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The story of recent trips to the Long Mynd.
2005 April
We went again, despite the forecast rain. Actually, the wind
looked good at WSW 15mph for pole cott. 6 in the bus - me, lee,
graham, brian, simon, andy and graham by car. Already spots of
rain in the co-op car park. A bit cold and blustery - not the
smooth lift we expect from the slope. I flew the zagi and risked
the stiletto, losing the V tail in a hard nose in landing on the
mud where the undergrowth was a bit thin. Front of the wing
popped out too, although the nylon screw held. Andy had a new
zagi, including lots of carbon spars and slimmer elevons, which
flew well, until a duff Tx pack got too low. Might have to get 1
of those. Graham lost a scale mustang in a fast sweep across the
slope. Other Graham flew his large moulded scale glider in great
swooping aerobatics - very nice. Simon flew lots of stuff
including a (different) big scale glider successfully. Lee flying
lots of stuff, but not the trusty zagi due to duff Rx pack. Brian
flying the recovered zagi, but wisely (given the conditions) not
the repaired filip. Rain came and went, with very little sun,
eventually getting heavy about 14:30, and we headed home. 1st
trip since Baz died.
check out the pictures
2005 March 18th
We went to the long Mynd on the
Friday 18th March, as the weather forecast was exceptional.
Due west, 10mph plus, sun, warm!
To add the icing on the cake Simon Cocket turned up with his
ASH-26, and flew it fantastically.
The only bad thing is that it made my Ventus 2c look very small
and twitchy!
Pictures are here
2005 March
9 in the bus. NNW put us on the darnford slope. A reasonable
amount of wind, but you never really get much lift from
there. Good visibility, but lots of cloud, and very little
sun. Lots of flying - I think everyone had something in the air
at 1 point.
Lots of photos by Andy (mainly).
2005 February
7 in the bus. A good run got us to Church Stretton quite early in
sunshine, although still murky up the hill. Car park attendant
doing the rounds, although of course we always pay the 30p. SSW
wind as forecast put us on Ashes Hollow. Still a bit bad
visibility at 1st, gradually clearing with even sunshine at
times, which is not too helpful when you're facing South. A bit
more W than ideal meant rough air from the other side of the
valley at times, but plenty of lift. Lots of flying. Lee actually
managed to completely discharge his Zagi, but recharged at the
van and back for more. Simon having a great time with the nano
floh electric (with the prop off), doing lots of aerobatics.
No Pictures this month either
2005 January
6 in the bus. Light rain as forecast, but lots of W wind straight
onto pole cott. The rain came and went. The sun came out
later and the wind got a bit smoother. Very much a day for
aerobatics with extra ballast and zagi combat. A few minor
breakages.
We were far too busy having fun to take any pictures this
month.
2004 Christmas
A slight variation here as this report is not about the
Long Mynd:
Wednesday over the xmas break we went for a slope soaring
trip to the peak district. The callow bank slope, near
hathersage. Very close to the road at the top of the hill.
Looks like it would work best in a W wind. We had a bit too much
S and about 15-20mph. An unfortunate shadow hill in front not
helping. A smoking chimney stack on the far hill makes a very
good wind direction indicator. Someone local turned up with a big
glass ship, suggesting we move over to the ridge on the left.
This we did. A very steep rocky outcrop, with stacks of lift
right in front, but the air leaks around the sides, making it
very hard to get back. We had lunch after in hathersage at
the pool cafe.
check out the pictures
2004 December
Despite another bad forecast, lots of takers. Bad start with no
bus, although it turned up eventually, about 20mins late. As
compensation we got some free fuel, which was nice. 8 in the bus
and 2 by car. A struggle through single lane roadworks on the NS
road. At last got to the hill about 12:00 only to find very
still, quiet conditions. What little there was, coming from NE,
so we wandered down to the reservoir slope. Really not
viable. After a while the wind swung round to the south and got a
little stronger, so we moved over to ashes hollow. Still
only enough to keep the very light stuff up, meaning lots of
sliding down the slippery slope to retrieve land outs. A
spectacularly straight, smooth launch after some balance point
tweaking turned out to be due to no power ie. switched off at the
aircraft end. We watched for many seconds as it headed for the
hill on the far side, only to see it make a wide left turn and
disappear behind the ridge, headed for church stretton. He came
back with it about 30mins later though. The misty murk gradually
descended on us, limiting even the light stuff to tight
circuits.
