Tinto 23rd July

[Jim Bittlestone]

I had a canny day out on Saturday with Ali, Chris and Jan at Tinto, keen to give my new Delta a test fly as I hadn't even done a demo flight on one. I didn't think a big flight was on, so I thought I'd have a boat about on the hill and get the speed bar set up.
When we arrived, Gary, Ed and Steve seemed to be getting on okay so after some canny local advice from Ali, i was off.
The Delta felt way more active than the Sigma 6 and the feedback through the harness was exciting at times in the lift. It took me about 30 minutes to tune in to the wing and realise it meant no harm, it was just different, just talking to me. And since I do like to chat I decided to go with the next decent one to get the day started.
Downwind looked good and I left the hill with Ali, Ed and Steve on their M4s. Team Ozone.
Ed was taking photos and cruising about, (can't wait to see them) and Ali was urging caution as he thought we may have gone a bit early. I'm starting to get what he means about speed to fly, fast when you can, slow and drift with the clouds when its blue.
After 10k I was on the other side of the valley and already nearly down, Ali came on the radio saying “your not down until your feet are on the floor, keep looking!”
My last hope was a bare patch of ground where the trees were felled, so I flew over it and got a blip. The thermal was a rough but I stuck with it, casting aside those demons and commit myself, taking it back over the trees into the back of a gulley where it steepened and released.
Mega concentration here, lose this and I could be in the trees!
Ali and Ed came back to join me and Steve flew low into the distance on a death glide. (He was stuck here for ages in the boonies, but got back up and landed near Brampton at 100km! Good effort!)
The hills here are huge, not a place to bomb out at all, it really concentrates the mind.
Moving on, the bare patches, scree and ridges worked well to get me back at base above the huge bulk of Hart Fell. Ali came to join me on a long glide from where he'd been watching me. He reckons I was so low at times he thought I was running along the deck!
Ed had moved on ahead in the distance by now out of sight.
So the 4 musketeers became two.
Ali reckoned staying at base and drifting would be a canny bet as the clouds weren't great and this must have got us about 10k stress free, he called it right all day showing why he's one of the top pilots around.
We moved on and I had my first in-flight pee, Ali went for a glide but came back when I got a climb near Eskdalemuir, then disappeared again toward a line of clouds. That was the last I saw him.
I spotted a town in the distance (Langholm) which is where the Spadeadam airspace starts, you need to keep west of here and I took a line just over 4 wind turbines which worked well.
From here you can see the Solway Firth, Gretna and Carlisle. The sea breeze was obvious and well inland so I kept east over Canonbie. This was a great move as it was a really lifty line, (convergence I think), and I could sit facing the wind in lift for minutes at a time, easier than thermalling any day.
I had my second in-flight pee here peeing from Scotland to England over the border.
Then on toward the titchy gap between Carlisle Airport airspace and the south end of Spadeadam airspace, no problem today as the wind flushed me through.

I discovered the difficulty in peeing was a side effect from the tablets I took in the morning for my bad stomach, next time I'll put up with it. It was really quite painful trying to pee, eventually putting me on the ground.

I noticed the ripples on Talking Tarn going at 90 degrees to the higher winds so I turned sharp left as I was getting low again, heading across the Tarn toward the rising ground behind, this worked and I took a rough climb toward the Slaggyford valley. I left this as I didn’t enjoy getting chucked about so headed for the ridge.
Approaching Alston I was going up in big ears trying to get down, when I had a tuck from a bullet thermal whilst still in big ears from a farmer turning hay, I pumped out the ears and used a bit more patience steering into the middle of the valley on bar, eventually using ears again and bar to get down.
I was so relieved to get down and pee, although the sky behind was epic and it was around 4 pm, this could have been a big one, as I was reminded on Sunday, constantly.

I thought I'd flown about 85km and was okay with that, more impressed with flying for 5 hours and staying safe.
I felt bad for Ali, for the sake of one more climb he would of gone a long way I'm sure. He was about 25 minutes ahead of me when he landed and the sea breeze had retreated by the time I arrived, just unlucky. It was still a fantastic flight at 98km, 102km with turnpoints. The difference is Ali knew what he was doing, where to head for, thinking one step ahead. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve. He took it well though and was happy for me, amazed really I think? I tend to fly the ground and hardly ever fly the sky and consequently fly low, just keeping off the ground really is my aim. Ali calls me a ground dweller, when I learn to look up I might make a canny pilot?

I managed to hitch to Brampton to meet Ali, then onto his car at Carlisle where we met Mike Cav and Geoff Crossley in the same lay-by, me still ignorant of the numbers.

Mike, (MD of Ozone wings) looked really happy, strangely happy really, like he knew something I didn't. Far too happy I thought? He looked at my bag which is an old orange Flying Planet bag. He knew an Ozone wing flew over his head at Brampton, but he also knew I've been flying a Sigma 6 recently. I could tell he wanted to ask me something but was confused by my so-so expression I think. Something didn't fit.
All this was happening two hours after I landed, so I'd convinced myself by then, I had a good chance of a big flight, ruined by illness.
Eventually, Mike and Geoff asked the questions putting the pieces together for me, telling me it wasn't 85km, it was more like 120km. I didn't believe them at first and had to be shown the distance on Geoff's iphone.
I could now see what all the smiling was about, Mike was like a proud dad, which was great and what a coincidence meeting him there. Handshakes all round, welcoming a new member of the 100 club.

My first flight on a Delta, first time flying from Tinto (other than a ttb 30 sec flight last year), 120km and possibly the PG site record to boot?
It turns out I finally got my first 100km flight in, 2 yrs, 11 months and 21 days after passing my CP.

Ali was really happy for me which I was chuffed about, but I'd much rather he had made it too. He said he saw someone overhead and cautiously asked on radio if I was still airborne with fingers crossed it was me.

He did add later however that we were “never to speak of this day, ever again, not ever!”
I don't think he mentioned typing?

So now we needed to get back to Scotland to get my car which I'd left at Roberton to be used to get back to the hill. I got texts from Chris and Jan to say Jan would bring it back for me for which I am eternally grateful, I have a bottle of red with your name on it Jan, cheers.
Big thanks to Ali, I'm learning loads flying with you mate, I will learn to fly the sky eventually, I'm still a bit green but I do learn something every time I fly. I still consider myself a novice after 3 years so i've still got a hundred questions.

Chris, Jan and Gary all went over the back after we did, great to see, Chris and Gary getting another cheeky one in later with Gary getting 75km just short of the border, nice one.

[John Wallis]

He did add later however that we were “never to speak of this day, ever again, not ever!”

Sounds like you need a Tee Shirt printed then

Enjoyed the write up Jim it'll take a while to come down from that one

[Kay]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat Flights One & All

[Chris L]

Excellent account of your flight Jim. Might be able to pick up a few tips from that. Lets hope we have more weekends like that one

[Aeros]

Oh my God! ..... after 3 or 4 years. Awesome ..... What happened to the toddler stage? I think at the end I'd have gone for the "wet myself" option' although a bad case of the numbers 2's would be a reasonable excuse for coming down ... if only to avoid the after effects and of course hitching would be out of the question.

Well done Jim ..... and sorry, but you've now also become a marked man ..... watch your tail for pimps.