Speed riding Ben Nevis...

Now this looks like a lot of fun! Gordy and Terry certainly looked like they had fun! Nice video lads!

Speed Flying descent down the West face of Ben Nevis from Antigravity Acro Team on Vimeo.

Avebury Stone Rings

There has been good high pressure for the last few days. We flew for an hour or so as the sun was setting on Monday 12th October and then on the following day we flew from Denmead in Hampshire all the way to the Stone Ring at Avebury and back which is about 200kms in total. My brother Ben and our friend, Mark Morgan, joined us for the flight. We flew up past Preston Candover before landing at Wadwick Farm where my friend, Rich, is a farmer and he promised us coffee if we popped in. The offer was too good to refuse and so, after an hour and a half of flying we swooped in to land in his stubble field and he met us in his tractor and coffee was served. He is building a house on his land and they were making good progress - we had a guided tour before taking off again, onwards towards the famous rings... We flew up the most beautiful valley low over the ridges, over Coombe Gibbit (one of the best xc sites in the south)... ...and on towards Hungerford where we then headed west along the A4 towards Marlborough where we could clearly see the high street and the golf course. From Marborough, we flew high over some race horse studs before reaching the rings at Avebury which were quite spectacular in this clear, autumnal weather. We turned around at this point and we knew we needed just one more stop for fuel before reaching our cars which were now 100kms away. We we on the lookout for a suitable fuel station. We were all flying Bailey 4-stroke machines and just needed a good field that would allow us an easy take off. We spotted a Texaco garage just outside Ibthorpe and landed in another stubble field above it on a hill. Perfect for taking off again as it sloped gently down into wind. The garage man looked at me in disbelief when I told him we had to get back to Denmead (nr. Portsmouth) before nightfall. Once we had taken off, I flew over the garage and gave him a wave! I think he then understood? It had been a grand day out and we landed as the sun was setting. We passed 3 balloons in the still evening air and got buzzed by a microlight heading for the Isle of Wight in the distance. It was a joy...

Coastal flying in September!

The forecast was good and on 24th September, Ben and I took off from our local field near Denmead in Hampshire. The skies were blue with puffy clouds. It was looking good.

We gained height and flew over the outskirts of Portsmouth to Hayling Island, before dropping down low having jumped the gap to the Witterings.
This was quality flying! We had about 12 litres of fuel on board and flew the coast all the way to Littlehampton before following the railway line and river up to Arundel Castle and then Petworth. The wind had strengthened from the west and we changed our original plan which was to fly to Brighton to land at the Dyke. So we headed home following the 272 to Petersfield and Butser Hill where we saw three paragliders trying to soar on the west slope. We cruised by waving and after 3 hours, (110kms) landed back at our field, in time for tea at Mum's... nice...

(photos of orange ReAction are Ben's and the ones of the Synthesis are mine)

Flat batteries

Sunday 9th August was a beautiful day. I took the family down to Barry’s field just outside Guildford where there is a lovely field. There is lots for the children to look at, chickens, ducks, tractors, aeroplanes, model gliders, paramotors etc…

We packed a picnic (and took the Paramotor down too!) I had not flown for a good 6 weeks so wanted to check whether I could still do it! The plan was to find a shady spot, set up camp for Diana, Sebastian and Daisy, and have a picnic. They then went for a lovely walk and I took off with a plan to fly to Petworth (about 30kms away) via Charter House School, Dunfold (a disused airfield where they film parts of Top Gear) and on to Petworth before flying back to Barry’s field. I took some photos of Charter House School but then realised when I was over Dunfold, that my camera was flat – I had forgotten to recharge the batteries. This was annoying and it was even more annoying when my GPS batteries ran out too! School boy error!

I was only about 5kms from Petworth (over a place called Kirdford) before I decided to turn back to be on the safe side. I had a map, but still, I felt lost without my GPS. I made a mental note to practice more without the use of a GPS in case my batteries run down again!

Back at the field, an hour and 15 minutes later, Diana was out walking with the buggy and I landed and watched this enormous scale radio controlled glider being towed up by a (model) tug! It was very impressive! It was an acrobatic glider and I watched it fly upside down performing stall turns, 4 point rolls and doing fast fly by’s over the field. These gliders don’t come cheap – I believe that one would set you back about £4,000! The tugs are cheaper at around £1,500 - so I am told? Another great day out. Sebastian loved pointing out the all the gliders... (one of his first words!) Glidor, glidor, glidor...!

Daisy Alice Clowes

Daisy Alice Clowes was born at 7am on 10th June, 2009 at the Chelsea and Westminter hospital in London. She weighed in at 3.67kgs and we think that she is the most beautiful baby girl in the world! Of course we do! She is a couple of hours old in this photo. Sebastian also loves having a little sister!

Mummy is tired but well (no drugs except for gas and air!) We are all very proud.

Scottish inspirations...

I came across this video on the web and have to share it with you... What can I say... inspirational stuff... Well done Paolo Bellezze and friends...

Love it!

Latin Highlands from Paolo Bellezze on Vimeo.

Summer flying

What a lovely weekend - easterly winds 18kph plus... we were staying at Mum's and Ben came down on Sunday. I had 'snuck' the glider into the car in the hope of getting a little flying in before our number 2 baby is born (due 3rd June!!). On Sunday morning we managed a little flying at Mercury but the wind was quite strong and verging on the 'not fun' so we landed and went home to mow the lawn.

Later that evening, after supper, we went back up to the hill. The was no-one there except sheep and Ben and I had 30 minutes or so of soaring up and down the ridge before the sun went down. No model gliders getting in the way so it was possible to fly right down to the end of the ridge.

Good to get some airtime and all good for the soul!

(Thank you Ben for the photo)