Hello again, and welcome to the latest episode in the continuing
story of Parapente Ecosse. We hope you’ve been out flying as much
as possible in the recent good weather, and getting ready for a great
summer. There’s been a few good flights lately, with star ex-pupil
Andy Sharples getting to Peebles from Broughton Heights, and
Alastair Bowman getting almost as far on the same day – both
on DHV 1-2 gliders. There are still a few site restrictions
because of lambing, but they shouldn’t be in force much longer and
by the end of May things should be back to normal. The
good weather means that so far this year we’ve had more people qualify
than we did in the whole of last year, but more about them later.
Someone mentioned they were disappointed that the last newsletter
didn’t have the usual spring flying warning, so here goes - remember,
if you haven’t flown much over winter, take it easy when you go out
again. You’ve got a whole summer of flying ahead of you, so don’t
let eagerness and/or desperation cloud your judgement. We never like
hearing that a member of the Airborne Clan has been injured flying,
so be careful out there. Whoops, tripped getting off the soapbox.
Wednesday
Night Talks
These
were a roaring success over March and April with a good selection
of topics, from the Antarctic, to Cross Country Flying. We’ve finished
the talks for summer, so once it starts getting dark by about 7.30
pm we’ll look at starting them up again. This will give you plenty
of time to come up with something that would entertain a bunch of
increasingly more intoxicated paraglider pilots for about an hour
or so. you can let us know you’re keen on the instant fame hotline:
0700 078 2589. We’ll probably start again in October or
November. Once again, huge thanks very much to: Ulric Jessop, Midi
Fairgrieve, Andy Gray, Russel Leaper, Steve Senior, Gill Hartley,
Steve Godfrey, John Silvester, and Jocky Sanderson. They
risked ridicule and rotten fruit to entertain the troops.
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A local pilot came into the shop recently, looking
for a new wing. He knew what he was looking for, so we rang
the dealer who said he could have a red one here in a couple
of days. “No good,” said Mr X, “I want a green
one.”
“For *&%! sake, what difference does it make?
“ we said. “A green one will take
three weeks or more to come.”
He then explained that the last four wings
he’s had have all been green, so his wife
doesn’t notice they’ve changed. Look out for Mr Green
on the slopes, he’s the one carrying the really old and tatty
glider bag
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Postcard
Competition
Cub reporter Drew McAdam is this month’s
winner, as he has given us lots of postcards with illegible writing
on, that he claims are from famous people we haven’t heard of. Obviously,
he’s desperate to win something, so we decided to get him a big
chunk of tasty gourmet cheese, all the way from Spain. Drew, can
you collect it ASAP as we think it keeps curdling the milk.
Newly
Qualified People.
Congratulations to the following earthlings who are now club pilots: Emily
Botje, Christine McIntosh, Psychic Bob Mitchell, Andy Sharples,
Neil Craig, Cecilia Westin, Alistair Brown, Mike Jardine, and
George McMeel. Piss off the lot of you.
First
Aid Course
Colin’s doing it again, starting on the 12th of
June at 8.30pm.The course runs for 6 weeks, and is for two
hours every Monday in the cloud basement at the shop. It’s
starting later because we don’t you to miss any evening flying.
If you’re interested call Colin on the life saver hotline:
0131 221 1808
P.S. Colin runs first aid
and food hygiene courses as his full time business. If you
or your colleagues need training to fulfil Health and Safety
requirements, then Colin’s your man. Contact him at Safety
sKills no. above.
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STOP
PRESS:
Last
Small Edel Atlas (DHV1/2, 65-85kg) in UK found alive and well
at another planet. Call for details
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SITE NEWS
Hillend Cards
If you were expecting your Hillend card and contact
list, it should be in with this newsletter. If you still haven’t
paid your fee and you fly at Hillend, not only do you risk incurring
the wrath of Satan, you also invalidate your BHPA liability insurance.
(Fortunately, there’s only a couple of you out there..) If that’s
the case, get a cheque for £10 to us, or drop it into the shop.
We can take your picture at the same time. Also, just so you don’t
forget, you MUST remember to call Air Traffic Control before you
fly, and again at the end of a days flying. If you see other people
flying, don’t assume they have permission, find out. One day recently,
the school was there, and 5 or 6 other pilots arrived at the ski
slope end and flew. Nobody radioed us or phoned us to check what
the clearance was for the day – we hope those pilots had called
to check. It’s better ATC get asked twenty times than not at all.
