Sky Rocket Media's Flying Blog: Team GB Training Week

Sunday 2nd to Friday 7th August 2015

Just three days after the last round of the British Open Series, and it's off to Spain.
With the car serviced just a couple of weeks previously, and with temperatures in Spain expected to be in the late 30's, early 40's, all I needed to do on the Saturday was get the aircon system re-gassed, something which I had scheduled in my local garage while I re-packed my flying kit, sort out my clothes, pad up my second ladder (so that the car could carry three gliders), and get the streamline camping kit in order. With three adults (me, Phippsy and Sam Allun) travelling together, everyone was having to travel as light as possible, and we would need a comfortable environment for the 13 hour drive. All went well until I picked up the car. Good news - the aircon was re-gassed and didn't have any leaks. Bad news - the pressure sensor had failed and they couldn't get a spare part until Monday. Oops. No aircon for the journey. I stopped on the way back to get a couple of cans of deodorant to keep in the car....

Phippsy and Sam joined Hilly and I late Saturday evening. Having loaded up their gliders and spares, I fed them with curry and beer before we retired early for our rather early start. Alarms were set for 2.45am.

Beyond the call of duty - 3.00am bacon sarnies

Amazingly Hilly did get up with us, and true to her word cooked bacon sarnies for everyone. Top girl. 3.15am and we were on the road, hoping that the drive to Dover would be trouble free from lorry parks on the M20. As a throw back to my filming days, I've always been good at getting going early in the morning so I opted to take the first driving shift. The TomTom told me that we only had 950 miles to go.

On time for the ferry

Surprisingly we had a pain free journey to Dover, a pleasant ferry crossing to Calais, and the car effortlessly munched the miles as we motored south through France - with cruise control set at 75mph we were averaging 43 miles to the gallon. Not bad for an eleven year old Audi A4 Avant with 200k miles on the clock.

Phippsy flaked out in the heat

The only problem was that by mid-afternoon we were nearing Limoges and the outside temperature was hitting 30 degrees. Shame about the aircon. Soon enough though we were past Toulouse and by 10pm we had started the drive over the Pyrenees, with Sam doing a sterling job to get us to Ager by midnight.
Beer and bed.

And the next morning, this was Sam's first glimpse of where he would be flying for the next two weeks...

Team GB Training Camp

Looking East along the Ager ridge

The training camp had been scheduled to take place the week before the British Nationals and at the same flying site. Ager, on the South side of the Pyrenese and about 2 hours drive West from Barcelona, is at the foot of a very long ridge running for about 40km East to West that stands about 1000m above the valley floor, which is itself already 650m above sea level. Over the back of the ridge to the North there are three valleys, separated by some fairly inhospitable terrain with lakes, gorges, and limited landings. The "Gurp" proves to be a regular hurdle in crossing over to the Tremp Valley to the East, a common route to the usual goal field near Viliminjata. Further North, and the "big stuff" looms on the horizon, offering some spectacular flying when conditions allow, especially over the Fer de Rocher.

And looking West...

Our best friend in Ager - the Griffon Vulture
Courtesy of Wikipedia

The flying at Ager is challenging and memorable not just because of the terrain and climate, but also because of the magnificent Griffon Vulture that prolifically inhabits the area. Masters of thermal soaring, these majestic birds will often fly with you, marking better areas of lift, even locating a "life saver" thermal that hauls you away from getting too low in a "no land" zone.

Yes, been there, done that. Two years ago I got caught in a valley with no landings - I will never forget the feeling of relief as a vulture flew out from his nest, started circling and allowed me to fly wing tip to wing tip with him as I crawled out of the valley.Times like that make me feel privileged and humble in equal measure.

I was expecting to have a rest and prep day before the official training camp was started on the Tuesday, but several of the pilots had arrived a few days earlier and were planning heading up the hill for a pre-training practice day. Being "current" and local knowledge all have an important part to play in flying, especially in competition, so I opted to join them. A day to settle in to the glider and the flying conditions was very welcome. And the views were, as always, stunning....

Gordon (top right in red t shirt) briefs the team

And so the week continued. Every morning, Gordon Rigg ran a briefing session with the motley crew of potential Team GB squad members - a broad range of pilots between the ages of 20 and 50 but all with the common aim of being selected to fly in the British Team at European and World Championships. Fortunately for the older pilots, hang gliding is a sport where age is not necessarily a disadvantage. The more you fly, the better you become.

After the morning briefing, camel backs were filled, gliders and kit loaded, followed by a half hour drive to the top of the hill. With gliders rigged, partners and retrieve drivers could shelter from the blistering midday sun. Further briefing sessions were held, with the crew spilt in to two separate teams. Gordon running one, and Carl Wallbank the other, adding a competitive edge to the training, and making sure that the radio channels did not become too crowded.

Thanks to me new employers "Airkix/iFLY" for the extended leave...

Carl Wallbank sharing "the knowledge"

Task over the 5 days ranged from between 70 and 130km, taking in the valleys, mountains, lakes and dams of this stunning Catalan region. My flying started off slowly, deliberately not pushing myself too far and too fast at the beginning of the week, knowing that we had a full competition to follow on from the training camp. Carl's superb coaching allowed me to build on my mistakes, and instilled a true sense of team work, which pushed me on at times when I wanted to land. Keep flying, get the most points you can, each and every time. Do it for the team. Several times I struggled low, fighting for a long time to find lift, often with my landing gear out and sizing up a landing field. Nine times out of ten I was rewarded for my endeavours. The flying was breath taking.

Vilamitjana landing field

The regular goal field at Vilamitjana proved to be a popular finishing point, with several goal beers drunk, thanks to the regular supply from retrieve driver and photographer Alan Moffat (shh, dont tell Andy you nicked them out the back of the truck!) After hours of flying there is a great sense of achievement and a huge "buzz" racing in to goal against fellow flyers.