Wes
A Force-of-Nature *  
I Love Men in Uniforms!
Member #: 198 Posts 198
Registered: 27-4-2003 Location: Bath Member Is Offline Mood: Wanting SW winds!
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| posted on 8-9-2004 at 09:44 |
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Re: 6th September 2004 Diary Entry by Jonny.
On 6th September 2004, Jonny wrote:
quote:
Paragliding / Gliding: Palick
Wind Direction: ENE
Wind Stength: 30mph+ on top of hill
Surf / Sea State:
Air Temperature: 20C
Sea Temperature:
Weather: Sunshine, wave clouds
Thought it would be a good day and have the potential for flying home as the wind was around 10mph back at home gusting up to 15mph so
decided to go hang gliding rather than windsurfing. GOt to the hill and it was blowing 20 mph + in the landing field so would be around
30ish on top. I coulda managed but the cloud filled in soon after I arrived so decided against a ridge boring flight in strong winds.
Went home and thought I'd get a windsurfing session instead
Hey thats cheating! You can't get an entry for nearly going! Otherwise I'm gonna start claiming each time I rig the ASH and don't
fly.... 
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Jonny
A Force-of-Nature ** 
Member #: 394 Posts 308
Registered: 6-10-2003 Location: North West Member Is Offline Mood: waitin for the next blow!
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| posted on 8-9-2004 at 23:07 |
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You do that then. Im sure Ive seen others writing down diary entries when theyv'e not actually got a session in themselves. You can
look back on your diary entries and see how many sessions have been a waste of time especially when youv'e sacrificed a day/half day
for that activity.
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justal
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| posted on 9-9-2004 at 05:24 |
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When I first built the diaries I did think about adding a 'wasted trip' feature as lots of people to tend to drive for a couple of
hours to the beach only to find no wind and end up sitting around waiting for wind.
I decided against it though as it just sounded a little too negative... I guess I could add a 'no stars' option to the ratings that
would classify the entry as a 'wasted trip' if you liked... At least your 'Stoke Factor' wouldn't increase after a wasted trip then.
Al.
URL: Pixelwave Design - Website Design Wales
Shop: Website Templates
Personal Weblog: A Simple Life of Luxury in West Wales
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Wes
A Force-of-Nature *
I Love Men in Uniforms!
Member #: 198 Posts 198
Registered: 27-4-2003 Location: Bath Member Is Offline Mood: Wanting SW winds!
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| posted on 9-9-2004 at 08:41 |
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Just out of interest, did you mean a ridge Soaring flight or do you dislike rige flying? I flew a paraglider off a ridge in '95 and it
was great fun. Managed to get some more ridge time earlier this year in the glider, made a nice change being that close to the ground.
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Wes
A Force-of-Nature *
I Love Men in Uniforms!
Member #: 198 Posts 198
Registered: 27-4-2003 Location: Bath Member Is Offline Mood: Wanting SW winds!
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| posted on 9-9-2004 at 11:17 |
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OK, now I know you meant boring from looking at your latest entry. The only question is why?
Even though I flown with paragliders whilst going cross country, they have always had one of those engines strapped onto thier backs. I
presume that you can go cross country in much the same way that I do, but how far can you go? Do you do out and returns, or downwind
dashes? How do you do it competitvly? Is it distance, speed or endurance? What kind of windspeed makes headway impossible? I can push
into 25-30knts, but then I have a 150knt vne so its hardly a fair comparison...
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Jonny
A Force-of-Nature **
Member #: 394 Posts 308
Registered: 6-10-2003 Location: North West Member Is Offline Mood: waitin for the next blow!
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| posted on 10-9-2004 at 00:41 |
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Its amazing what you can do with sailplanes though. YOu have a glide angle of somewehere around 40:1 and my glide angles around 13/14:1
assuming buoyant air and a paragliders around the 8:1 mark. All my flying in the UK is pretty much ridge soaring and when you turn up
at the same hill for a ridge soaring flight with smooth conditions such as the past week with the inversion, it can get pretty boring.
I tend to go out on thermic days whenever possible with the aim of trynna get an xc flight done if I can get away from the hill.
