Devil's Dyke

Flight 1

Almost smack on North with weak thermals passing through in cycles. After launch I crossed the bowl to make the most of the northerly ridge run to Truleigh. After crossing the bowl I was already below ridge height but was able to scratch around for some lift making a height gain of 160 feet. I then followed the ridge further west towards the pylons but did not cross them as I was not confident of staying up. I returned to the nearest bowl several times for a height top up before I somehow managed to mess things up and lost too much height. It was then a mad dash back to the bottom landing field where I moderately successfully landed (a bit of a run) my glider before being retrieved and taken back to the top for a second flight!

Flight 2

After my earlier flight I was determined to stay up for longer this time, especially after the ribbing I got from Kevin! After watching another hang glider launch I decided that if I waited any longer the conditions would further weaken.

The flight was pretty much a replay of my earlier flight but this time I made the most of every little bit of lift being presented, slowly turning the glider each time I felt a wing lift. Still, that said, I ended up in the bottom landing field - just about in one piece (I flared too early and ended up going up much higher than I intended, parachuting nicely down; that's why I like my glider, it's very forgiving!).

Anyway, the bottom landing field seemed to be the place to be as I was joined by two others pilots that had also failed to maintain altitude in the weakening flying conditions.