High Speed Low Level Cliff Soaring

A video to show the route between Ladram Bay near Sidmouth to West Bay near Bridport, using ridge lift off the cliffs on the English South coast. Apologies for the lousy quality from the tail camera, salt spray didn't take long to blur the lens, but the tail view gives the best impression of the relative heights of the cliffs along the way. The West bay cliffs at the end are just over 200' above sea level.

Songs are remixes of Hybrid's Disappear Here.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Seaside soaring
• cliffs
• gliding
• asw 20
• low flying
• glider

[Mysticlambo]

just out of curiousity, what was your plan if you caught sink? you were too low to turn onto land so were you just gonna ditch the bird and bail in the water?

[Balleka]

@Mysticlambo. I was always keeping an eye on the wind strength and direction and was sure that the cliffs would work, in fact they were working so well that if I slowed down I could easily climb to a height that would allow a field landing as opposed to a wet one!

[xtremeplayboy]

hi great vid , i live in Dorset and was a paraglider pilot for 12 yrs i never ventured down that way , Ringstead east of Weymouth was as far as i got just wondered if you could have made it that far and beyond , swanage maybe ?? Can you give me an idea of cost for a sailplane and what the cost is to get qualified . cheers Lawrence

[Balleka]

@xtremeplayboy Hi Lawrence, the bit from west bay to the cliffs east of Weymouth looked do-able on google earth but would require some mega leaps of faith with Swanage as the ultimate goal. I should have tried it that day but was pretty overwhelmed by just getting to West Bay. Gliders range from a couple of grand for old wooden birds, to well over a 100 grand for the latest hot ship. It is a relatively inexpensive way to fly, roughly £30ish pounds an hour. Go along to your nearest club for a try

[phantomkea2]

How far can you fly on the cliffs and how often are the winds favourable ?

[Balleka]

@phantomkea2 That Day I flew from Ladram Bay to West Bay and back , a straight line distance of 37km each way. Our club has since begun soaring the relatively easy part between Sidmouth and Beer Head when ever the winds look favourable and weather is suitable. I suppose there have been 6 or 7 days this year when gliders have gone down to our rediscovered coastal play ground. 30 years ago they regularly bungee launched wooden gliders on the cliffs near Branscombe.

[Calaghi]

Your videos are just so friggin' awesome.

[willpalmer13]

I'm surprised that thing can fly with the weight of your massive balls. Nice show.

[weaponeer]

very impressive flying. I have not flown a glider since 1981, and it was nothing like that.

[dreamdiction]

This video starts and ends with 5 minutes of noise which goes

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM . . .

Is that the sound of the Luftwaffe shooting at you?

[SloanZurnToto]

I guess hang gliders would have no problem doing your same route????

Looks like fun.

[bolowke666]

@Balleka and when the wind would go away you could land on the beach.

I think the sand would be better than every field you could find.

[Mysticlambo]

@Balleka what about microbursts and windshears? although you could theoretically dump any ballast you had and throw down some flaps to get you over to the beach. Im betting you could catch a small thermal over that sand if you really needed to, or just land in the sand itself or a nearby feild. This looks like a DG or a Grob... what sailplane is this?