check out the pictures
2004 November
Well, we went, despite the forecast. 6 in the bus. As
predicted, light rain all day and low cloud, meaning poor
visibility. The wind was swinging around a bit. We had a go at
ashes hollow. Plenty of lift, but there was enough N to
cause some very strange airflow, flipping my zagi over several
times. Not much fun having to keep it close, to avoid
disappearing into the mist. We moved over to the reservoir slope,
but that was no better. Spent most of the afternoon damp and
keeping warm in the bus. Went home through the fading light,
topping up at the new tesco.
no pictures this month
2004 October
8 in the bus. Back to the old M6 route, despite the roadworks, as
it's much cheaper. Traffic not too bad. The forecast SW wind had
enough W in it to put us on the main slope pole
cott. Very strong and blustery. Very much a heavy zagi
day. The sky alternated between blue sunshine and white/grey
clouds with a bit of a damp shower. The wind only got stronger,
measured at 30mph, resulting in some far downwind
"landings", requiring some searching through the heather. We were
joined by 3 others, so the frequency control board got some use,
including lots of musical chairs with xtals.
check out the pictures
2004 September
Five in the bus today. We tried going the old way down the M6 and
it worked. It took about the same time as the toll road but saved
us £10 and a bit of fuel. Lovely weather all day with clear
views and lots of sunshine. The North East wind put us on the
Reservoir Slope. The wind was around 10mph which was
enough to keep most of us flying something. The pictures show the
splendid view that we got all day and Simon's tiny plane flying
around.
check out the pictures
2004 August
Tuesday forecast for light winds, rain and thunderstorms, meant
not many takers. Just 4 in the bus, making for a rather expensive
trip down the M6 toll. Sunshine in the morning gradually gave way
to murk as we headed west. A SE east wind put us on ashes hollow,
back open again after the nesting season. The rain started as we
parked up. On with the waterproofs and march off through the
misty drizzle. What wind there was, was straight up the crack,
providing enough lift to keep almost anything up, but not
supporting any radical moves. The rain went away, came back
briefly and went away again. Even so, we got lots of flying in,
staying until after 15:00. Bands of rain and sunshine on the trip
back, but the rain really let go as we unloaded the van.
check out the pictures
2004 July
7 in the bus. Took the M6 toll again, making it a bit expensive,
but we did get there and back early. Initially cool with a light
wind, slightly south of west, put us on pole cott. Lovely sunny
weather meant lots of tourists on the hill. We got a bit of
flying in early on with the light stuff, but later the wind
reduced and swung round to the south, grounding
everything. We got a lot of attention from a sheep back at
the car park - after food.
check out the pictures
2004 June
At last. Not been for a long time due to bad weather. A bit out
of practise, I forgot to take the frequency control system, but
as it happened there were no clashes, as usual. 8 in the bus, A
bad start when someone accidentally put 50p worth of unleaded in,
instead of diesel. Drove past the new stadium and enormous tesco
under construction. Paid the extra and used the M6 toll to avoid
delays. More wind than expected, but from the south as forecast,
meaning ashes hollow, which is unfortunately ruled out until July
15, on account of the peregrine falcons nesting. We parked up at
pole cott, for the long walk to the other south facing slope.
While we were there, the warden turned up. Quite helpful,
apparently the falcons have not bred successfully yet this year.
He suggested following the track down the hill to the left of the
pole cott car park, where we could park the van and use a bit of
the west slope after it turns round to the south a bit. Bit of a
rough track. Full size flying overhead, now and then. We managed
a lot of flying. The lift being mostly thermal bubbles blowing
through. Sometimes we could keep a zagi up, but it was really a
day for big thermal soarers. We were facing the (mostly
hazy) sun. Nice to have the bus close by, for lunch, repairs
etc.Stopped until about 15:30. Struggled to get back up the
gravelly track - we all had to get out (except Lee) for the
steepest part. M6 toll again on the way back.
check out the pictures
2004 May
Cancelled due to bad weather :-(
2004 April
Cancelled due to bad weather :-(
2004 March
Got off to a slow start when the car park that we normally leave
the cars in was locked up. 8 in the bus, which was a bit vague on
the motorway. We arrived to find a very soft rear tyre. Lots of
sun, but still snow in the shaded places. A S wind put us on
ashes hollow. Only just enough to keep a zagi up at 1st,
with a low sun directly in front, shining through haze.
Reasonably warm though, and through the afternoon the wind got
up, and some of the haze cleared. Everyone got some flying in.
Several land outs, but little damage. Pumped up the tyre at a
garage and headed back, only to find that the amount of fuel we
normally use wasn't going to get us home, requiring a diversion
off the motorway, and more funds. I guess the soft tyre used a
lot.
check out the pictures
2004 Feb
Cancelled due to bad weather :-(
2004 January
Miserable wet weather 1st thing not very promising, but the
forecast was for sunshine and 12mph W. Only 5 in the bus.
