Author: kieran

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2024 Reserve Repack

Kincorth Community Centre, Provost Watt Dr, Kincorth, Aberdeen AB12 5NA on Saturday 2 March, from 0930-1300.

At least one BHPA qualified Emergency Parachute System repacker will attend, as well as potentially a number of trainees. They are all there to help you repack your own reserve, not to do it for you.

Costs: £5 for AHPC members; £10 for everyone else.

Registration: please fill out the form below. Including details of your reserve and harness helps the EPS packers prepare for the wide variety of equipment they may face.

What to bring:

  • Your reserve and harness.
  • Your reserve parachute manual.
  • Ideally some elastic bands for repacking the reserve lines, but there should be some available.
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Committee Meeting 4th April 2023

Minutes of Committee meeting Marine Hotel Hotel Stonehaven 4 April 2023

Present

  • Scott Mather Chairman
  • Martin Yarrow Treasurer
  • Kieran Campbell Sites Officer
  • Andy Fowlie Safety Officer
  • Julian Robson Chief Coach

Chairmans Report

Brief introduction and outlined what had been done in relation to club, usual fielding
enquiries about sport, getting paperwork sorted out for two new club coaches and pilot
rating, Repack (thanks Kieran) and a bit of flying.

Secretary Report

Not present nothing forwarded.

Treasurers Report

Subscriptions had been received.
Bank Balance circa £4500.
Tap access to be paid when invoice received.
Donations to Mountain Rescue and Air Ambulance due out in next quarter.

Sites Officer

Drone trial at Montrose had passed no issues mentioned, but they, Skyports,
had not entered a letter of Agreement. No new activity had been noted. A more organised
effort by a group called Caeleus is looking at much bigger more spread out projects at
moment. The General Aviation Alliance is leading response. Teams meeting 18 April, Kieran
planning to join, and expect a number of other Scottish clubs to join to.
Dunnydeer change in ownership at bottom of hill, no apparent changes or issues yet.
Seasonal restrictions St Cyrus, Glen Clova and awareness raised concerning Hen Harriers
Creag Meagadh.

Safety Officer

Two incidents involving club members. One serious injury involving prolonged
hospitalisation. Other water landing at coastal site.

Getting plans together for a firstaid course in late October November period.

Chief Coach

Had only returned from travels. May have a couple CP exams to set with
members originally from other countries. A few newer or returning pilots to keep an eye on
in coming season.
A discussion about coaching followed.

Competition coordinator

Not present. However, a discussion concerning new format of
Scottish nationals and tasks entered. Also try to get organised for club trophies, Spring cup in particular.

AOCB

nothing was noted

Next Meeting

Early July by arrangement.

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UK Paragliding Out and Return Record

Julian Robinson broke the UK out and return record on Saturday, 4th June with a distance 158.7km, also jointly taking the declared out and return record with Mike Cavanagh at 135km.

The flight started at Creag Meagaidh and was flown mostly in the Spey Valley.

Many pilots had great flights (see: XCLeague and XContest) on the day, with remarkably high climbs over 2600m, and flights approaching 8 hours in duration. Another AHPC pilot, Andrew Fowlie flew his first 100km+ flight, also from Creag Meagaidh flying a 124km flat triangle.

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Committee Meeting 20th May ’21

Minutes of Committee meeting held on Zoom at 8pm Thursday 20 May 2021

Present

  • Scott Mather Chairman
  • Martin Yarrow Treasurer
  • Kieran Campbell Sites Officer

Apologies

Matthew Church, Bob Dunthorn, Cathal Redmond

Minutes

Chairmans Report

Incapacitated during April period of excellent flying weather, pleased to see many having very good flights. Hoping covid situation improves to allow meeting, social, etc.

Secretary Report

Not present nothing forwarded.

Treasurers Report

2 more members joined 44 at present. Few payments to Mountain rescue teams and Air
ambulance may go out in next few months.
Cardpay system has worked well.

