Big Cliff flying on the Isle of Wight

The white cliffs to the west of Freshwater Bay, taken from Compton Down.

This July I decided it would be nice to do a weekend camping trip on the Isle of Wight, and take a few planes to slope soar there at a few interesting sites like Compton Down and The Needles.  My friend Mark was interested in coming along which made it the more fun and he took a some of these shots.

We took the Friday evening car ferry and arrived at Compton Farm camp site, pitched camp and cooked a fine evening meal, with wine, by head-torch before turning in for the night.

The weather was splendid the next morning as we walked up to the top of the bowl on the Down.  A couple of para-gliders had already glided down to the coast from this spot and were soaring along the seafront.  I had a pleasing flight from up here with the Multiplex EasyGlider and the view was as good as it gets.

The Needles and Scratchell's Bay

The next day the weather continued to be wonderful and the wind was blowing smoothly from the SW.  It was a perfect day to launch a glider off the white cliffs further westwards at The Needles.  Although I could have flown the Multiplex glider off these cliffs, it would have meant limiting soaring to above cliff top level and within a secure range to avoid the risk of a sea landing.  For this reason I decided to fly the Parkzone Radian, which has power assistance, to bring it up from sea level if required.

As it turned out, I only used the power option once for about 5 seconds during a whole hour of soaring since the lift was so fantastic.  The lift was also phenomenally smooth, coming off the sea, which made this flight the best flight to date in my flying history.

The Parkzone Radian, prior to launch.

Fitting of on-board HD camera after initial test-flight.

Launch!

The Radian does a fly-past.

After a great time at The Needles, we then worked our way along the south coast to discover other flying sites and found some more cliffs at Blackgang Chine.  Here I let my Multiplex glider spread her wings, flying over dense woodland below.

The Multiplex EasyGlider at Blackgang Chine.

Soaring against a sea mist.

Team photo on Compton Down

Sunset Flight at Butser

I had a really enjoyable evening flight at Butser during the middle of this month.  There was a gentle west wind against a spectacular sunset and the conditions were perfect.

Flying during a spectacular evening sunset on Butser hill.

In April I flew over Gosport Park with the Radian.  This was a still image from the flight video.

Flying the Sugarloaf

Earlier in September I decided it was time do a bit of big mountain flying so I went off to climb the Sugarloaf mountain (596m) near Abergavenny with a friend. It was blowing a South-Westerly which was fine as the mountain can be flown in any wind direction. The wind at the top was strong and the weather a mixture of all types but we had a good long flight at the summit and I flew the Multiplex EG as far as I could see against an amazing backdrop.

On the Sugarloaf with Multiplex EG

Variable weather provides interesting backdrop.

The next day I stopped off at the south facing White Horse slope of Milk Hill and Knap Hill just north of Alton Barnes in Wiltshire.  The lift was superb here and completely smooth.

Knap Hill looking Eastwards

Peaceful flying at sunset on Milk Hill

The Trundle

The other day it happened to be blowing a south-westerly and I thought I'd fit in a flight at The Trundle near Goodwood above Chichester, a slope-soaring site with buttery smooth lift and a nice view looking towards the sea. The sea breeze rolls in over the peachy landscape with no obstructions, making this a satisfying place to fly.
http://www.slopehunter.co.uk/ were so impressed with the shot I took (below) of my Multiplex EasyGlider that they used it for their website section on The Trundle, and I can understand why: the low, fast approach from the left captures the magnificence of this sailplane in its essence.
The wing spa is ballasted with 50cm of 8mm studding for extra wing loading and speed.

Flight in a real glider

In late June I decided to go for a flight in a real glider at the Southdowns Gliding Club in West Sussex. It was a very hot day and there were nice white, fluffy Cumulus clouds in the sky and no shortage of thermals to stay up as long as we wanted. I sat in the front seat with the instructor behind and we were towed for a duration of 5 mins up to a height above ground of 800m (2625ft) before the cord was released. We then thermalled around in the sky to a max. altitude that flight of 953m (3127ft), which is not far off my radio-control electric flight record of 1017m (3337ft).

As well as taking along a compact camera I also rigged up a small head-mounted HD video camera to record the whole flight.

Unfortunately, the rise and fall motion of the glider combined with just having had lunch before the flight meant that I was sick in the glider a number of times (luckily they have sick-bags in the cockpit). Feeling unwell, I told the instructor he might as well take over the controls and bring the glider in to land, which was a shame as it was good flying weather and it would have been nice to have stayed up there longer had I not felt so nauseous.

Logging the flight with my GPS unit, it lasted 32mins; we covered 34 miles and our average speed was 64mph.

I might well try it again sometime, but not just after I've had lunch next time!

GPS track of the flight path

Looking down at the river Arun.

Pulborough from c.3000ft.

Walking the coast of Jersey - June 2009

In mid June I took the ferry to Jersey and walked around the coastline in a clockwise direction, starting from St.Helier. The walk took three full days and I camped under the stars for three nights, walking from about 8.30am until about 9pm or so because of the long daylight hours, stopping only for lunch or the occasional refreshment break.

Jersey could be said to consist of four coastlines: north, south, east and west, each with its own character: The west coast is dominated by a very long sandy beach popular with surfers; the north coast is wild and craggy with mile upon mile of bracken slopes; the east coast is picturesque and features a half mile long pier and a big castle along its length; the south coast is quite populated but plain until you pass St.Helier and then some of the best of Jersey's coastline can be found (once you have walked along another extremely long beach!).

Day 1: St.Helier to Greve De Lecq

Day 2: Greve De Lecq to Bouley Bay

Day 3 : Bouley Bay to St Helier

Final comment: Walking the coast of Jersey is further than you might imagine!

Jersey - east coast (Mont Orgueil Castle)

Jersey - north coast

Jersey - north coast

Jersey - north coast

Jersey - west coast

Jersey - south coast

Jersey - south coast

Jersey - south coast

Switzerland - August 2008

I'd always wanted to go walking around the Matterhorn, breathing the pure Alpine air and experiencing mountain walking on a scale that doesn't compare to what England has to offer.

And so, in the August of 2008 I joined an organised walking group of about a dozen keen walkers and we flew out to Geneva.  We later arrived at the wonderfully scenic Alpine resort of Zermatt, situated in a valley with dramatic views of the Matterhorn, where we stayed in a basic chalet style hotel for the first night.
For the rest of the week, we generally slept in even more basic but civilised wooden chalet huts high up among the Alpine peaks, which exist so that walkers can continue on a high altitude circuit without having to carry tents and camping equipment.  The huts provide rugs and bunk beds along with an evening meal and breakfast for a very early start the next morning.

Zermatt

One of the nice things about Zermatt is that they have a zero emissions policy for transport; so the only cars allowed there are electric cars.  That way the air is kept pure, and there is no noise because the cars are silent.  If only Britain could adopt the same approach.

We would carry a picnic lunch between us and sit down to eat with wonderful views that you could happily look at all day long.

On the last day of the week we were glad to be able to relax in Zermatt, visiting the Matterhorn museum and enjoy walking around town without big rucksacks on our backs.  I went up in a helicopter that flew around the top of the Matterhorn. We could see climbers on the summit.