I recenly went to a competition 2 weeks ago in SE wales and conditions were pretty average apart from the final day. The tasks set were
usually a 75k race to goal via 1 or 2 turnpoints so there would always be a crosswind component to the flight. The task on the final
day was a 75k race from Merthyr to just W of Gloucester via a turnpoint nr. Usk gliding club. There was a 15mph NW wind that day and we
were travelling in a WSW direction so crosswind. I made around 30k which I was happy with but quite a few pilots made goal with the
task winners avg. speed of 56km/h which was pretty impressive with second place being around the 40km/h mark.
The new topless (no upper riggin wires) competition gliders have very high performance and can acheive glides of 16:1 which pisses all
over my glider. Its all about reducing drag and everything has to be aerofoiled including instrument pods etc. to improve the airflow.
The main differnce between them and my glider is that they can outperform me at speed. My min. sink rate is around 26/7mph but when I
increase it above 35mph, my sink rate rpidly drops whereas theres remains pretty much the same up until the 45mph mark so they have a
massive advantage over me for tasks that have an into wind component. They can outglide me between thermals whereas I have to stop in
any lift I can to make up for the height loss. Max speed Ive had on my glider is 75mph but I was goin down like a rocket at the same
time.
ANything over 10mph and making into headwind is gonna be a hard run. If a nil wind day, a triangle would be set but getting of the hill
will be the tricky part.
UK distance record for hang gliders is around the 190 mile mark whereas the paragliding record was broken this year with 203km flight
from the Long Mynd. All the UK airspace is petty hard to negotiate.
There are also Rigid wind Hang gliders that have a glide angle of 20:1. Someone completed a triangle of 394Km earlier this year with a
rigid wing.
My biggest XC ive ever done was in S France nr. Gap where I was doin 75 k out and returns everyday but the flying conditions are
umbeleivable with 10,000ft bases pretty much everyday when its flyable.
Flyin with paramotors is cheating though for XC. as soon as your getting low you just switch the engine on just like a motorised glider
so thats why you'l see so many of those. So different to launching from a hill with just you and you glider.
I managed to get on a week long gliding course last year at Bicester airfield. Best course Ive ever done and was one flight away from
going solo. It was great fun flying a K21 but theres no way I could afford to keep it up. Perhaps when Im much older I would probably
switch to gliding as it so conveniant, just turn up to the airfield, rig the glider, pay your winch fee and your away for the day,
superb 
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Wes
A Force-of-Nature *
I Love Men in Uniforms!
Member #: 198 Posts 198
Registered: 27-4-2003 Location: Bath Member Is Offline Mood: Wanting SW winds!
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| posted on 10-9-2004 at 07:50 |
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I had no idea that you could travel that fast with a paraglider. I guessed that you would only manages about 25knts, so 75 is damn
inpressive. One of the gliders that I started in was a 1930's Slingsby T-21, which had a side by side open cockpit and a 20:1 glide
angle. Really hard to go anywhere but brilliant fun. I normally fly from Leicestershire and I have managed to take that old T-21 down
to the Isle of White and Cornawall. Happy Days! The glider that I now fly has a 60:1 glide ratio, at 60knts. Its a stunning piece of
kit. I did however manage a flight earlier this year of 202km, with an average speed of 50kph! Now thats slower than a paraglider with
a quater of the performance.... On the plus side I also managed a weekend of back to back 600km flights.
As for Bicester - what a place. I love that club and in particular the bar that never closes.....
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Jonny
A Force-of-Nature **
Member #: 394 Posts 308
Registered: 6-10-2003 Location: North West Member Is Offline Mood: waitin for the next blow!
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| posted on 11-9-2004 at 23:23 |
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I dont fly paragliders. I fly a Hang glider, far superior performance. you could prob get 75mph with an 80%deflation in a paraglider
although it wouldn't be that pleasent. Maximum speed of a modern paraglider is around the 55km/h mark.
Yeah that bar at Bicester, totally forgot about that, we were in there on the final day at 3 in the morning still drinking after a nice
barbecue. It was self service after the barman had gone home. He said help yourselves and make sure you put the correct money in the
till. Think we ended crashing out there bout 4ish in the morning and had to be up at 9 for a half9 briefing, 1 or 2 of the people on
the course couldn't fly the next day cos they were still pissed.
Just remember that woman turning up everyday in her van with all the nice snacks, bacon buttie every morning!Great setup there with the
2 or 3 tugs and winch. Best course ive ever done, thoruoghly recommended.
If only I had the money and I woulda pursued the sport further 
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justal@forces-of-nature.co.uk