Flight Log - 20/4/2018 and 21/04/2018

Launch Site: Merewether

Yes, you read right - this here blog entry is my first historical notarisation of a paragliding flight in nigh on 2 years!

I was all set to sell my gear - advertised it on FB and everything. The only offers I got were for bits of equipment, not the whole enchilada, and it was starting to get painful. Someone offered my $50 for my helmet but I had to send it to New Zealand. Someone made a desultory offer for my reserve.
It was horrible. So I decided to keep the band together and get back into the noble art of Paragliding.

On Friday the 20th April I mosied up to Merewether, glider in hand, for a bit of ground handling and possibly a sleddy. There were a few gliders around but mostly on the deck near the beach but one novice was attempting a top land but couldn't quite nail it. A young couple were picnicking to the east of launch enjoying each other's company and the spectacle when I decided to unroll the Apco and see what I could make of the conditions.
The wind was dropping off but still seemed to have enough legs in it to give me something to work with.
The glider launched very nicely - straight up - so I turned and ran like buggery. My harness just cleared the shrubs on the edge of launch and I just hung around the SE face below launch for as long as I could. I made about a dozen beats across the slope but was essentially going nowhere so I decided to keep heading downslope and landed in the bushy/grassy bits at the bottom of the slope.
The flight lasted about 10 minutes - shorter than the walk back up - but was entirely worth it. Cobwebs blown out and a reignition of the flying bug - to mix my metaphors - despite the brevity of the flight.

21/04/2018 - Flight Time 65 minutes

Based on my relative success from yesterday I thought I'd really see if I could still fly in slightly stronger conditions so went back to Merewether for another go.
Wind was noticeably fresher and more to the SE than yesterday. There were 7 punters flying between Hickson St and the launch - across the East Face and further down in front of launch.
3 guys were on launch fluffing out their gliders and it got busier when a wedding party showed up. I thought I'd call it quits and head to Empire Park for some ground handling.
Brad Patfield showed up and I asked him to help me get off (the launch...) and he obliged. I built a nice wall and went for it. Pato provided a much needed anchor and the wind swung up overhead. There was a slight fold in the left wing tip but I turned and went for it anyway - the rest of the glider behaving as it should. I got aloft quite easily and headed for the East Face.
I punted for about and hour between Hickson and launch. Just enough time to remind me how fun this sport can be. Conditions were ideal. Plenty of lift for everybody and the wind direction providing access to the entire site. I had a gig at the Minmi Tavern to get to so after an hour I headed over launch to pick out a place to land. Top landing was off the agenda due to the wedding taking place so there was no other option but to head for the scrubby meadow at the foot of the launch slope.
I did a few side to sides and a couple of big ears to get down and picked out a spot.
It took about 5 minutes to get down but I nailed the landing spot - quite a confidence booster.
The walk up did wonders for my heart rate but overall it was a great re-entry into the sport.
Looking forward to my next flight with much enthusiasm!