Flying at Hillend is a privilege we could lose very easily – don’t
ruin your life by losing it for everybody. Compared to restrictions
in the rest of the country, we suffer very little red tape, so one
site that requires a phone call to ATC and a fond farewell to ten
quid shouldn’t be a major drama, unless you really want to make
it one.
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During
March, we were all getting excited about going to Piedrahita and were
hearing news from Steve Ham about good weather and 50km flights. Naturally,
as soon as we arrived in early April they had the worst weather for 3
months with snow, wind and rain. The people there in the first week got
a couple of flyable days, and spent the rest of the time riding horses,
having near death experiences falling out of boats, or kite buggying.
Getting thrashed at bar football by the locals was another popular pastime,
as was Lunch Extreme. The second week was similar, and although there
wasn’t a lot of flying it seemed as though most people really enjoyed
the holiday. One of the highlights of the second week was the last night,
when we joined the percussion section of the band at the local bar, and
were asked to leave sometime on the wrong side of 6am. The next night
in Madrid was spent in a Cuban bar, with Mike Church getting on well with
the locals. We went for a slap up feed before that, and for someone who
doesn’t like fish, Brian seemed very keen to try some sushi. The rest
of us made do with half a cow each.
Overall, despite
the poor weather, the trip increased everyone’s appetite for flying, rather
than dampening it. Piedrahita isa fantastic place and we shall certainly
be visiting again. Watch this space
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SYSTEM
X HARNESS SAFETY NOTICE
We
have been advised by the BHPA that some recently produced SYSTEM
X models
may have defective quick release buckles. We have included
a copy of the safety notice for those people we know have bought
them from us recently, and you should find a copy of the notice
in Skywings. Get in touch if you find any problems.
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Recent arrivals
in the shop include Oakley backpacks and
clothing (or “softwear” in Oakley speak)
and a new brand for us, Kkrakatau.
They’ve sent us a range of shorts, just in time for summer and we still
have good stocks of Zimbabalooba and Tingatinga
shorts, so get those pasty white sticks out in the open. Ask about
our range of winter shorts as well, for those occasional nippy days on
the hill. By the time you read this, our supply of No
Fear T Shirts should have arrived, as well as the latest model
Salomon shoes. We’re expecting some No
Fear hats as well, to keep those gleaming heids from getting nuked over
the summer, and we still have plenty of legionnaires bunnets to keep the
back of your neck that nice tinge of blue it’s been over the winter.
Wings and Things
Our
favourite wings at the moment include: Gin Bolero
(DHV 1) and Bandit, (2) Edel
Confidence (1 – 2) and Promise,
(2) and the Ozone Electron (1 - 2). We
also have the last NEW Atlas wings in captivity
- the Atlas is a terrific wing, and as a lot of you will know, has been
the source of a lot of fun and entertainment for a lot of people. We’re
sorry to see it go, but we have the last stock in Britain, and it’s going
cheap. On a more cheerful note, the Atlas replacement, the Confidence,
is available for test flights now. A recent perusal of the Edel web site
showed us a Confidence was flown 110 km in Switzerland in March this year,
so they seem to work alright. We also have the Promise available to try,
but be careful here because if you fly it, you’ll want it. If you want
stability with performance then you can’t go wrong with this one. Similarly,
the DHV2 Gin glider, the Bandit, is a fantastic performer as well. Tom’s
is nick-named “Arse”. The Gin Bolero is their DHV1 wing, and on a recent
test flight at Broughton Heights Markie had lots of fun going up faster
than any of the other higher performance wings. He says it feels really
stable, but it’s still loads of fun The Electron is a popular glider as
well, and the people buying them seem to really enjoy flying them. . Glider
choice is a personal thing, and nowadays there isn’t a lot of performance
difference between similarly rated gliders, so if you want to test fly
any of these, or any wing for that matter, just let us know.
Other Flying
Goodies
Sup Air’s 2000 range of shiny new kit has arrived
as well, and there’s some good stuff here. The Sup
Air Evolution and Profeel harness have been redesigned in modular form for side, top,
front or rear reserve. We also have 17 and 21 cm air bags, which have
DHV certification. (It means they’re good.) For the weight conscious (glider
bag, not winter lard) we have the lightweight honeycomb seat that will
also wow ‘em at the top of the hill, and to make it easier to get to the
top of the hill, have a look at the Giant mountain sack – how many times
have you cursed your bag (not the missus) as you stagger to the top of
the hill? It doesn’t have to be like that.
