Three months in one day

The weather has been a bit dismal here, raining most of the day yesterday and not much wind this morning, but threatening more of the same to come.  I went out about 4pm and found the wind near perfect, but a huge menacing looking cloud over the back of the hill and similar others all around, threatening to ruin the situation.  Aware that there was a safe route to the beach if push came to shove, I unpacked the glider and set it up. I got above take off without any difficulty and was relieved that there wasn’t any sucky effect from the brewing Cu-nims behind.  I was being watched by tourists as I threw the glider around a bit and was very pleased to find that I had not forgotten how to fly!  After about five minutes I noticed the sky becoming darker and the clouds closing in.  Next, came a drop or two of rain and a flash of lightning from the direction of north Limassol and I noticed my buoyancy increasing.  I decided that it would be prudent, having aired the glider, to land now and pack while I still had the chance to do so without getting totally wet. 

It wasn’t too hard to top land and I turned quickly, bringing the wing down crisply behind me and promptly   bundled it up.

As I packed to leave, I noted that the sock was now indicating zero wind speed on the top.  I deduced that I had been flying on the very edge of the gust front of the storm and had obviously landed at the top within the last few minutes it was possible to do so.  I drove home, happy to have flown at all today and satisfied to have got back into the saddle here having settled back into things fairly well.

On my way home, I thought about a rather odd dream I’d had last night in which a very good friend had told me he’d been given months to live by the doctor.  Very strange indeed, it had disturbed me during the morning, but now, all was well and to cap it all, I had pulled a flight out of a seemingly hopeless day.  The forecast for the next day or so seems a little better, before finally turning bad again, with more thunder, lightning and rain to follow toward the end of the week.  We will see what unfolds!  Total flying time a cool ten minutes, that’s almost as much as I managed in three months in Oman.  Welcome home Dave!

Last ditch

I decided to go for a little drive around the local area and maybe have a look at As Seeb today.  While I was at it, I thought I may as well have one last look at my little hill and perhaps attempt to fly again.  I got up there to find the wind a little weak, yet as I stood there it seemed to pick up a tiny bit and so I was seduced into getting the glider out.  I set up and, with a half decent breeze at my back, brought the wing up above my head and it sat there obediently while I turned and faced the breeze.  It seemed in danger of collapsing at any moment and so, with a slight sense of foreboding, I pushed off and out. I lasted about four beats or so and a total of two minutes before I was down to the bottom of the 80m or so hill.  So much for that I thought and frankly, it didn’t look much like getting any better, so I packed up and left.  I drove to As Seeb to have a little look at the shops and souks arriving about 4.15, just as they were opening.  There was nothing terribly exciting, but it was pleasant enough strolling around, taking in the sights and sounds.  On my way into town, I passed a small ‘car boot’ sale, Omani style, some pictures follow:

 

Return to desperation

I went back up to Ar Rusayl this afternoon to give it another go.  In truth, the wind was a wee bit on the weak side, but I managed another couple of top to bottoms, the second of which I eked out for about five minutes, nothing exciting, but at least it was feet in the air.  I will have to see if I can get there just a little earlier next time, to see if it gets any better.

Not much, but it’s mine

Having earmarked three or four possible places to potentially fly and then gone to check each one out to find either that it was in the middle of a military firing range, or on a spineback ridge with lots of sharp, snaggy rock and a huge set of HT pylons running along the base, I set off today to look at another hopeful.  Upon my arrival at the start of the ‘up’ bit, I encountered this:

Fairly plain language I thought; proceed past this point and… well have you seen the movie ‘Midnight Express’?  Basically, not a good idea, although it did occur to me that if I could speak to these guys, I might be able to blag my way up the hill on the basis of being ‘sort of’ colleagues..  Still, I bottled it and went in search of another potential, something much smaller and more inconspicuous I thought.  I was bimbling my way back to base, when my eye spied something on the near horizon.  What was more there was a small road running up to it, a metalled, tarmaced road.  There was sure to be an abrupt warning to stay out, I thought, but decided to go take a look anyway.  What a pleasure it was to be ascending effortlessly on a decent tarmac road and.. no sign!  Well, there was a signpost, with an iron frame, where there had once been a sign, but no actual sign, so up I went.  At the top, only some 80 odd metres, there was a fenced in compound with a padlocked gate, and clearly nobody inside.  The hill, such as it was, was very small, with maybe 50m of soaring space end to end, just enough I thought, to be able to turn neatly and stay airborne.  The breeze, at about 1630 was perfect to a little light, so I quickly decided to get ready and give it a go, assessing as I did so my ‘get out’ options.  There was a huge amount of scrubby desert type land sprawling out in front of me, so landing should be no problem at all.  The take off area (the road I’d just driven on basically) was quite bijou and compact, but unlike the last site I checked out, there was a good bit of space before the rather rude drop-off behind.  There were however, a set of power lines immediately over the back, so going that way was going to be an absolute no-no.  Still, there was room I judged and by now was just about ready.  I laid the glider on the road, inflated it, checked the lines were not going to snag anywhere and up she went, just as sweetly as ever!  In a moment the glider was over my head and I was able to push forward and was scooped up by the smooth afternoon air, I was flying again!  OK, now no reason to get over excited, it was only a very small area to fly in and so required just about all of my undivided attention to fly in, but I managed to get about 50m above the take off.  I played back and forth, back and forth for several minutes, half expecting a lot of attention, perhaps a visit from the ROP (Royal Omani Police), but it never came.  I had a couple of chances to top land, but having only been in the air for five minutes elected not to do so.  Pity really, because about four-five minutes later the wind and with it my lift source began to die.  I found a nice little area, not quite at the bottom and with a direct shoulder to walk back up to the top and put down sweetly.  I bunched the glider up and walked back up, arriving on top again in 3-5 minutes.  On my arrival, the wind seemed to have all but finished, so I undid the harness, placed the glider on the road and walked to the take off point to assess more carefully.  After a few minutes I was sure.  A flight now would undoubtedly lead to a short hop to the bottom and a plod back up.  No point really, I’d learned what I wanted to know, so I bundled the glider into it’s stuff bag and back into the car.  At least I’ve now identified one clean launch point where I can at least get my feet into the air, perhaps for a bit longer next time.  A couple of pics taken on my phone:

The linear feature behind is yet another new road which is being built.  It won’t affect this as a site.  I’m pretty sure I can safely say that nobody else will have flown this little ‘lump’.  It may not be much, but it’s MINE :-)

Last chance in UK

I stayed with Dudley and Lisa Sunday night, then checking the internet for anywhere with flyable weather, sent out messages for takers.  I noted that it was set to be southerly, so I had earmarked Newhaven as a possibility, Gary Cooper agreed.  There were other southerly sites further north of course, but the further north one looked, the more cloudy and potentially rainy and windy the prospects were, so Newhaven seemed to be the best bet.  We set off from our respective points of origin and miraculously arrived on site about ten minutes apart, Gary the first on scene and so he got the cups of tea in.  The wind was a bit easterly and not terribly strong, nevertheless a few bold pilots were staying up, so we finished our teas and walked up to take off.  We sat and watched for a little while and soon felt confident enough to have a go.  Everyone was hoping that the wind would veer round to the south or even better SW, opening the door to the Brighton run, but alas this was never to be.  During the course of the day, which was warm and sunny, the conditions were up and down a little bit, but basically the same scenario; the east cliffs were soarable to a greater or lesser degree.  We each had four or five flights, in my case four, top landing for the first three and on the fourth I flew out to the beach, did a couple of wingovers and landed about 15 feet from my car, ready to pack up and leave.  It had been a very pleasant day spent in good company and enjoying very pleasant weather.  A total of 1 hour 25 minutes in the air for me and a chilled out way to spend the day!