Arriving in Church Stretton to warm(ish) sunshine, we went
straight to pole cott slope. There were 4 others from West
Mids somewhere with various aircraft including zagi type things.
Just as well that we had the peg board. The sunshine stayed and
the slightly S of W wind just got stronger. An excellent day's
flying with 6 or 7 "zagis" in the air at times. A remarkable
sight, with them buzzing around close in, like insects round a
light. Some rather unbothered birds of prey hovering about just
behind us. The M6 toll does seem to have speeded things up a
bit.
check out the pictures
2003 December
6 in the bus, off to a late start due to an initially missing
bus. A rather weak E wind straight up the valley put us on the
nice end of ashes hollow. We started off with red, yellow and
blue zagis, which was fun, although the wind was a bit marginal.
As the afternoon progressed, the wind reduced, and we moved to
thermal soarers. Eventually the only things left flying were 2x
champions. A grey day with occasional sun, but not cold for
December. At last, the wind swung round to the N and we went
home.
check out the pictures
2003 November
5 in the bus and 3 more in cars. A strong blustery S wind put us
on ashes hollow. Quite warm for November. Very much a heavy zagi
day, but some other stuff flew successfully. Another 2 new faces
turned up later, 1 with a nano floh, which we all thought had no
chance, being only about 30" span and very light. However, with
some lead strip ballast taped to the sides of the fuselage it
zipped about and performed aerobatics very nicely.
The pix are
here
2003 October
7 in the bus with Lee driving. Heavy traffic in the pouring rain
got us off to a slow start. By the time we got to Shrewsbury,
there was brilliant sunshine with plenty of wind. We went
straight to the main slope, only to find that the NW wind (as
forecast) was too off slope to work. Back in the bus and over to
Darnford. Overcast most of the time, with showers coming through,
and strong buffeting wind. Even so, we had a bit of sun, and lots
of flight time with the zagis.
2003 September
With Derek, Lee and John off sick, and Baz on his boat, I had to
drive the bus. Graham, Tom and Brian makes just 4 and an
expensive trip. A very light N wind put us on Darnford slope,
past a road closed sign. There were 3 others on the hill when we
got there. A lovely sunny day through broken cloud, meaning lots
of thermal activity. The wind often fell away completely, with
lots of retrieval from down the slope. 2x during the afternoon we
had massive lift come through for about 30mins. At 1 point all 7
of us had thermal soarers wheeling about in the sky above us. A
helicopter up and down the valley below.
The pix are
here
2003 August
5 in the bus. An E wind put us on ashes hollow, in use
again after the breeding season. In fact the falcons seemed quite
indifferent to us, and the aircraft, hovering above and landing
quite nearby. Lots of sunshine and plenty of wind straight up the
groove when we arrived. It soon clouded over and there were
occasional spots of rain, but this was quite welcome on an
extremely hot day. Lots of thermal activity, with the wind
sometimes completely falling away, meaning a long walk down into
the deep heather. I flew the zagi, stiletto and siesta with the
camera on board, but didn't get any good photos. Lee doing some
impressive low inverted zagi passes along the slope. Very hot in
the bus coming back.
Check out the Piccies
2003 July
9 in the bus. A light to moderate W wind put us on pole
cott. The sky was grey and threatening rain, but it never
actually started. The wind was a bit too light for serious fun,
but strong enough for everything to be able to fly, keeping the
air quite busy, with full size etc. over to the left of us. We
actually got to use the new frequency control board, which was
just as well, as we were joined by someone with a sblitz
zagi type thing and a rather expensive looking tragi. Flew
very nicely, as you might expect. Baz had a "new" ex electric p38
lightning. A coming together of zagis broke 1 of my control
horns. With the zagi out of action, I flew the stiletto
quite a lot. The large amount of flying going on meant leaving a
bit late, hitting the traffic on the m6 car park. Sun came out
nicely on the way back.
Check out the Piccies
2003 June
I didn't get a chance to see the forecast, actually a SE wind,
which would have been an ideal opportunity to try out the
Ivinghoe beacon, but we went to the Long Mynd anyway. 7 in the
bus. Ashes Hollow still out, so we marched across from the
gliding school to the backup SE slope. A pretty site that I
hadn't visited before, with lots of trees in the distance.
Spoiled a bit by the hills upwind disturbing the air. I don't
know whether it has a name. Very much a heavy zagi day in the
moderate wind. Lots of combat, ending in a head on impact which
shattered 1 of my new fins. For some reason, most of the others
had believed the forecast and only brought light aircraft, which
wisely didn't venture into the air. Rather miserably overcast, we
headed home quite early.
