Combe Gibbet (noFly)

Sun: at 0850 I received a Telegram msg from Eddie, saying that he just arrived on launch at Combe Gibbet and that it looked flyable... I immediately departed from my hotel at Newburs and arrived on launch at 0940: Windspeed looked very good, but direction was more than 20° off to the left for good soaring. Additionally, the LZ (if I would have sunk out) would have been a long walk.

Combe Gibbet (Pano looking W-N)

Avesbury: West Kennet Long Barrow (a well preserved) early neolitic burial mound.

inside...

So we decided first to visit Avesbury, also a neolithic site like Stonhenge, but much bigger in size. It resembles more the sites I have seen in Brittany (F) (also much less crowded than Stonhenge).

Afterwards we went again to Westbury, where the wind actually was much less strong than predicted and it would have been flyable. But after yesterday's nice flights in good weather I decided not to.

Here I had to say goodbye to Eddie, as my week with him has come (much to quickly) to an end. He proved to be a perfect guide with great local wx and site knowlegde, in addition he is also a great pilot and teacher, It has been good fun to spend 7 days with him  - THANKS A LOT!!

Also many thanks to Rob (FlyFiesch) for having proposed Eddie as a possible guide!

I continued towards the East, as I want to take a ferry tomorrow morning (Mon) to France. On the way I made a stop at Stonehenge, but I have to say that in a way I have been a bit disappointed. I can't say what I have expected, but Stonehenge seems to me less 'big' and impressive than all the docus/ films I have seen made me believe ;-)

Conclusion: Flying possible on 6 out of 7 days is rather good for England; I've been told that often It's the other way round...

Westbury

Sat: another day with (too) much wind in the fcst. Eddie decided we should try Westbury. Wx/ wind can be found here.

Pano on launch (looking SW-NE)

overview: launch, car park; one can land basically everywhere: no / only mild rotor.

Again we had to wait quite a bit before the wind had dropped enough, so that I could launch in a lull. After a while it got stronger, so I top-landed. More parawaiting before I could launch again in the late afternoon.

bottom LZ: square field slightly left (gate in top corner) or hike back up

the later, the better it became...

While having dinner at an Indian restaurant (really good food!), we discussed tomorrows options. The wx should be fine, but all over S-England wind is the problem. In the end Eddie has suggested 'Combe Gibbet', as there might just be a chance for a short window. If not, we'll visit nearby Stonhenge...

Eype

Fri (7.6.) Another day where flying has been dictated by the wind conditions. Today Eddie wanted me to be by 0900 at 'Highlands End Holiday Park', the parking for the flying site 'Eype'. He predicted a possible window from about 1000 to noon or 1300. From the parking it's an easy 10' walk to launch. Some site info can be found here, as well as a 5-day wx fcst.

Pano on launch: looking NE (towards Lyme Regis)

As it turned out, Eddie was once more right on - exept that the flying window was even shorter than predicted. Therefore I landed already after 30', as the white caps on the water became more pronounced. I top-landed on my second attempt, but as the wind was already quite strong, Eddie took the brakes of my glider after touching-down in oder to 'kill' the wing.

wing-overs to loose altitude before top-landing

As there was no chance for another flight due to wind speed, Eddie suggested that I visit 'Lyme Regis', about 20' north of Eype.

Lyme Regis: Pano looking South

Interestingly, there is a water mill still used for milling wheat etc...

Tomorrow Eddie wants me to be at Westbury (White Horse) at 1030 - that's a 1.5hrs drive from tonight's accommodation near Dorchester...

Bell Hill (again)

Again a visit to Bell Hill: actually, today the winds have been a little less strong throughout the day. My first flight lasted just 10': just as I launched the sky got covered by clouds :-(

Eddie launching

Later I made another 2 flights, both times landing along the slope below launch.

Somehow I don't have the skill set to fly this 140m-hills; you miss the first thermal - and it could be 'game over' ;-)

Dinner: again at the 'Fox' in Ansty

Bell Hill

Due to the heavy morning commuter traffic I needed more than 3 hours to drive from Worcester to Bell Hill. (Some info about the site); especially around Bath traffic has been really slow. But I managed to arrive at the agreed time. Already several pilots were flying/ waiting.

Pano on launch (looking SW-NW)

The wind speed (as Eddie had predicted) was already rather high, but preparing my glider quite far down on the ridge I managed a acceptable launch. I flew for about 30' before landing, as my ground speed had continously dropped to well below 10kmh.

As the fcst had predicted that the winds would get weaker in the afternoon, we hung around until 1800. Eddie made a short flight with my harness/ glider, but as he was flying at the lower edge of the weight range, he didn't penetrate well in the strong wind and landed after just a few minutes... For me the wind remained too strong.

