Topic: It's getting windy

So any one taking advantage of the winds? Friday could be quick if it stays dry

Congratulations Spencer on 468mph  - New WR

Nahh. Just going to stay at home. Can't be bothered to get up at 5am to drive to pen y fan.








Like Fook!!

Now looking OK in PD tomorrow affy.
But which side of SW will it be?

Have to work in morning but might take a plane along, just in case......

Leak Thorncliff 33mph wsw at 12 noon 
Shobdon 38mph at 11am 
No one flying?

I think Steve Forbes was hoping to get some stick time up the Skirrid today. I'll bet he's having a brilliant time of it. Probably the day that we should have chosen rather than Friday!

Z

Though XC station reports are suggesting the strong W'ly has some s'ly in it thereabouts.
Is Skirrid OK in a WSW?
Thought it was good W-WNW, but shaggy with any s'ly component.

Hey Graham

It depends on how desperate for a fly you are mate!

With a bit of South in it, the back is more active, yes. Although sometimes this means that you get awesome acceleration on the odd lap. Regrettably it can also mean an early bath!

Z

I think Steve Forbes was hoping to get some stick time up the Skirrid today. I'll bet he's having a brilliant time of it. Probably the day that we should have chosen rather than Friday!

Z

Sounds like 2 x Kinetic maidens to me.......

Good day for it Andy!

Z

Whos of up PYF tomorrow then?

Just me as far as I'm aware.

Z

Just me as far as I'm aware.

Z

Fly safe, and mind them rocks

Thanks Ad. Going to try to get a good understanding of the joint tomorrow. Forecast initially looked nice and easy. Now it's looking really pretty tasty! Should be fun. What time's it get dark again 

Z

and walk safe, no shortcuts

got to pick the mazda up from Mansfield.
+ something needs to be done to everything to get it to fly. some allot more than others.

Thanks Ad. Going to try to get a good understanding of the joint tomorrow. Forecast initially looked nice and easy. Now it's looking really pretty tasty! Should be fun. What time's it get dark again 

Z

 Anyone heard from Zim, or is he still up Penn-y-fan 

  Stuart.

Stooopid thing to do to be honest. He must have the fever real bad!
 

I was glad of the company when I slipped and broke my leg out sloping. Even though it was Ian and frank!
Still did 2 1/2 hours in minus 17 waiting to get rescued - And we were just above the road!

Andy

Stooopid thing to do to be honest. He must have the fever real bad!
 

Hey ho - can't argue mate, but we make our own choices eh 

and no, I'm not posting this from the top Stuart 

Z

or via a séance...........?

or via a séance...........?

 

  Stuart.

LOL nice one Tom.

Hey ho - can't argue mate, but we make our own choices eh 
Z

I used to do exactly the same sort of thing mate. but 3 months off work, 4 operations and ongoing problems today from what was just a simple slip caused me more hassle than all my years of motorcycling put together. I'm not in a position to knock you 'cos it would be hypocritical but I hope you took the precautions I used too when I went deep and left your planned route in the car window, took your whistle and survival bag (thankfully I never needed to use mine) and told somebody what time to expect you back and what route you were taking?

All good boy scout stuff that means the mountain rescue teams don't have to really risk their lives trying to save yours 'cos you fancies a quick fly of your toy aeroplane. 

Andy

Is it wrong of me to see that photo above and for my first thought to be "I wonder what brand that black plane quiver bag is?"

Nope. Not wrong at all. 

It was a ray bishop made one from 'Raydiowarm' and I still have it. Too short for 2 piece 3m wings though. Bought a Plane quiver for those - Fantastic. Also the new Hyperflight (Vladimirs Models) bags are exceptionally good - Light too.

Over the first three months after my accident I came over all modeller too. I spent a lot of time playing with a roll of bandage I'd managed to nick from the nurse in the plaster room at Bolton.
You put it in hot water, apply to whatever is broken and it sets hard as it dries!
The roll I nicked was Pink - and I couldn't bring myself to show it in public. Now that Abbo is 'out' with his MCT though it might have been a different matter!
Those 3 months sucked. I was in a wheelchair. Lost loads of weight!
Couldn't reach the Biscuit Tin!
 

Andy

Its a good job we had to stop for a rest carrying you down the hill and take a picture.  But not of the ambulance drivers face when we told them they needed a stronger stretcher!

I seem to remember you floating in the magic gas:-)

good advise though mate

Ian

Hmm interesting, Andy. I didn't do any of those things. To be honest, I think the Pen-Y-Fan thing is a little bit overstated though, although I acknowledge that it's fun to pretend that it's meaner than it really is in reasonable weather - it's not really "going deep" tbh and all the paths are very clear now with the traffic that they see nowadays. Not that much of a walk and there were quite a lot of people walking on the path (although they were on the way down whilst I was on the way up).

However, I think Pen-Y-Fan could be a bit of a different proposition in the snow. Paths obscured etc etc - now that would make it a very different, potentially very iffy place to be. It certainly was last time I was there. Lousy visibility, MASSIVE wind power and all that. But that was also pretty obvious before setting off. Wouldn't have gone up on that day on my own.

But I like your advice. To sum up (please correct me if I miss stuff out):

1. Planned route in the car window.
2. Take a whistle.
3. Take a survival bag (what's in this? presumably more than a hip flask?  )
4. Tell someone where I'm going and what time I'm back down.

Cheers

Z

Never been a boy scout then mate?

