Bob g bivvied in Glen Lochay on the friday night to check out the stars and I met him in Balquidder in the morning. As we walked up we could see stuart d and roger above us.
The flying was thermic and active but none of the thermals were going very high and we all tried jumping spurs to make our way east with varying success. I tried slope landing on the 2nd spur to out-fox a sink cycle but was in such deep heather it was hard to launch again.
My 2nd go got me another 2 spurs along to Braes of Balquidder where i packed up and walked up for 45 minutes for the best flying of the day exploring the huge west facing bowl for a while before i felt guilty about chasing the huge herds of red deer (several groups of over a hundred) around the hill and left them in peace and glided down to land beside my car which the others had driven down to the Rob Roy bar.
Others had fun (and took some nice photos too) in Aberfoyle about 30k to the SW of where we were
Playing about - 4th October 2009
A fun day out at Bishop on Sunday with gusty wave in the morning giving a good excuse for some sunbathing in the lee of a gorse bush but calmer conditions and nice soaring in the afternoon. Highlight of the day was a shot on terry's 17sqm Icaro Nikita 2 which is capable of infinity tumbles in the right hands. I contented myself with some ground skim soaring and some wingovers but the tiny wing plus super tippy acro harness meant i was very wary of them going too big...
First SIV - 5th September 2009
Well new things are always good in flying.... and one way of getting a bit of useful airtime during our end of summer wet weekends was to think different...so i decided to book an SIV course ..... my first in 10 years of flying so some would say a bit overdue. Grumpy bob almost came too but was too busy serving pints but trias was more than willing to test out his new Mantra M3 - hopefully we will hear his own story soon.
I have now flown my Avax XC2 for more than a year including some very strong conditions and only had one serious departure from normal flying (crushed by the cold outflow from a glacier spilling over onto the sunny side of a spur i was flying) so i was more than ready to find out a bit more about what happens when you get a 6.4 aspect ratio EN C wing with skinny lines out of shape.
We booked up with Flyeo in Annecy who are not the cheapest (420 euro for sat/sun/mon) but very well known for their SIV expertise and their operation is slick. On their form I put down active flying and xc flying as my strengths and never spun/stalled/always avoided dynamic flying as my weaknesses. Annecy is not the biggest top to bottom venue for SIV as take off is at about 1250m and the lac is at about 450m. However, the road up is good and you can get 3 or 4 flights per day plus lots of time for briefing before and after. After the flying they take you back to the shop to watch the action on video and you can learn lots from watching others experiences as well as your own. This year there is a new SIV landing field right on the edge of the lake beside Camping Nubliere which lets you keep throwing it around until a bit lower than previously. Our group of 5 was mixed both in terms of wings and abilities so we got to see a bit of everything (Jean-Luc on his Golden on his second SIV, Miltiade on his Aspen 2 on his third and Claude on her Bright on her first).
Day 1 - three flights
I spent most of the day doing spiral dives aiming to get "facing the planet" after two turns holding for another couple to let the speed build up and then exiting. For the first flight the exits were gradual aiming to dissipate the energy over another couple of turns with little in the way of surge but then we moved onto a much more dynamic exit with the aim being to come out as fast as possible straighten up to straight course and then ride out the "chandelle" where both the leading edge and and the pilot are facing directly up before the pilot falls under the wing again and you check the surge and fly away. It took a bit of practice to get the outside weightshift and outside brake input right to fly straight immediately after exiting and one off-centre chandelle provoked a small tip cravat which took a bit of fiddling to clear. I almost overbraked the surge after the chandelle once as well (too early and too deep on the brakes) and the wing arced back close to stall. We would finish each flight with wingovers and instructor Christophe tried hard not to show his distaste for my badly timed efforts!
So nothing too scary or radical for the first day.
Day 2 - three flights
Most of the second day was spent on accelerated collapses which i had wanted to spend some time on. You would enter by starting via a pitching exercise (tangage) and then as the wing was diving out of the last swing at maybe 30 degrees nose down you drop the brake handle, reach high, and haul in a good armful of a-riser and hold it in at hip level.
