Long Mynd - 25th August 2007 (2)

Eventually conditions calmed down a bit and taking my wing a bit further down the hill I figured i'd be able to launch safely enough. Sensibly waiting to see a few others do this first I decided it was my time again. Again I made a perfect launch and was soon flying high above the hill and connecting with the odd thermal and drifting back.

At one point i'd probably drifted too far back as I struggled to make it back to the hill, but I guess I learnt something. The crowds had left and there were a few pilots in the sky but i had a lovely flight with plenty of space to myself to play around.



It had been a magic day and I didn't want to land, but the prospect of a 2-3 hr journey back to Milton Keynes meant that I had to cut the flight shorter than I would have liked - I also needed to eat!



I set up for another top-landing but this time didn't get it quite right and so had to correct my approach and landed nicely at the back of launch. If only it had been closer to home, I would have flown until the sunset. As I pulled away in the car the sky was still full of people enjoying the last of the day.

Long Mynd - 25th August 2007

Having kept a close eye on the weather, it all looked set for the Mynd - a site I hadn't flown before but had heard a lot about. Given that it is 2-3hrs from my house I wanted a guaranteed day (or as near as possible). Leaving a little later than planned I hit bank-holiday traffic before Shrewsbury and not seeing a whisper of wind thought i'd had a wasted journey. Eventuall I navigated my way through Church Stretton and up towards the site. On the way I was convinced there would be no wind and so was looking forward to rambling around the hills for the day as it looked so lovely. The, as I rounded a bend I could see a sky full of paragliders and my dissapointment turned to euphoria - it was flyable.

I parked and walked onto launch, took a few photos and got my gear sorted. Clipped in and the wind died. Everyone was grounded immediately. Eventually it became clear that this might last a while so I unclipped, got out of my flying suit and settled down for a lie down in the warm sun.
Someone had a remote control paraglider complete with action-man pilot which kept people amused, then all of a sudden the wind switched on and people were taking off all over the hill. I got ready and was soon in the air myself. I stayed up for 45 mins or so, catching a few thermals and getting nice and high. I headed down the ridge where it was quieter and settled into flying and taking in the beautiful landscape. Eventually I felt like I wanted a rest and so headed back to launch intending to top-land. For once this went like a dream and I made a text-book landing.

By this time conditions had picked up a bit and so I had my lunch and waited for things to calm down a bit.