Last Saturday I travelled to a "fly-in" in Newry, Co. Down (Ireland) in the RHS with my "trusted" PPL friend. As an enthusiast and PPL trainee I have spent a lot of time in the cockpit of various general aircraft and fly as often as I possibly can. I have flown in numerous Countries in Europe, I simply love flying.

 

However, Saturday was an eye opener for me. We set out from Cork (EICK), we had all the weather details, moving maps of showers etc etc and as I've said already an experienced man at the controls.

 

What really surprised me (more than my experienced PIC) was how quickly the weather can conspire to make your day a challenging experience. Showers "grew" before our very eyes and our flight time was almost doubled by constant re-routing. As we approached EICK on the return journey we experienced some turbulence below 2000ft in clear air. I didn't think too much about it until I was driving home in my car through the same area and saw huge CB clouds forming which later led to thunderstorms. If we had left our return journey for another hour or so we would have encountered some very difficult circumstances indeed. 

 

I have to say I now understand how weather can be a major factor in testing the resolve and skills of a pilot, especially one with low hrs experience. It was a valuable lesson in learning to respect mother nature and an experience that will stay with me. 

What a refreshing insight into a R/w flight in a R/w environment. Ye, the gods were indeed with you both.

If there are any Parasailers in Ireland this would be the summer for them. Usually those guys are lucky to get one or two weekends a year with ideal conditions.

Believe it or not, I've never seen anyone parasailing in Ireland. 

Weather forecasting in Ireland is Probably a bit of a crap shoot.

Believe it or not, I've never seen anyone parasailing in Ireland. 

 

You get them doing it some times down at Clonbullogue sometimes, you'll hear being advised it if ever doing a low level flight across the country to SNN, and I think it's called paragliding no, parasailing is where you get strapped onto the end of a boat I think?

 

Regards,

Ró.

Agreed, people strapped to a boat is something I've never seen here in Ireland. I am aware of paragliding in some areas but it's not something I'd be interested in to be honest, apart from not conflicting with them of course.

They fly gliders at Dublin Gliding Club near Naas county Kildare