Eddie flying my Leeloo/ harness

'How do you know it's summer in England? - when the rain is not as cold...'

For the night I booked a nearby B&B, as we intend to fly again here tomorrow.

Hereford (noFly)

Tue (4.6.) No chance for flying :-(  Eddie had suggested a visit to Hereford and its cathedral; a very good suggestion as it turned out. The cathedral is a very impressive building, holding in adddition the original 'Magna Charta' (a facsimile is on display, but the original is kept in a safe) as well as the 'Mappa Mundi', one of the oldest maps of the world. Further more there is a 'chained library', where books (as old as dated back to 800 AD) are actually chained, so that they couldn't be removed (or stolen). As an additional bonus: by coincidence the organist has been practising during our visit...

Cained Library

Mappa Mundi: detail: Switzerland (Basel)

Mappa Mundi

Dinner at a nearby Sushi restaurant...

Tomorrow the wx is supposed to be better, but the wind speed could still be an issue. Eddie wants me 'as early as possible' at a flying site called 'Bell Hill' - a 2.75hrs drive from Hereford. I'll be leaving by 0630; this should allow me to be on launch by 1000 (with a stop for a breakfast somewhere along the way).

Long Mynd

Mon (3.6.) Even though the fcst didn't look too promising, Eddie (my guide for the week here in the UK) had suggested we'd meet at Longmynd. (In the early days of PG/ HG almost all British records had been flown from this site.) Longmynd is a very beautiful site with a HUGE TO, a long ridge. Landing can be done on launch (pretty easy, almost no rotor) or at a large field within easy glide at the bottom. Launch is only about 200m above LZ and flying here requires a different skill set from what I'm used when flying in the Alps.

More info about this site: here

At first I did some groundhandling/ launches before launching for a first (short) flight: the ridge lift was a bit too weak, but Eddie quickly picked me up and drove me back to launch. my second flight resulted also in a landing at the bottom. After a lenghty break (due to wind speed) I finally could make a third (short) flight, this time top-landing :-)

Pano on launch looking SW-NW

LZ

Eddie (my guide)

For dinner we stopped at an Indian Restaurant in Church Stretton, before I continued to Hereford, where I stayed for 2 nights at the Travelodge in the city center. The hotel actually is situated in a 'car free' area. Both my navigators (in the car / handy) have been unable to direct me to entrance of the parking lot. After having driven around for more than 30' without finding the parking, I finally paid a cab driver 10GBP for guiding me to the hotel/ parking...

UK

SUN (2.6.) After having toured Ireland for the last 2 weeks together with Ruth in my car (she flew back home from Dublin) I arrived today by ferry in Holyhead (Wales). Some Ireland pix can be found here. The wx has been really nice (smooth sailing) as well as the drive through Wales' mountains. I passed alos Llangollen, which I had visited with Ruth in 2010 on a trip with a houseboat. 

Welsh mountains

Llangollen - Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Forthe night I stayed in Shresbury. The coming week I'll be spending visiting some PG sites in Wales/ England together with my guide Eddie.

Levico - last day of iCamp

Sat: excellent wx and thermal fcst. As this was the last day of this iCamp no more flying over the lake; instead we drove again to Levico to finish off this week with a nice thermal flight. Later everybody returned home.

Levico: Vetriolo launch

Pano looking SW-W: Levico Terme at3 o'clock

LZ in Barca

With a final Gelato and Cappuccino in Levico this iCamp came to an end. The descion NOT to cancel the training 10 days ago has proven correct: only 1 day without any flying at all and another day with just 1 extended sledder at Levico before it started to rain: on all the other days I could make 1 or 2 flights, some did 3.

Heading back with Andy via - Trento - Bolzano - Tiers (where Andy picked up some stuff from Michael) - Bolzano - Merano - Val Venosta - Val Müstair -  Ofenpass - Vereinatunel (we reached the train with 5 minutes to spare)  - Klosters - home (arriving at 2230).

    

Ofenpass looking East: Ortler

SIV No 3

Fri: great wx on Mte.Baldo for another (and last) day of SIV. Today Peter (Nitsche) has been my instructor. I made 2 flights: spirals, wing-overs, big collpses and 'held collapses' as a means for descending.

Spirals: 1st flight: peak at -17m/s; 2nd flight: peak at -14m/s :-))   (with left ear folded in)

Wingovers: nice and high

(held) collapses: no problem, but not really a effective means for descending...

spiral with left ear folded in

Most of the pilots went for a 3rd flight, but yesterday's hike to Mte.Belpo had been a bit too much for my left foot which started to make walking a bit painful, so I had to decline. Andy and I headed back to our hotel in Rovereto and a nice gelato...

I didn't attempt any Full Stalls/ Fly-backs - maybe next time/ year..