SOLO

Simon, Thanks for the warm welcome on Sunday evening. I did end up flying just after you left. On the first attempt I tripped and fell onto one knee during launch (ouch), but the second was fine. The guy with you, (Dan I think, sorry I'm crap with names), hung around for the lauch which was very considerate of him. I probably hung around for about an hour between 500' and 1500'. I went up to about 2500' so I could push upwind over the white horse then glide down a couple of hundred feet and get a good distance clear before laying on the power (didn't want to upset the tourists too much). That certainly is a very beautiful place to fly. Landing was absolutely rubbish and I ended up landing about 6" above the ground and taking a small drop! I figured out why afterwards. There is a very slight uphill with the wind in that direction and my teacher always told me to look about 100' ahead of where I was landing... I did all that and was looking uphill as I bottomed out on the brakes! I'll do better next time. I left home this afternoon to come back up but called in for tea at a friends place on the way (just off the motorway) and by the time my cuppa was done the wind had picked up something wicked! Yeh, I should have come over anyway because I just KNOW you're now going to tell me you were in the air till midnight and the sun was still up and you've never had smoother air... pah! OK, I will drop round to the field at least one evening in the coming week. I'll bring my membership fees and put me down for an FB sized T shirt! Cheers, Derek

I am looking for a couple of holiday cottages in France, an investment I suppose. I'm thinking that it would be nice to be able to use the land to fly from if I should go there and also that it might be an idea to promote the cottages to paramotorists. So... the question is "how much land do I need"? Of course I know that I don't want power lines or main roads or big trees and all that but if I can find a large level site how much land is enough. My own thoughts are that a ten acre field would be the minimum and would give me plenty of room should I need to forward launch and land in rough air but am I being overly cautious? I know I have taken off and landed on about an acre without any problems but if I was renting a cottage billed as a good place to fly from I'd expect more than one acre I think. So... Thoughts gentleman please? Assume a square plot and a cottage just outside the field. Just looking for a rough idea from those with more experience than me (thats most of you). Cheers, Derek

"Build it and they will come"

Ian, Bob Armond at paratoys.com is who I was training with. Bob is a great guy and is always happy to help. If you want training then he's an excellent teacher. If it's just some help on where to fly then he might be able to put you on to some local pilots. Bob flys out of Camarillo down to Malibu or over to Ventura. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I was moving back to the US for a month and things were a bit hectic! I've brought my gliding rig with me so I hope to be flying here in Southern Oregon for a few weeks if work permits. If you need more information you can get me on dowen@solo-uk.com. Cheers, Derek

I'm in Reading. New pilot but I fly regularly, all over the place while I am asking around for a regular field to fly in. I have heard about the Basingstoke crew; havent seen any of them around. There is a guy who flys around Sullham Woods abd I have looked for him but no luck yet. Let me know if you want to get out there one evening when the sun comes back out! I fly a Black Hawk 172 and a regular Paratoys.com wing (Red and white in case you see me in the air). Cheers, Derek dowen@solo-uk.com

Hello all. Just found this site and was delighted to find out that Lamborn is only a half hour drive from me. £60 sounds like an absolute bargain to me! Especially if there will be more than one site! For the meeting this coming weekend 26-27 can I come along and fly before paying my dues? Happy to pay a day rate/fee thing. I personally think it ought to be about a fiver a day to give an incentive to pay the £60 ASAP. If all that is doable how would I go about finding the field? Thanks Derek