Recently I had an opportunity to fly with my New Zealand friend Matthew Nutter who trained with Murray a few years back and with whom I stayed in London for a few months when I first started working at the London Borough of Hackney.
Luckily I had my glider from the France trip and the forecast looked good for the Saturday so I headed off to London Bridge and on to Sevenoaks.
I met up with Matthew and his other PG friend and we headed down the road towards Brighton and Lewes. The traffic was very busy and it took a long time to cover a short distance.
We saw a number of paragliders up working a small ridge. The hills on the South Downs are fairly flat and easy to climb, making the Southern Club members very lazy!
After going to one site where conditions were too strong, we headed to Mount Caburn where there were at least 40/50 people on the hill. Also there were EP pilots training. All within a very tight space indeed.
I launched and went in to the traffic. There were at least 15 gliders up. You had to keep your wits about you and look ahead, plan and turn. I had a few flights and conditions eased, so the pilots settled back on the hill.
A good experience and a witness to various ground handling standards!
Fly safe and see you all soon!
Duncan
