It has been noticed that many paraglider traders sell speed wings when they are not active speed flyers. Speedfly Junkies is a strong believer that you must have experience on the products you are selling and only sell to suitable pilots. This has been the philosophy behind BASE jumping and I feel in this high risk sport of Speed flying we should do the same. This is simply good ethics. Each wing has its own behavior and application depending on what you want to do with it, your skill level and your weight. You wont know all this if you have not flown the wing. For this reason a dedicated speed flying shop will be opened on this site very soon. Available will be speed wings, wings for high wind soaring, speed flying harnesses and speed flying t-shirts. The aim is to ensure pilots get what they want but more importantly what they need.
Speedfly Junkies is the oldest established speedfly dedicated website and has been established since mid 2007. In that time we have amassed 100’s of launches on 10’s of wings ranging in size from 10m2 upwards. We have flown speedwings low and fast in many locations ranging from South Wales, the Lake District and Alps, in conditions from ideal (0mph) right up to the absurd (40mph) so you don’t have to! If we cant advise you on what wing is best for you, who can?
In the mean time if you have any questions about speed flying simply email into the site where you will be given frank advice. Don’t be offended if the advice is to “forget about speed flying as its not for you”, this has been the case in the past. Your safety is more important than any sale!
What a view, what a day. Stunning to be out so early on a crisp Saturday morning! Dead calm on launch, not a whisper in the air. The Fluid felt fantastic in nil wind and launched easily, she could really stretch her legs and it felt great. Roll on Chamonix in Feb 2010 and some big descents! God i love life!
Another attempt at Snowdon and it was looking promising but as the last few days of the week passed the wind shifted and my intended route down this intimidating mountain was left unflyable since now the winds were coming over the back.Not good on such a shear face of unforgiving sharp rock! Every cloud has a silver lining as they say so i decided to hike up the other side of the valley and fly the face that was into wind and as it turned out it was a great flight on my new Fluid 11! 490m vertical in about 65 seconds = 7.5m/s sink rate!!!!!! Great fun. Enjoy!
I have started a group on facebook called UK Speedflying. The aim is to put pilots in touch with each other and let other know what your speedflying plans are for the coming weekends. I don’t expect the group to get used much but i hope it will make meeting up easier for those of us who are out most weekends when the weather is good. Let’s see how it progresses.
I have just added the Speed Wing Tech page to the site. It will give a little information for those looking to get a speedwing. As i get questions from people i will post them along with any relevant information.
The site has been quiet lately due to very poor weather here in the UK this winter. That said things have begun to look up with a couple good flying days so im hopeful for a good Spring to make up for the last few months. What’s planned for 2009? Another speedriding trip to the Alps but this time its Sauze D’Oulx inthe Italian Alps in March. With a high point of 2840m there should be some good speedriding prospects to be had! Watch this space for a review and video from the trip.
Snowdon, being the highest peak in Wales has been calling out to be flown. I can see some great potential down its NE face with descents of 900m possible, that’s huge for the UK! The downside with Snowdon is its fickle and rapidly changing weather that can catch people out. This aside the mountain looks fabulous for speedfying and I can feel 2009 is the year! Watch this space.
Locally to South Wales there are many much smaller flights i have been researching and planning. Some no more than 500ft vertical but the terrain they cover looks exhilarating to fly.Valleys to drop into, trees to slalom around and perhaps even a bridge to fly under? Who knows, but what i do know is that South Wales offers some short but adrenalin fuelled flights for those who can find them in the deepest valleys.
The Lakes Charity Classic is being held again this year in the Lake District sometime in early June. Last year there was acro paragliding, d-bagging and speedflying. This year there will be more of the same but the speedfling display is due to be much larger. Either way I will be spending more time up there this year before and after the event as the Lakes offers some of the best speeflying in the UK thanks to its vast range of high peaks.
All in all lots planned and im sure more opportunities will present themselves in the coming months. 2009 is looking good…………..
I get asked allot about how the wind is affected by the ground and general weather conditions. Its a huge subject but it’s not always easy to find good relevant information. For this reason I have included this edition of Dragonfly magazine. The article on pages 14-19 is a great introduction to the huge topic of meteorology. Just click on the link below to view the mag:
A new skydiving magazine called “Closing Loop” is due out in the next month or so. Featured in the mag is 2 page spread on speed flying. The article is based on a personal account of one of my flights, the preparation, feelings and thoughts. Also a brief history, current situation and the future of speed flying here in the UK and elsewhere are discussed. Im quite excited about my article in this magazine as it will be viewed by a new skydiving audience and might bring new people to the sport.
Here is the link to the Closing Loop web site that is under construction:
Speaking with pilots on the hill there is clearly a misunderstanding of the many terms used to describe the use of these small speed wings. This is understandable as the sport is new and exact terminology is still not set in stone. Below is how i and many speedflyers and speedriders see the definitions:
Speed flying:
Foot launchinga speedwing. Descending a hill or mountain side with high ground speed and sink rate.
Speed riding:
SKi launchinga speedwing. Descending a hill or mountain side with high ground speed and sink rate.
High wind soaring:
Soaring a small canopy of any size in winds to high to soar a regular paraglider. This is not speedflying even though a speedwing is typically used.
