Part 2 of my tour of the Ager area for free flying hang-gliders & paragliders. I was inadvertently sucked into a cloud (don't do this at home folks!) but made up for it with an excellent landing...
...two times I was sucking by the cloud, base bar all the way to my knee and still climbing, barely making it to the edge of the cloud before going into it, scary stuff, clouds are so powerful, have huge respect to them. Impressive landing Darren in no wind condition!
Holy Poo!! I bet most of your viewers will be saying that as well!! No need to apologise ..... we are all glad that you can take us to be your 'Wing Men', and give us an insight into 'Your World'.
I had that happen to me back in the day when I was flying. A bit scary when you loose ground reference and especially when you hear a military jet fly over you just above the cloud tops. One of my most memorable flights.
Got sucked (or should it be suckered) into a cloud at Lachens, France in 1982. I was engrossed in watching the vario & trying to centre on the lift when the vario's bleeping turned into a shriek & I thought to myself "Brilliant!". Then two little misty wisps shot past, then total white-out, and it was bloody rough in there, I was rattled around like a pea in a whistle. Likewise I tried to keep flying straight, popping out of the side of the cloud about 30 seconds later (but it seemed like a lifetime)!
As a vfr only rated private pilot, there's a saying, 180 seconds to live, meaning don't fly into IMC(instrument meteorlogic conditions) . Smart to keep wings level, good job! Thanks again for bringing us along! Beautiful landing! Like a butterfly with sore feet.
That was AMAZING.!! I felt likeness in those clouds with you.Wow. I'm working on my pilots license now and I'm think about paragliding since I live in Texas and there are no mountains to handglide lkke that. Again amazing video. You have a new subscriber. ✌🏿✌🏿👽
Brilliant landing Darren! That laugh though, I'm sure there is a career or part in a movie for you. Hollywood as a maniac.This time next week you could be beating down a door with a fire axe!
My hang gliding instructor got sucked into a cloud at 18,000 ft one day and came out at 25,000 ft. He was so Iced up he could hardly keep it flying. There’s no better feeling in the world than soaring to cloud base at 16,000 ft with the best view in the world. That was the best day of my life. I miss hang gliding. Great video!
Darren Brown Extreme Sports he was flying with his friend and they both ended up in the cloud. His friend didn’t have oxygen and ended up throwing his reserve because he was afraid he was going to blackout from hypoxia. Both survived but they didn’t end up in a cloud again. He told me he couldn’t tell which way was up or down and he was scared to death
@@coryturner9140I flew hang gliders for 23 years, got sucked into rain cloud only once, and I agree it is very scary. Never been so happy to see the ground when I finally got out of it. Seemed like hours but it was only minutes. In the Canungra classic hang gliding competition years ago, a pilot got sucked up into a storm cloud. He threw his parachute in desperation and lived to tell the tale. I was talking to him as he was repacking his parachute on the veranda of Moriarty Hall in Canungra. He was adamant that it was something he never wants to repeat. My experience is that Pilots do take risks when flying in competitions.
I don't like the white room. The second I hit the whispies it's bar to the hip. I don't let up until I clear the suck or lose site of the ground. You did a nice job staying on track. I find that part can be difficult.
Darren Brown Extreme Sports, most of your landings are perfect. You probably don't think so. But I've watched almost all your videos and, therefore, can tell you right now that you're eagle-perfect in most of your landings. Keep it up, and thank you so much for bringing these videos to us.
Hello, I'm an aeromodeller and I've always wanted to fly, but seeing how fragile and dangerous a paraglider is, I gave up flying it. The hang glider seems much safer because it has a rigid structure and I am just taking steps to buy a light motor hang glider because I live in flat terrain. Your videos are an inspiration to me.
That is SO lovely to hear, thank you!! You're right, a Hangglider is safer - it cannot collapse. Good luck with your light motor Hangglider - I'd love to hear how you get on!
Wow! Nice flying, sir. Avoid the black bottom of clouds - very turbulent, and I note you are not IFR equipped!!! I have an Instrument Rating and was still nearly killed in a spiral dice over Bolton in bad weather. It changes you; was so hard not to panic. CAVU skies!
