Flying Paradise

Looking back on the trip I didn't get as much airtime as I had hoped for (but that's paragliding isn't it) but it was a well priced, well run holiday. The hotel was located on a quiet beach where you borrow snorkelling and kayaking equipment as well as mountain bikes (all free). Christophe worked hard all week to make sure we flew every day and his drivers and instructors were a friendly bunch, as were all the others on the trip. We got lifts into town to eat every night and a trip out on the only morning we couldn't fly. The only criticism is that there were perhaps too many people for him to deal with as he also had a few students and was one instructor down for part of the week. However, I would definately return for a trip in the future.

Peters Paradise

I had three flights at Peters Paradise. This was a beautiful site with views of the hills, sea and islands. First flight was an extended top to bottom. I didn't find much lift but others did. Landing was straightforward if a little rough for me as I unexpectedly found lots of lift then sink on finals - but no broken bones, just a few bruises.

The next flight was in the afternoon. This time we headed for the silos for landing and it was a beautiful flight over Didi Ma and the patchwork of fields. Really amazing views.

For my final flight I was first to take off and for a while I found good lift and was staying up nicely over a rocky cliff. It started to get a bit rough though and so I pushed out a bit further then whack! Not sure whether it was a collapse or what but my right wind dived beneath me to the right. I controlled the turn, got back on course and decided to get the hell out of there. I soon realised I wasn't goning to make the silo landing field and started evaluating my options. Pierre was flying a little in front of me and we headed to the same area of flat fields on the outskirts of town. Both of us made it into corn fields without incident. I was happy to have made an unplanned landing and also dealt witht he collapse or whatever it was up above the hill without getting completely scared. Others made it into the silo landing field - but only by being on the bar all the way. Andy had a low level front collapse but was OK. Yet another Greek salad was called for.

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Teds Cafe

Teds Cafe was a great site to fly. They day we were there it was a bit blowy up above for the first few pilots after launch so I hung back a bit until things calmed down. A perfect launch then I was flying around between sink and climbs - nothing major in either direction but definately pleasant flying. When we reccy'd the landing it looked fairly small and surrounded by olive groves on all sides. I was a bit concerned about how I was going to judge my approach correctly but in the end managed to just scrape in - a little low but safe nontheless. Unfortunately I was so happy to be down safely and not up a tree my glider managed to drape itself over the adjacent olive tree after touchdown. Luckily it only took me 15 minutes to rescue it. A few other pilots overshot or found friendly trees to almost land in and for those who didn't have a tangle of lines and branches to sort out it was off back up for another flight. A great site and one I am looking forward to flying again at some point.

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Blacky

Just one flight at Blacky. For me the launch was pretty intimidating - a firebreak in the forest covered with rocks, bishes and fallen trees. Wind was also marginal for a reverse launch and having not forward launched before (for real that is - only in a sloping field) I tried to coax a reverse launch out of the dying wind but the wing wasn't quite inflated and I screwed it up twice aquiring a few bruises on the way. Eventually I let a few others go ahead of me and made my first forward launch with no trouble at all. By this time i'd missed the good lift and so it was another extended top to bottom but I was just glad to be in the air.

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Marias Way

We had a couple of flights from Marias Way during the week, a relatively small site without much lift (at least on the days we flew there) so the flights were extended top to bottoms heading for a small landing behind the beach (this can be seen in the bottom right of the picture in the bay just beyond the village). Again Christophe was on hand to guide people in by radio as it is quite a tight landing with not much room for error. The flights were nice if a little short but better to fly than not.

This image is of the take-off at Marias way. A good clear launch - forwards or reverse dependant on conditions.

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First flight

Not a picture of me launching but gives an idea of the beautiful flying in Greece. Tintin is the main hill behind the hotel and beach where we were based. The landing was fairly narrow and short, but Christophe guided most people in - sending us out over the sea to lose height. There wasn't much lift in front of take-off so it was pretty much a top to bottom. Amazing views and very beautiful to be flying over the sea before curving in to make a landing on the beach (the same one shown in the video on this post).

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Flying Paradise - Greece 2007

Well this was my first flying trip abroad since gaining my CP last year. I looked at quite a few different options in different places but ended up choosing Flying Paradise in Epidavros, Greece. The trip seemed good value, catered for people with a range of experience and also there were activities to do if it wasn't flyable. I didn't fancy being stuck in the middle of nowhere waiting for conditions to improve.

Anyway, I had an excellent week not missing a single days flying (although others did miss a day - I happened to first to lauch on that rather windy day!) and having a great time with the others on the trip. We ended up flying at several sites: Blacky, TinTin, Peters Paradise, Teds Cafe, Maria's Way and a small cliff the name of which i've forgotten. Christophe was a good guide, quite crazy but always concened about safety, and really worked hard to make sure we got into the air as often as possible.

I personally didn't clock up any huge flights as I was a bit cautious about flying in rough thermic conditions and so I often took of later or early rather than fly in the middle of the day. I also managed to screw up a few launches at Blacky (quite intimidating as its a tight fire break in a pine forest) which meant I missed all the good lift.

The following posts give a more detailed picture of the different days flying.

More pictures of the trip can be found here on Flickr.

GPS Maps

Having bought my Garmin GPS recently I now have needed to locate some maps to upload into it to make life more interesting (my street is a blank space on the basemap that is supplied with the GPS). Given the relatively high cost of Garmin MapSource products (£129), I started to trawl the Internet and asked in a forums for advice and alternatives:

UK CAA Airspace overlays
http://ukgarminairmap.wikispaces.com/

Free Garmin Maps
http://garminmapsearch.com/

I haven't tried any of these yet (my new PC doesn't have a serial port and so I have had to order a card - still waiting!). Will post an update when I get a Map into the GPS.