On my wing this generally created a pretty big collapse of 70% to 80% which required instant countering on weightshift and brake to stop it winding up but if you did then you could steer away from the collapse without a problem and do some lazy circles before releasing the collapse. The later version was to deliberately fall into the collapsed side (still holding the collapse in) and accept the big g's that would quickly build up putting you into an auto-rotation (just like a SAT you are going backwards and the wing is going forward).
I found the speed and G's of these manoeuvres quite intimidating and I had an exciting ride on one go when i released the collapse (due to fear) just as the flying side had maximum energy (going nose down on its way into auto rotation). The followig shock inflation of the collapse combined with the slight outside weightshift and brake I had already started to apply caused the wing to immediately dive below me the OTHER way and flicked me side ways before the wing collapsed sideways and i fell past with slack lines and returned to more level flight with a cravat to sort out. I overcooked the spin designed to release the cravat which ended up with two cravats...
We were all pretty tired by the end of the day.
Day 3 - four flights
On to the famous full stall which I had seriously wanted to learn as a way of clearing cravattes which are a potential for pretty much any high aspect wing I think. By this time i had listened to multiple briefings on how to do it for others as well as myself and was feeling pretty confident of the procedure..... Lock the arms and keep them locked until you fall back under the wing... then raise your hands to the "back fly" position recognisable from its little forward pointing ears where you can do weightshift turns if you want before releasing symetrically and checking the surge.
My first go went smoothly and in some ways is a lot easier to cope with than the high-g manoeuvres. My second one was not so smooth as i released with hands too low and the forward pointing ears of the back fly were caught as cravats on the release
This left me with less glide angle than i needed to make the beach but a stabilo fiddle cleared one and a small spin (making the cravatted side fly backwards for a quarter turn by a deep 1 second pump) released the other and i made the little peninsula sticking out into the lake with a couple of metres to spare and a cheer from the other SIVers as I kept the wing dry.
stall with cravat on exit
the last of my 7 full stalls
For the first two I did it with legs outside my pod harness - the instructors are very keen on sit up non-pod harnesses for stalls and wingovers! Later I kept my legs in the pod but tucked well under my bum which worked fine and I got a bit better at judging the correct hand position for back fly and a bit faster at transitioning between the stages. So seven stalls completed and its definitely something I would use in the real world to try to sort the wing out before throwing the reserve. Releasing the back fly from a hand position which is slightly too low will result in small cravates on my wing so its better to find the limit of back fly with only small forward pointing ears before releasing.
For the last flight I did two SATs which again went smoother than expected With left hand on the top of the riser, brace away and pull hard on the inside brake just as the wing drops into the spiral to "face the planet". The first one had a flappy outside wingtip but the second one was cleaner. My wingovers were also getting better and I may have done some worthy of the name (actually getting above the wing).
my second sat
wingovers still pretty dodgy!
So overall a very positive experience and one I should have done a long time ago. It gave me a healthy respect for the speed and g's that a big collapse can generate but a lot of skills and understanding to deal with it.
I have now flown my Avax XC2 for more than a year including some very strong conditions and only had one serious departure from normal flying (crushed by the cold outflow from a glacier spilling over onto the sunny side of a spur i was flying) so i was more than ready to find out a bit more about what happens when you get a 6.4 aspect ratio EN C wing with skinny lines out of shape.
We booked up with Flyeo in Annecy who are not the cheapest (420 euro for sat/sun/mon) but very well known for their SIV expertise and their operation is slick. On their form I put down active flying and xc flying as my strengths and never spun/stalled/always avoided dynamic flying as my weaknesses. Annecy is not the biggest top to bottom venue for SIV as take off is at about 1250m and the lac is at about 450m. However, the road up is good and you can get 3 or 4 flights per day plus lots of time for briefing before and after. After the flying they take you back to the shop to watch the action on video and you can learn lots from watching others experiences as well as your own. This year there is a new SIV landing field right on the edge of the lake beside Camping Nubliere which lets you keep throwing it around until a bit lower than previously. Our group of 5 was mixed both in terms of wings and abilities so we got to see a bit of everything (Jean-Luc on his Golden on his second SIV, Miltiade on his Aspen 2 on his third and Claude on her Bright on her first).