Hiatus imminent :-(

Being sent on a thankless task to hotter climes with little hope of much by way of time off for flying.  Naturally, I will be taking ‘my precious’ with me, but I don‘t hold out much hope of using it to be honest!  Oh well, never say never as they say, watch this space!

Slovakian swansong

Had one last flutter on the hill to the east of Elena’s family’s home in Oravska Polhora.  Turňa, the small hill in question is, for the most part a very shallow slope with a slightly steeper bit near the top.  I tried it a couple of years ago and managed to soar about 2-3 beats, staying up for even less minutes.  This time, in slightly weak conditions, I managed to get above my take off height by some hundred metres or so and stay up for about 7 minutes, leading me to believe that in a stronger breeze it might be possible to do much better.  Two further flights increased my total time in the air to around 10 minutes.

Photos; Likavka and Chopok

Here are a few photos from recent days in the Liptov region flying.  Day one, we obviously missed a trick slightly and ended up at a small, though not unpleasant hill near the village of Likavka and the following two days we spent at Chopok, south of Liptovsky Mikulas.  With the benefit of hindsight, we could probably have had more out of the first and second days, if we’d read the conditions slightly better, but either way, we had a very good time and some very pleasant flights, further endorsing my belief that Slovakia holds a lot of promise for paragliding holidays.

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The weather for the next couple of days doesn’t look too promising, but hopefully after the weekend I may get another chance to get something done in the air I guess, we’ll have to see.

Update: As I sit here in the pub at Oravska Polhora it is raining outside.  Let’s hope it gets it out of the way soon!

Chopok again

Thoughts of going cross country today were sadly, not to be. We got up to the top and prepared for around 12.30, but there was not a breath of wind and a lack of dummies in the air, so we waited a while. We had more or less decided that we would get going by about 1pm, regardless, so come about 5 past we prepared to commit. There were a couple of gliders in the air, just about maintaining, but nothing really inspriring going on, nevertheless off we went. It was a bit of a struggle, but there was lift to be had, one just had to find it and stay in it. I was managing fairly well, but Mark was having a tad more trouble. Mark managed to get reasonably high out front, but there was still nothing too impressive going on. I finally decided to have a go for the ridge to the right east of take off, thinking that the rocks cooking off in that direction ought to be working, especially with the light north westerly breeze. On my way there, I noticed that Mark appeared to be climbing in another direction and so switched plans. Bad idea, that lift turned out to be just a small blip and now we were both committed to eking out our sledge runs. 50 minutes in the air and two happy landings later and we were chewing the fat over a coffee. Never mind, time for me to make my rendez vous with Michal at Zilina. Nice days flying, pictures to follow. Train to catch adios!

Chopok hop

Today was northerly, as my learned guide had suspected and so he took me to Chopok. We arrived about 11am and were in no rush to get to the top, as some beginners were up there doing first flights top to bottom. Still, we could see that the conditions were improving, so we arrived on the top maybe about mid day I guess and, after a little discussion about what ifs, we were off. We had some real thermic flying for about an hour and each got to about the height of the summit of the mountain, but were resigned not to really going anywhere for our first day here. After approximately one hour, we agreed that our fingers were getting a little cold and so elected to land. Just to add a bit of interest, I chose a smaller, narrower field than the normal one and wished I had stuck with the norm. Nevertheless, landings were executed and big smiles had all around! Took some pics, will attempt to upload soon!

Quick taster

Arrived Ruzomberok today and went with Mark to Donovaly. Unfortunately, conditions were northerly, so we ended up going back to Donovaly, where we flew a small hill near the stanica. Twenty minutes and a new site under my belt, then off home to Zilina for the night. Took some pictures, but not able to upload just at the moment, watch this space!

Last boogie

Called Shuie earlier in the day and agreed to check out the Curium for one last flight before the exodus.  Around 5.15 it was a bit on the strong side and westerly too, so after a few minutes of assessing we decided to go to Kourion café for a Frappé coffee and a chat.  We pondered the meaning of life and everything for a little while and around 7ish it looked kind of flyable, so we went back up to investigate.  On our arrival, it was indeed much better and I got ready in a couple of minutes and popped my wing up with ease, kiting it for a minute to show that there was clearly more breeze than there at first seemed.  I punted forward, climbed and wriggled in, turning first to the west to checkout how far we could get away with.  The whole west side of take off up to the bowl was clearly in bounds and even held a pocket or two of lift.  Next, over to the east and, predictably there was ample lift here, indeed the danger appeared to be to get too high and thrust into the strong westerly wind and even more lift up and back.  I flew forward and applied Big Ears to come back to a manageable level, the better to get back over take off.  I reported my findings to Shuie, who was just preparing to join me.  After a couple of minutes Shuie was in the air too and we scooted round the whole east side together, at one point Shuie getting rather high out to the east cliffs so that I was concerned he might get pinned there and have to run for the fields to the east.  Fortunately he managed just fine and we played around for a while, until I decided that it was time to land and go.  I lined up for the top and after a couple of attempts set down fairly neatly at the front of launch.  Shuie flew a bit longer and, the conditions weakening, found it harder to get to the correct height to make it onto the top.  Because the wind was now so weak, it made it very tricky indeed to fly slowly enough to make it onto the hill before the hill ran out!  After several attempts, Shuie made it and completed his first top landing at Curium in somewhat tricky conditions, I was pleased for him.  I ended up staying just a tad too late to fold my glider up, so just stuffed it into the bag.  I’ll have to pack it up tomorrow!  Twenty minutes in the air for me today, finally in nice conditions, so quite happy.  Onward to UK, then Slovakia and lastly Oman, ho-hum!

Ten more

Strange wind today, combined with a general apathy meant another 10 minutes in the air – Whoop-de-doo!  Maybe we’ll see better soon.  Eddie seemed to be having fun later on though, while we were relaxing on the beach.  Walking in the mountains with the family tomorrow (maybe a chance to do a little recce?)

