October 2011

September has come to an end with some golden weather but the majority of the month has been cold, windy and wet. A short gap of good weather was available on 15 Sep when the UB40 brigade took advantage of the gap. Vicky White took this photo of Ben Keayes (we believe) looking south east from Coniston Old Man. Coniston lake is in the foreground, the Levens estuary in the middle distance (high tide) with Heysham power station in the far distance

September 2011

The Met Office says that August 2011 has been the coldest for 20 years - I think I've forgotten what the sun looks like! John Hamlett grabbed an opportunity on 17 August and flew from Clough Head to Stavely - 34km. Here he caught Jim Kenyon against a backdrop of the North Western Fells with St Johns in the Vale in the foreground.

August 2011

July's coaching day was held at Whitestones. Here, Tim Oliver prepares to launch

July 2011

At the finale of this years Lakes Charity Classic, Jocky Sanderson & Kitt Rudd present a cheque for 700 pounds to the National Trust. This will cover 50% of the costs of rebuilding stone walls in Buttermere.

June 2011

After a good start, strong winds took over the weather systems with only a few lulls when a flight could be snatched - quite a contrast to April. Before the weather changed, I got a good evening's flying on Barkin Fell on May 3. Here I was joined by another pilot over the trig point on the Barkin Fell ridge

May 2011

April has seen an excellent month if you don't have to work during the week! On 17 April, Dave Ashcroft ran a XC coaching day and Grasmere was chosen for the site. The skygods and a few others got away and flew north up the Helvellyn ridge. Most of the mere mortals amongst us had a brief flight down to the showground or were strewn across the fellside just north of take off! Tony Thompson caught Dave Ashcroft in action

April 2011

March has been a fickle month but the end of the month has produced some great flying opportunities. Here's a photo from a site that we don't hear a lot of - Burney Fell in the South Lakes. Burney lies on the ridge between the Duddon and Levens estuaries. Roy Richards took this picture of Ian Ferguson flying his Mantra at Burney with the Duddon estuary and Black Combe in the background.

March 2011

February seems to have been a month of strong winds or low cloud. February 16 was one of the best days with a number of Cumbrian sites being flown. Here John May prepares to launch from the Coniston Old Man summit ridge. John reports that they "had a beautiful , but rather chilly , late afternoon flight on Coniston Old Man. The cloud cleared and we took off from the easterly take off and had about 1 1/2 hours of lovely soaring before landing in the Coniston School playing field on the cusp of darkness. A beautiful first flight of the season." Photo by Vincent Canova

February 2011

January started with wild, mild and windy weather. Towards the end of the month, the skies cleared and colder weather returned. Here Rob Grout flies off Grisdedale Pike in the NW Lakes on Saturday 22 January. The hills of SW Scotland can be seen in the left distance. Photo by Malc Grout

January 2011

No submissions for this month! December 2010 has seen some magnificent winter weather but it's been very cold. This photo was taken on 31 December 2008 by Jill Westmacott. Ian Henderson attempts to launch in slightly katabatic air on Barkin Fell. The lesson for the day was that launching in slightly katabatic air might not be a good idea!