NDE#2

Near Death Experience #2
10th April  2016
Hangovers and hang-gliding don't mix. Not that I was hang-gliding but I just couldn't resist the alliteration. It also sounds better than "paraglding and piss drinking don't mix".
Friday night - rocking the Bennett when I realised halfway through first set that I was on holidays and ended up at the stinkin' Exchange and spent all my gig money.
Saturday afternoon - A Day on the Green with Chris Isaak et al. Only drinking XXXX Gold but it kind of topped me up.
Home early as opposed to the very late night beforehand which is why I was able to consider having a fly on Sunday arvo.
Weather was SE at 12 kts. Got to Strezzie at around 2pm. 3 paras and 2 hangies were flying. One hangy headed to Dixon so that left the 3 paras. Tony Barton was preparing to launch with a tandem passenger as was Andrew - another paraglider I recognised from the club.
Tony flew off followed closely by Andrew. I started setting up when Cottsy appeared like an unwanted pimple in the middle of your forehead.
Laid the glider out and noticed a slight bit of a knot in the C risers on the left wing.
I decided to just fluff it up anyway and see if the knot would work itself out.
The glider came up OK and seemed alright so I committed to the launch.
As soon as I left the ground it became apparent that things were not right. I looked up and the knot was bigger than I first thought. The left wing was puckered at the back and the glider was pulling to the left as a result.
I tried tugging on the brake to force the knot out but no dice. I was heading downwards at a rate of knots (pun intended...). I thought I'd try and get to Newcastle Beach but I was barely level with the cliff height at this stage. I should have headed south and landed on the rock shelf below launch. The tide was well out and a bunch of sand had covered the rocks so it would have been ok.
Once I realised I wasn't even going to make it past the Bogey Hole I looked for some salt bush to crash into. I was almost going to pass under the electicity wires that run down form King Edward Park to the Bogey Hole. Rather than end up in the wire I turned right to bring me onto the cliff above the Bogey Hole.
With that, the knot unknotted itself with a noticeable yet strangely comforting thump of the wing as it assumed it's rightful shape. The glider bucked and spun around a bit but thanks to my Superior Flying Skills ™ I managed to hang on and control the bugger.
By this time I was lower on the cliff than I have ever been before - well below the coal seam which is the usual guide for lowness.   I was level with the picnic table at the Bogey Hole car park. Some kid was trying to get me to say hello but it is pretty hard when you're clutching your arse and weeping uncontrollably.
I almost scraped the side of the cliff but things started looking up and by the time I'd made it back to the gun emplacement next to launch I was at launch height. The Apco Vista SPII was behaving itself wonderfully by now.
I climbed up and kept flying around for about an hour until my shattered nerves could regain their composure. I landed in Empire Park. Had heaps of height coming in but landed fine. The 3 paragliders in the park asked what had happened. I gave the sage advice: "always check your lines and don'trush your launch!!".

EdsFest 2.016

Bruce and Barbara Roast or Toast

When it comes to paying tribute to the achievements of Bruce  & Barb, where do you start?
Let's start in 1961, when, after 2 unsuccessful attempts at improving the world's stock of humanity, their third attempt paid dividends and they were blessed with the arrival of their 3rd and greatest contribution to the gene pool.

The first child suffered irreparable brain damage caused by encephalitis which caused the right side of her face to collapse and permanent damage to the thrift centre of the brain. This caused her to embark on a life long spending rampage that remains unchecked to this day.
The prospects for the second child were worse: he was a red head.

They tried to recreate their success with child number 3 but failed dismally with the 4th and, fortunately, final child. Not only was she a red head but a female to boot.

Dad ran a couple of small scale practices, employed at least one future High Court Judge and lived a life of quiet desperation in his attempts to keep his family in the manner they were rapidly becoming accustomed to.

The promised bright lights and easy living of the nation's capital soon beckoned so we headed south to the frozen wasteland of Canberra. A falling out with his business partner didn't help and Barb's drinking and gambling issues also contributed to the decision to move on.

Barbara was a fixture of the High Roller Room at the Kotara Casino

Canberra in the late 60's was a town replete with possibilities. We bought a 4 bedroom house with separate dining and lounge room for $18,000 in the frontier suburb of Aranda. Gungahlin and Tuggeranong were just an itch in some town planners jock strap at that stage and Belconnen sprawled out in the city's north west. When  say sprawl I mean there were 3 suburbs in Belconnen in 1968. We chose the closest one to town.

Bruce worked for the Master Builder's Association as a legal advisor. This gig lasted less than a year and the turn of the 70's saw Bruce back in private practice.

Barb secured a job in an Obstetrics Hospital looking after babies nicer than her own.
Canberra was kind to us. Tim was schooled along with politicians and diplomats sons at Canberra Grammar where you can buy better drugs, I've been told. The rest of us were publicly schooled and were progressing quite nicely when Dad was overcome with the moral imperative to give something back and decided to take up missionary work in the 3rd world, and with that, we moved to Taree.

Taree turned out to be great for us kids. You didn't have to think, the weather was kinder than Canberra, it was closer to the beach. It had everything going for it. Except employment prospects beyond 18, and any form of culture that didn't involve bourbon, rugby league and spousal abuse.

Dad considered himself a big fish in a small, muddy puddle. Mum didn't share dad's optimism for the untapped possibilities of the Mid North Coast, and subsequently, neither did us kids. Ruth has ultimately returned to the region but that's Port Macquarie. It's just like Taree but with a pulse.