2003 May
An almost perfect day at the Long Mynd. A moderate W wind
blowing straight onto Pole Cot with brilliant sunshine,
broken by a few fluffy white clouds. Perhaps because of the
holiday, only 6 in the bus. We had to share the air with full
size, para and hang gliders. Lee flew his new whistler
with the prop off, which did lots of er... whistling about. Lots
of combat with the heavy zagis. I managed to accidentally
knock the power off on Lee's. At last had the right conditions to
get the siesta up, carrying the extra weight of the
camera. Got several reasonable pics and a long video
sequence. Bit of an adventure getting off the hill. Along the
most precipitous bit of the road along the side of the hill, in a
fairly wide minibus, we met a large pickup truck towing a wide
trailer carrying some seriously heavy equipment. Well, he wedged
himself into the inside of the passing place, and we went down
the outside... and stopped, as the trailer was blocking the exit.
The pickup was going nowhere, just spinning the tyres. We
couldn't get out, with the slide door on the outside. After a bit
of worrying about it, Derek got out the passenger door and swung
round over the abyss to the front by hanging on to the wing
mirror. He then directed us out over the edge and we somehow got
back onto the road. Apparently we flattened 1 of the plastic
warning posts in the process.
Check out the Piccies
2003 April
8 in the bus and 1 in a car. A beautifully sunny day with very
light SE wind would normally put us on Ashes Hollow, but that
slope is out of action during the spring breeding season. We
spent a long time marching over a significant part of the other
hills looking for a suitable alternative, eventually finding an
excellent spot. We got quite a lot of flying in with the lighter
models. Strong thermal lift would come through, pushing aircraft
well up into the sky even when there was almost complete calm,
eventually followed by equally dramatic sink. Graham and Lee
probably had the most air time with their lightweight champion
aircraft. Graham and I flew light zagis. Quite a long flight with
the siesta too. About the time we were about to go home anyway,
the ranger turned up and told us we were on an unapproved site,
so we won't be able to use it again.
2003 March
Almost rained off, but after 2 cancelled trips people were keen
to go. Grey and showery forecast with 11mph from SW sounded good.
7 in the bus and 1 in a car. Arriving on the hill, it was
obviously considerably more windy, and despite being reasonably
warm, it was quite cold in the wind chill. The wind was rather
more S than W, putting us on Ashes Hollow. There are
several ways of measuring wind strength. This was somewhere
between "blew my hat off" and "can't stand up". Electronic meters
recorded a peak of 50.5mph. It was also very gusty. Really only
suitable for zagis, although Lee flew his epp aerobatic thing. A
couple of others ended in bits. Anyway 3 zagis got lots of flying
in before the rain arrived at about 14:00. A solitary sheep
seemed very interested in us.
Check out the Piccies
2003 February
Officially cancelled due to the snow, but Lee and Mark decided to
go anyway. BBC forecast showing 20mph NW wind and sunshine.
Heading up the hill from Church Stretton we found the road
closed, covered in snow a few meters beyond the cones.
Undefeated, we tried to go around the back of the hill armed with
an ordnance survey map and a road atlas, neither of which showed
all of the roads we were interested in. After finding more closed
roads, we eventually found ourselves at the darnford slope, more
or less by accident. We considered giving it a go, but decided to
try for pole cot. The road up the back of the hill was
open, being a little less precarious than the other 2. The T
junction in the middle showed both other roads closed, leaving
only 1 way up or down. We put on all of the layers we had and
headed for the slope, just as the hailstones started. They didn't
last long though. The wind was a bit too much along the slope,
making a difficult battle to stay in the same place. My
zagi got blown away down the slope to the south. I thought
I would have to leave it there after about 15mins searching, but
Lee managed to find it. Hard work marching through the snow
covered heather. After something to eat we decided that the wind
was a bit more N than W and to try the other slope. Back the way
we came, past a rather spectacularly uprooted tree. The 1st time
we had been on the darnford slope with plenty of wind. We
got the zagis up and saw a helicopter flying along the valley
below us in brilliant sunshine. There were a few patches of grey
cloud going over, and when they did, the wind would get stronger
and more gusty making flying unpleasant, but then it would pass
and back came the sunshine and strong lift. I also flew the
stiletto. Lee flew his aerobatic thing. About 15:00
fingers were getting a bit too cold and we used bike gloves to
warm up, but my toes were suffering too and we left for home.
Very cold, but we had some good flying, and it was nice to see
the hill in the crisp winter air with part snow cover.
