admin (Simon W)

Hi Dave and welcome OK Training, three methods, no particular order. Indipendant Instruction, (the likes of Paul Haxby 'being the most well known' and myself) Advantages. In my opinion, better training due to the fact I take the best of the BHPA and the best of the BMAA and add some of my own stuff, as is the same with Paul H. Insurance £65 per year. BHPA. Large organisaton, lots of members. VERY good at hill and tow Para'gliding' training. My PERSONAL feeling is that they have only just started to get to grips with the Paramotoring training and more work is needed, the good thing is they know it and are trying to change it. Membership fee, £60 a year I think. Isurance is as a part of the membership fee. BMAA Again large organisation, lots of members, VERY good at Microlights, getting better with Paramotors, and all of the above again. As I type there is a bit of stuff going on with both the BHPA and the BMAA. I will not slag off either as I was taught to Paraglide by the BHPA and I think them for that! Your question is next to impossible to answer without upsetting someone, My advice...... Its the instructor not the Association. The instructor you choose could be BHPA BMAA or indipendent, just ensure that you gel with him / her. I hope this HAS helped although I cant help feel I have just woffled a bit Happy to chat on the phone.

This is a great example of a good clear thread. Thanks very much for your time and effort to post it. Cheers (as we say in the UK)

Roger that mate.

All, The BBC says Sat is good but everywhere else says its bad but.........everyone says it going to be flyable on Sunday Dartmoor Training anyone? I will be getting used to a low hangpoint Parajet which I am sure will be great fun.

Not yet sure to be honest, It may well do just that. I think my misses ordered the wrong one to be fair but hey it looks cool Pretty sure that WeeSplat has orderd the £160 version which has no 'tail'

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Paragliding-Hangg ... dZViewItem

Not yet mate, They did say 7 to 10 days and my misses placed the order on Saturday I think?...... I will post a review as soon as I have it here. I think cheep and cheerfull will be how it goes, £88 + £10 with built in mic and head set and lead to attach to my Alinco, and a phone, or MP3 player. It has the PTT built into the helmet at about exactly the place I like it.... and thats all I know at the moment. I have a very good school helmet here so dont feel like you have to rush out and buy one.

Hi Ken, I do plan to hold another briefing on Saturday at 13:00 Assuming it is not flyable and I dont have students of course

Dave, I may well be in ful on teaching mode (day one) on Sunday, so will have to put 100% in to that as I am sure you can understand..... However..... I would love to fly to 100km out and return so maybe I can be the last person to fly it or something..... To those of you who are pilots in training, Sunday is a day where we can get a good amount done. Dartmoor flight people should consider being here! (Including those with shiny new Rad motors with leci and pull start...you know who you are!

Hi Ken, You are more than welcome to join in on the briefings. (Thursday evening i a route brief) The NavEx will have to wait until the weather is better and Dave H is free. As far as Mem Map, I think we all have it and use it for route planning (as I have for this trip) I just dont want to ive the route out to people until they have been here for the brief. NOTE, you can also get a mem map reader for FREE download. I will try to find a link. Ken, if you would like to help with the ground crew this would be good! I need someone to head up the ground crew in fact!! Who wants that job?

Indeed you are The only reason for the call in the morning is so that I can let you know if it is going to be a good day weather wise and so that I know how many people will be attending on the day. Cross Everything!!! LOL

Looking good for this Sat and Sun!! If you are on a course, please call me before 10:00 hrs on either morning to let me know Fingers X ed!!!!

