Flying holidays

Once I had completed my CP I was keen to get a good few hours flying in and so started to think about a trip abroad. Having heard some horror stories of small, difficult and rocky landing fields from a fellow pilot I was looking carefully where I chose to go. I wanted somewhere where I was going to be looked after to an extent as I only have a relatively low amount of flying hours (32) - I didn't want to find myself on a trip with sky-gods flying in booming conditions (at least not on day 1!). Eventually I settled for Flying Paradise in Greece. The other options I considered were South Cyprus (not running a trip this spring) Morocco (too expensive) and Turkey (not ready for SIV just yet, just want to do lots of flying).

Flying Paradise seemed like they were willing to cater for a range of pilots, the trip was reasonably priced and seemed to have a few other activities on offer should it not be flyable. Hopefully conditions won't be too epic at first but I am keen to make some XC flights during my stay. One of the landing sites is the beach in front of the hotel which sounds ideal - I can't miss that (can I?). See the YouTube video below of someone screwing it up (ouch!).

Hopefully this video (click here) gives a taste of what's in store for me...

I've also booked up for a fortnights holiday in the Maritime Alps for September with Ravi - mainly walking and climbing - but I'm also going to be doing some flying. We've booked accommodation with Les Basses Beaumettes - the owners of which are Scottish pilots Ulric and Ruth Jessop, who are now based in the Alps and offering guiding services so hopefully I'll be able to make a few good flights while we are there too.