Check out the Piccies
2003 January
Cancelled due to the weather. :-(
2002 December
8 in the bus and 2 in car, plus 3 locals. For a change the BBC
forecast was accurate at W 5mph. This put us on Pole Cot
slope. A very grey day with occasional sunshine poking through
the clouds. On arrival we had the usual frequency check,
including using the monitor. We found 3 on the same frequency and
set about changing xtals and writing down what everyone was
using. No peg board though.
Definitely a day for light aircraft. Lee had the most airtime
with the champion. We even managed to fly it inverted for a few
secs, despite its strong dihedral. Graham had his 1st flight with
his new "glass ship" scale glider, captured on video - very nice
flight with accurate landing helped by air brakes. Tony was
flying his similar scale glider well, when it suddenly became
uncontrollable. Everyone new immediately what was going on, and
shouted for whoever it was to turn off the Tx. Too late to save
£600 of aircraft. 1 of the locals apparently. I suspect we
will take a peg board next time. Later on the wind died away so
much, that at times it was just completely calm. We packed up and
went home. Somewhere on the M6 some part of the exhaust fell off
the bus, and we went home accompanied by an extremely loud
motor.
Check out the Piccies
2002 November
11 in the bus and 3 in cars. S wind put us on Ashes
Hollow slope. We drove through some nice sunny weather
on the way, into 100m visibility mist on the hill. It cleared
after a while and we got a fair bit of flying in before it
returned at about 14:30. The opposite hill causes rather
unpredictable lift from the S leading to some tricky flying.
Check out the Piccies
2002 October
Very nearly a minibus full at 11 of us. A rather cool SE wind put
us on Ashes Hollow slope. For the 1st time I can
remember, the moderate/strong wind was blowing straight up the
groove giving excellent lift. Lots of zagi/wild thing flying,
including Lee taking out Mark's zagi in spectacular fashion. 1st
outing for Lee's new synergy epp aerobatic thing. A great
day.
Check out the Piccies
2002 September
Got off to a bad start as the minibus had not been booked and was
not there. Turned up eventually. NE wind gradually swinging round
to E on Reservoir slope. A reasonable wind at
1st eased off leaving us flying only the light stuff. Mark had a
bit more success with a new smaller camera on the siesta.
Check out the Piccies
2002 August
Light N wind on Darnford slope. The hill in
front gets in the way a bit, leaving us struggling for lift. Mark
tried hanging the digital camera on the siesta with no success at
all - far too heavy. Lee managed to pull the wing off the gentle
lady, losing the fuselage in the heather at the bottom of the
hill. As far as we know it's still there.
Check out the Piccies
2002 July
This was a pretty typical good day at the Mynd. Nice strongish W
wind straight onto the Pole Cot slope. Lots of
flying, zagis and others. A few full size gliders wandering past
too.
Check out the Piccies
2002 June
This month the normal Tuesday was an extra bank holiday. A fairly
light SW wind put us on the main Pole Cot slope
under a partly cloudy sky with sunny breaks blowing thermals up.
Lots of flying, although a bit more wind would have improved the
fun. A total of 7 zagis on the slope. As it was a nice weather
bank holiday, the hill was covered in walkers etc. We had a bit
of trouble with traffic coming the other way when trying to get
off the hill. There were a few other flyers there too.
Check out the Piccies
2002 May
A very misty damp day on the Mynd. Unfortunately we were a few
hours ahead of the better weather blowing in from the east.
Still, a few managed to get some flying in with the zagis on the
Reservoir slope. The mist cleared a little later
on. This was the infamous occasion when we got back (a bit late),
to find our cars had been locked up overnight in the car park
which had been leased to someone else, without our knowledge. We
use a different car park now.
Check out the Piccies
2002 April
Cancelled/postponed, due to the wind being in the SE and the
appropriate slope (Ashes Hollow) being out of action during the
nesting season
We went the following week instead. Forecast NE 10-15mph wind
meaning the Reservoir slope. A pretty site with
some trees on the sheltered far hill, and overlooking the
reservoir. Nice to have the sun behind us lighting up the
aircraft. The wind was a bit marginal, and kept coming and going
as thermal bubbles went through. Lots of light aircraft in the
air.
Check out the Piccies
2002 March
The best day flying so far. Fresh sunshine all day, clean medium
strength west wind straight onto the Pole Cot
slope. Very popular - minibus full plus 3 cars.
2002 February
Cancelled, mainly due to horrible wet weather, but also
questionable availability of the minibus.
2002 January
1st chance of 2002. Not very promising forecast, but we went
anyway. Very little wind over at Ashes Hollow
with visibility in the mist about 100m. Some attempts at flying
ending up losing sight of the aircraft.
Check out the Piccies
slope home FAQs typical day recent flying pictures weather LMSA SMSA