ESP club Blog WordPress weblog for members & friends of East Scotland Paragliding club

24/10/2007

Alan Coffin’s first flights on a DHV 2/3 wing.

Filed under: Club days in Angus,YouTube — Murray Hay @ 08:40 pm

Having first started flying with a ‘EP’ summer spent at a BHPA school in Scotland, Alan had a “grand total” of about two hours airtime when he decided to get back into the sport and chose to re-train with Precision Paragliding almost one year ago in late 2006.

After his first afternoon at Precision Paragliding with a mix of Dual Control tandem flying and then solo flying on his own Nova glider, Alan was soon averaging over 3 hrs per training day!

Now after almost 12 months flying of with the club and close to 100 hrs airtime he was well and trully up to speed for some serious aircraft airtime on a DHV 2/3!

Murray Hay
With thanks to Ian Archer for the still photos of me flying Alan's Nova (red wing) with Alan on my white Nova Vertex 24

12/09/2007

To Chamonix…..and Beyond……..

Filed under: Flying in France,YouTube — Dunc1261 @ 03:26 pm

I received a call from Ian Archer back in June to advise that a small party of West Coasters (Joe, Ian and several others) were planning a trip to Chamonix Mont Blanc in France during the first week of September. Ian was intending to travel along with the group and get some paragliding flights in. I had a quick think and checked with the Boss to see if I could skip a weekend home to Aberdeen in favour of a trip to France. This was quickly done (a forfeit was promised….honest!).

chamonix-db.gif

I called Ian back to confirm I would make the trip, flying EasyJet from London Gatwick and meeting up with the main party who were flying in from Edinburgh. I met up with Ian and together we travelled in style across the Swiss border into France and on to Chamonix – Mont Blanc.

We saw some paragliders in the air en route and were advised by that this was a training school and the students were doing top to bottoms.

The mountains grew taller and taller. We were dropped off at out hotel and headed out to check the landing sites and took the cable car up to check some of the take off areas.

On the Saturday and Sunday Ian Archer and I got a total of four flights in from the Planpraz launch site. The take off area was at an elevation of 2000m with a vertical decent of 1000m to the landing field at Chamonix. The other Ian got a flight in on the Sunday morning, which was the best time to fly before the strong valley winds kicked and made landing very hard.

On the Sunday afternoon we took a trip up the cable cars to the Aiguille du Midi (3845m) which is the highest point accessible by cable-car in the Chamonix valley. The Aiguille du Midi is well known as the start of the famous Vallee Blanche off-piste ski run over the glaciers; and is also one of the access routes to climbing the Mont Blanc (4811m). The air is very thin and you need time to get adjusted. We saw paragliders taking off and flying from the top of Mont Blanc. Fantastic!

Monday came round quick and we headed back to Geneva and then I flew to London Gatwick and back to the London Borough of Hackney’s offices. The others flew back to Edinburgh.

A great weekend was had by all. I recommend Chamonix for the scenery, the thermals and the challenging landing options.

I’ve posted up two videos on www.youtube.com, if you search for Dunc1261 and Chamonix.

Keep Flying Safe!

Duncan

26/07/2007

“Ah Perfect”……

Filed under: YouTube — Murray Hay @ 05:16 pm

For those who have seen the film ‘Con Air’, this could be the PG version!

 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v549ZCWbQiM 

Garland Green: “Define irony….bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.”

Here’s hoping none of our members do “Ah Perfect” landings!

For more ‘expert trained pilots’ try this clip…. Includes tandem ‘launches’…. scary stuff!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5jvdpC_RMLs

03/07/2007

St Cyrus (the site that has always eluded me…..)

Filed under: Club East Coast Days,East Scotland,YouTube — Dunc1261 @ 06:07 pm

I’ve been to St Cyrus several times where on each occasion the conditions have not been suitable for flying. Last Saturday I got a call from Scott Rigg to say that he was heading for Morrone, near Braemar. I checked www.XCWeather.co.uk and the wind was 12MPH from the South East at Aboyne.

I thought it would be too strong on the hill and Scott call me back to confirm that this was indeed the case. With a South Easterly he mentioned St Cyrus. I thought “This is it!” and headed down the A90 to Stonehaven then on to the Coastal Road.

I called Murray who was doing a Wedding Photo Shoot and he said good luck and to be careful. I know this is a site not for the faint hearted as the drop is very steep. The wind has also to be spot on to the slope. About a mile North of St Cyrus I saw a couple of paragliders up so I knew conditions were flyable. I phoned Scott back to advise and then parked up at the Public Car park to see three paragliders on site. One I knew was Bill Connon from the Aberdeen Club. The other two pilots were unfamiliar but when they landed I introduced myself to Terry Stubbs and his friend. 

I spoke to Bill to get his feeling for the conditions. He had been flying on and off for a couple of hours and said that conditions were very smooth. I told Bill this was my first time flying at St Cyrus, the site had always eluded me. Scott arrived as I was setting up and laying out my wing. I watched Terry’s friend take off, then pulled up the Aeron. No double bounce (sorry Murray you were right!) but a smooth transition up. I made sure the wing was solid, not looking up, and then I stepped off the cliff edge Into the first beat and into the busy traffic! I stayed up for well over an hour only coming down to take on some fluid! 

Scott took off and joined in. 5 gliders in the air and all working the circuit. Terry performed a death spin (I think?) and landed in the barley field. I shouted down and he replied that he was okay but claimed he was out of practise! The second flight was similar as was the third. A few lumps only when flying over the car park and the views were fantastic. I had to pack up early to pick up one of my boys, but the wind was strengthen as per the forecast and I know I made a good call. Other folks arrived from the Aberdeen Club. Simon Lucas and John Newton. I’ve posted up a video with the photos I took on to www.YouTube.com search for Dunc1261. 

A good day at St Cyrus indeed! 

See you on the Hill or on the Coast!

Fly Safe 

Duncan 

24/05/2007

YouTube

Filed under: YouTube — Murray Hay @ 05:05 pm

Hi all I’ve started encoding video clips for YouTube from the NINTY or so hours of paragliding footage shot since ’98….

There are over 200 clips up now…! You can search under Paragliding + Scotland to see all the videos put up by PG pilots flying in this part of the world.

To view the Precision Paragliding student training video clips as well as some of ESP members flying, follow this link http://www.ParaVideo.co.uk

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