September 1999 News

Gear from Another Planet

Eight months in the making and with a cast of thousands, the shop is finally open and trading. There’s so much great stuff your head will hurt just looking at it. We’ve got everything from Apco to Zimbabalooba, but the best thing we‘ve got lately is a name. From now on the shop is….if you could imagine a drum roll here…. ANOTHER PLANET. Incidentally, we’ve done all the jokes about Uranus and Mars. If you haven’t been in yet, come along for a look, have a cuppa, watch a video, play with the Blimp, swing on some harnesses and think how much better your life would be if you were one of the lucky people who’ve been to another planet and bought a souvenir.

Paragliding Gear  Obviously our main speciality is the gear we know and love. You will not have seen such an array of kit before. Our walls are full of Harnesses (come and have a hang) Helmets and more flying suits than we can afford. We have a great range of Varios and now supply any make of Radio; the Kenwood TH22 is still available along with all sorts of newer models and accessories.

Fleeces  Our constantly changing range of quality fleece wear is extensive. Loadsa sizes and colours, both bright and not so bright. Soon to arrive are super-thick jackets and smocks, and windproof/waterproof/breathable fleeces.

T Shirts, Sweatshirts  Get yer T shirts here. Nova, Edel, Gin, NSD you name it, its named here. Soon to arrive are our very own designs.

Wacky Designs : All the way from Africa via Blairgowrie we have an interesting array of Zimbabalooba and Tinga Tinga cotton trousers and hats. There’s a design for everyone.

Gloves  Fleecy windproof gloves at £19.95. “They’re too hot” said Susan…. “Not possible” I reply.

Sunglasses  A comprehensive range of CEBE glasses including models with interchangeable lenses.

Jackets  A selection of Branded (Edel, Sup air etc) jackets and smocks, both heavyweight winter and lightweight waterproofs. Probably the best deal at the moment are Keela full-boona jackets, normally £159.95  but because we’ve got some in this years colours (as opposed to next years, or something)  we can sell them at £109.95. For that, you get a breathable waterproof jacket with a hood, OS map pocket, armpit zips, hand-warmer pockets and powder skirt. All that and it’s made in Scotland as well.

Breathable Waterproof for £39.95

Never Say Die  As the UK distributor of NSD lives only a mile away, we have a current and full range of their kit. Its really good quality with some novel designs to boot including harnesses suits and jackets.

Kites  We have a rapidly growing selection of kites, including Flexifoil kites; Parafoils(small and large) and stunters (easy and difficult). Also some videos that will show you how to do tricks with them to make people stop and stare in amazement. (Mostly they’ll be trying to comprehend why an adult would want to waste so much time perfecting these tricks). We are planning to have an even larger range of kites, so watch this space.

Toys  for kids of all ages –Hot air balloon and rocket kits… a hoot at a bbq; Aerobie goodies- they make those rings you can throw for miles; Stomp rockets – the perfect way to stop the neighbour’s cat digging up your garden; Juggling balls- if you can’t juggle we’ll teach you for free; Lots more arriving every day.

Kids Stuff  We have a selection of Jazzy fleeces, jackets, trousers, waterproofs etc. COME and SEE.

Cross Country Magazine Subscriptions  The best mag to get, £24.95 for the year, get it here… its good.

Automatic Discount: 8%, 100% of the time

Not just a sale to dump old stock but our way of saying thanks for your custom. Our loyalty discount applies to everyone whose last glider was purchased from us, and applies to anything in the shop.

Plastic? Ooh that’ll do nicely, sir. We can now accept credit and Switch cards. No need to put off that holiday….treat yourself to a new glider…..and only worry about it much, much later !!

Buggy Hire

As well as selling buggies and huge kites, we will hire our gear for the day or weekend. Anyone who hasn’t tried this on a windy day has yet to discover why we don’t strap ourselves in to our bigger kites in windy conditions. Its great fun on flat fields or beaches… I would not recommend tarmac though (eh Uliric?)

Demo Gliders

We’ve got loads of exciting new gliders at the moment, including the Ozone Proton and Electron, the Gin Bolero and Bonanza, Edel’s Promise, and the Apco Bagheera. We’ve still got Flairs and Atlases available for test flights, or if you’re after a high performance wing the Response goes like a dog shot in the arse, and climbs like South American inflation. If you fancy a Freex Spear, and you’re very very quick, you can get a very very good deal.

