whole of Southern England! Thought a quick flight diary post might be good for anyone else who's thinking of making the trip as it's a funny little site.

Rybury's a small bowl and spur (think mini Caburn) that's very much an XC launchpad rather than something to fly in itself. As it's so small, the wind needs to be pretty strong across the launch for it to be soarable and when the cycles come through it can seem really very windy. The bowl is only just over 200' high but walking halfway down it to launch still seems to be the norm!

With the strong wind you need to soar, it meant that the thermals were pretty much blown to bits and very hard to work, especially as everybody's fighting to get away (and so getting in each other's way...) A few made it. A couple on high end wings disappeared around to the right - which you can get away with when the wind swings Southerly - and climbed out. And one Artik 2 went over the back at about 50' ATO and made it stick! Last seen heading for cloudbase from somewhere in front of Milk Hill.

Not sure it's worth the 2 1/2 hour drive for a day trip, but no doubt will be in the car again next time it's Westerly :o)

RSS still OK

davem — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:58 GMT

Reply to Forum message Updating RSS from davem:

I just read your message on the RSS feed, so I guess the answer is 'No'...

re rumours being true...

Em — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:41 GMT

Reply to Forum message Secret party plans leaked! from Em:

Probably not included as true are rumours containing the words: orgy/ lap/ pole

but you never know...

RSS feed not working?

steveu — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:19 GMT

Reply to Forum message Updating RSS from steveu:

Has the RSS feed been intermittent or down over the last few days?

SteveU.
HG/PG.

Big thanks to all

steveu — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:11 GMT

Reply to Forum message Scan douments for me? from steveu:

Just like to say a big "Thank you" to all those who offered to help.

The documents got scanned and a pilot in Switzerland was able to sort some major "paperwork issues".

SteveU.
HG/PG.

Hand bags at dawn

steveu — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:05 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from steveu:

Looks like we have another potential hand bags at dawn thread.

For those that don't know, the SHGC occasionally has these spats on the forum.

The important thing as a pilot is to fly within your own abilities, whether you have 10 minutes, 10 hours or 10,000 hours. It's important to judge the conditions correctly, rather than overly worry about others judgement (or lack of it WRT Cu-Nbs).

It's paramount to have your feet on the ground at the right time.

I'm probably over cautious, but it keeps me on the right side of the "Marge Simpson" fan club.

In the meantime, if the weather is bad in the next few days, get some popcorn in to watch a bit of a tiff......

SteveU.
HG/PG.

Secret party plans leaked!

Jenni Fleming — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:04 GMT

Forum message from Jenni Fleming:

Shhh - don't tell anyone, but new activities are now confirmed for our awesome summer party. Among other things, we're happy to announce:

* Ground-handling workshops and competition.
* Second hand gear trading post.
* Face painting and kids treasure hunt.

There's much more afoot, so watch this space. Most of the rumours you're hearing on the hill are almost certainly true...

So, don't miss the fun - book your ticket now - www.shgc.org.uk/bbq

Vauxhall Vectra for sale

steveu — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:56 GMT

Personal Advert from steveu:

Hatchback, wine red, N reg, 95k, year's MOT, tax till end July 10.

1.8 petrol.

£500 ono.

Call 01622 761033, John Prendergast.

Bouncy Castle?

tefal — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:18 GMT

Reply to Forum message Harness to borrow? from tefal:

Hey Chris, passing on a question from the hill for you.

"They're say that there is going to be a bouncy castle at the SHGC party. Is that going to be your belly, or are they hiring one in?"

p.s. Gou-on Em... doo-im... :-)

Thanks

Em — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:16 GMT

Reply to Forum message Harness to borrow? from Em:

Hi,

Thanks for the offer Mark. David Smith has lent me his (what a nice man!)

Em

meteoblue forecast

tefal — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:27 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from tefal:

Your link is an excelent one, especially for people that don't want to bother with soundings. Note that it only updates twice a day though.

For me, because I want to go XC I find CAPE on rasp more useful as it gives what the conditions are going to be like over the whole country.
useful when it comes to decisions like "do I stay in Sussex or drive to Wiltshire?".

Also I'm releaxed with soundings (which I'm sure you are :-).

Tefal

p.s. In the end we were the only county to get towering Cus and hail stones.

Flying in Rhossili

JTurczak — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:17 GMT

Flight Diary from JTurczak:

Date of Flight: Fri, 23 Jul 2010
Site: Other
Wing: Paraglider

Still being red ribbon, I came down to South Wales for a few days to get some airtime. Steve Purdie suggested Rhossii so I went and took a look. Arrived at Rhossili and the wind was off the hill. Waited for an 1 and half hours for the sea breeze to kick in. Still no other pilots so walked to the top to assess conditions. Wind was on the hill by then blowing at around 10 mph. Took off and it was slightly scratchy and I found it difficult to get back above the take off but I was above the pimple. After 30 mins another pilot too off.And then a then a third pilot arrived. So there were now three of us flying a kilometer of ridge. managed to find enough lift to keep up for 2 and half hours of flying.
Landed on the pimple and chattted to other pilots. After a 45 min break took off again. there were now 8 pilots. The lift was much better. And this time got to 900 feet above the beach - after an hour most of the other pilots had come down. Stayed up for another half hour with the remaining pilot. Another 1 and half hours done. and 4 hours flying in one day. Fantastic. Thanks for the suggestion Steve.

Deathwish Dave?

tefal — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:16 GMT

Reply to Forum message Friday weather from tefal:

I'll take a joke on most things but not about being cautious with regards flying.

You see what makes me laugh, is that having boated about a bit, at significant risk, you have achieved anything?

Well perhaps you have?

Yes come to think of it you have just underlined what everyone already knows i.e. that you have reckless tenancies in flying. I site nearly dying on your howling wind XC, earlier this year, as the last obvious example. Perhaps your time would be better spent setting a good example to the low air-time pilots on the hill rather than acting like a teenager? At the very least you should keep the dangerous stuff to yourself. Perhaps you just don't realise your being dangerouse?

Anyway there were just a few pilots at the Dyke (I know I was there). Mostly very experienced. Those that know how to call the weather were landing when it looked bad (like Ghandi). I personally hadn't even got my wing there (I had my camera instead).

For those that don't know, unless you have thousands of hours, don't stay in the air if there is any suggestion that hail stones are falling, it is a guaranteed indication of very violent updraughts. Dave was gambling (whether he knew it or not :-) on the convergence keeping the worst of it away from the Dyke. Not clever as it ain't far enough away.