One by one we all left for pastures greener as Bruce's dream of building a 4th Reich in the Manning Valley crumbled.
The opportunities lost in the brackish backwater of Taree now reads like a cutting from Who's Who. At one stage dad's client roster included the founder of Hot Tuna: Richard Meldrum and the current owners of Tempus 2 winery, Hunter Valley Gardens and Harrington Waters: Bill and Imelda Roche.

These cowboys didn't move fast enough for Dad so he let them go.


Dad exited out of law in the late 80's and they both exited Taree soon after. Mum hasn't stopped smiling since.

Which brings us to what is affectionately known as Zombie Acres.

Zombie Acres

Their family is now comprised of 7 grandsons, 1 step granddaughter and Ruth's kids whose names we keep forgetting.

Barbara has passed on her radical economic theories to her daughters which are based on increased economic growth through irrelevant retail purchasing. Its known as "buying for the common good".

I dabbled in legal study for a while but was as good at law as what Dad is at computers.
Tim inherited Dad's appreciation for cheap disgusting wines.

Both Tim and I have pursued careers that Bruce considered at one stage and have become school teachers. The pay isn't as good as law but the holidays more than compensate for that. For years Mum's eternal mantra was "your Dad was never around, he was always at the office!"
The fact that the money had to come from somewhere was irrelevant.

We went on a family holiday once: to New Caledonia. Tim got sick and spent the week in bed and the rest of us walked around this forgotten French colony wondering when dad was going back to the office so we could get back to doing the things we wanted.

So now they're 85 years old. They still have a few years left to outdo their parents. Dad will last as long as the money holds out. Then I'm not sure what mum will do with him. He keeps making the joke that he'll move into my garage but I'm not laughing, and neither is he so I hope he's not serious.

Mum's arthritic index fingers have more of a curve on them than Kim Kardashian's bum. Still, they're doing better than some. Occasionally you'll see some poor old bugger in a walking frame perambulating at a glacial pace around this establishment, and it is with some glee that Dad is happy to report that these hapless denizens are younger then he.

So here it is. Raise your glasses and salute an institution!! 

Perfect Day

Monday, 15th February 2016

Flightlog

Had a medical appointment today. One of hassles of living in Newcastle and working in Singleton is that you can't just duck out for a quick vein scan, a sick day is required.
My legs were scanned and it is obviously apparent that most of the veins in my left leg are only for show, and show they do. I have a veinous blob near my knee that looks like my left testicle has somehow dropped down through the inside of my thigh and positioned itself at the surface of the skin. I'm surprised I have any blood circulating at all as most of it is pooled in my left lower leg.

As I left the Scannery I noticed 2 paragliders off Strezzie flying in the mist. The day was warm and humid and heavy with moisture. I drove home and grabbed the new glider and headed back to La Strez.
I got setup and started flying by about lunchtime. I'm still in awe with the ability of the new wing - gaining good height and just generally having a ball.
Cottsy and Waynus showed up and the onshore breeze was gaining strength to hangglider standard.
For a while there it was just me and one other paraglider doing the rounds of Strezzie. Having the place to yourself is fantastic - the sight of the hangy dudes setting up does disappoint somewhat.
Anyway, the mist had cleared, the air was buoyant and favourable. I noticed 3 blokes trudging up the path in King Edward Park with overly large backpacks where backpacks are normally worn: on the back.
One yelled at me quizzically "Is this the way to launch" I nodded in the affirmative and watched while the hapless tourists had to negotiate with none other than Cottsy for a briefing on launching at this site. It would be like getting Donald Trump to negotiate extra benefits for women or Hitler negotiating on behalf of the Jewish Friendly Society. Poor fools.
Cottsy launched first, then, while one of the parapunters was setting up, he swooped the poor bugger. Cottsy chortled to himself as he flew up and off. Classic Cottsy.
Before too long all three punters had launched and Waynus was ready to launch as well. By this time the sky was getting crowded: 2 hangies and 5 paragliders. I decided to head down to Empire Park as I had been narkling for just over an hour.
Came in nice and deep into the park - still slightly jittery from New Years Day but landed fine. Kited the glider over towards the road as one of the tourists came in to land.
The 3 gents were from Finland and had been flying in the New Zealand nationals at Manilla. All three had flown a 230km task the day before and had never flown in coastal conditions before!
I packed up my (fantastic new) wing and told the dude I'd get my car from Strezzie and give him a lift up.
When finally made it to the top of the hill (hey, it's a long walk...) I saw Ray Dunn and got caught up in conversation and almost forgot about my new found Finnish Friend. By the time I drove back down I saw him getting into a car with one of the pilots flying earlier in the day so no harm done!
All up, a 90 minute flight on the Apco.