Flight of excellence

A nice trip up north with the family, lots of swimming in the hotel pool and of course, even time for a flight from the best site on the island - ‘Paradise’, high up on the Pentadactylos ridge overlooking Kyrenia.  I travelled up with Ozgur, Mark and Piers, plus customers.  This time, I set up and got away first, so as to get out of the way and to ensure a longer flight.  I flew downwind to the east, taking time to sky out above the house thermal and then carried on to St Hilarion for a little bit of ‘exhibition flying’ above the tourists’ heads.  It’s an awesome view, among the very best from a paraglider on the island I would suggest.  Next I headed back toward the take off area to see what the guys were up to.  I was pleased to see that they were still high and noted that Piers was about half way along the ridge to the castle with his pax.  I slotted in with him, taking care not to get in his way and was soon up above take off height by some way.  This gave me the opportunity to finally do something I’ve been wanting to do here; fly above the sea before coming in to land.  The coast is maybe 1000 metres or so beyond the landing field and getting back from there is a simple matter of flying downwind for a couple of minutes.  This I did, before burning off the height at the downwind end and coming in to approach and land just beside Piers, who was already standing with his customer, sealing the deal with a few more posed congratulatory photographs.  We chatted about the flight, as the CDs were being burned and it was decided that, of the 500 or more flight Piers had done from here, this one must have rated in the top 10.  For my part, of my half dozen or so, it was certainly my best flight here, more importantly, each flight just seems to be getting better!  Here are some photos:

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Last lift

Sevag texted to say ‘Curium flyable’ and I responded that I would come and see.  We had some pizza, which was very good indeed, then headed for the hill.  On arrival, I could see Andros in the air and fairly high at the east end, but at take off it was calm, almost nil wind,  Sevag was struggling with it and offered to let me jump in, so I took the chance, inflated turned and launched in a oner, turning quickly to the left and grasping what lift I could find.  Actually, it was quite easy to get high and I climbed to a reasonable altitude quite quickly.  I was playing for a few minutes and then Andros top landed.  Sevag was still struggling a bit, but finally managed to commit aviation and headed my way.  I skirted out a bit to give him space and we managed to play in the evening air together for a few more minutes.  He’d already had a couple of hours flying earlier and so was bloated with it and this was just a little ‘bonus’ for him.  After a bit of scratching I managed to climb again at the east, just enough to traverse back (into wind) and make it to a point about 15 metres from the carpeted area just below the top.  I suspect that I would have been very fortunate to have made it any later!  Sevag guessed he would not make it at all and so went for the bottom, where Andros picked him up.  A nice evening soar/scrabble, but 20 minutes of more interesting air time was had by yours truly.

Can’t win ‘em all!

We went to Curium around midday, where we met up with Manuel and a little later Sevag.  The conditions at first seemed a bit weak, but eventually Manuel gave it a go.  He was staying up, so Sevag and I decided to see what we could do too.  We all played around, happily in loads of space, all getting quite high at times and we had a good look over the ancients, while Elena, Cam and Kyle were looking at us from the ground. Cam had asked earlier if she could have a try on a paraglider with me, so since the conditions looked as near perfect as I’ve seen, I decided to give her a flight.  Unfortunately, in a little incident before we got airborne, I managed to scratch her knee, so she ended up not really enjoying the experience, a real shame, because the flight was my best tandem yet, with the conditions practically perfect for it.  Nevertheless, it was nice to give her the chance and at least now she knows what it is like to fly, something she had told me she had been wondering about.  Kyle was desperate to fly with daddy, but alas, without a kiddie seat, I couldn’t really indulge him, although I’m sure he’d love it.  Cam’s little scratch proved to be a bit of a blessing really, because he then decided he didn’t want to do it, hahaha!  All part of the dastardly plan really!  Something just over a pleasant hour in the air for me today anyway – and in nice smooth air to boot!

Checking under my armpits

It looked like it ought to be shaping up for a perfect day for flying, so I sent out a message to a couple of people.  Mark called me back to say that there were white caps visible from his bedroom window.  I told him I was going to take a look anyway and would report the situation when I got there.  On arrival, it was one of those tough calls.  It looked fine to fly now, but equally, it looked a bit foreboding for the immediate future.  There were small white caps alright, but just now it looked certainly flyable, I set up ready to go.  The wing came up quickly and I was lifted, but just gently.  I swung effortlessly underneath, crabbed to the left and was safely away.  Once away from the take off toward the east it was, as is often the case, very smooth indeed.  I wafted around and began putting out sms’s to all the regulars.  One by one they responded that they couldn’t make it, so I set about enjoying the air alone, convinced that nobody loved me!  A tour bus was down on the beach near the Kourion café, presumably a new route on the ‘Cyprus tour’.  I continued to explore the ridge, though clearly the west was no-go, since every time I made my way that way I was met with sink and unpleasant air.  I took the hint well and limited myself to the area in front and left, using the time to take plenty of photos, since I hadn’t done that for some time.  After about 45 minutes I set about trying to lose height and set up to top land.  After a few attempts I decided it was too strong and so to go down and land.  The phone rang, it was Mark.  “Hi mate, I take it it’s still flyable, I hear you going up”, he said.  I informed him that it was getting strong, but I assessed that he would certainly be able to take off in the sand pit, even if he didn’t fancy the top.  He said he’d be there in 20 minutes, so I said I’d stay in the air and wait and sent a message to tell Elena that’s what I was doing.

Not the greatest place to fly, but not the worst place to live either

Twenty minutes later, Mark arrived and the wind seemed to have decreased slightly, so I approached and landed for a chat after a flight of 1 hour and 7 minutes.  The wind did indeed seem lighter and, after a short rest and a chat, Mark set up to take off and I followed.  I went to the right as usual and after a few turns, saw Mark on the ground half way up the slope near the central scar.  I went over in that direction, thinking that there was plenty of lift everywhere, only to find that I too encountered sink and in turn ended up going down into the bottom sand pit. We came back up to the top to find Carlo (the falc) flying rather erratically and not doing very well generally.  He flew past take off and passed on the news that it wasn’t very good.  We watched him go down and decided that was enough for us.  Mark headed for the village to wash his car and I headed home, 1 hour and 10 minutes flying time the richer.  Cyprus probably isn’t the best place to paraglide, but then it isn’t that bad a place to live I guess!

Sod the tandem - I wanna do this!

Windy again this pm. Saw Eddie on his small wing, must've been a short flight I reckon.

Saw this on Youtube - funny!

Best day for weeks

I arrived at Curium to find Wayne at the bottom for about the third time and ready for another walk up.  I rescued him and saved him that trauma.  I could see from the sea that it was set to get stronger, so we hung around for a little while.  In about 30 minutes or so it felt just about perfect and looked like it might get still stronger, so I announced to Wayne that I was getting my kit ready.  He agreed and laid his glider out too.  I waited for him to be off, whilst sending out sms messages to the usual suspects, but it appeared that no one was able to come along, despite my insistence that this was possibly the best afternoon for flying that we’d had for weeks.  I heard a “Whoah!” from Wayne as he lifted off almost vertically and wafted toward the olive tree, just brushing it with his feet before applying a little corrective left brake and weight shift to take him away from it and he was off nice and cleanly!  I chuckled, set up for myself and away I went.  I first explored to the right, finding the usual abundance of lift and played in that for a while, making my way all the way around the road and on down to the sea front and around the corner.  I played around the headland in the bowl, where I found lots of lift, but progress any further west seemed virtually impossible, so I came back to the main ridge where Wayne was just lapping it up!  I flew effortlessly in the abundant smooth lift for a total of 45 minutes, while Wayne must have managed 50.  I was going to eke it out to the full hour, but I saw Steve arrive, so I pulled Big ears and manoeuvred in and top landed for a chat.  Moments later Wayne decided to land down below, so I collected him again and, after setting up once more, I decided it was strong enough to probably prevent me easily landing on top again, so as I was due to be home in 30 minutes time I elected to pack and go, leaving Steve to enjoy the hill on his own.  A great flight for Wayne’s last of this trip, hope we’ll see you again before too long buddy!