Hooray Hooray it’s a holi holiday: Spain

By the time you read this it will be September, which means it’s less than a month until the next Parapente Ecosse holidays start: 4 weeks of sun, good food, cold beer and waking up with sore heads. Add to this a mix of relaxing coastal soaring and a wide choice of mountain sites, and the fact that all the details are taken care of for you and you’ll soon realise you’d be daft not to go. It’s a great opportunity to finish the flying season by learning the skills you need to fly in thermic conditions, or fine tuning your thermalling skills and heading off cross-country.

The trip will be in two parts again: 

From October 2 to October 12 we’ll be at the coast, at Dom and Yvettes Casa Rural. This is situated about 20 minutes from the site at Santa Pola, which is an ideal place for low airtime pilots to get some soaring time and practice top landings. There are lots of beaches nearby for non-flying family members, and there’s a pool at Dom’s to relax by after a hard day on the beach. Yvette is also an excellent cook so you can go straight from poolside to the dinner table, and not worry about driving into a canal on the way home.

From October 12 to October 30 we’ll be back at the castle at El Pinet, up in the mountains of the Sierra Mariola. The big news about the castle is that the pool is finished and awaiting our arrival, so when you fly back there from Mt Cabrer you can lounge by the pool while everyone else drives back. The castle is an ideal place for a large unruly group as there’s a fireplace the size of a bothy to sit around listening to the day’s flights get better and better, and there’s a good selection of eateries within 15 minutes drive. For those of you with an interest in foreign culture there are some local bars and dance spots that apparently stay open until the small (positively microscopic) hours. The nearest site is within sight of the castle, and was the start point for Ed’s 35k flight last October. It’s often possible to fly 2 sites a day, so your thermalling skills will improve no end.

The cost for this is £300 for one week. This includes accommodation, breakfast, airport transfers, all transportation, free radio hire, and our services as instructors, guides, translators and social secretaries. Evening meals are usually between £5 and £10 including an unhealthy amount of local wine. If any non-flying friends and family would like to join you give us a call and we’ll come up with a reduced rate for them around £220. All you have to do is get to Alicante Airport (but do let us know that you’re coming).

Brendan at Torridon

Quentin’s annual Torridon fly-in took place in mid July as usual, although this year we stayed in the Log Cabin instead of the Boat house. So many people turned up that a few folks ended up sleeping in tents, and we even managed to squeeze in a couple of cheeky wee flights to add a bonus to the weekend The first of these was after a delicious roast meal (thanks, Jan) on Friday evening; we took off beside the road as it crosses the saddle on the way to Diabeg for a top to bottom.

Saturday was quite windy, so after a leisurely cunim breakfast some of us went to the Loch Carron games for some local flavour, while the rest of us went to the Applecross pub to get a slightly different flavour. After the ensuing beer and seafood frenzy we headed to the nearby beach to fly some kites and watch Ulrich cover himself in water and sand using nothing but a kite and buggy. The evening’s entertainment involved a rather large fire and slightly too much drinking, to a sound track supplied by Neil Potter on his guitar.

On Sunday we were all up by the crack of eleven and the flyers amongst us were waiting to have a quick perv through the window Ulrich had predicted for later that day. Sure enough, the wind dropped, so we headed for the Pass of the Cattle. Pausing only to push a stalled Aston Martin down the hill, we got to the launch site and did the thing with the wing.       

Ulric, Ian Solley and myself managed to get away from the hill and cover a few k’s, with Ulric getting back onto Leathach. Ian got about 12 km, and while I was walking through 2 miles of bog to the road everyone else was having lots of fun buzzing about at take off.     

And so ended another Torridon weekend, thanks again to Jan and Quobby for their hospitality, and everyone else for your company.If you haven’t flown up here yet, keep it in mind for next year.

Gentle Ben

Wwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo aaaaaaaaaa rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sssssssssssssssssssss hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That’s the sound the four RAF jets made as they flew over Glen Nevis. I was standing in the car park at the start of the Ben Nevis footpath, still clipped into my glider, and thinking how glad I was that I hadn’t taken off 10 minutes later.

I’d ended up there through meeting Pat McVey the day before, who’d asked me if I would be interested in flying off Ben Nevis. I’d often thought of doing it, but after hearing so many stories of so many unsuccessful attempts due to weather I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to do it. Pat said that with the high that was squatting over Scotland, and the fact he had a spare lightweight harness, meant conditions were probably the best they would be for a while.