What is wind? Wind is simply air in motion, moving from high pressure to low pressure. Winds are described by the direction they blow from - an easterly wind lows from the east, a westerly from the west. Prevailing winds (winds which occur frequently in a particular direction) are arranged in a series of belts around the globe. This pattern is the result of differences in the speed the Earth rotates and the different amounts of solar heating it gets, depending on where a place is between the poles and the equator. There are many smaller scale winds and wind patterns produced by a number of processes. Mountains often produce their own local winds, and wind currents can be shaped as they are forced to rise or funnelled through valleys, greatly increasing their strength. As an air mass descends a mountain slope it is compressed and becomes a warm dry wind. The effect is most noticeable in spring when these winds can melt snow very quickly. They are called föhn winds in the Alps and chinook ("snow-eaters") in western North America and they can sometimes cause avalanches. Local Winds have names Other winds are truly local and are caused by a daily pattern of air-flow up and down valleys. Katabatic winds occur at night when cool air sinks down mountain slopes and valleys. Anabatic winds occur when sun-warmed air rises and gently flows up mountain slopes and valleys. Local winds in different countries have special names and often have particular characteristics associated with them, such as the Mistral - a dry and cold wind common to the Rhone Valley in France. Under hot sunshine, thermals can rise very strongly and produce short-lived whirlwinds. These dust-devils or sand-devils are a fairly common sight on sunny days in dry, open country and can send a Paraglider into a swirling mess that takes a day to untangle!. Intense heating of a patch of ground by the Sun may create a spiralling column of hot air that can reach more than 100 m (330 ft) in height. Lightweight material, such as dust or a paraglider , is lifted up and briefly whirled around. Whirlwinds rarely last more than a few minutes after which the air column gently collapses. Please feel free to add to this thread.

Cool, more people Just a thought, if you have friends, family e.t.c who may be interested in helping out with the ground crew please bring them along.

As long as you attend the briefings you MAY be able to fly the last leg into Dartmoor. Aim of for the entre flight though!! As you say Stuart, The vibe will be great!

You are more than welcome to come to the theory stuff. If you get as far as the briefings and the 100km flight you will still have some 'advanced pilot' skills from day 1. IOW = Isle of Wight.

The timings are: Evening briefings are , 19:00 onwards I will give you the longs and lats then

To the Dartmoor Pilots, I intend to hold a brief on the route that we are going to take to Dartmoor and a little bit of navigation chit chat for anyone that wants it or needs it. This is likely to be Thursday evening at my house in Lambourn and again during Saturday Day time. Dave H has agreed to arrange the 100km out and return NavEx from Lambourn (which will include a lesson on Navigation! (a lesson from a Dave is not to be missed! ) We will arrange the date for the NavEx at the Route brief. If you want to fly this trip you willl need to attend both a route brief and a NavEx so please make an effort to attend. (the trip will be way more effort I can assure you ) Please do feel free to ask any questions that you may have about this flight I am happy to answer them if I can. Please could the other people who have voted to fly the trip leave a post here so that I know who you are. Yippeeee buzzing about this!!!!

OK, So I now have a route* Lambourn (Heading 238 for 32.8KM) Devizes (heading 255 for 15.8 KM) Trowbridge (heading 183 for 25.8 KM) Mere (Parajet Petrol stop) 74.4km in to the flight. Leave on heading (265 until M5 50.9KM) Head south over M5 on (heading 229 for 55.4KM) PETROL STOP AND RE-GROUP BEFORE FLIGHT OVER THE MOORS Take off on (Heading 228 for 35.9KM) LAND AT THE PLUME OF FEATHERS INN, PRINCETOWN, DARTMOOR. TOTAL DISTANCE 217KM As soon as this weather passes, all of those of you who have decided to complete this flight should get some air time! On top of the navEx training day we will have (this is likely to take in the forst two or three legs of the above route.) *The route may well change to cater for the second petrol stop. I will upload a picture of the route as soon as I can suss out how to. Ta Ta 4 now. If anyone has any comments about this route please let me know ASAP.

The Plume of Feathers in Princetown is the landing / Camping place.

OK I see a slight flaw... As well as placing a vote please reply to this thread with your name, wing and motor. Thanks (THIS WILL REGISTER YOU FOR THE TRIP) Cheers all!