Day 1 - three flights
I spent most of the day doing spiral dives aiming to get "facing the planet" after two turns holding for another couple to let the speed build up and then exiting. For the first flight the exits were gradual aiming to dissipate the energy over another couple of turns with little in the way of surge but then we moved onto a much more dynamic exit with the aim being to come out as fast as possible straighten up to straight course and then ride out the "chandelle" where both the leading edge and and the pilot are facing directly up before the pilot falls under the wing again and you check the surge and fly away. It took a bit of practice to get the outside weightshift and outside brake input right to fly straight immediately after exiting and one off-centre chandelle provoked a small tip cravat which took a bit of fiddling to clear. I almost overbraked the surge after the chandelle once as well (too early and too deep on the brakes) and the wing arced back close to stall. We would finish each flight with wingovers and instructor Christophe tried hard not to show his distaste for my badly timed efforts!
So nothing too scary or radical for the first day.
Day 2 - three flights
Most of the second day was spent on accelerated collapses which i had wanted to spend some time on. You would enter by starting via a pitching exercise (tangage) and then as the wing was diving out of the last swing at maybe 30 degrees nose down you drop the brake handle, reach high, and haul in a good armful of a-riser and hold it in at hip level.
On my wing this generally created a pretty big collapse of 70% to 80% which required instant countering on weightshift and brake to stop it winding up but if you did then you could steer away from the collapse without a problem and do some lazy circles before releasing the collapse. The later version was to deliberately fall into the collapsed side (still holding the collapse in) and accept the big g's that would quickly build up putting you into an auto-rotation (just like a SAT you are going backwards and the wing is going forward).
I found the speed and G's of these manoeuvres quite intimidating and I had an exciting ride on one go when i released the collapse (due to fear) just as the flying side had maximum energy (going nose down on its way into auto rotation). The followig shock inflation of the collapse combined with the slight outside weightshift and brake I had already started to apply caused the wing to immediately dive below me the OTHER way and flicked me side ways before the wing collapsed sideways and i fell past with slack lines and returned to more level flight with a cravat to sort out. I overcooked the spin designed to release the cravat which ended up with two cravats...
We were all pretty tired by the end of the day.
Day 3 - four flights
On to the famous full stall which I had seriously wanted to learn as a way of clearing cravattes which are a potential for pretty much any high aspect wing I think. By this time i had listened to multiple briefings on how to do it for others as well as myself and was feeling pretty confident of the procedure..... Lock the arms and keep them locked until you fall back under the wing... then raise your hands to the "back fly" position recognisable from its little forward pointing ears where you can do weightshift turns if you want before releasing symetrically and checking the surge.
My first go went smoothly and in some ways is a lot easier to cope with than the high-g manoeuvres. My second one was not so smooth as i released with hands too low and the forward pointing ears of the back fly were caught as cravats on the release
This left me with less glide angle than i needed to make the beach but a stabilo fiddle cleared one and a small spin (making the cravatted side fly backwards for a quarter turn by a deep 1 second pump) released the other and i made the little peninsula sticking out into the lake with a couple of metres to spare and a cheer from the other SIVers as I kept the wing dry.
stall with cravat on exit
the last of my 7 full stalls
For the first two I did it with legs outside my pod harness - the instructors are very keen on sit up non-pod harnesses for stalls and wingovers! Later I kept my legs in the pod but tucked well under my bum which worked fine and I got a bit better at judging the correct hand position for back fly and a bit faster at transitioning between the stages. So seven stalls completed and its definitely something I would use in the real world to try to sort the wing out before throwing the reserve. Releasing the back fly from a hand position which is slightly too low will result in small cravates on my wing so its better to find the limit of back fly with only small forward pointing ears before releasing.
