THE ROUTE >>
Today looked like a great XC day but as usual,
I hadn't checked the weather forecast properly so it wasn't until
around 1.00 pm that I set off to fly.
By the time I got organised the sea-breeze had
pushed in about 5 miles inland and it was blowing a nice 10 mph
south westerly on the coast. I decided it was a good opportunity
to fly along the coast and go east towards Camber, a straight line
distance of 40 miles but the route that I intended to take would
be 50 miles all in.
I headed towards out towards Newhaven first where
a ship was just pulling out of the harbour for France. I snapped
a few shots of it before heading over towards Seaford cliffs. The
south westerly was pushing me along nicely and I was covering ground
pretty quickly. The south coast of England was passing underneath
me at about 40 mph and I had a great view all along the famous white
cliffs.
At Beachy Head I turned a few 360's to take more
pics of the lighthouse and the cliffs before heading across to Eastbourne.
The air was as rough as hell here as I was in some turbulence off
the top of the hills. I hadn't anticipated that it would be like
this but in retrospect I should have been prepared for it since
the cliffs take a fairly sharp change of direction here and I was
flying in rotor here.
I raced along the seafront at full power with
the bar in full to get away from this rough stuff. After about 5
miles of rough air it smoothed out and I headed inland past Bexhill
and Hastings and out towards Rye and Camber. As the day wore on
the air got smoother and I could now see my goal in the distance.
I arrived at Camber Sands, a cheesy little seaside town but deserted
at this time of year thankfully. There were a few guys kitesurfing
on the huge expanse of beach but nobody else was around. I messed
around for awhile at about 500 ft watching them doing stunts on
the kites and not really wanting the flight to end. It was very
smooth air now and the sun was getting lower and redder.
I came in for a very smooth landing in a 10 mph
breeze in front of the deserted beach cafe. A nice flight once again
thanks to the Wasp which again behaved impeccably.
N.B.
A flight like this simply could not have been done without using
a powered harness. Hang gliding is a very pure form of flight and
some may say that using power is cheating. I don't think so. This
is a different kind of flying where you can go places that you could
never go on a conventional hang glider. It's just a fantastic way
of getting loads of airtime, loads of miles under your wings and
simply enjoying the sensation of flight. While the purists sit on
the hill waiting for that elusive thermal with 30 other pilots waiting
to crowd them out, I fly for 50 miles in uncrowded skies with great
views. I love it.
Glider - K4
Power Harness - Wasp
Fuel used - 4 litres
Distance flown - 50 miles
AND NOW FOR THE PHOTOS. As usual, click to
enlarge to bigger pics.
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| Newhaven port |
France ferry |
View of the port |
Seaford beach |
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| Looking west |
Seven sisters |
Beachy head |
Lighthouse |
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| Eastbourne |
England in spring |
Looking towards Camber |
English village life |
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| Castle |
Birds eye view |
Camber Sands |
50 miles later. |
Also, all photos are copyright John O'Neill 2003.
If you want photos like these. Go and take them yourself.
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