I have been asked a few times so here you go. Clouds can be cirrus (wispy), cumulus (heaped) and stratus (in layers). They are classified into 10 main cloud types according to height and shape. Not all clouds bring rain, some are signs of fine weather. The word ‘nimbus' added to the beginning or end of a cloud type, e.g. cumulonimbus or nimbostratus, means that the cloud is a rain cloud and will usually appear to be dark grey. Generally cumulonimbus are the most dangerous clouds associated with hail, lightning, tornadoes, downdraughts, downbursts and sucking Paragliders up to 30,000ft + If you feel that you can add to this thread, please do BUT please keep it simlpe 'like the above' and stick to facts as it can then be used as a information source in the future. are not currently required........

OK, so...first off Welcome I am not sure that I fully undersatnad what you are asking? Correct me if I am wrong. I assume that currently as a visiting pilot to Ireland I can not fly? But a solution is in underway, aiming at something like this : I would go and get a medi certificate first, then fly assuming that the visiting pilot also had there local qualification. For me if this is correct, It would make me think twice about the hasstle and I would fly else where, sorry...

All, I am pleased to announce that the Dartmoor trip is getting a little more underway. Thanks to Dave H for the route planning. OK, Now we have had a closer look at the plans I can give a better brief to the flight so that you can decide if its still for you. 1. The total flight time is expected to be 4 hours and 30 mins. (say 5 hours to be safe) 2. There will be 1 stop at the half way point for petrol, food, water, re-group. (Changed to two stops see below) 3. There will be a re-group just before the aproach to Dartmoor (this wil be a time window) 4. There will be a ground crew (still looking for more helpers, with vans or 4x4's) The role of the ground crew will be:- a) To drive to a pilot who has landed out. b) To fill up pilot with petrol if required. c) To pick up pilot and motor if anything other than running out of petrol caused the landing. d) bring everyone back the next day. It may be that if we have a SW wind direction we will do the flight in reverse order, Stay at Dartmoor overnight and fly out in the morning back to Lambourn. It will be the responsibility of the pilot to ensure:- a) They know where they are, and that it is on route. b) They can navigate there own way to the dartmoor site. c) They have the correct equiptment for the flight. d) They carry a radio, mobile phone, and money for Telephone. e) They land (or walk) to the pick up point. f) They attent a minimum of ONE navex day (this will be a total SOLO flight of 100km. * g) you MUST carry an air map and compass, a GPS is not a must but an air map and compass are h) ALL OF THE NORMAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PILOT. * The solo flight will be carried out with a minimum of 3 people at 15 min intervals so although you will be flying alone you will not be more than 15 mins away from another pilot. This will be arranged as a training day, so this will be your chance to learn how to read an air map and navigate with it and a compass. (Day 1 Army Cadet force stuff!!!) I must stress that we will all be here to have a great fun flight, but due to the distance of it, you can expect to be flying much of it out of visual contact with another pilot this is the reason that we must ensure that you will be happy flying on your own and navigating Once at the edge of Dartmoor I intend to create a time window at the edge of Dartmoor where a Regroup can take place before the flight into the moors, this window will not be more than 1 hour. This may all sound a little millitary and in fact it is, but.... It will be a great flight for any pilot to add to his or her list of achievements, and when we land... o when we land now that will be great!!!! Wine / beer Food, Music, and just a bloody good laugh!!!! I dont want to scare anyone off doing this flight so if you have any doubts in your abilities or confidence PLEASE PLEASE tell me now! We sill have plenty of time to get it sorted out. Well thats the update for now. I HAVE ADDED ANOTHER POLL DUE TO THE SLIGHT CHANGES MADE. PLEASE RE-PLACE YOUR VOTE

I have just seen a very depressing long range forecast from the BBC and it says that we will have rain and low pressure until the end of July!!!! NNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another week of it and I am off to France for a day or two!! Anyone up for that?