@@giovannisalamon2706 Lancashire, Northern England. Well over the Vne of 200kts. No time to see the altitude and flying above the Transitional level set at 1013 millibars, so the altimeter no reflection of AGL. Death just seconds away. 19 years old. HM gave me a Permanent Commission, one of only 20 given a year, for "Outstanding Leadership". Accelerated promotion; double pay as a pilot. The Cream of England. I speak 5 languages and passed my Bsc in just 2 years. I have an exam in Latin verse and speak fluent Swahili. Kwa heri, sasa!
Beautiful flight! All thru the white-out I was sitting on the edge of my seat. Glad you came out. Those seconds take a long time to pass, specially when you continue to hear the screaming vario. Please don´t do it again! Excellent video!!
That was precarious. You managed it with real grit and great calmness. It's never easy to navigate through the clouds, aircrafts get barely spared. Lightning is always a threat, getting bumped into a jet is a nightmare.
Always good vids darren keep it up mate. Have to say I wont repeat what you got youself into. But you did have clear view of the ground twice durring the clod part. I would have gone straight into side slip and out.
Holy poop !! that was a fun video :) Darren, apparently you and I have a friend in common, Paul Cryer, he flies hankies now along with me and others, super nice chap and funny too plus it's nice to have another Yorkshireman to hang out with and give me thermalling tips :D
Haha aye lad, he's gone full Daft Vader :D I'll tell him you send his regards though ;) We're SHGC members on the south downs, beautiful area to fly in, you'd like it, not as epic as the Spanish mountains but still a lovely area :) It's funny because I stumbled on this video and I sent him the link saying that you reminded me of him and he replied I know him, he's a friend of mine ! Haha, small world hey ! :) I got given a Java 155 and I intended to teach myself to fly it as I did with paragliding (don't fret, I'm now qualified etc. :) ) but I've since wised up to the idea, but hang gliding is something I would dearly like to do at some point, superman and all that :D
Really gorgeous flight. Looks amazing and I'm really jealous of the views and wind in your face up there. I'm a commercial pilot, and (I'm sure everyone knows this) flying in clouds kills a lot of pilots ever year because of the disorienting effects. Looked like you handled everything well. Super jealous and I want to take up hang gliding.
Thanks Colby - and I'm glad you liked it! I maybe handled it ok, but was daft to get myself in that position in the first place. As for taking up hanggliding... Do it!!! You won't regret it I promise
We climbed up the outside of a Cb there but I remember seeing one pilot (possibly Ray or Ozzie?) deep under the cloud, in the strong shadow, with lightning flashing around him. He managed to get out o.k. Years later, flying a task there, I got to 10,000' but, pre-GPS days, mis-navigated to the wrong turn point and, when I finally got to the correct turn point, I was at landing height.
Scary situation - seeing lightning anywhere is always an indicator to me that I'm in the poop! Arriving at a turnpoint at landing height... I can really relate to that. Must Do Better!
Replied to your reply Darren but because youtube's notification system is utterly pooptastic I thought it best to leave another comment so you get a notification etc. etc. etc. Anyhow, SUBSCRIBED !! Just because I like your channel, not so keen on Milk Tray tho, plus I'm not a lady ;)
haha, I'm teasing "Just because"... the lady loves milk tray ... I botched the quote anyway, I was trying to be funny but landed face first in the brambles .. again, sorry :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DVDnGpIscbM.html Anyhow, someone needs to make a spoof of this old advert given that what we do is extreme, heroic and a bit dangerous, plus I love the music :)
Damn scary in that cloud, Bud -- beautiful as hell on the other side, though. Sheesh, an eagle would have been proud of that landing! Your vids are a such HOOT! :-]
You're absolutely right - I had no business in the cloud. I wasn't joking about it being bad. And the criticism is correct. I didn't actually do it on purpose though, I did realise I had made an almighty cock up and I showed it because I try to give an honest and full account of my flights - the good and the bad.
Greetings from Barcelona Spain, I have flown many times in Ager, fantastic thermals. I love your video, very rewarding hahaha. By the way, I want that wing
@@MooSurfer Happened to me when I used to fly microlights (pre-kids, etc.). Got caught out around five miles east of Redhill Aerodrome when the cloud base went down to about 500 feet. This was in the early days of GPS and I followed the runway heading completely blind and popped out the bottom about about half a mile from the threshold. Scariest five minutes ever! Miss flying though.
Beautiful flying. But without instruments it was a near death experience. Spatial disorientation takes you by suprise. You do not realize it until you experience it. Biologically we are not equipped and do not have senses to survive such encounters. PP 500 hrs.