Flying visit from USA blog follower

LastThursday I met up with Terry, an ardent follower of this blog. Terry hails from Syracuse in New York State, USA and was visiting family here in the UK, so he thought he would take the opportunity to leave London behind and head for our fabulous Welsh hills for a spot of slope soaring.

I met Terry and his family at Sarn motorway services, just north of Bridgend where they followed me up to the Ice Cream slope lay-by. Once there the north westerly wind that had been forecast had turned into a northerly, so after waiting for local friend Nick to arrive, we made our way up to the VR98 slope. Wind speed was 14-15 mph but with huge thermals they made the air very bumpy to fly in at times. Then of course with huge thermals comes huge sink in its wake, which made flying challenging at times.

Terry was most impressed with our huge, grassy slopes and the quality of the flying available, saying that he'd never flown or seen anything like the Bwlch back home in the USA.

Terry, it was a pleasure to meet you and your family and I hope to see you in Wales again sometime. Enjoy the video.

Bwlchfest Flying Forecast

Hi guys. The weekend is upon us and it's looking like we'll be getting some flying in for Bwlchfest.

Both Saturday and Sunday are looking similar with a 8 - 9 mph ENE breeze, which will mean flying the Wrecker. This should give us 15 mph plus on the slope, and the Wrecker produces bags of lift. Saturday is looking cloudier so, as long as the cloud base isn't so low that we get clagged in, then we should be OK.

Sunday is looking like being a much sunnier day, so don't forget to bring a hat and sun block with you. You may also wish to bring along a stout pair of walking shoes, just in case the wind does turn more easterly and we have to move over to the Crest, which would be a 15 minute walk ish, over quite lumpy terrain.

Initially we will meet up at the Ice Cream slope lay-by and then move on up to the Wrecker at 10 AM where I will give us a very short, pre flying briefing.

So I look forward to seeing you there. 

Bwlchfest Update

Hi Guys. I'm just beginning to check out the weather forecast for Bwlchfest this weekend and at the moment it's looking like we will have wind from the ENE of up to 15 mph, if the forecast remains the same as it is now, which means we would be flying the Wrecker. But we all know how quickly the forecast can change.

Watch this space and the SWSA and Slope Soaring in Wales Facebook pages for further updates.

The Wrecker

The Wrecker

Flying Forecast 2nd/3rd June

Hi guys, another weekend is upon us and it's looking not bad for getting some flying in. So without further ado, I will get straight into it.

Saturday - a bright, sunny day with 19°C and a west to west south westerly breeze of 8 - 9 mph, which will relate to probably around 10 - 12 mph on the slopes. And your slopes of choice will be Mickey's at the Bwlch, Meio and possibly Eglwysilan.

Sunday - is looking like the better day sun wise but the worst day wind wise, with a temperature of 22°C but the wind easterly at 8 - 9 mph. So your slope choices could be The Crest at the Bwlch, The Garth and Manmoel.

I shall be flying on Saturday afternoon but not on Sunday as I am running the first 12.5 mile stage of a 112 mile relay race, starting at 7 AM from Llanthony near Abergavenny, and then I will be supporting the rest of the team throughout the day.

So have a great time flying this weekend wherever you are.