Sites Officer

No issues reported. No more updates concerning Drone Technologies Ltd proposals at Montrose. It was noted a Drone demonstration had taken place at Montrose Harbour. It was also noted that that the Air Accident investigation Board had been critical of Civil Aviation Authority oversight among others in a commercial drone accident which may affect proposed operations at Montrose. AAIB March 2021 for more details.

Safety Officer

Nothing noted though it was mentioned about a pilot being plucked off a hill in thermic conditions.

Covid Officer

Nothing reported however, it was felt we should remain cautious and be aware of risks in car sharing.

AOCB

Contact Boatclub to see what the situation is about meeting there.

Scottish Nationals possibly do something later in year subject to covid regs.

X Scotia weekend 5-6 June they may base in area depending on forecasts will ensure reminded of restrictions if they do.

Zoom meetings lectures it was noted a few had been organised particularly airspace one in early May, and we should encourage use if we can at present, though it is no real substitute for meeting pilots in person.

Next Meeting

Thursday 19 August 2021

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Incident Report 002

Date & Time of Incident

February 2021

Weather Conditions at the Time of the Incident

Varying light wind

Incident Location

Tops of Fichell – Glen Clova

Description of Incident

Pilot A arrived on site and after assessing conditions, conducted pre flight checks to all equipment before launching and taking to the air.

After 10 minutes of ridge soaring, the wind strength dropped and Pilot A slope landed halfway up the hill. Deciding to re-launch on top, he unclipped his wing from the harness and continued to walk back to the launch point whilst carrying his wing in hand and wearing his harness.

After reaching the launch point, Pilot A prepared to re-launch. While connecting the risers to the harness, a passing pilot noticed his reserve handle and both reserve securing pins had become undone.

Why Did It Happen?

  • While walking back to the launch point, Pilot A concluded the speed bar connection located on the harness had wrapped around the reserve handle pulling it and the reserve securing pins out of their secure position.
  • Pilot A continued to wear the harness and carry the wing loose while walking back to launch. This increased the chances of the reserve handle encountering other equipment and becoming unattached.
  • Pilot A had rushed unclipping his wing from the harness to walk back to the launch point and did not give due care to his packing arrangements.

Lessons Learned

  • If both wing and harness were packed properly prior to walking back up the hill, this might have avoided the reserve handle becoming unsecure.
  • If Pilot A had not rushed while unclipping the wing from the harness, the instance of the speed bar connection entangling with the reserve handle might have been avoided.
  • Thorough pre flight checks should be conducted after instances of slope/top landing where Pilots disconnect from their harness or disconnect from their wing.
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Incident Report 001

Date & Time of incident

25th November 2020 11am

Weather Conditions at the Time of the Incident

Wind from North North East – 18mph gusting to 20 mph. Forecast suggested later in the day that gusts would increase to 25 mph.

Incident Location

East end of Fraserburgh beach

Description of Incident

After arriving at Fraserburgh beach, Pilot A estimated the wind speed to be a steady 18 mph whilst standing on the beach.

After conducting pre-flight checks Pilot A clipped in and noticed it was difficult to keep the wing on the ground even while using C’s and brakes together. Deciding it would be safer to launch and get airborne, he pulled the wing above his head. At this time, a strong gust occurred which lifted him off his feet with the wing overhead.

Whilst airborne, Pilot A noticed his groundspeed was reduced to 0 mph and the was slowly being pushed over the back of the sand dunes. After applying speed bar, he managed to penetrate with 1-2mph forward speed. Deciding to land he faced the sea and came down vertically on the beach. After touching down, he grabbed both C risers, but whilst turning around to kill the wing, he tripped up and started to get dragged backwards towards the sand dunes.

Luckily, two other pilots who were on the ground were able to kill the wing before it became airborne once more.

Why Did It Happen?

