• Home
• Hang Gliding
• Diary
• Too Busy!

Flying Diary

Too Busy!

30 January 2010

The expected weather forecast didn't quite materialise and upon arrival it was evident it was light and getting lighter. Still, it wasn't raining so I fetched my glider and rigged it. If anything I'd squeeze a quick top to bottom in!

Sometime later, the sky was full of paragliders and I decided that my flight would simply be a punch through the wall of paragliders and head to the bottom landing field.

The Devil's Dyke rigging area.

As I patiently waited for a gap in the wall of paragliders to launch through, I heard a yell from the sky. The only hang glider airborne and a paraglider had what I can simply describe as the closest to a mid-air I've seen to date. I'm unsure of what happened leading to the incident, but it forced the hang glider pilot, piloted by (Dan) to turn towards the hill. Somehow Dan pulled off his first fly on the wall landing with only a minor bump. To my relief, no fatality!

After landing, a view of the busy launch area.

After confirming Dan was okay, I launched and squeezed through between all the paragliders. I managed several beats back and forth but flying predominately out of the lift band, the bottom landing grew closer and closer.

The Truleigh Ridge Run as viewed from the Devil's Dyke bottom landing field.

To my relief, after several months of non flying I pulled off a perfect no step landing with only a short walk to the de-rigging area. Perhaps all those trips to the Suffolk winch field have finally paid off!

Dan's Sting 3:168 in the muddy landing area at the bottom of the Devil's Dyke.