| Flight details: | Heading to Long Mynd from London on Saturday morning with 2 friends of mine the outlook for a good paragliding day was pretty low. Lo air pressure about 990 hPa, the sky was overcast and there were showers during the drive. We were in no hurry. But closer to the hill the picture started to change for the better. We arrived after 11 am and there were 10 people already in the air. The wind was still OK, I gues little over 15 mph with the view to increase during day. I decided not to wait and start as early as possible. I hit several thermals, but nothing so strong to go with, so soared the ridge to the end and back first. Conditions improved during that time, then I managed to find the first good reliable lift. That was the one I was waiting for - so I went with it. I climbed to the altitude 1390 ASL an glided to Munslow, where I found another lift, but quite faint, only 0,5 to 1,5 m/s - so I tried hard not to make a mistake and miss it. Just before Brown Clee hill I had a good altitude again and noticed 2 paragliders strugling in low level just next to the hill. I tried to fly a little more southwards to keep on the edge of sunlit countryside, and also to avoid the Birmingham airspace if I manage to get that far. The decision proved good, I met several nice thermals and the fields, forests, villages, towns, rivers were "moving" pretty quickly bellow me. I started to have a feeling this flight will be long. When I got closer to M5 the feeling was even stronger, I was enjoying the last 0,5 m/s bubbles and after more than 3 hours in the air I landed on a farm near Droitwich. A farmer came to look at me and when I told him where I was flying from, he really shared my excitement. This was my longest flight so far and I made it on DHV 1-2 glider Axis Vega 2 S! A good start of the season, isn't it? Great thanks to my Czech friend Vlasta Puczok for retrieval and congratulation to Ludek Munzar to his 41 km on the same day. All of us ware so happy coming back to London that d |