For the last flight I did two SATs which again went smoother than expected With left hand on the top of the riser, brace away and pull hard on the inside brake just as the wing drops into the spiral to "face the planet". The first one had a flappy outside wingtip but the second one was cleaner. My wingovers were also getting better and I may have done some worthy of the name (actually getting above the wing).
my second sat
wingovers still pretty dodgy!
So overall a very positive experience and one I should have done a long time ago. It gave me a healthy respect for the speed and g's that a big collapse can generate but a lot of skills and understanding to deal with it.
xalps - the numbers
Amazing flying again by Maurer to reach Mont Gros - 200k today and only 5 and a half hours in the air....
Pilot: Christian Maurer
Assistant: Thomas Theurillat
Last Update: 28.07.2009 20:28:00 (UTC: 28.07.2009 18:28:00)
Lat / Long [dd mm.mmmm]: N43° 46.025 / E007° 26.415 / Height: 600 m
Average Speed Today / Total: 12 kmh / 8 kmh
Total Distance Today / Total: 199 km / 1373 km (distance travelled)
Climb Meters Flying / Hiking Today: 76% / 24% - 10550m / 3360m
Climb Meters Flying / Hiking Total: 62% / 38% - 56870m / 34870m
Flying / Hiking: 73% / 27% - 997km / 376km
Flying / Hiking / Resting Time Today: 26% / 43% / 31% - 5,30h / 8,78h / 6,40h
Flying / Hiking / Resting Time Total: 19% / 39% / 43% - 42,12h / 86,87h / 96,08h
Avg. Activity Time per Day: 13,75h
Avg. Resting Time per Day: 10,25h
Avg. Resting Time per Night (21:00-8.00): 7,42h
Distance From Start / Finish : 815 km / 3 KM (direct line via waypoints)
Est. Arrival Time: 28.07.2009 21:07:03 (UTC: 28.07.2009 19:07:03)
Pilot: Christian Maurer
Assistant: Thomas Theurillat
Last Update: 28.07.2009 20:28:00 (UTC: 28.07.2009 18:28:00)
Lat / Long [dd mm.mmmm]: N43° 46.025 / E007° 26.415 / Height: 600 m
Average Speed Today / Total: 12 kmh / 8 kmh
Total Distance Today / Total: 199 km / 1373 km (distance travelled)
Climb Meters Flying / Hiking Today: 76% / 24% - 10550m / 3360m
Climb Meters Flying / Hiking Total: 62% / 38% - 56870m / 34870m
Flying / Hiking: 73% / 27% - 997km / 376km
Flying / Hiking / Resting Time Today: 26% / 43% / 31% - 5,30h / 8,78h / 6,40h
Flying / Hiking / Resting Time Total: 19% / 39% / 43% - 42,12h / 86,87h / 96,08h
Avg. Activity Time per Day: 13,75h
Avg. Resting Time per Day: 10,25h
Avg. Resting Time per Night (21:00-8.00): 7,42h
Distance From Start / Finish : 815 km / 3 KM (direct line via waypoints)
Est. Arrival Time: 28.07.2009 21:07:03 (UTC: 28.07.2009 19:07:03)
Balquidder to Strathbraan - Sat 25th July 2009
So I went to balquidder with bob g and trias and tim j.
Very nice looking sky but early inversion(?) at 850 metres and nw upper winds persisting later than we thought site made flying the south facing ridges tricky. After launching about half 12 both sides of the glen were explored by the others.
Cloud base was over 1600m at about half 3 - the best bit was a climb out from glen almond in a strong thermal pointed out by a curious peregrine
Very nice looking sky but early inversion(?) at 850 metres and nw upper winds persisting later than we thought site made flying the south facing ridges tricky. After launching about half 12 both sides of the glen were explored by the others.
trias boating about
anemones
trias above take off
gliding east along loch voil
Staying in a thermal was like chasing a dog that doesn't want to be caught today.... 2 turns in the core thinking "ah ha, got you!" before the next turn thinking "where's it gone?!?"
I landed only 10k down the valley after sticking with the south facing side of the valley but after a sweat up and a relaunch i hit glen ogle just as the upper winds were changing to west and had a nice 2nd flight almost getting to dunkeld (about 50k).
