Beachy Head - Sun, Sea & Slope Soaring

Rob, Jack & I went down to Beachy Head (above Eastbourne) this morning, we got there at 9:30 and it was empty. Firstly we turned up, parked and wandered directly across from the cars (50 yards) and started to soar the hill. At this point the hill was just a hill and not a cliff but good enough to keep us busy for over an hour.I would say higher and steeper than Ditchling, but still able to recover a lost model (eh, Jack ?) Initial light lift gradually increased to make the lift reliable and gave us the opportunity to play some combat and low passes along the path.

There were even benches to sit on and relax in the sun as you flew. Isn't it nice seeing old fella's like Rob getting out and about at his age?

We were joined by a low flying Paraglider who struggled to stay up in the gentle lift.

Then we moved round the corner to a fantastic bowl that over looked a big cliff edge and the sea below. Here the wind was stronger and gave superb lift together with amazing views. Flying over the sea was a 'leap of faith' and did take a little getting used too (none of us had flown without being able to see any land ahead - except France!), but the strong lift and good landing area behind made for an amazing flying site.

This place gets an 8/10 and well worth the 45 min drive from Haywards Heath to Beachy Head. Easy to park (not so sure in the height of summer) with parking right behind the flying area. Lots of landing space and the views - WOW!

There's even a pub and 'facilities' for those of a less hardy disposition. . . . or you could be just like Rob and go and pee in the bushes and give the walkers a shock!

 

Paul and Rob.

Spring has sprung!

I arrived at Ditchling Beacon car park to cloud covering the car park and no visibility forward but with the sun above me - strange. Half an hour later the cloud / fog lifted a little a I wandered along the bowl and stood in the fog till Jack turned up.

Jack had his vintage Gentle Lady glider and I had my old but trusty Algebra thermal / slope floater.

The video below shows Jack's model struggling to get into the very strong 4mph NNW wind that topped out at about 6mph but with some thermal influence as the morning went on. Perfect visibility (not).

The visibility got progressively better as the morning went on but the wind decreased to nearly nothing but with the aid of some small thermals and the general airflow moving up over the hill we managed about 1 1/2 hours soaring. If any of you are thinking about buying a floater glider or have one ready to be built then today should encourage you to get it built and flying I must build some more of my Elan!!) These floaty gliders don't need to be expensive and I think both our gliders cost less than £50 each. 

A great start to spring lets hope we get to see some more of you up on the hill side soon. I will leave you with a video of Jack demonstrating how little sky you actually need to fly in when the visibility starts to go by using just the very top part of the slope and just a few feet of the ground.





Turned out right nice!