A survival bag is really a very large plastic sleeping bag size sack folded up small and stuck in your rucksac. I suppose these days they might be foil type stuff but mine was bright orange (so helicopters etc could pick you out), 100% waterproof and big enough to crawl into. It also had basic survival tips written on the outside in case you got bored!
http://www.blacks.co.uk/product/099129.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_bag

The Whistle we've discussed before.
Your car will most likely be the first thing somebody finds if you are reported missing and if you have a marked route in it displayed through the windscreen it will help confine any search to that area or the area immediately 'below' it! This reduces the liklihood of you being out all night and also is safer for the mountain rescue teams who don't have to search everywhere for you.

It's common hill walking stuff really mate.
Got me and a group out of trouble on my Duke Of Edinburghs award in my teens the planned route thing. Fog came down, lost the path - night on the moors etc. etc. Rescue team walked right past us twice 'cos we were sheltering behind a wall by then. We eventually heard some dogs and blew the whistles!
We were never really in danger as we had loads of gear with us - but we were lost in the fog!

I used to do all this when I worked in the lakes and flew almost every evening from some big hill or other, and when I broke my ankle we were only 300ft above the road on the Horseshoe pass (ironically 8 years ago today!)but I still had to lie there in effin agony for 150 minutes until somebody appeared with Entonox!

It's easy enough to just be a little bit safer.

Andy

Nice one Andy. Thanks. Never been a boy scout, no. Used to go bundu-bashing with my Dad though!

Z

Nice one Andy. Thanks. Never been a boy scout, no. Used to go bundu-bashing with my Dad though!

Z

dude, we deep south southerners should know different tactics, If you where stuck you where stuck, you wait weeks to have somebody miss you let alone walk past you.

But maybe this should be in the general gliding section, as there are allot more people out there that frequent hilly places.

Andy, If you leave your map in the car, might you not get lost? or do you buy all os maps in duplicate?

I always feel confident knowing I have my mobile, then when I get to the top realise that I normally don't have signal. Turn it off.

Ha! No - we had photocopiers back in the day too but a list of coordinates along the path was the way I used to do it. Lots of planning time when you're shacked up in rainy cumbria living in digs. Lots of flying time too though and boy oh boy are there some big hills! Shame the roads are all at the bottom though!

Andy

Orange smoke flare

Wouldn't want that going off by mistake!

Reckon the exposure thing is the main issue. Those big plaggy bags look to be cheap enough to buy and small enough to lob in a back pack. Probably go for one of them just in case. Better also keep £100 in a ziploc bag to make sure that they bring the D80 down the hill as well LOL!

Anyway, cripes, all a bit serious innit?! Reckon I've got the general idea.

Z

Worth mentioning that when I fell there were three of us with mobile phones and mine was the only one that could get a signal. It was on the Orange network and I've stayed with them ever since. I'm often the only person with a working phone in our group. 

Andy

Anyway, cripes, all a bit serious innit?! Reckon I've got the general idea.

Z

You have to promise me that if you get to the top of one of these hills and find a frozen modeller poised mid launch with icicles hanging off his DS machines dangly bits that you take a piccy for my slope column! 

I know I'm going on a bit but I just want to relate another story that is quite prevalent regarding a trip up Snowdon.
A friend was in a group with some quite experienced hillwalkers for a trek to the top and a crafty fly and they had had a good day up there in clear skies and nice weather. Flew some backpackable bits and pieces (Ploofs etc) and set off down as the weather started to deteriorate. The mist came in quickly and the wind got up and one of the party, an experienced hiker, had a proper full on panic attack and simply couldn't move. No ammount of persuasion could get him to shift and the temptation to split up (a big no, no) was very high. It delayed them for about 90 minutes before they eventually got him going and re-distributed all the modelling gear so he had nothing to carry. Now it was going dark. All they had for lights were mobile phones - only one of which was decently charged so they took it in turns trying to climb down Snowdon by mobile phone light alone. Eventually they got a call through to mountain rescue who told them to stay put because they confessed to not really being able to see the path anymore. When they were recovered they were two miles off course.

It may not be your experience or ability that knackers you up on a DS trip on these large mountains. Would you leave a buddy who had slipped, tripped or panicked?
I'd put money on Snowdon being a whole load more popular with walkers than Pen-Y-Fan, but nobody passed this group going in either direction.

I guess I'm saying that even with fantastic planning things go wrong real quick. The lone journey simply extenuates this but there are simple steps you can take to mitigate the risk.

But, if you've got the fever - you've got the fever, and you'll do anything for a quick fly.

Strange hobby ain't it.
 

Andy

We got fogged in up the Glyders once (when I were a lad.....) - when we set off it was a bright sunny day, but by afternoon you could not see more than about 20 yards in front of you, which isn't ideal up a mountain with big drop offs. I think we met the mountain resuce leaving a pub car park, as it happens, but it can get quite dangerous very quicly. 

Homing beacon for the models to go and find them again?

Kinetics on standby? 

Yip
To day and tomorrow both look interesting.
Got a meething today  but maybe tomorrow.
This place could get interesting.

Kinetics on standby? 

1 was up there today! But didn't get off the ground.
Winds too light.
Tomorrow looks better (depending who you believe) Windier but possibly with a wet spell. but yet no one going so the skirrid.

Which Kinetic was that Will?

Z

Hi Zim, I spoke to Mark S yesterday late morning - he was on top of Skirrrid with Steve F. and Dave 'The train'. So I think there were two K100s present but neither had flown at time of call. Mark S had gone 197 with his MCT but conditions considered a bit marginal for the kinetics.