Curium – 36 degree heat

Searing hot today!  Went to Curium about 2.30ish with Mark.  Wayne was around somewhere, because his tee-shirt and water bottle were there, it was just that he was nowhere to be seen.  Mark and I assessed conditions as weak, but flyable, so I got ready.  As I was setting up, Wayne appeared in his car.  I clipped in and took off.  It was light alright, but there was lift to be had, it’s just that it was quite light, so you had to fly actively and conserve every bit of lift.  I am getting quite good at this now, so I made the most of it and was obviously giving out the right vibes, because Mark set up and took off too.  Little did he know at that point that I was trying my hardest to gather together enough height to squander on a break for the take off area to top land.  After a couple of attempts, I got the required height and made it back onto the take off, but not before Mark had gone for it.  Wayne took off next, just as Mark was going down, so I told him I’d go down for Mark and would pick them both up if necessary.  I went down and while I was there, repaired the bottom windsock.  Wayne had about 15 – 20 minutes I guess and then dropped in to the bottom landing area too, so I gathered them up and off we went back up to the top.  Ever the die-hard, I went for it again, with a small audience on the top and, finding a little lift to the left of take off, I cranked the glider round for a bit of show, thinking that the conditions were improving slightly.  Sadly, this was not the case and this turned out to be the only real lift I had, so after a couple more beats I was done for and made my way to the east cliffs, landing on the rough area opposite the Kourion café.  This time, Wayne came down for me and, seeing that there was not much more hope, Mark and I decided to make a break for home, the better to win bonus points and possibly fly another day soon.  A total of 20 minutes flying for me today then and not un-enjoyable at that, an afternoon when you had to work for it.

Kalo Chorio dreamin’

Not having been to Kalo Chorio for ooh, over a year now, we had been curious as to the state of affairs regards the landing area.  I had heard from one source that there was currently no safe landing for that site, but that negotiations were in place to bulldoze a new landing.  Knowing the Cypriot approach to hard work, I wondered when this might come about and whether I would still be alive then, never mind on the island!  With that in mind, as well as the desire to see with our own eyes what was available now, my friend and I set off to take a look.  I was amazed how much had changed, both for the better and for the worse.  The house which was started a year ago was, to my surprise, finished and lived in!  However, it wasn’t all bad news, far from it.  A larger field to the south and west of the old one was ripe for the landing and, despite having our gliders with us, my buddy and I decided to wait for another day, since our visit was a little late on and I had Elena and Kyle with me and didn’t want to keep them waiting.  Apparently, no one has flown this site for some time, which I find a little strange, because the options, to me and my friend seemed better now than a year ago.  It had been described to me as having ‘no safe landing’, though no answer to the question, “did you fly it?” was forthcoming from my informer.  I was puzzled!  Nevertheless, it’s official, KX is once again ‘on the menu’!

Curium magic

I was on the beach swimming with Kyle and Elena in the early evening and very pleasant it was too!  After 7.10, I decided that it was worth trying the evening soaring plan and sent out an SMS to my good friend Mano and went up to the top.  Once there, I sent another, saying, ‘Looks like a top to bottom, so I’m going now!’  Moments later Mano arrived and as usual, not packing his glider or disconnecting from the harness, he was set up and off first.  I was away right behind him and, noticing he was staying up at the east end, I followed.  It was looking like a ‘who can stay up longest’ contest and actually, there was plenty of lift available, but mostly all in the same place – quite a small area.  We know each other quite well and have a good deal of trust in the air, so this was not really a problem for us.  We worked the lift very well and stayed up for about 25 minutes, mainly at the east end cliffs.  One more glider and I am sure that we wouldn’t have managed this.  Once high enough we did a beat back toward take off and I headed back toward the east again to top up.  On looking round, Mano was nowhere in sight, surely he hadn’t gone down?  No indeed, I saw a figure on the take off and deduced that he must have top landed.  Naturally, as much as I may have wanted to land on the beach, I now decided I would top land too!  I clawed plenty of height on my way back and, staying out away from the hill seemed to be the most economical route, so that’s the one I took.  My phone beeped a message at me from inside my pocket, ‘no time to read that now’, I thought!  I arrived quite high and applied copious amounts of brake until I was about four feet off the ground at the front of take off.  I knew I’d never get back up there if I went round for another run, so I hauled down on the brakes and stalled at that height and dropped as if jumping from a low wall, my wing dropping behind me and just brushing the tree.  “Doing some free fall?” came the sarcastic jibe from the top landing master just behind me, “Yep” I replied.  I checked my phone, the sms read, “For me it was a top to top, but I don’t know if you will manage the same!  :-)))”.  I laughed and we packed up and went down for a drink at Chris’ BBC.

Zached

Zach came round to borrow the washing machine, so in return, I borrowed him to use as tandem ballast.  Unfortunately, while trying to get the wing laid out on the top, we got a slight dragging and scratched his knee, after which we went down to the sand pit to try it again from there.  On reflection, it would seem to be the best place to fly the tandem from, although if there is not enough lift you don’t tend to make it back up to fly above the hill, as was the case this time.  Still we had five minutes of beating back and fore and good ol’ Zach wasn’t so put off that he wouldn’t do it again, so maybe I’ll use him for practice a bit more sometime.  Conditions looked ok to fly some more solo or even tandem, but I felt we ought to go back and sort his ‘dobie’ out, so off home we went.  Maybe I’ll fly some more later, perhaps another nice evening flight, we’ll see!

Evening delight

Seconds!  After a bit of Messenger discussion with Mano, we decided to go give Curium a second look.  It was a little strong when we got there, yet still it seemed to be calming down almost by the minute.  There would be occasional gusts, which caused us to recall the folly of recent weeks (see Thrills and Spills - 21 June 09).  Finally, it seemed to be consistently within acceptable limits and we got our gliders ready.  Take off was easy, penetration not a problem, not even very much turbulence to trouble us.  We were able to get quite high, maybe about 120m and I made it out over the edge of the water at least once and returned to the hill with height to spare.  We each top landed and took off again and, despite the fact that it was clearly becoming weaker, there was still ample lift to return to the take off area.  We played some more and then top landed again, before calling it a night.  Not five minutes after we had both landed, the wind sock was looking decidedly lack-lustre and possibly getting back to land at take off might have been a challenge at that point.  So, a fitting end to an average day then, another 25 minutes flying in not unpleasant conditions.  I took some pictures, but in the fading light, they are not worth uploading, so you’ll just have to imagine it I’m afraid.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog, that should not be hard!