I landed only 10k down the valley after sticking with the south facing side of the valley but after a sweat up and a relaunch i hit glen ogle just as the upper winds were changing to west and had a nice 2nd flight almost getting to dunkeld (about 50k).
view looking back to the west from my landing point above balquidder village
lochearnhead highland games
base near ben chonzie
happy to be at base after nearly two hours of effort
auchnafree farm in glen almond, peregrine showed me the way up on the hillside past the farm
crossing loch freuchie
looking back to glen lochan with glen almond behind
decked by the shadows in strathbraan
Random Pakistan Road Signs
After 4 weeks in the Northern Areas of Pakistan I am back after the most awesome flying of my life - Pakistan is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Some pics are here on Brad's blog - will add some more in a while.
http://teamblog.flyozone.com/bradsander/2009/05/28/37/#comment-13
http://teamblog.flyozone.com/bradsander/2009/05/28/37/#comment-13
The nice trip Brad, Matt, Oriol and Patrick did out and return from Karimabad to near Gilgit a couple of days before I arrived is here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1BsvgcJcNw
Here are some random road signs I saw in quick succession while jammed in a Toyota Hiace minivan with at least 18 others on a 7hr drive back from a good flight - I think they give a good flavour of Pakistan! Northern Areas is a very stable and safe place to visit. We had warm welcomes and felt comfortable everywhere.
READ TO LIVE (in the blue livery of a local school)
BLIND THE SHOOTERS! (scrawled on a rock)
LIVE TO READ (the other side of the school)
TRUE FRIENDLINESS IS MAKING A FRIEND OF YOUR ENEMY (sticker on the back of a truck)
ISRAIL AND USA ARE THE TRUE TERRORISTS! (graffiti painted on a wall)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1BsvgcJcNw
Here are some random road signs I saw in quick succession while jammed in a Toyota Hiace minivan with at least 18 others on a 7hr drive back from a good flight - I think they give a good flavour of Pakistan! Northern Areas is a very stable and safe place to visit. We had warm welcomes and felt comfortable everywhere.
READ TO LIVE (in the blue livery of a local school)
BLIND THE SHOOTERS! (scrawled on a rock)
LIVE TO READ (the other side of the school)
TRUE FRIENDLINESS IS MAKING A FRIEND OF YOUR ENEMY (sticker on the back of a truck)
ISRAIL AND USA ARE THE TRUE TERRORISTS! (graffiti painted on a wall)
Brigsteer to Kendal - 2nd May 2009
Too windy again in Scotland and with david t making the big push all the way s to the long mynd, tim j and myself headed for brigsteer at the s end of the lake district in the hope that winds would be light enough there.
This looked hopeful as we passed the solway with winds still howling and it wasn't much better when we got to brigsteer where we arrived minutes before the aberdeen crew (matt, jules, scott, adrian).
After some banter with local pilot ben k we reluctantly got our wings out and prepared to launch in a lull. Brigsteer is a small ridge facing sw just to the sw of Kendal. Ben k went first and got a good cycle as he pointed into wind and went up nicely and it wasn't long before he selected a thermal and left.
Encouraged by this Jules was next to select a lull and also hit a good cycle managing to climb steadily out from launch although in the gusts during thermals he was going steadily backwards before regaining forward speed and getting high above the hill in front before getting what looked like a good climb out
I am trying to train myself not to fly in strong winds and partly because of this I took about an hour to take off after jules waiting and trying to judge the length and frequency of the lulls. But eventually i could bear it no longer and went for it to find much different air than the other two. Wind was still strong but not outrageous at maybe 25+k but there was very little lift almost as if the sea air (sea visible only 10 for 15k away) was now dominating and I spent a long half hour trying to scope some decent lift at or below take off height. This low altitude meant i couldn't explore the bit of the site that looked the best and that local pilot ed c had highlighted as the best.
Eventually some better bits came through and i was able to get 3 turns in taking me up to the top of the ridge before pushing forward and getting back into the same thermal further forward and going with it in a good 1.5m/s climb. I didn't have a great deal of height when going over the back but it felt good and i kept climbing as i drifted towards kendal.
