Nigel Sumpter the instructor at Northern, who got me hooked in the first place.

Eddie Royal whom I met at Northern and introduced me to the Pennine club sites and encouraged and assisted my early flying.

Andy Wallis whom I flew at lot with (especially Lakes sites) and started competing in local and national comps with.

Dave Robinson my flying buddy for a good few years.

Ed Cleasby an extremely experienced pioneering Lakes pilot who organized such excellent competitions over the years.

The great Bob Calvert who showed and encouraged us to set our sights higher and showed what was possible (plus nick our sandwiches!).

Other heroes include:

Ian Ferguson who I seemed to be competing with regarding Lakes flights for a few years, Derek Holman, Matt Doncaster, Hughie McGovern, many of the Northumbrian club from the late eighties and latterly Steve Gill who had an annoying knack for just beating me in the Charity Classic. Bill Walmsley (safety officer of the Pennine for many years), Bill Whitely (never flys with a vario!), Darren Arkwright, Steve Elkins, Trevor Birkbeck and Allan Barnes. Also I mustn't forget Andy Berry and Colin Whitaker the Parlick regulars and finally my current flying buddy Phil Bradshaw who is an extremely able, precise, safe yet competitive pilot.

However, the most enjoyable flight to date was a nil wind triangle flight from my local hill site Parlick Pike in 1994. I was one of the few to get up, and made Slaidburn for TP1 then Waddington nr Clitheroe for TP2 and return via convergence some 2.5 hours later.  Not a massive distance, but the thermal conditions were superb and I didn't think I stood a chance of getting back until I had almost made it.

The above incident didn't really give me chance to worry, but this next one certainly did.  I had set off XC from Skiddaw (one of the few English Mountains at just over 3,000ft) and it was blowing a fair bit (20mph or so).  I hit very heavy sink, as I expected, on my glide to Clough Head. As I crossed the A66 all hell broke loose.  I can only describe it as loosing all directional control and pitch had minimal affect.  The wing stopped flying and seemed to assumed falling leaf mode, but vertically upwards.  I was subjected to a number of high G vertical accelerations and periods of weightlessness, yet the vario continued to be pegged out on 10up+.  Later, on reflection, I was really amazed by the punishment the glider had endured (small Solar Wings Rumour 1) with no damage.

Not really a flying experience, but made me feel terrible for good while, was when during the 1992 British Laragne league competition I accidentally damaged another pilots wing.  I had climbed a small slope of scree to reach the track where all the cars where parked. Unfortunately, I dislodged some small rocks that collided with a larger jagged one that then rolled off towards a rigged glider.  Before I could do anything, the rock had rolled over Peter Coad's glider cutting the sail quite severely.  Peter was a true gent and wouldn't accept anything but some packs of beer!  His glider was taped up for the remainder of the competition.

Sheep mentality always winds me up.  The vast majority of folk seem incapable of making their own choices and have to; follow others; fashions; what celebrities do; get a better car than their neighbour etc.

I have a young daughter and wife that I love to spend as much time with as possible, and usually only have one day a week for flying (weather dependent).