First flights as a qualified pilot.

Got picked up on Monday morning at 11am - I took a day off work just for the hell of it! Headed over the string and checked out the wind at Dereneneach. There was a north westerly so we decided to travel to Catacol, one of my favourite places on the island. Being a club pilot now, meant that Zabdi could stay on the ground and do ground handling with some other students. It's a shame because I miss her chat!! So it was just Maurice and I that went for a hike up one of the hills at Catacol. We had to fight our way through the bracken and up to a site just south of Catacol Bay called Am Badan, about 100m high. On the way up I even saw 2 deer bound past, but I was too slow with the camera. The take off site was quite steep and there were trees and power lines immediately below. The wind was a strong north westerly but there were plenty of seagulls soaring and they looked to be flying smoothly. The underwear stayed clean and I felt confident about going off.

First flying site at Catacol. The shingle beach was the landing site. The hill on the other opposite side of the bay is where we went for our second flight.

Again, like the previous day, I got hoovered about a bit the first couple of times I tried to reverse launch. Although the heather was quite deep and it caused me to trip over (that's my excuse anyway!). I should have been expecting to run forward as I brought up the wing because the wind was strong, I was trying too much to control it just with the brakes. On the third (or was it forth?) attempt I managed to get the glider up and I turned and flew out from the take off site. I gained some height straight away so the power lines and trees weren't a problem. I did 2 soaring beats but I flew too far forward and came out of the lift band earlier than I would have liked. At this point I turned and flew towards the landing site on Catacol beach.

This is a view of the hill from the opposite side of the bay.

It was really cool flying downwind. I followed the road beneath me, there was a car directly below and I managed to keep up with it - how cool! I think it was a shitty citreon saxo, so no surprise there! I flew over the beach where there were loads of seagulls. They all took off as I approached, it was an amazing sight from the air, it was just like a wildlife documentary. I then flew back over towards the road and did a couple of turns to lose height. I didn't want to end up in the water so I crabbed in to land and kept myself directly over the beach. I managed to touch down softly exactly were I was aiming. It was a shorter flight than I was hoping for but it was still immensley satisfying! Total flight time was about 10mins. Afterwards I packed up and waited for Maurice to come down, he was soaring about for quite a while and another glider appeared and joined him. I was quite content to sit on the beach. I ate an entire packet of jaffa cakes.

You can just make out Maurice and the other glider soaring about the hill. At this point I was sitting on the beach stuffing my face.

The wind had picked up after we landed so we hung about for a while to see if it would calm down. The wind seemed to be coming in waves, probably rolling off the Mull of Kintyre. There were definate calm spells and then windy spells. By looking out to sea it was clear to see if the wind coming in was strong or not. You could see the 'veins' on the water where the strong wind was, Maurice said this means it's 'borderline', also when white horses appear that indicates stronger wind.

After about an hour or so Maurice, myself and Carl the kiwi went to climb up the hill on the north side of Catacol. When we got up there the wind was too strong but I felt that it was flyable if it died down slightly. It was all about choosing the right time to take off. Because I'm qualified that means I can go first, Maurice was going to stay on the hill and guide Carl off so it was up to me to get out there and test it. My first reverse launch was a bit of a mess, but I managed to get it up and turn to take off, but just as I was a few inches off the ground I felt the wing collapse asymetrically. Surprisingly i didn't shit myself, I shifted my arse the other way and let the brakes go, I managed to get back down and kill the wing, but had a tumble backwards. The reason it happened was because I hadn't committed myself to taking off and running forward. I had let off one of the brakes too much, so one side of the wing overshot and collapsed. I wasn't too bothered by it because I felt it and delt with it (kind of) and I wasn't really trying to take off at that point.

Controlling the wing nicely - just before I arsed it up.

My second attempt was better though, once I had inflated I turned, controlled it and pushed forward until I left the hill. Suddenly I was up in the air and it was nice and smooth. I soared the brow of the hill for about 15 minutes doing many beats back and forward. I did feel the air become a bit bumpy when I flew a bit too far north round the hill so I kept my soaring beats a bit shorter just stayed at the front of the hill. I managed to get a good bit above the take off site. Having the whole hill to myself was awesome! The sense of freedom is just amazing!

Taking off from the north hill at Catacol.

Again though I think I flew too far forward and eventually came out of the lift band. I need to work at staying in the lift band when soaring. Instead of working back up I thought I'd stop being greedy and let Carl take off for his first big solo flight. I turned downwind and flew up the valley. The view up the valley is breathtaking and it was fun getting some good speed downwind! I flew down to a big empty field, lost height and landed in the centre. There was a nice smooth headwind at the landing I almost descended vertically and touched down very softly. It was a great flight, I love being a club pilot!! It was worth taking the day off work!! Total flight time was about 25 minutes.

Soaring, looking west towards Cambletown. You can just make out the Claonaig ferry that crosses from Lochranza to Claonaig on the Mull of Kintyre, near Cambletown.

Me flying out to sea and out of the lift band.

Carl the kiwi came down and landed in the field beside me, he was totally buzzing from his flight. It's always great to see someone complete their first big solo flight. He did really well in the strong conditions too. Maurice took off and soared about for a while before the conditions picked up and he was came down to land on the beach. A great way to finish another brilliant weekend down on Arran.

Maurice landing on the beach at Catacol.