Maiden Voyage!

Picked up a new glider to try out from Mark Rossi during the week.
It's an Apco Vista II SP. Not the most current model but more contemporary then my trusty old Edels.
It's a 3 liner and more performance oriented than anything I've had before.
Wind was easterly and seemed OK if a little light so I went to have a look at Strezzie. No-one was flying anywhere so I went to Empire Park to have a look at the wing and see how it ground handles.
Spent about 30 minutes sorting out some twisted lines then kited the wind for about 3 minutes.
Thing flies up like a rocket but handles like a docile thing that is easy to handle. Whatever that is.
Packed glider up and drove up to Strezzie to have a look. Heckle and Jekyll were there (Cottsy and Waynus) contemplating the conditions and Mick The Club Treasurer had just taken off. Mick was seemingly maintaining height and the wind was coming on more perpendicular and gaining strength.
I decided to give the wing its maiden voyage and rolled it out. Mick top landed to have a chat and provide an update on the conditions. Things looked more finer than before so I clipped in and popped up the glider. The wing shot up a like a rocket again and flew as sweet as a bird. A sweet sweet bird.
I gained more height than I've ever done and the wing is as stable as a rock. The hands up speed is phenomenal. This thing moves fast. FARRRST! I was making my turns rather gingerly but next time I'll be a little more aggressive on the brakes to see how it moves about.
Mick and I flapped around by ourselves while about 4 hangies set up their wings. It was going to get crowded soon so I resolved to land once the hangliders got airborne.
I narkled about for about 90 minutes when C and W launched their hangies. It was excellent but enough's enough so I headed down to the park where I suffered my ESI (extreme sports injury) a few weeks ago (see previous blog).
Had bags of height coming over the park but came in fine. Landed on my feet and not my head this time. Far better option in my opinion.

90 minute flight all up. Hurrah!

Flight Fest 2015-16!

Flight Fiesta!

The closing days of 2015 saw me once again take to the skies over the azure beaches of Newcastle.

• Wednesday, 30th December - 90 minute flight from Strezzie. 
• Thursday, 31st December - 45 minute flight from La Strez.
• Friday, 1st January 2016 - 30 minute flight with added adventure in the form of an unexpected CRASH LANDING!! Stay tuned for details.

Wednesday 30th December, 2015

Things were looking enjoyably flyable so I headed up to Merewether for an assessment of its flyability. The direction looked OK - a definite East South East trend was evident but at the time it was a bit light. A punter had taken off and was heading straight to the beach so I thought I'd check out Strezzie.
A few hangies were setting up and one was flying around. Neil Bright was getting set to launch as was Cottsy. After enduring the requisite para-insults from Cottsy I got my gear ready.
The wind strength was gradually increasing and more pilots were gathering. Cottsy gets nervous when you launch within 50km of his glider so he "helped" me launch by holding onto my harness lest I stray into the Zone of Death around his Moyes Lightspeed.
I got away fine and proceeded to follow Neil around the ridge. After about 30 minutes another paraglider from Melbourne flying a Sol launched. He kept way out of the lift band but, hey, to each his own.
By this time there were 5 paragliders off the east face at Hickson Street (Merewether), and 3 paras at Strezzie as well as 3 hangies. Wayne Collison was on launch throwing battens into his wing so it was going to get crowded real soon.
The flying was fun as the whole ridge from the Bogey Hole to Susan Gilmour could be utilised but with the traffic starting to increase I followed Neil down to Empire park. Landing was fine and as I had parked the car down at Empire it was an easy pack up.