Bitu’s maiden flight at Curium

The first of many I’m sure.  Bitu was over for the chance to fly and we knew from the outset that conditions were going to be fairly fleeting, so time was very much of the essence.  Mano and I arrived just as it was getting buoyant and we each had a short flight and top landed before Bitu and friend Lynsey arrived.  It was getting stronger by the minute, no chance of giving Lynsey a tandem flight today I’m afraid, so we wasted no time getting Bitu off.  He executed a pretty good launch first time and having been briefed to stay out away from the hill as it was getting stronger, he had a flight of around 10 mins, then landed below.  I took off and had another short flight, landing back on the top again and thrashing my glider down on top of Mano, with the words, “I wish I could claim that was deliberate, but alas it was not!”  So, a short day today then, but maybe we’ll do better next time, we’ll see!  Some photos below, courtesy of Lynsey:

 

Hey Wayne

I arrived at Curium, just as it was beginning to switch on, to find Wayne and Sean in a ‘huddle’ talking northern to each other, clearly bonding well.  They had both flown, but gone down,as it was a tad light up to that point.  I assessed that it was eminently ‘stop-up-able’ and so set up ready to go.  The glider came up well, though I was swung around earlier than I had intended, but no drama!  I went off.  Lift was pretty abundant and it wasn’t hard to get above and enjoy the air.  I flew for about 5-6 minutes, then top landed to see if I could coax the lads into the air.  Sean had to be getting away, but Wayne decided to give it a go.  It was a little bit gusty for him, but with Sean anchoring him he was soon away. I went next and this time I timed it better and was able to hold the wing under control and choose my moment for launch, not that the moment really mattered that much, since it was becoming lifty-er by the minute.  We flew for several minutes and it began to get stronger again, no white caps, but ‘lines’ out to sea.  I shouted to Wayne to keep well forward and demonstrated the line to take.  He heeded and we both played some more.  Penetration seemed to be getting slowly harder and I decided to go toward the sea to see if I could get there with height.  i was alarmed at just how hard it was to get there, needing nearly max speed bar to make it and just sit stationary over the shoreline.  I waited a bit to sink, took a photo or two and looked back to see what Wayne was up to.  He was high and applying Big Ears.  I was of mixed opinion whether this was wise, thinking that penetration would be first priority.  i then devoted my attention to getting myself safely on the ground as the small white caps were now building.  On landing, vertically again, I turned and brought the wing down and looked for Wayne.  I was concerned that he was nowhere to be seen and, not having his phone number I could not call him to make sure he was OK.  I bagged the glider and walked back up, meeting Wayne at the top.  He had been forced back and landed on the top behind the ruins, not ideal, but he obviously managed it very well and was unharmed, so all ended well.  All in all a tad over 20 minutes flying today and again almost caught out by fast changing conditions, but no harm done.  Some pics below: 

Better day

Both internet and the available signs were telling me that Curium was a goer today.  I went along about 2.30 and found Christakis there with a student (Costas) and a Brit holiday-maker called Wayne both doing top to bottoms.  The wind seemed a little light, but flyable nonetheless, so I prepared to have a go.  Mano turned up and proceeded to prepare too.  Wayne had gone, but had been spooked about getting too close to the hill and as a result had gone down.  Mano and I decided to locate one car at the bottom and so we brought Wayne back up top.  Wayne went first and seeing he was getting established, Mano followed and I went last.  Costas seemed to be having a bit of drama getting airborne, but he made it eventually.  After a while Manuel top landed and so did I.  By this time, Mark had arrived and he set up too.  Mano drove my car down and exchanged it for his own, before heading for home.  I flew again with Mark and Wayne soon went down.  Mark and I were having to work for it now and pretty soon it was becoming hard work.  Mark landed in the bondu and I squeezed a few more beats before making a bee-line for the beach while I still had the height!  First flight about 30 minutes, second about 20, so a cool 50 mins in the air today – happy days!

Evening on bare Stav

Demetris had been telling me about the good flying to be had in the summer evenings at Stavrovouni and so, it occurred to me that tonight might be a good evening to sample a bit of it.  We arrived at the landing field around 6.20 pm and headed up the top.  Apparently, there had not been much breeze the evening before and the guys had still managed a fair soaring flight.  Demetris took off first and I went next.  We were flying for about 15 minutes before Mano managed to get airborne, choosing instead to tangle the ‘Forbidden’ wing in the bushes, how I chuckled as I watched him wrestle with it from above!  I had 50 minutes flying around, taking some nice evening soaring pictures then, seeing Demetris heading for the bottom landing field, I followed, since the conditions were weakening.  Demetris reported over the radio that the landing was turbulent, so I prepared myself for a bumpy ride.  In fact, it was not too bad, just a few little bumps and I was down.  I looked up and there was now sign of the crazy Iti.  I looked at Demetris and shrugged, looking at the hill.  “He’s top landed”, came the response.  Well, I was shocked and horrified!  This ‘forbidden’ wing has been causing enough controversy lately, so to top land at Stav on it was just taking the piss!  Doesn’t the man realise that this killer wing could squash him like a bug?  I imagined the reaction of the ‘old school’ types that fly these Cypriot hills and, well, it just didn’t bare thinking about!  So it was, that we all enjoyed our flights and all faces were saved at the end of the day.  Oh Stavrovouni, what a gorgeous hill you are.  I can full understand the reasoning behind becoming a monk and living up there, making and drinking your own wine and watching the sun going down, hiccupping!  A paragliding monk – now there’s a thought!

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Curium grasping

Mark and I arrived at Curium earlier today, for fear that it would get too strong too soon, as in recent days.  I flew a total of four flights, including one flight on the ‘forbidden’ Trango.  I managed to top land on the Trango, but not on my own beloved Artik.  First flight, I went too far along the west cliffs and ended up landing down near the Sunrise café.  I had two more flights on my own wing and one on the ‘forbidden’.  All in all, not over-inspirational, but at least it was flying I guess!  I went home for a cup of tea with some guests.

Mark executes a sweet take off

Missed out!

I went along to Curium today.  When i got there it seemed borderline weak.  I got ready as Christakis took off to test the air.  No sooner was my glider out of the bag, but the wind increased dramatically and it was very soon way too strong to take off.  Chris was having a really bad time on a basic glider and said after that he’d had a closure.  It didn’t improve, however a few minutes later I did get some good news, in the form of this free ticket for Alice Cooper’s ‘Terror Tour’ show in Limassol on Sunday, procured by my good friend Mano.  Great result, Fan-freakin’-tastic!  I’m really excited about the show now and cannot wait!

Maybe we’ll fly tomorrow, we wait and see!

Afterthought

Oh – I almost forgot; two short top to bottoms today in really crap air.  Not pleasant at all, nothing to write home about.  Oh and thanks to Kirsty and Scott for the lift back up!  (Total of about 5 mins air time).

Max chat

I finally got my car back just in time to make it to Curium before it became unflyable.  Manuel had already gone and Demetris and Christakis were just leaving.  It was strong, but there were clearly launch-able moments.  I set up, took off and was flying around for about 20 minutes and high over the beach.

Heading for the beach approaching Max chat

I stayed around the beach area a little too long and, on returning to the hill, found no lift and quite a lot of sink.  Unfortunately, this situation conspired to put me on the deck near the wind sock.  Seeing that Elena and Kyle were not yet back, I decided to hike back up the hill to relight at the sandpit.  On the way up I saw Carlo ‘the Falc’ setting up on the top take off.  It was evidently a little strong up there, so I decided there was no point walking the extra 25 metres to get there, so upon reaching the ‘pit’, I rested a minute or two and then set up.  I saw that Carlo had had at least one failed attempt, and was not now in a position to take off, so I went.  Once in the air I found I was climbing immediately and soon was at 170 metres plus.  I used the bar to get me away from the hill and continued up and slightly forward.  By completely standing on the bar I was able to slowly advance forward until I was over the BB Café at 150m.  I had to hold the speed bar on in order to remain where I was and on looking to the hill I could see that Carlo was still trying.  I sent a message to him saying simply, ‘You really don’t want to be taking off right now!’ and I saw him check his phone and then promptly back off.  I don’t like telling people not to fly, but if he’d taken off, even assuming he could achieve maximum speed on his glider, he would have been going first up, then backward in no time.  I took comfort that he hadn’t done so.  I was finally sinking above the beach, knowing that all I had to do to come back to the car park was to ease up on the bar.

