April arrived with a welcome surprise for members of the Petersfield-based Sky Surfing Club – two consecutive days of flyable weather, including part of a weekend.

After a wet and miserable March, members were very keen to air their hang glider and paragliders wings.

There was a marked contrast in conditions over the two-day period. The brisk northerly wind on the first day proved more suitable for faster hang gliding wings.

Eleven pilots enjoyed flying the South Downs slopes between the National Trust’s Harting Down – overlooking the village of South Harting – and Duncton, near Petworth – a trip of 33km which took around two hours to complete.

The morning’s overcast skies gave way to clear, sunny conditions during the afternoon, enabling some pilots to climb to heights around 2,700ft. Pilots were joined by a number of sailplanes from Parham airfield, also soaring along the downs. Neville Almond attempted to race his hang glider against his counterpart in a sailplane, but the sailplane won.

The next day brought lighter easterly breezes and a decamp to Wether Down, overlooking the village of East Meon and nearby Teglease Down, both privately-owned slopes.

The conditions proved more suited to paragliding and Richard Chambers made an early start. He said: “I had a couple of short flights and ended up with soaking wet feet because of the damp grass.”

George Cox added: “The thermals developed with climbs up to 2,000ft, but it started getting rougher.”

Hang glider pilot Justin Needham said: “I managed to climb to more than 3,000ft during an hour-long flight.”

Brian Parkins