Afton Down
AFTON DOWN: Early 1930s gliding site, later hang-gliding and paragliding site.
Aka: COMPTON WHITES
A general view looking west in August 2017
Note: Picture by the author.
Location: Roughly 0.5nm E of Freshwater Bay
NOTES:
It appears that the first evidence of flying activity in this location was when German glider pilots arrived in the 1930s.
Much later, in the 1970s, it appears that the Britten-Norman Sky Surfing Club used this location. Since then, it seems that the Isle of Wight Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club have been the main users. I would highly recommend looking at their web-site.
A map of the sites used by the Isle of Wight Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club in 2017
I might well be mistaken of course, but visiting this area in 2017, all the activity seemed to be mostly confined to paragliding. It appears that some para-motor acitivity does take place, but it would seem that hang-gliding has pretty much ceased?
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