Paragliding

Plan was to go to XC camp to Manilla but… Manilla was flooded. Ok, lets go to Bright!

Saturday,

First day of flying in Bright. Smooth and strong thermals, cloudbase at 2500m. Above certain altitude air thermals were huge and everywhere. I was afraid of over development so once I have seen dangerously growing cumulus I decided to land after 2h flight. In the evening we were prepared for next days in terms of our goals and flight directions. Chatting with pilots on camp gave us a lot of local knowledge which we were hoping to make use of soon.

Sunday,

Too windy. We were trying to practice groundhandling on local airport but it was way to windy. Instead of flying we went to swim in the river. Quite a lot of fun. In Bright they make local beer called ‘X’. Different kinds of this one are available in the local brewery. Very very nice experience at the end of the day.

Monday,

I get one flight around one hour but it was very turbulent and bumpy. I didn’t consider it as a fun. In the evening we have gone to Kieva valley and tried some other flying spot. Late evening thermals were still working, not strong enough to climb to me but significantly extending our flight times. Sinking was about 0.2 m/s. Rob made use of one of them and stayed in the air for about 20 min. My second flight was about 20 minutes of so partially according to the ‘magic air’ i.e. katabatic flow.

Tuesday,

The best day of flying. Early in the morning nice XC flight from Take off to Smoko back to take off to Harietville and then landing in Smoko. In the meantime one of the pilots thrown his reserve, I was witnessing from the air. A few times in wet and cold cloud were very refreshing and enjoyable. I learned a lot about thermalling without thermalling assistant because my GPS crashed a day before leaving from Sydney. Second flight late in the evening, about 4pm, over 1h and straight way from take off to Harrietville. That was fun, smooth thermalls, up to 3,5 m/s but 0.6 to 1m/s in general. Very calm and warm air made this flight simple and enjoyable. Hitchhiking works in Victoria pretty well. I hope to came back there in a future despite it is about 8h drive from Sydney.

Bright from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hi folks,

Sunny Saturday  temptated me with eastern seabreeze. It was quite windy but take off was still possible as well as soaring. After two hours of soaring dark clouds on the horizon appeared. Once they were relatively close I decided to land and pack the glider. It was good decision because seconds before the backpack was zipped first drops hit the canopy. The others were still in the air. That was shower not heavy rain fortunately.

Three pictures taken by  Brian Kent, resized by myself.

Hi folks,

I was quire sceptic about the weather and the forecast that day. Fortunately Simon decided to go so I had nothing to lose. We were on the site at 0800 but it was on at 1510. A little bit of scrathing at the beginning but stronger later which allowed me to fly nice 5 turnpoints. After 3h in the air I has hungry, exhausted, wind was getting stronger and it was getting dark. Time for landing. Very nice site and plenty of new contacts. Looking forward to see you again folks!

Picassa gallery is here

Stanwell Park from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hello,

Wind radar showed that Cooks is on, so quick decision and after 2h I was in the air. Soaring as always and playing with the glider as well as learning perfect top-landings took almost 2 hours of airtime. My girlfriend, Krysia, took plenty of pictures of me flying. Enjoy!

Picassa gallery is here

Hi,

I was not able to fly for 3 months up to the day when I couldn’t stand more waiting and decided to fly. These were last days of 2011. The summer is on and proper seabreeze is on as well (unfortunately sometimes too strong). But I have flown both Sydney cliffs and just get more addicted I have tried different camera positions with monopod. Have a look!

Cooks and Long reef from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hey,

Flying Manilla was my dream ever since I have took up paragliding. And the dream has come true. On Saturday it was very turbulent and windy. I just landed at the bottom of the taking off place but Ion has flown 108km! Very good flight. I was very ambitious on Sunday. It is much easier to fly with ground support which follows every your move. I have met Godfried (the owner of Manilla camping and Mount Borah as well as instructor in local paragliding school). Very nice atmosphere at the camping with plenty of thermalling tips around . I enjoyed this trip a lot!

Picassa gallery is here

Manilla from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hello world,

I had opportunity to fly blue mountains. This is one of the most beautifull places I have ever flown. Sand stone cliffs, plenty of forests and bush… you have to watch it

Blackheath from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hi my friends,

My first flights in Australia. If fact these are Sydney cliffs with plenty of local pilots. Weather is amusing here. To get to the cliffs from the city center it is enough to take L90 bus and after 1h + 5 min walk we are on the site. Long reef can be flown witn NNE ENE and SSE winds. Very nice combination. Most of the pilots are friendly and happy to share experiences and car when going to fly.

Long Reef from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hi folks,
This is another Sydney site. The cliff faces E and this is the best wind direction to this site. Huge (160x40m) taking off/landing paddock gives plenty of opportunities for landing. I need to come back here!

Cooks Terrace from lukastu on Vimeo.

Hi All,

Right before work i managed to fly for almost two hours in Trzesacz. It was nice to feel the air again and I cannot wait to fly again. Sigma is very good wing for soaring, shorter breakes travel makes it easier to stall during the landing.

Trzesacz from lukastu on Vimeo.