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Multimedia site guide
Posted by Geoff Minshull at 2010-02-23 22:17

Hi,

we're playing around with multimedia site guides, and have produced one as an experiment, on the Long Mynd. These are to complement, not replace, the existing web and paper site guides. You can see it at:

http://www.judithmole.net/lmsc/siteguide_longmynd.html

Uses Flash, has audio.

Thanks to Andrew Donnison for the photos.

Any comment welcome.

BHPA members
Posted by Michael Hoppett at 2010-02-24 10:26

At the end of the piece it states the Longmynd is for BHPA members and FORIEGN pilots with 3rd party Insurance?...
So whats the line on UK 'pilots' who are not BHPA members who have 'so called' cheap 3rd party insurance?

cheers Mike

If they are not BHPA members?
Posted by Michael Hoppett at 2010-02-24 10:29

If you are not a member of the BHPA do your previous Pilot ratings
apply.... or do they Lapse??? Just want to get my facts right.
Cheers Mike H

Posted by Karol Mlynarczyk at 2010-02-24 15:42

i would add some legend to pictures, like 1 pg landing 2 pg take off etc. and keep the same numbers (1,2,3,4,5) on all pictures.
great job!

Posted by Geoff Minshull at 2010-02-24 17:46

Hi Mike,

1. BHPA ratings do not lapse. Licenses, such as being a BHPA parachute packer, do.

2. There is a mismatch between what the constitution says, and what the site guides say (and the text for the multimedia site guide was taken from the printed site guide). The constitution says "Visiting pilots shall abide by all LMSC sites rules and must be members of the BHPA or meet the current BHPA minimum requirements for Third Party Liability Insurance". It does not specify foreign, therefore UK pilots are included, and can fly LMSC sites, so long as they meet the insurance requirements (as was discussed at some length on another thread last summer. The constitution (which predates my LMSC involvement) has to take precedence.

I want to keep this thread for site guide comments (and this was a legitimate question from Mike). However, if you want to discuss the rights and wrongs of this position on insurance (and a lot could be said about it), please start a different thread, don't use this one. If you do use this one by mistake, I'll delete the posting and put it in the right thread - not to stop any discussion, obviously - just to get it in the right place, and not clog up this one.

Posted by Geoff Minshull at 2010-02-24 17:48

Thanks Mike and Karol for the comments. We'll take these into account when we revise the Mynd guide, and when we produce some others for selected other LMSC sites.

Posted by Gordon Purdy at 2010-02-26 09:39

Very good guide but I don't see any mention of the mythical "hang glider approach" over the bracken in the NE corner where I was informed last year that packing up a paraglider was a big no no.

Posted by Michaela Hardwick at 2010-02-27 18:33

Very impressive. Thanks for doing Geoff and Judith.

Re mythical hang glider approach.
Posted by Wayne Millichope at 2010-02-28 13:50

Just to clarify the mythical n/e approach does exist! As is stated on the Longmynd site guide (the original one) there is an “L” shaped area which extends from the north boundary fence down to the hangliding takeoff area marked out for hg and pgs to land in!
In strong winds the n/e corner more commonly know as ‘upright corner’-(ask an hg pilot) is best avoided due to noticeable wind shear when landing, in lighter winds however it can be useful to land there.
.
In lighter winds hgs sometimes need to go further back behind the road in order to set up a landing, to avoid overshooting on occasions I have found myself having to go beyond the gliding clubs fence before turning into land, this will hopefully give pg pilots some idea of the performance of modern hgs. It is sometimes of benefit if the wind is light to use the mythical n/e approach, where in stronger winds this can be your enemy in light winds the opposite is true. The fact that the ground rises towards take off means this is of help to hg pilots as it shortens the landing run and also there is only the one fence to clear.

What seems to be common is that less experienced hg pilots or pilots who have not flown the Longmynd before tend to land in the n/e corner even when warned of the dangers. I think that this is mainly due to the fact that most approaches are done from the north, pilots tend to want to land away from the cars/rigged hangliders, and when landing the n/e corner looks the biggest area available.
So bearing all this in mind it is common sense to keep areas marked for landing clear for this purpose. Unfortunately the main culprits of not keeping this area clear are pilots packing away their kit usually were they have just landed, but I have also encountered hangliders left rigged, people having picnics, and children playing!
From a safety point of view (yours and others) once you have landed it is best to clear the area immediately of you and your kit. If you want to then pack away the safest place to do this is along the north or east fence boundaries where you will be out of harms way.
I know many pilots already do this so let’s encourage the ones who don’t and inform visiting pilots also. There really is no need for confrontations all that is required is to politely ask someone to move to a safe area if they are in the way- simple!

Cheers all.

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