the beacon

Deryck ploughs a lone furrow that leads all the way to Ivinghoe Beacon, that infamous site north of the M25. He reports back with tales of good conditions in the westerly wind, and verifies his claims with these fotos.

something for the weekend sir?

the natives seem friendly enough

Other than the ASW trying to go feral, our correspondent reports a successful jaunt. He adds that if any of the more discerning slope connoisseurs out there fancies trying new territory, they should not hesitate in giving it a go.

trousers too tight?

unfortunately for them, the flying beetles are called 'cockchafers'

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/atoz/c/cockchafer.asp

sunset sortie

Goodwind hits the hill late on today, our friendly Pole is just leaving, but Paul and Duke are holding out for an evening slot and are hopeful for a drop in velocity.

The lift is bordering on epic, but full down trimmage is in effect. Gusts have a 'soft' edge with massive ballooning with each 'surge'

attack from out of the sun!

waiting for the drop

Duke braves the blast


'bootiful....just look at it go!'

The waftage does ease giving far more pleasant conditions, but visibility quickly reduces once the sun is below the hills....

the long men

So we watch the paragliders give it a go in the smoother conditions, a flock of gulls seems to be circling the trees in the gully and the air fills with the buzz of beetles lifting from the grass. It's evident that the birds are having a feast on the poor blighters as they make their annual outing!

wouldn't stay put for long, can anyone i.d. these miniature ornithopters?

patience rewarded!

A chap pulling up the ragwort tells us we have cows coming soon to graze the grass! We leave the paragliders to their wind, and the gulls to their dinner. Heading off down the dark lane bats flit in the headlight beams, what a magical time of day and a magical time of year!

bit of a blow!

Weather man says we've got some bad ass precipitation on the way for the rest of the week, so Goodwind scuttles off up the hill to get a fix before all is wet!

Alan, Ray, Paul, Steve, Roger and son of Roger are already making the most of a firm WSWerly. Despite the blusteriness, once up the air is smooth and lift is good.

focus

it's on the way!....

trip to the opticians required?

showers don't stop the hardy....

incoming!

pants

big wind!

It's the weekend!! lots of wind being blown up the hill, as seems the way since the start of June. As any regular knows, this is not always a good thing at Thurnham, but today hefty thermals help us on our way.

imagine a chain rather than girlie ribbon



from boy to man from Leatherhead

launch plane into the area of maximum upward vector...

and try not to land with too much of a downward vector...

Dave's casual setup stance belies a thorough and professional approach....

a firm launch with no concerns....

.......whoops!

pilot and cows bow head for the mortally wounded

......it's soul rises to a better place

... and many faiths pay their respect

chancie boys

Goodwind has worked his fingers to the bone this week, but with the decks clear this morning he takes a chance (despite the southerly wind) and heads out to the hallowed turf. It seems other folk have the same idea...

'mah bitches are hot man!, you want some good punani?'

the local constabulary needs a bit of bribary and corruption,

but comes round in the end

hotliner? but where's the ailerons?.......

.....oh! now I see!

father and son

The conditions are not good, far too much south, with zero slope lift. Paul manages to get away with his Salome but it's a risky business as the only thermals cycling through are on the far side of the castle...

Rod has the tool for the job!

Ray is sceptical....

under the bonnet!

Paul, Rod and Tom exercise their 'right to roam' and head round the back of Guffer's Gully, to soar the southeasterly face of Bald Knob. The lift is smooth and perfectly suited to their array of floaty floaters.

airbourne.... the rubber fox gets away!

fox and alula mate on the wing, but what will be born of it?

....seems we will not have to wait long to find out, the fox finds a suitable perch to begin nesting

Paul is shot in the chest by a beam of pure energy from the evil super-villain trying to take over the soaring world from his subterranean base under Bearstead Golf Club.

low pass

fox takes to the wing again, and heads to the local chemist
for a course of worming tablets

for the record, Tom would like to point out that the size of his plane
bears no relationship to the size of his manhood

father and son again!

Every retrieve throws up the herbal scent of summertime downland flora. It ends up being a fantastic evening, nobody shoos us off the Knob and we stroll back to the cars with our flying thirst quenched.

We meet an unknown flyer lurking by the flint tumulus and chat as the hot air baloons start to break the horizon. To top it all a Spitfire does a low circuit of the field, waggles it's wings over Detling and heads off in the direction of Biggin Hill and the sun set.

Sorry to say Goodwind's camera batteries had run out by this point!

heat shrink, use no.88

Goodwind has been stuck indoors working. With the wind having been full on for the last few days, frustration gets too much and the throbbing temples end up breaking an arm off his glasses. Too tight to buy a new pair, Goodwind reaches for the heat shrink and cyano and hey presto! No chance of missing out on any flying due to lack of bins!

While waiting for the next flight report, here's some more shots from Saturday courtesy of Deryck.....

Croyden Crew put on a good hill side spread

Hanglider man Colin nearly gets away in bumpy conditions, but quickly lands out after a steady 360 almost dumps him in the trees. Following hasty arrival down below, pilot reports that adrenalin is in fact brown!