Got my buddy back, working like new

This I did and was surprised to find that it didn’t seem anywhere near as strong near the ground and yet I still wasn’t penetrating.  I touched down vertically and held the wing up for a moment, while I chose my moment to pounce.  I turned and brought her down in a second, holding the rear riser to stop the wing from reinflating.  All in all about thirty minutes of mostly gale hanging, though under control and with more pleasure than fear.  Truly flying on the edge of what is comfortable, and yet it was quite good fun and especially nice to be out over the sea, even if only for a minute or three.  The rest of the pictures:

Finally an entry

Manuel and Sevag had been flying earlier in the day, but it was blowing a gale again by the time I finished work and got there, C’est la vie!  I called for Mark and we went down there about 7-ish I guess.  it was better, still a tiny bit on the strong side, but getting better all the time.  Manuel took off first on the super duper 2-3 rated UP Trango.  I had Kyle with me, so I saw Mark off next.  Manuel kindly landed at the bottom so that he could watch Kyle and I could fly, so we picked him up and came back up.  He folded the glider up while I flew for about 15 minutes.  Hey, it may not be much, but we were all relieved to fly at all after such a long lay off!  I landed on the beach car park and we all recovered to our vehicles and then off home.  Nice to be in the air again!

Fookin’ weather!

Is there any end to this windy weather?  Must be great for the hangies, but it ain’t no good for us ‘floppies’!  We went up to Pomos/Pachyammos yesterday, in search of potential sites and in hope of finding some flying weather.  No such luck on the weather front, but we did find a place or two with distinct potential for flying and landing on the beach.  Maybe we’ll try them out if we ever get an end to this terribly strong wind.  On the bright side, I think I invented a new sport – ‘Kite swimming’!

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Another staggering 5 minutes in paradise

It is what it says on the tin!  Bye bye to Sorin and Julia – a real pleasure meeting you and we’re looking forward to our next meeting with you both – take care!

Late flight

Mark and Mario and I went out about 7pm and on my arrival it was still a little strong, but dropping steadily, but with the same constraints as the last couple of weeks; stronger over to the east and bumpy to the west/take off area.  Notwithstanding that, Mark went first and made a good go of it, Mario next and I went last.  Alas, by the time I was airborne, Mark was on the deck and Silvy picked him up soon after that.  Mario landed after about 15-20 minutes and I landed at the top a minute or two after that, so that I could drive down and pick him up.  We came back up and Mark and Silvy departed, while Mario and I considered another flight, but darkness was falling and the wind didn’t quite increase enough to give us full confidence, so we decided that discretion would be the better part.  I attempted to take a couple of pictures, but the fading light meant that they left a bit to be desired.  Here are a couple of the better ones:

Tandem pics

Today was another uninspiring day, I had two flights of about 5 minutes duration each, landing at the bottom both times.  It was westerly, strong for most of the day and quite turbulent as well.  I had not long since eaten my dinner (plus seconds and a coke float) so I didn’t enjoy the bumps very much.  Nevertheless, it’s nice to get ones feet in the air, even if only for a short time.  Here are the pictures from Wednesday’s tandem:

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Last blast

When I arrived at Curium about 5pm the take off was showing a light, easy breeze for launching, but out at sea white caps were many and impending.  Mario was there and together we watched and waited for the sea to look more stable and the trees on the top beside the ruins to indicate calmer conditions.  After a little while we saw what we were waiting for and I went to try out the air.  It was buoyant and fairly smooth, but still a little strong.  I could just make it over the sea, but on the second flight out there I returned via the wrong route and arrived back at the hill too low and in some turbulence.  I didn’t quite make it back up and landed on the sand opposite the beach car park.  I had wanted to lose enough height to land back at the top to let Mario fly, but alas I had overdone it and ended up too low, leaving me no option but to bottom land.  When we returned to the top the breeze had completely died – such frustrating conditions!  Another 10 minutes Curium time for my log then – sigh!

Air to air and first pax

Probably the best conditions for flying for a week or two, but we really had to work for it and be patient.  How I long for the easy buoyant days we sometimes get here.  Knowing my luck, they’ll really start to kick in just as I have to leave for a few months! :-(After we had waited for a good couple of hours, we were finally rewarded with a flight of reasonable strength and length.  Sorin (AKA Mario – above) and I were soaring together for a few minutes and lift was fairly plentiful.  This has been the first time in days I have felt comfortable taking my hands completely off the controls and operating my camera and even the phone.  When Sorin went down it was light and smooth enough for me to be able to top land, so I bundled my wing and drove down to get him.  When we came up, we also brought Julia and set up the tandem.  After a couple of attempts on the top, I decided that the sand pit would be a better idea.  I was only really anxious about the time and the conditions becoming too weak.  The wing came up sweetly enough, but clearly I need a little more practice with the brakes.  It’s necessary to pull a bit more than on my solo wing.  We shuffled to the right and got underneath it and ran forward just a couple of steps and we were airborne.  We were able to climb just above the ruins at one point, but height was lost almost as quickly as it was gained.  We milked it for about ten minutes before the inevitable lighter conditions started to direct us downslope.  The landing was fine, except that I had neglected to fully brief my passenger on the landing phase and she didn’t quite get the undercarriage down in time and landed on her bottom (protected adequately by the airbag harness).  I remained on my feet and the glider just drooped to the floor in front of us.  All in all a successful endeavour for a first attempt methinks!  I can work on the finer points for style on my subsequent forays into the realms of tandem-ing.  One of the better days since our friends have been here I think.  Approximately 50 minutes solo and 10 minutes tandem – cool!

Bullets and rockets

Around one o’clock I went for a look at Curium, to find conditions a little weak.  Sevag and Sean had both flown and gone down already and Sevag was at the bottom as I arrived.  I collected him and brought him back up.  On our return it seemed a little better, so I took off immediately after Sean and we both remained in the air for about 5 minutes before landing in the sand pit below.  Sevag in turn, brought us back up and this time it seemed better still, so I prepared to go again.  I was able to get high enough this time to top land after a few minutes and myself and then Mario took off again, this time lasting about 20 minutes in the air, before we too got drilled to the ground.  When we hit sink it was sudden and violent, meaning that you could go down rapidly and unexpectedly almost anywhere, not very inspiring conditions at all.  Sevag and Sean both left and Mario and I remained at the top for a little longer.  Eventually I tried again, by this time it had become quite strong.  I thought that all I had to do was get in the air and I was sure to stay up.  I suppose I was right, but to be truthful, when I did get up, I found that I didn’t really want to stay up, it was very turbulent and I didn't feel at all secure, hence I landed after about 10 minutes, with a total of about 40 minutes airtime today.  I decided to call it a day, but later decided to go check it out once more about 6.15pm.  On my arrival, Mario had just landed after a half hour flight in perfect conditions.  It would appear he got the best flight of the day!  I picked him up and knew that it was probably already over, but was happy for him that he finally got one decent flight.  It looked potentially so good for today, so this was all quite disappointing.  never mind, maybe tomorrow?

