December 2018

Malcom Grout reports that any flying we get this time of year is a bonus. Friday 23 November made for very pleasant local soaring conditions at Souther Fell which is on the SE flank of Blencathra in the North Lakes. Cloud base was about 2000ft, lifting and clearing later to a beautiful autumn afternoon. Here's Chris Little and his passenger aboard his Sup Air Soarer tandem paraglider. The view is looking South west. Souther Fell is in the foreground and Clough Head is in the distance on the far left.

November 2018

On 6 October, Dave Ashcroft ran one his XC expeditions in the West Lakes. Dave says "7 turned up for the challenge to fly down Ennerdale to Great Gable and return along The Screes to cars planted at Santon Bridge earlier that morning. Conditions were good with a moderate wind, sunshine and plenty of thermals. Malcolm Grout lead the team and Dave stayed at the rear keeping count. Dave Armstrong and Liam Oliver landed within a mile, and the rest, incl. Tim Oliver, Harvey Foster and Dave Eva, made the goal." Kirk Fell is in the centre right, Great Gable is in the centre and the Scafell ridge is to the right. A superb place to fly!

October 2018

September has seen a return to the normal British weather - it makes us realise how good a summer we had! At the end of August Chris Field is flying on Barton Fell above Ullswater in the NE Lakes

September 2018

The last day in August provided some excellent if rather windy flying. Macolm Grout took this photo of Rob Grout on his Gin Explorer over Jenkin Fell, on the southern slopes of Skiddaw, looking over to Blencthra. Malc reports that take off was on Blease Fell and progress into wind was very slow. It was possible to fly to Souther Fell (on the eastern flank of Blencathra) and back and then on to Jenkin Fell.

June 2018

On a glorious spring day, Rob Grout was flying his Gin Explorer off jenkin Hill on the flanks of Skiddaw. malcolm Grout took the photo and reports "Jenkin Hill worked very well today, out in front over the valley, across Bassenthwaite and over to Blease Fell." Keswick is on the right and Derwent Water in the top right

May 2018

Brigsteer is one of our southern sites and is reckoned to be a good site for XC but not normally for soaring. Ed Cleasby took this "selfie" on 20 April and reports "Taken on a stunning Brigsteer evening, lots of lift from Levens village in the south to Cunswick Scar in the north. On cue, the wind died away at 1845 and we all retreated to the Wheatsheaf beer garden in the village". The Brigsteer site is about 2.5 miles SW of Kendal

April 2018

The view from on high! it's been a cold month; Tuesday 20 March gave us some rare warm sun and John Hamlett took this photo from above Clough Head. St John's in the Vale is the valley below and Thirlmere can be seen in the top left corner

March 2018

Flying in winter can be amazing! Ben Keayes took this photo on Great Dodd (north end of the Helvellyn range south of Clough Head) and reports " Al (from York) taking the first flight on his new wing from the summit of Great Dodd. We walked up from Wolf Crags – he flew over the snow to land near St John’s in the Vale – and I did an exciting downwind dash back to the car... Fun was had by all!"

February 2018

At this time of year, you've got to grab every possibility. On 11 January , Mike Harper reports "WIth a forecast of foggy valleys and clearing a sky I decided to go up Red Pike today. It turned out that I wasn't the only one as I bumped into Malc in Buttermere who had the same plan. The day didn't turn out quite as forecast, with a layer of cloud covering the top of the hill. Despite this we had a nice smooth flight, initially keeping an eye on the footpath below us before the visibility improved once we'd passed over Dodd." Here Malcolm Grout comes into land at the SE end of Buttermere. Fleetwith Pike is in the centre of the photo.

December 2017

Wednesday 8th November looked like it would provide the opportunity for flying at Jenkin Hill around the middle of the day before the wind got too strong. The picture shows Corentin Lami flying his BGD Cure, looking out towards Keswick and Derwent Water. At the end of the flight as the wind picked up the glide back to the Flight Park was slow going. Photo by Malcolm Grout.