  • Pilot A launched despite the wind speed not being within a ‘safe range’.
  • Pilot A underestimated the wind speed at wing height.
  • Pilot A had not ground handled in over 4 months and considered himself “rusty” as such was not quick enough to kill his wing once he landed.
  • Pilot A did not check the wind speed at dune height prior to deciding to fly.

Lessons Learned

  • Rusty pilots should consider their level of currency when evaluating whether to fly in strong conditions.
  • Prior / recent ground handling practise might have ensured quicker reactions when killing the wing in this instance.
  • Wind strength should always be assessed at the highest point prior to making decisions to fly, in this case, the top of the sand dunes. If pilot A had assessed conditions here first, he likely would not have launched.
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Committee Meeting 25th Feb ’21

Minutes of Committee meeting held on Zoom at 8pm Thursday 25 February

Present

  • Scott Mather Chairman
  • Martin Yarrow Treasurer
  • Kieran Campbell Sites Officer
  • Cathal Redmond Safety Officer
  • Adrian Smith Covid Officer

Minutes

  1. Chairmans Report. Brief introduction and reported on failed attendance of SHPF AGM on Skype. Advising prospective members on routes into paragliding in current circumstances.
  2. Secretary Report. Not present nothing forwarded.
  3. Treasurers Report. 42 members signed up via the Cardpay direct debit scheme. Will send an email to all members prior to annual membership being drawn next year 2022, as cardpay had not. Bank Balance circa £4100.
  4. Sites Officer. Drone Technologies Ltd have plans to operate a drone port from Montrose
    airfield behind the dunes. They had submitted a request to the Civil Aviation Authority for a Temporary Danger Area over flying part of the dunes and forming an arc out to sea. This had not succeeded due to a number of reasons and Tom Hardie from the BHPA was advising us going forward.
    Seasonal site updates for St Cyrus and Glen Clova and any other possible issues will be
    updated on Whatsapp group.
  5. Safety Officer. Talked about the possible rustyness of a number of flyers and in particular
    newer flyers due to covid and winter layoff. Will try and encourage flyers to ground handle
    and inspect equipment thoroughly prior to flying. Discussion on anonymous reporting of
    incidents.
  6. Covid Officer. Updated us on current situation and when we may expect changes to come in going forward. In essence at present stay home unless for exercise, no car sharing etc.
  7. AOCB See if a reserve repack will be possible when covid guidance allows us.
    Encourage coaching and sitting of exams.
    See if Scottish Hangliding and Paragliding Federation are interested in hold a club coach
    course in next year.

Next Meeting

Thursday May 20 2021 8pm Zoom

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Balmoral & Birkhall Airspace

Two new areas of airspace have been created in Deeside, affecting Balmoral and Birkhall Royal residences.

The Birkhall restricted zone became permanently active on 1st December 2019. No aircraft may fly below 3500ft amsl within the area bounded by a circle having a radius of 1 nautical mile, whose centre is 570144N 0030427W.

The Balmoral temporary restricted zone will come in to effect for two periods each year described below. When active, no aircraft may fly below 3500ft amsl within the area bounded by a circle having a radius of 1 nautical mile, whose centre is 570227N 0031349W..

  • 0001 hours on 16th May and ending at 2359 hours on 2nd June
  • 0001 hours on 10th July and ending at 2359 hours on 31st October

Full details are available in the Statutory Instruments, linked at the end of this article.

Deeside Gliding Club have gained permission from Police Scotland Royalty and VIP Planning (North) for their gliders to cross both regions of airspace, but on the condition that aircraft have a minimum 30:1 glide angle, and remain at least 500ft above ground level.

AHPC are investigating whether any concessions for paragliders and hang-gliders can be secured, however until further notice, we are bound by the full effects of both of the restricted areas.

OS Map showing the extent of airspace over Balmoral and Birkhall Royal residences (Note above radii are too large, they are approx 2.8km whereas 1 naut mile = 1.8km)

 

Birkhall SI

Balmoral SI