As i got to the town i lost the thermal and from there it was a swift 3.5m/s descent to a farm on the small hills just past the town. Hey ho. Never bad to be down safe on days like this.
Jules and ben did 40-50k each going n of whitestones and on towards wardcop. Both reported wind increasing and landing going backwards...
Here are a few pics of the take off
ben gets ready to go
low base
This looked hopeful as we passed the solway with winds still howling and it wasn't much better when we got to brigsteer where we arrived minutes before the aberdeen crew (matt, jules, scott, adrian).
After some banter with local pilot ben k we reluctantly got our wings out and prepared to launch in a lull. Brigsteer is a small ridge facing sw just to the sw of Kendal. Ben k went first and got a good cycle as he pointed into wind and went up nicely and it wasn't long before he selected a thermal and left.
Encouraged by this Jules was next to select a lull and also hit a good cycle managing to climb steadily out from launch although in the gusts during thermals he was going steadily backwards before regaining forward speed and getting high above the hill in front before getting what looked like a good climb out
I am trying to train myself not to fly in strong winds and partly because of this I took about an hour to take off after jules waiting and trying to judge the length and frequency of the lulls. But eventually i could bear it no longer and went for it to find much different air than the other two. Wind was still strong but not outrageous at maybe 25+k but there was very little lift almost as if the sea air (sea visible only 10 for 15k away) was now dominating and I spent a long half hour trying to scope some decent lift at or below take off height. This low altitude meant i couldn't explore the bit of the site that looked the best and that local pilot ed c had highlighted as the best.
Eventually some better bits came through and i was able to get 3 turns in taking me up to the top of the ridge before pushing forward and getting back into the same thermal further forward and going with it in a good 1.5m/s climb. I didn't have a great deal of height when going over the back but it felt good and i kept climbing as i drifted towards kendal.
As i got to the town i lost the thermal and from there it was a swift 3.5m/s descent to a farm on the small hills just past the town. Hey ho. Never bad to be down safe on days like this.
Jules and ben did 40-50k each going n of whitestones and on towards wardcop. Both reported wind increasing and landing going backwards...
Here are a few pics of the take off
 |
| From 2009_05_02 brigsteer |
ben gets ready to go
 |
| From 2009_05_02 brigsteer |
low base
 |
| From 2009_05_02 brigsteer |
Blackmount - 25th April 2009
A bad forecast (low pressure, warm sector) with a big risk of over development but plenty sun tempted me, paul m and bob g up to black mount near glen coe. I had a total lack of psyche for flying and was content to let the others have several attempts to stay up in light thermic air on the e face of black mount (winds were getting pulled all directions by large clouds). Clouds were big in places already and there seemed to be plenty of mid-level instability.
As I set up after 40 minutes of sunbathing a huge gust came up the s face of black mount which made me think about launching that way but after standing with the glider above my head facing e to feel the air for a bit i took off and followed the wind round the hill - it was now blowing steadily up the n face!
Bob and i got some height and he made the move over the back at the right time while my lack of psyche continued and i landed down near the car park with the burger vans and the piper overlooking loch tulla. Quite happy to be on the ground i avoided the road and tramped the few k back to take off via deer tracks to find a rather red faced paul who had locked his car keys in his boot!
Only one thing to do! Hitch to meet bob g at the pub in bridge of orchy leaving paul to wait in the rain for the AA man. It was very pleasant sitting on the verandah with a beer listening to bob's stories of the 12m/s thermal he left after deciding conditions were a bit much!
typical warm sector clouds
gonna go bang sometime...
bob overdosed on two half pints as we waited for paul and had to have a senior moment in the car on the way back...
As I set up after 40 minutes of sunbathing a huge gust came up the s face of black mount which made me think about launching that way but after standing with the glider above my head facing e to feel the air for a bit i took off and followed the wind round the hill - it was now blowing steadily up the n face!