We left that evening, after a nice afternoon’s flying at Hillend, and arrived at the car park at 0045. We kipped in the car, and awoke feeling refreshed and ready to go at 0415. (Well, I think Pat did, I felt as rough as a rasp). After a hearty breakfast of banana and plaque, we got our kit ready. Pat is the Freex dealer for the UK, and had brought a Funiac XT with him. This is a canopy designed for alpinists and only weighs about 5kg. and the harnesses we used weighed only 700g. Because of the time of day, we thought we’d be ok without reserves or crossbracing, and the best part was 5kg less than normal to carry up the hill. In a stroke of brilliance, Pat lightened his pack further by tying a four foot length of bog roll to a power pole to act as a wind sock.

So, off we set, at 5am. We plodded up the track, watching the sun turn the Mamores pinky gold and hoping we’d be able to fly off the summit. As we got higher we could see towards The Great Glen, where a layer of low cloud covered all but the highest peaks. For some reason, I had an image of a fat lady in a bubble bath to keep me company on the walk up.

We arrived at the top about 7.45, and the view was stunning. The sky was as clear as the proverbial crystal, and after consulting map and compass we figured out we could see Schiehallion’s cone to the east and the Isle of Skye to the west, with ranks of hills fading away to the south. There was a light northerly blowing, and we spent a while looking for nice smooth grassy take off. Of course, there isn’t one, so we laid out in the boulder field, and tried to get enough lines free to launch. It was a bit like those joke candles that catch fire again after you blow them out – every line you freed, another would sneak under a rock. Eventually we tired of that game and bundled up our canopies to try the next plateau down, which looked more promising. We found a much better spot there, above a patch of snow and laid out again. There was also enough wind to do a reverse, which Pat did, and after a couple of photos I launched. I’d reminded myself that alone, at the top of a bloody great vertical drop, with nothing to stop me but a patch of last years snow was a really good place not to cock up a launch, but I thought what the hell, and did it anyway. Success followed on my second attempt and I headed out towards Aonach Mor, hearing the climbers on Tower Buttress shouting as I settled into the lightweight harness, which I found surprisingly comfortable. I found I was able to relax completely, and enjoy the worlds best imax show as I watched my shadow leap across the cliffs on my left. As I flew around towards Fort William the view was constantly changing, with new things appearing, until I could see right down Loch Linnhe. I’d been wondering where Pat had got to, and as I got round the front of the hill I could see he’d flown over the half way lochan and was now out over Glen Nevis. I turned to follow, and waved to a couple of people slogging up the track as I passed over them. I flew over to the sunny side of the glen, to get out of the lee of the Ben as much as I could, and watched my shadow leaping from tree to tree. The air was glassy smooth the whole flight, and I could see the campers below me starting their day, oblivious to the fat bastard flying 500 feet above them. I checked the bog roll as I flew over, and made a perfect landing between the cows and sheep. I decided to carry my glider up to the car park to pack it as the grass was quite damp, and as I arrived to see Pat’s big cheesy grin, the jets flew over.

The whole flight only lasted about 18 minutes, but I still managed to take 14 pictures on the way down, and I think I was quite lucky to be able to fly off Britain’s Highest Point. It was one of the best days I’ve seen in Scotland, and the flight is in my top 10 of all time – just ask and I’ll talk you through the photos. (Actually, I’ll do it if you don’t ask, too)

BABES Stop Press news … Simon And Karen, well actually just Karen – Simon just stood looking stupid, humming Bucks Fizz songs - have produced a lovely baby girl… Rachel Helen. Slightly older news of Jim and Emma Hart’s fresh offspring Lucy…she was spotted two weeks into her new life entertaining her dad at the bottom of Hillend while mummy went flying. Good on ya, Emma.

Competition. Howard, thanks for the postcard from Piedrahita, it arrived this week. It has prompted a postcard contest. Send them to us @ Another Planet, over the next wee while, and we’ll award prizes for the furthest away, the most obscure postmark, the longest delay, the most boring ( Howard’s is winning on at least two counts so far ) and the smelliest. Nothing allowed in an envelope, it’s gotta pass the post office requirements. Big prizes to be won.

See you on the hill

Brendan, Colin, Mark and Tom