Lee Jackson

I always fly with a hook knife but my main reason for doing so is for a water entry. The thought of being in a tangle in water isn't appealing... hopefully my powerfloat would give me time to cut lines release myself (if this ever happened) - but obviously I never intend on trying this out! One could potentially be handy in a tree spaghetti too! Truth be told that if under a critically collapsed wing, in a pinch, whilst potentially weightless, and under pressure I can't possibly imagine cutting lines etc. You just wouldn't have the composure or time to do this effectively... but I'm guessing here.

Bloody good write up as ever Steve. God I love this picture...

Good on you Rik and great to know you're back under your wing!

Mrs Alan was sooo cool... I was really hoping that shot of her watching would come out OK. She was so happy - it was contagious! I hope you don't mind Alan. On a separate matter... there was a free bar?

Great Fly-in guys!

... thanks Steve. As ever I'm prostate in your presence!

Yes, I'm rebellious and have occasionally played above (and around) the mashed potato... its just so much damn fun! And in all honesty flying through a cloud isn't a disaster for us pendulum types - as long as there isn't anything else in there with you (i.e. in the air or connected to the ground). Not that I've done it more than a couple of times. Obviously it is also wise to also know exactly where you are and what is beneath and in front of you. So on the record - 'tut tut, don't do it' Off the record - 'woop woop... but don't tell my mum' The start of this basic vid was last Tuesday after work. Cloud base at 6,900ft Feel free to delete my comment if its too naughty Simon!

Good on you Terry... you really have nothing at all to be embarrassed about at all. It was an accident and you truly got away with it! FYI I started mine on my back all weekend long and always do. Note that some days it is easier than others... but it only gets started on my back. I also helped loads of other people pull start theirs when they had them on their backs - really not a problem to me what so ever. I'd definitely prefer to help people pull start their motors than to searching the grass for their fingers or worse! Anywho as ever it is always good to see you and Darren - take care mate!

Cheers Alan, really lovely to meet you both too. Thank you for taking the time to look at my radios. BTW I just use a couple of Sony 4K jobbies... idiot proof!

Firstly thank you Simon, Colin and all at PMC who put on the great Bore weekend. As ever, I had a great time. Anywho, I've cobbled my bits and bats of footage into a video...

This guy is a thoroughbred thundertwat! The liveleak video of him flying actually shows people ducking as he flies low over the beach. He (maybe she) didn't even stay over the water for the low pass! They are flying a blue and black Bailey matrix. There can't be too many of these out there.

Great to hear... onwards and upwards Rik!

I don't think he's on here... it was a Belgian chap called Jean-Michelle. There is a few of us who fly around the Huntingdon area although it was only Jean-Michelle yesterday.

Bloody hell Dave, a Bobby bargain to be had there! Forget the Spyder though, I've got half a WRC you could have!

Watching it just makes being at work that much harder to bear (well perhaps not for Julie/Dave)... I want to go back too!

Bueno! See you out there.

Back in January I was flying on my WRC with two gents on their new Report'Airs. The WRC is known for being a fast XC wing but the Report'Airs were holding their own. Trimmed out the WRC was quite a bit faster, but as soon as the Report'Airs touched their speedbars they were off! As I don't fly with a speedbar I was left standing! I think the 2D steering makes them fairly agile too (if you want that), otherwise they really do seem to be a steady reliable wing.

More recently I seem to be getting around 6L per hour. This includes takeoff and a fair bit of height faffing. It does seem high compared to others I have flown with. I was thinking I needed to lay off the pies!

To fix my camera I roughed up the area I wanted to stick it to with sandpaper. I then applied a big blob of well mixed araldite and plopped the clip thingy into it. I then used electrical tape to hold it and stop it slowly sliding anywhere else. I also kept going back every 10 mins and wiping up any running araldite, till it was dry. Both of my helmets were done this way and I've never had any issues.

Yes definitely a good helmet, I bought two. The visor is OK, but I do find that the cold winter air does leach around the sides a bit. I also have one without the visor, which I prefer to use with a ski mask or sunnies (only in warmer weather mind). Now I use a Sony camera which has a variety of fixing clip thingies - some of which allow for a domed surface. As such I just glued mine slap bang in the middle. I did wonder why the go pro boys had their cameras mounted so far forward.

Won't get a bulldog in one of those sadly... there is a very real danger my box will be bigger than the van!

Jeez... I'm really sorry to hear you've been hurt Rik... but very glad you're still with us! Its very good of you to put this up here for the benefit of the rest of us. I certainly read these carefully and try to take all the lessons on-board. I imagine many others on here do too. Whilst we are inherently playing with gravity, paying continuous attention to the basics will hopefully mean we don't get hurt along the way. I certainly don't want to add to the statistics or accident stories! Good on you Rik, let us know when you're up and fighting fit again! Lee Jackson

I only use Castrol Racing 2T oil in my Moster (probably the same as Castrol Racing One) 40:1

Totally agree with all the points above, but remember that sometimes we record videos purely for our own amusement. Yes when they're uploaded to YouTube they are downgraded to 1080, but the original on your computer still works in sexy 4K (if you can actually see it in 4K) On my iMac the difference between 4K and 1080 is stark... but 1080 is perfectly good. I'm surprised to read about the 4K editing pain. Not trying to be smug, but I don't have any editing issues 4K what so ever. I load all my video onto a LaCie drive which can cope with the streaming. Sometimes I'm loading 1.5 hour clips in 4K and chopping it about without the slightest issue... mind you the iMac isn't that old (about 2 years) and I've upgraded the RAM. I guess this is one of those different strokes for different folks things. The choice out there is wide as are the potential results...