Incidentally,
if you have a modular sup air harness made prior to 2000 and you think
you may need a zip on reserve pod in the future, bear in mind they might
not be manufactured for
much longer, and order one while you still can.
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UPDATE - UPDATE – UPDATE - LEWIS MCLELLAN
Thank
you all very much from the Tammy and Jim McLellan Appeal.
The support that Parapente Ecosse, and all it's members,
have given to this appeal in time, money and effort from the beginning
of our venture leaves me struggling for words. 'Thank you' seems
not enough for the gratitude we feel.
Because of all this effort and time Lewis is improving daily;
more understanding of speech, more able and happy to make deals
(like come on inside and you can have a hot chocolate) and generally
much more content and happy. The continued support and generosity
of people like you at Parapente Ecosse are helping to make a world
of difference to Lewis
From
our hearts,
Jim and Tammy McLellan
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New
Electronic Stuff
Just in, we have lots and lots of new
wind meters. The range starts with the Skywatch Fun,
which is a small, light instrument for just
£45. Next up is the Eole, which is the same price,
but larger and solar powered. The Meteo is similar in appearance
but has lots more features, including current, average or maximum
wind. It’s not solar powered but it also has a temperature measurement
that shows min, max, current and windchill, and the wind speed can
be displayed in Km/h, knots, mph or m/s. It can also give Beaufort
strength and has a Swiss made compass on the lid. All this for only
£60! Crikey, how do we stay in business? The Windwatch has
similar features but is smaller and costs £67, and the Skywatch
Pro, which has most of the same features but without temp
costs £58. Call in and we’ll find the right one for you. Another
neat gadget is the Skywatch micro vario, about the size of
a box of matches that tells you you’re going up. It’s a good back
up for your full size vario, priced at £65.
Radios
If you want a radio,
we can get you a Kenwood TH22 for the low low price of £169.
These have excellent battery life, and are robust enough to stand
up to the rigors of pilot ownership
PAPERLESS NEWS.
For
those of you out there who like dabbling with email and the web
(yeah, all you geeks) we were thinking of not sending a newsletter
but emailing you to say the latest newsletter is viewable on the
website. (another-planet.com). If you like the idea email us at
info@another-planet.com
and we’ll try to get organised. Any thing that saves me licking
400 stamps
every 2 months has got to be good.
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Top; Meteo, Eole,
Windwatch
Bottom: Micro Vario, Pro, Fun
Is
there any interest in an SIV course in France in late July/early
August? We haven’t had many nibbles, but call us on the Get the
Worms Back in the Can Hotline: 0700
078 2589
SMPC
WEBSITE
Gary
Williamson from Inverness has taken over the task of keeping the
SMPC website up to date, and has set up a message board for the
whole world to use. Look for it at
www.williamsonfruit.co.uk/smpc/
and you can order a ton of spuds while you’re there
SCOTTISH
NATIONALS: BORDERS LEG
There’s another comp in the Borders
– if you were at the ones held a couple of years ago you’ll know how
good they are. if you weren’t, go this time or you’ll just get sick
of the stories. It’s being held on 10 &11 June, and the
meeting place is the Gordon Arms Hotel, at 10am on the 10th.
It’ll be a learning experience for low airtime pilots, so for more
details contact Tommy Bryson on 01750 62214. Another
Planet will be donating some goodies as prizes, the likes of which
you won’t believe, and will be sure to bring exclamations of surprise
to your lips. |
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System
X to sponsor Scottish Paragliding Open
1st prize Swing Arcus Glider (for 'non wing' sponsored pilot)
Other
prizes for 2nd and 3rd etc.
The Competition will be known as the Swing Scottish Paragliding
Open
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Dates
1st and 2nd July 2000
Based at
Killin, Scotland
Entry Fee
£22 (includes buffet and Comp T shirt)
For an entry form please email, write or phone
Neil Craigmile
6 Winton Terrace
New Winton
Tranent
EH33 2NQ
Tel 01875 610644
E Mail – neil-craigmile@bankofscotland.co.uk
Cheques payable to SHPF
Places
Limited |
The next newsletter should be out in a couple
of months. (No, seriously, it should be.) Until then, fly safe, and we’ll
see you Wednesdays at The Waiting Room about 9pm.
Adios from Tom, Mark, Brendan,
Colin, Carolyn and Billy.
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Home
Oct
2000
