Arrochar to Glen Esk - 19th April 2013

This time to the W face of Beinn Luibhean above the Rest and Be Thankful pass in Arrochar with Daniel, Stu, Jules, Victor and Khaled.   This hill may have been flown by Mark L and other locals but was new to our group.

Very wet ground, high pressure, a polar maritime airmass and a W face meant a late climb out just before 2pm.    Daniel and Jules led me across Loch Lomond in light conditions - spectacular views and a long term ambition achieved!    As we got into the Balquidder valley, where Bob and Trias started, the wind and the pace started picking up.    A lot of patience was needed with thermals that kept squirming and moving downwind at stable layers before concentrating in strong but very small surges.

By 5pm, base had risen to 2000m and I shared a memorable climb with two golden eagles N of Blairgowrie.    I just risked a glide into Glen Esk at the end in increasing winds before spending over 30 minutes trying to get down and land in the widest, flattest place I could find.    Well done to Khaled for his first 100km and thanks to Scott M for rescuing me from a deserted Glen Esk.   

Track log.    

Victor pausing for breath during the brutally steep walk up 

Khaled and Victor getting ready to go

Flatland Saturday, Glen Ogle to St Andrews - April 6th 2013

Another great day out with very weak climbs and a lot of patience required in the first half.
Pics here and tracklog here

Sparkling Spring Triangle - April 5th 2013

It has been an amazing few weeks for flying in the Highlands with many epic flights done.
Even better there have been big crews of experienced and new pilots out to enjoy the fun.

Slide show is here.

Strathconon to Lochinver - 30th March 2013

I grew up about 10 miles down the valley, so it was a real pleasure to try a flight from Creag Ruadh - another hill that hadn't been flown before.

Camera was a bit off but pics here.
Track log here.

Better pics of the spectacular ground N of Ullapool from Barney Woodhead here.

Old Dog, New Tricks - Third SIV, May 2012

For my third SIV, I did two days of stalls on the R10.2 and one day of wing-overs on my Avax XC2.

The video footage is here.

The first few stalls were really messy - especially the fifth one, which will make you cringe.   After this  I started to understand the glider a bit more and improved my harness position; more symmetric hands, more compact body with elbows tucked in.     This makes a difference to the stability in tailslide and allows you to find a nicer exit.     This was stuff I knew beforehand but it seems theory needs practice sometimes.   Later, I really enjoyed linking some stall sequences and my first dynamic stalls.

From the on-board footage, I can see loads of things I was doing wrong, especially asymmetric hand movements in back-fly, missing some good exit windows and some weird paddling of the brakes on stall exit.     I also seem to have the habit of releasing the brakes too fast on stall exit for this glider.  A  smoother and slower release from a slighly higher back-fly hand position would create fewer cravates but it was useful to have some cravate release practice which is always a possibility in real flying.

Overall, the R10 behaves very conventionally in stall: it fully deserves its reputation as one of the really well-sorted 2-liners.     Any of the wobbles here are down to the pilot, not the glider.    For some smoother R10 stalls have a look at French duo Nicolas Treins and Nico Di Bernardo.     Here are the Swiss League pilots on their EnZos.    For a true master of these wings, you must see Charles Cazaux, again on an EnZo.

By day three I was ready for some chill-out time.   Having last done (smallish) wingovers on my first SIV in 2009 I was keen to try some proper ones.    My homework was entertaining;  Cade Palmer's Tandemonium and Tandemonium 2.    By the end of the day I was starting to enjoy the rhythm.  Great fun!