Scottish Nationals Paragliding Series - 9th + 10th September 06
Pictures and video of this wonderful event
Saturday started with a meeting with Tommy Bryson at Boston Hall near Ettrick in the Scottish Borders. When I arrived (with Ping) the weather forecast was excellent and Cliff Smith already had some water brewing for those with a caffeine habit to feed.
After some discussion everyone decamped to Cacra Hill - and soon after that some wind testers were driven up the hill and they were soon testing the air. On landing it was apparent that everybody neede to be up the hill soon - so all the 4*4s were utilised and people started to congregate at the top. Task direction and discussion with others led to a task of flying to Innerleithen being set - this is about 20km to the North.
Task window opened and people started flying off - some gaggles going places and some got close to goal. As for me well only extended TTB`s but very enjoyable for that. Thankyou from me to Quentin, Dorita and Steve for lifts up the hill. Special thanks to Quentin who subsequently also took my girlfriend Ping for a tandem flight - see Ping - Cacra
As the weather and the organisation was so good the turnout was exceptional for Scotland but there was still plenty of flying space around in the thermic conditions.
Ping and I returned home in the evening to Edinburgh and I came back on Sunday morning to hear some interesting stories regarding the consumption of vast quantities of beer plus fire and shoes !! . I arrived on the Sunday at the same time as Zeno and we walked up the 2 routes to the top - Zeno being mega fit compared to me - straight lined it up the hill and I just plodded up the track - "I am not worthy". People were just starting to fly on arrival - and after a longish rest I took off. The task set was a repeat of the Saturday task - again I didnt actually leave the hill but I did have a lovely 2 1/2 hour flight which is my longest flight for nearly 4 years! Excellent.
Zeno landed just after me as evening was drawing in - video below - and then to The Gordon Arms - for a beer before I returned home - an absolute dream of a weekend.
Videos
Below are links to a few of the videos I took this day - as such - each one is large and I suggest that you Right click and Save to your computer prior to viewing
Group at bottom of Cacra Hill and Dave Thomson flying - 65 Seconds and 30 Mb
Pre briefing, scenery and nice landing near top of hill - 59 Seconds and 29 Mb
Saturday briefing on hill - 123 Seconds and 69 Mb
Me taking off and flying - 75 Seconds and 37 Mb
A nice launch by ... - 25 Seconds and 12 Mb
Mainly me flying - 156 Seconds and 76 Mb
Zeno landing at the end of the day on Sunday - 31 Seconds and 14 Mb
All my pictures in 1024*760 px format in a new window if clicked on
