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Wales all the way!
So, I’ve been out on three or four good days this year, and it’s been Wales that has delivered every time… Maybe I’m just being drawn to the bigger hills which offer an opportunity for a good hike up, or maybe it’s just where RASP is indicating the best conditions, but whatever, I’ve had a…
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How to not go missing!
On Thursday 5th April we had a pilot “missing” for four hours in mid Wales after an XC flight from Magic Mountain. Fortunately it all ended well (no injuries, no drama, just no comms and a late retrieve), but it has raised some good learning points which we can all benefit from: 1) As soon…
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Things are looking up :-)
After 4.5 hours’ flying last Friday and Saturday I can officially say that things are looking up after what’s been a very long wet and windy winter here in the UK. Cumulus clouds are gracing our skies once again, and I’ve been up at cloudbase for the first time in five months, wahoo! I’ve even…
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In the bleak mid-winter
This time of year, unless you’re lucky enough have a holiday booked to South America, Africa or Australia, can be a pretty bleak time for UK pilots. And this winter is no exception – we’ve had a succession of windy and stormy spells, interspersed with periods of claggy grey “meh” weather, with only the very…
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2018 – Bring it on!
So, six days into 2018 and I have flown! Ok, so the flight only lasted eight minutes, but it was a fun mission! Fellow desperate optimist, Tim Bishop, picked me up in Bath at 0615 and by 0700 we were walking up Ubley in darkness only punctuated by the light of the moon (having forgotten…
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What a week…!
I finished off my last post by praying to whichever god it is that’s in charge of the weather to give us some great flying in St André. Well, my prayers were answered! We had five great tasks, plus a day in St Vincent-les-Forts before the comp, and a great day’s mountain biking from St…
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Great Expectations
Well, it’s been a funny old season for me, I’ve had some really fun flights but the big distances have been elusive apart from a lovely 135km from Rybury back in early June. I’ve been busier at work this year and haven’t been able to take so many days off on short notice, and on…
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About bloody time too… :-)
So finally, on June 3rd, a whole two months into the season, I flew my first 100km+ flight of the year. (By way of comparison, by the same time last year I’d flown three 100km+ flights, although interestingly, in 2015 I didn’t fly my first 100km+ flight until 4th June). Through a combination of poorish…
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A Mountain Masterclass
Back in February my old friend Marcus King tipped a few of us in the Avon Club off about Gavin McClurg’s Mountain Masterclass in the Lake District in April, and a couple of us booked up straight away. Gavin has always been a bit of a hero of mine through his films and amazing flights…
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Bike, Hike & Fly!
I’d watched this video on Monday and having already thought about doing a hike and fly sometime this week, it inspired me to add a bike ride to my plans in a homage to these three superheroes/nutters who cycled 100 miles from Interlaken to Chamonix, hiked/climbed up Mont Blanc, flew down, then cycled the 100 miles…