Thursday 31st December, 2015

Brighty rang me around midday and said it was looking promising. I had my wing in the car from yesterday so I motored up to the lookout at Strezzie.
Neil wasn't there but Cottsy was observing the top landing of a hangie. The wind was slightly off to the left (moderate Easterly) but with consistent windlines on the water so the strength wasn't too bad.
Once the hangie had top landed I launched and flew left past the gun emplacement. Lift was not as abundant as yesterday so I had to work the parts of the ridge where I could find it. This turned out to be between the gun emplacement to the north of launch down to the little rocky promontory just past the 3 big poles on the south of launch. Not much to play with but I was the only one there so it wasn't a real problem.
I narkled for about 45 minutes then a hangie started setting up so I decided to head to the park. Tons of height over the park so landed about 40 metres in the park and kited the glider about 30 metres towards the car. Nice flight - good landing.

Friday 1st January, 2016

Started the day with a coffee and omelette with Mitch Preston. He used to be an avid sail plane pilot and expressed an interest in seeing me take off. The conditions were a bit light but the same direction as Thursday. On launch at Strezzie, Mitch and I discussed the feasibility of flight and it came on slightly stronger. I drove my car down to the park while Mitch looked after my gear. I hopped the fence and got the glider aloft. It seemed OK so I committed to the launch.
First pass was a bit low and not too promising. Made a turn at the rocky outcrop and got better height. I flew to the fort at King Edward Park but would lose a bunch of height so stayed between where I was flying yesterday. Mitch had gone by this stage but then Liam turned up which was great as he hasn't seen his old man fly before.

Liam admires the bravery of his dad

Got as high as the 3 poles at one stage but the trend was not encouraging and after about 25 minutes I was back at launch height. I contemplated a top landing but had left the car down at the park so headed down that way. This is where it got interesting. I had plenty of height coming over the car park so made the same approach that I always do: head towards the cricket field, turn back into wind, land nicely, bada bing, bada boom.

Liam watches on as Dad tries to look impressive

As I crossed the line of houses I started to descend faster than I was expecting and was coming in pretty fast. I grabbed a handful of brake and started turning left into the wind when the glider dropped from about 3 metres! I landed on my left side rather heavily and my head hit the dirt which left me momentarily stunned. A sat up and let out a few expletives but was OK.  A young bloke ran over to see if I was alright, which was nice of him. No equipment damage done but bruised my left shoulder and left hip and strained my neck muscles when bracing for the impact. Thank god for helmets and padded harnesses!
On reflection I think I was rushing the landing. I was still heading downwind when I should have been on final approach into the wind. Also, I think I was getting a little bit of rotor or leeside wind shadow from the houses which didn't help. Anyhow, a landing you walk away from is a good landing!

SPOOKY POSTSCRIPT:

Later that day another paraglider pilot dropped 30 metres onto the skate park at Newcastle Beach suffering spinal injuries. That wasn't me. His story can be found here.

Hyperactive Day

Cop this:
Friday night: six a side soccer with the Turkeys.
Saturday morn: Park run, 8km in 36 and a bit minutes.
Saturday 11:30am: paragliding at Merewether. Not a good flight. More of a hopeful sleddy than anything else. It seemed fairly strong at home but at the beach it was almost still. The faintest puff coming up the slope. I figured I'd risk it and got the wing out.
First launch attempt was pitiful. There was barely enough breeze to keep the wing aloft.
Second time around was a little better and I actually got flying.
There were a couple of hangies having lessons and had landed down the slope so I headed for the east face.
Made a single pass along the face but was getting nowhere so I made one turn at the northern end of the cliff and headed for the beach.
Packed glider up on beach and walked up the bloody hill. Flight time about 7 minutes. The hill looked like a hangie graveyard as there just wasn't enough windy goodness to keep anyone flying.
Saturday afternoon 2:30: Wind seemed to pick up. So after a nap and a swim, I headed to Bar Beach. Parked car at top of car park and walked, yet again to the lookout along the Anzac Walk.
There seemed to be more sufficient wind now and a hangie was setting up. I jumped the fence and got setup as fast as was comfortably possible as there seemed to be a bunch of tandem customers getting ready to deploy.
Launched glider nicely. Punted around for a bit then the hangie launched. The breeze wasn't overly strong so I was staying just above launch height. While there was just 2 of us it wasn't a problem but before too long we had 2 solo paragliders, a hangie, 2 tandem paragliders with third getting ready to launch, plus another hangie on launch also.
The lift band was really tight and I was getting waked to buggery by the tandems. After about 30 minutes I headed for the park. Landed OK but came in a bit hot and fell over. Packed up and walked back to car in car park!