Sunset delight

The message said that ‘Mario says it’s good at Curium’.  A quick look at the trees suggested – still a bit strong.  Still, about fifteen minutes later I decided to look anyway.  As I arrived, I saw I was alone, though at a closer look I saw Mario and Julia on the beach car park, Mario had obviously been brushing up the ground handling – good stuff!  It was already looking quite light at the top, but the trees on the hill to the east were just moving, which was a good omen.  I raised the wing and ran forward, encountering weak lift, so I made a ginger turn to the right.  This produced a tiny bit more, so I turned and flew back through it.  Net result – I passed by take off about the same height or just above.  Over to the east side, things were a little better and lift was present up to about 100m above and maybe as far out as the bottom sand pit.  I knew that it was going to involve work to get back to the take off area, flying into wind and sink, nevertheless I was sure it would be possible.  I overflew the take off a couple of times, just to satisfy myself that it was comfortably within range.  I could see Mario in his car watching and hoped he would come up to join me, but I knew it would be a close call and a potentially short flight if he did so.  After about fifteen minutes I flew back to the top landing area with good height and approached deep in, to milk the height and also to give myself enough of a final leg in which to land.  About four to five feet above the ground I eased on progressive amounts of brake in the smooth evening air, calculated both to slow my groundspeed and to maximise my sink over the sloping ground.  Ultimately I stalled the wing just an instant before my feet touched the area just to the front left of the mat and the wing fell asymmetrically, out of the now almost still air and dropped onto its right tip on the mat.  A very pleasantly smooth and surprisingly easy 15 minutes soaring again, most unexpected in the circumstances.

Thrills and spills

Manuel and I went back for another look at Curium about 7pm.  There was a sinister line across the sea which looked distinctly like trouble and the trees were moving a fair bit, but take off was definitely looking like an easy prospect.  We considered the situation for a few moments, after which the wind seemed to have dropped a bit and, being worried that it would drop off completely, as it did yesterday, we decided to go.  Manuel was first away and, seeing that he was high I decided to nip to the car to get my camera.  My take off was very straight forward and I made my way to where Manuel was happily climbing.  Things were going fine for a few minutes, but then I noticed Manuel was heading down toward the beach and so I followed him.  As we descended, the air was becoming much stronger and speed bar was needed to go forward.  Unfortunately, speed bar alone meant that I was going forward (only just), but up as well.  I looked behind me and could see that Manuel was heading back toward the cliffs and the trees at it’s foot!I was almost convinced that he was going into the trees and the next question was – where was I going?  I had managed to make it almost all the way to the beach, but it was clear that the wind was even stronger the further one went in that direction and I was soon standing on the speed bar all the way and not quite penetrating, occasionally going slowly backward.  I had to make the decision to head toward the bondu area near the windsock, almost certain that I wasn’t quite going to make it there.  I wasn’t descending fast enough, which was the main problem, so I quickly released the speed bar and hauled in Big Ears, before re-applying the bar.  Now I was descending at an acceptable rate and going almost vertically down.  When I got down to the last 20-30 metres I began penetrating forward, so slowly released the bar, with the ears still in, but decreasing the size.  Next second, I was down and, waiting for the hundred metre sprint, was most surprised to find that the wing was hovering above my head with the ears still in.  I hauled the brakes in and the glider dropped to the ground neatly.  I had landed at the west end of the newly and illegally extended field and Manuel, by some miracle had landed at the east end of the same field.  Marios came to pick us up, having just arrived and we headed back for the top of the hill.  On our way out, I saw a guy I recognised, parked and camping at the start of the bondu area.  I had met John last year and he was obviously in the middle of his annual camping trek.  We stopped to say hello to him, before heading back up the hill.  It was near dark now and I decided that conditions would be much better for a flight and so took off and flew for another 10 minutes, while Mario kited his glider on the top.  After 10 minutes in the fading twilight I decided to come in and top land.  A total of fifteen minutes this evening added to the fifteen earlier, made a total of 30 minutes for the day, not too bad considering the conditions I thought!

Crazy strong

After yesterday it looked like it would be strong again today, so it would be best to arrive early to avoid disappointment.  I got there about 10 O’clock and it was already getting a bit gusty.  I took off and headed east, then gingerly west, all around in front of take off.  I could find no really ‘comfortable’ air and so, I just floated around a bit.  I texted Manuel to tell him that it was flyable, but getting stronger.  I had about 15 minutes, then landed on the beach and was kiting and inverting and emptying the glider just as he arrived.  I had misunderstood his message that he had forgotten his ‘car glider’ and therefore thought he wasn’t coming.  We went back up top and had another look.  It seemed very strong to me, but Manuel decided to give it a go.  He managed to find a slight lull and quickly brought the wing up and flew away from the hill.  I got my glider out again as another small lull passed us and lo and behold, when I got the glider ready – gale force!  Always the way!  Mario and Julia had turned up and were resigned to being spectators and then Matteo arrived with his UP Trango, a 2-3 wing and he too set up.  He ended up going down the front of the hill a little and on bringing the wing up he scooped up a large branch, which tangled in his lines.  Luckily, it wasn’t doing any harm, so Manuel and I both called to him to leave it there and go.  Always best to get away from the hill in strong conditions, try to clear the lines well away from the terrain.

He got quite high, but was clearly only just penetrating and soon, same could be said with nearly full speed bar.  No hope at all for me to get off again in these conditions.  Manuel set up again, eager to fly, but there was no way he could make it either.  I must admit I breathed a sigh of relief when he decided to give up.  Better to live to fly another time.  This sport is not just about the physical conditions, but also very much to do with the mental state and sometimes making the correct decision can have a huge impact upon a given outcome.  Another day a little like yesterday then, but today at least I got a flight, albeit short (approx 15 minutes in the air).

Challenging/interesting

Today I had a call from Sevag to say that they were off to look at Dora.  I had told Theo I would be at Curium if it was flyable and anyway, if it was I didn’t want to go too far.  I got there to find it a little light but evidently flyable, so I went for a go.  Moments later Sevag and Christakis arrived, so I top landed for a chat.  Sevag and I took off and flew together for a while.  It was quite bumpy and unpleasant, so when I saw Sevag go to the bottom, knowing there would be the possibility of a lift back up I also flew down.  We came back up and soon were joined by Theo and two friends and then by Marios and Julia.  Chris flew and it was looking slightly smoother, so after a while I took off again, shortly followed by Sevag and then Marios.  We all flew for about half an hour together, until Sevag and Marios bottom landed.  I was having difficulty losing height to top land, but finally managed and made a decent approach and landed on the mat.  Enough for one day was the consensus, as it was getting quite gusty by now.  A total of three fights then, 5 minutes, 25 minutes and 35 minutes respectively.  A quite respectable 1 hr 05 mins flying time in total.  An average day at Curium!  Happy days!

