F3F Winter League 2 17 December. Ballageich Hill

After a fall on the ice last week which left me with sore ribs and back I had given up any hope of flying this weekend because the forecast was for north westerly winds which usually means the long walk to West Lomond and I wasn't up to a long walk. However, I wasn’t the only person not fancying the walk and Peter suggested we try Ballageith Hill near Eaglesham. This is a hill Dave Watson, Robert Carson and David Loomes use in nw winds and although it meant a longer drive the prospect of a shorter walk at the other end appealed!

To save on fuel I met up with Peter and we travelled through together; thanks to Peter for once again doing all the driving. We managed to take the wrong turn in Eaglesham and were last to arrive but the rest of the gang gave us a round of applause when we finally got there :o)

I hadn’t anticipated 4 inches of snow on the ground which made the initial steep climb a challenge and I managed to fall on my face but my skiboard bag and contents broke my fall! My poor ribs. Mike was unlucky and also fell but landed on his assembled Extreme and damaged a flap and wing trailing edge and had to go back to the car to get his Ascot. I had a chat to Mike about his Extreme and it will be heading my way soon for repair and a new home.

The walk over the moor was longer than I expected and was made hard going with the snow and the very soggy, boggy moorland but we made it to the slope after about 25 minutes trudging across the moor. The walk back seemed much longer! When we got to the slope the views over the reservoirs towards Glasgow, Campsie Fells, Arran, Firth of Clyde and Ailsa Craig were stunning.



I flew first and after a shaky first round got my Vikos going quite well. Peter was unlucky in round two to have the wind drop completely and he had no choice but to land out. The trudge down the hill and over even soggier moorland looked a challenge.

Despite his new leather cowboy hat Mike never seemed to get in the groove with his Ascot. Ola!!





Dave Kelly's Miraj was going well and it is a pity he had to leave early and didn’t get a proper result. Peter had to switch to his Cyril and Dave Watson and David Loomes also flew Cyrils and they were going well. David Loomes made the same error I did in one round when in better air he pulled too tight and lost all speed in the final turn! A good time ruined!

David had his live results system working and live feed to the internet seemed to work well. Ian Stewart sent me a text just after I landed after rounds 1 and 2 congratulating me on FTD and for having 2000 points. This position did not last once the others flew!

A great day out in nice winter weather.

Thanks again to Peter for doing the driving.