‘Oldcomer’ back

After work I had a call from Manuel to tell me that a Romanian guy who used to fly Curium was visiting and they were going there together.  I said I wouldn’t be coming, but then decided a little later that I would go take a look.  On my arrival, Manuel was kiting at the top, while the visitor, Marios had just flown down.  His wife Julia offered to keep an eye on Kyle if I wanted to fly and Manuel said he’d be around too, so I decided to have a little fly.  It was fairly good, in that it was possible to gain height and play around the take off area and top land easily, so I had a quick five minute tester flight and landed back on top.  Manuel went off next and had a little buzz around and then Marios reappeared from below.  Soon, conditions were looking quite good for soaring, so I went off again and immediately climbed quite high.  Once Marios took off I led him along the ridge and he managed to soar for ten to fifteen minutes or so.  It wasn’t hard to get quite high at first, so I explored along to the east end.  After that it started to drop off quite quickly and Manuel top landed.  A few minutes later I was struggling to stay up, so went and topped up at the first decent source I could find then, without delay, scurried back to take off, landing a couple of paces to the right and just below the take off area.  Good thing I did, because that was definitely my last opportunity.  In the next couple of minutes the wind dropped right off, so I bagged the glider, thanked Julia and Kyle and I said goodbye, before heading for home.  Around 20 minutes airtime I would guess and a pleasant evening into the bargain.

High and smooth, hunting with the hawk

I arrived and assessed as flyable, maybe a little bumpy/strong rather like yesterday.  I sent out messages to the usual suspects that it looked quite good.  Alas, my partners in climb were busy, so I had to fly alone.  I waited several minutes, making sure there were no gusts imminent and chose my moment well.  The wing came up sweetly and beautifully under control, not a hint of rush to overfly.  I turned and walked forward and stepped into the usual elevator, being pushed slightly left and up.  As I tracked left further it became smoother and smoother.  I was able to take some nice pictures of the amphitheatre and ruins.  I sent messages out announcing that it was smooth, but this didn’t seem to entice my friends out either.  I would just have to enjoy the sky on my own.  I managed to fly to the west a little way into the bowl, but was conscious of the risk of rotor there, so didn’t go too far or deep in.  There was a very deep and positive lift band and this caused the glider to pitch and yaw a little bit at times, but to be honest this just made the ride more fun.  A couple of times in some places I was able to sit a couple of metres above an object almost motionless.  One such place was just above the east end of the ruins walls and I sat here for a minute or so wondering if I had the nerve to attempt a wall top landing.  The count was made, the vote was in and the result – no, I would leave it for a much smoother day.  I saw our friend the falcon and decided to buzz him a couple of times, but after creeping up on him and sitting on his tail a few times, I actually began to feel sorry for the bird and so called it a day.  When I had been flying for just under an hour I began to think of top landing while I still could, to avoid a hot walk back up.  Obviously, it was already quite strong by now and landing on top was going to be a challenge.  Nevertheless, I succeeded and was very pleased with myself and bagged the glider happily.  I headed home, pleased with my flight.  Here are a couple of the more interesting photos from today’s flight:

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Threes up

Just a tight little threesome at Curium, one Greek Cypriot, an Italian and a Brit.  I had a flight for about 15 minutes and top landed, then flew for another 25 minutes and bottom landed on the beach car park.  It was a pleasant enough change just to be able to reach the beach car park.  In all honesty, it wasn’t the most enjoyable flying I’ve ever had, not the worst, just not great.  Manuel had a big closure apparently, that everyone else heard.  Evidently, I must have been far away or otherwise engaged in my own flying.  I recall thinking at one point, “This is just flying for the sake of flying”.  When it gets like that, I have to ask myself why I’m doing it.  As it happens, we have a barbecue to attend this afternoon, so after a Frappé coffee with Sevag, Mano and Chris, I decided to leave early.  I have no doubt that it would be getting better later, but I am happy with my dose of flying for the day, forty minutes in the saddle is plenty today.

Instrumental

Well, for the first time in a while now the forecast had a letter S in it, so I decided to go and check it out.  I called Sevag and Manuel, but they were both busy.  Sevag said he would be along as soon as he got free.  I flew for about 20 minutes then top landed.  Sevag arrived just as I was in the process of sending him a text saying it was better than yesterday.  We chatted for a while then flew together for about forty minutes, after which I top landed again and waited a bit.  A final flight with Sevag and I had notched up a total of about 1 hour 20 minutes.  The conditions got progressively better during the course of the afternoon, but sadly I couldn’t stay any later (and neither could he).  I have no doubt that things were at their best just as we left, but we would have to leave it there.  My GPS vario has been broken for a week or so now, so sadly I have had to resort to this back up device for recording flight times:

Added underneath were the letters PTO and on the other side; +20mins = 1.20.  Hopefully, I’ll manage to get my instrument repaired before too much longer, pending Flytec actually responding!

West

It’s been west for so long now I cannot remember the last time it wasn’t.  That is not unusual for this time of the year, but lately the conditions have been very bizarre as a result.  Today was no exception, moments where it was easy to get above take off, others when you would sink like a stone and no real way of telling which was coming next.  I arrived and it looked a tiny bit strong, but flyable.  I brought the glider up and kited easily, whilst chatting to a visitor.  After take off, I thought it was going to be quite easy, so set about writing an SMS to send to a couple of people.  Before I had even written it, I began to struggle and had to abandon the message.  Fifteen minutes later I was on the ground near the bottom pit.  I walked up, drove back and got the gear and came back up for another look.  It seemed a little better, so I decided to try again.  It certainly was better and I immediately got above take off and for a few short minutes believed I would be able to stay there.  Little by little it got lighter again and very soon I was once again working much harder than I would have liked.  This flight lasted 20 minutes, making a grand total of 35 minutes flying time today.  Oh well, yes you’ve guessed it… tomorrow’s another day!

Smooth

I sent a message asking if anyone was flying and Sevag answered that he was on his way.  I set off and Kiki and he arrived just as I was setting up.  It seemed very slightly on the light side, but, since the trees near the ruins were moving a little I guessed it must be doable.  I soared around quite easily and was quite high when Manuel arrived.  Sevag had some height, but seemed to be struggling a little bit at times.  Conditions were odd once more, since the wind was again very westerly.  We all flew for around the hour mark – 55 minutes for me and again conditions made it such that it was not by any stretch of the imagination boring.  I top landed at the end of the flight.  The wind on top was very unpredictable and extreme caution was necessary to avoid a nasty surprise.  Both Manuel and Sevag landed down below, since that is where their cars were.  As I was packing up, Shuie texted me to ask if it was still flyable, as he was just on his way!  I called him and, learning that he was four or five minutes out, said I’d wait.  When he arrived it was looking very weak indeed and we both doubted that we’d be able to stay up.  I suggested he could try and if he went down I’d come and fetch him, since I’d had my fill.  He accepted the offer and Roger C, having just arrived watched with some surprise as he made it along the ridge and climbed to a good and steady height.  Seeing him established fairly high, I decided to go too, to keep him company.  Roger kindly offered to drive my car down and parked it beside Panicos’ ICV.  Shuie and I had some fun, flying in close proximity and I attempted to tap wing tips with him, but we never quite managed it.  After about 30 minutes I decided to land on the beach while I was confident I could still make it.  Shuie joined me a few minutes later and we kited and ground handled a bit together.  1 hr, 25 minutes for me today in nice air with good company.  Some pictures:

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Disappointing

Arrived Curium around midday(ish) just as Manuel was kiting a bit.  After some deliberation he went and fairly quickly dropped below.  I drove his car down to pick him up.  After a few minutes it seemed better, so I tried.  I managed to scratch around for ten minutes, before suffering the same fate.  We both had further attempts, but each resulted in a rapid top to bottom.  Oh well, you can’t win them all I guess!  Another 10 minutes in the log book.