Bob and i got some height and he made the move over the back at the right time while my lack of psyche continued and i landed down near the car park with the burger vans and the piper overlooking loch tulla. Quite happy to be on the ground i avoided the road and tramped the few k back to take off via deer tracks to find a rather red faced paul who had locked his car keys in his boot!
Only one thing to do! Hitch to meet bob g at the pub in bridge of orchy leaving paul to wait in the rain for the AA man. It was very pleasant sitting on the verandah with a beer listening to bob's stories of the 12m/s thermal he left after deciding conditions were a bit much!
typical warm sector clouds
gonna go bang sometime...
bob overdosed on two half pints as we waited for paul and had to have a senior moment in the car on the way back...
Ben Lawers to Glenshee - 19th April 2009
First of all, hats off to Julian for flight of the year in Scotland (again!). As he said on the phone from the pub where he was clearly several beers merry "we flew into Knoydart [half day walk out if you are lucky] and then we flew out again!". A big plus for RASP which predicted the best thermals for that area and a brilliant flight. Luckiest pilot i know!
We followed the hordes down from glencoe to ben lawers and after an hours walk up I spent at least 25 minutes sorting out the bracken clusterfuck that i had collected the day before in my lines. The thin lines on the xc2 love to tangle...
sorting out my lines in a sheltered spot as trias and another glider explore the south bowls
david t up and away
Meanwhile Trias was up and away with a few tip rustles and andy b scared the crap out of me flying the lee side of the spur and taking both hands off to get into his harness when only 10m up... David T was up as well and i chuckled as he rose up to my level from a take off lower on the spur exclaiming "f**king hell" as he rose erratically in the slightly leeside air (high level air was coming in from WNW as shown by the cracking cloud on the NW side of the mountain but at low levels the wind was WSW)
I waited for a good thermal and when i felt a cycle coming up the Tarmachan side of the spur launched and climbed out immediately without having to go near the anabatic lee side flow in the sunny bowls on the SSE face of the spur.
Apparently others were not enjoying the sporty conditions and there was radio chat to this effect which prevented some taking off. Ha! one of the advantages of not having a radio! I guess I wasnt in the same air as some because none of it felt even uncomfortable to me.... A push forward after the first climb got me into a climb above chris who had just taken off just after me and soon we got to base and headed downwind almost due west taking a little of the white room on the way.
I used the white room to push n over the main ridge and this got me a much better line than chris but it didnt hold him back much as he found a good one from lowish over a lee bowl a glide later to get back in the game. That put us both at base under a good cloud peeking out over the wide valley at the e end of loch tay which heads past the village of Kenmore.
Chris was in pootle mode not wanting to venture into the huge blue hole but i was impatient and went for it unaware that david t (as i found later from his igc file) had gone a similar route and we both got a weak climb off the bump in the middle of the valley (drummond hill) just past kenmore.
Disgusted at my move into the blue, chris was eventually forced into a route along the high ground on the n side of the valley and he found a bit of lift as he got level with me. Having climbed a bit i now had enough height to make a move a couple of k n to connect with the same spot and it was one of those unfair ones where i was high enough to get up but chris was low in the disorganised stuff and couldn't climb.
From there I made a bold move over the high ground covered in forestry to the n of weem hill - it was a necessary step to get back to the clouds and I eventually got a slow but good climb off the convergence cloud over farragon hill (slightly nw met wind meeting southerly anabatic). By this time i was aware of an inversion around 900m and a very distinct shear layer between the more northerly upper level winds and the lower winds at maybe 1200m.
It was definitely slow down and circle mode as the climbs were weak and it was impossible (for me) to stay in the same core through the various layers. Drift was as low as 10kph at times now in spite of being 20+ at take off but by being patient I had good height to cross the a9 over pitlochry. Although i was very tempted to push nw to a great cloud over ben vrackie (thats what decked david t) the clouds were cycling so fast i decided i would be better to head for wisps due e where there was more ground clearance.
Although that worked short term (for the next couple of glides) I got suckered into following wisps more and more se which i eventually realised were not true cumulus but the edge of the sea breeze front. My last glides were approaching the Drumderg windfarm still going due e but the windmills were showing wind on the surface due s and when i got low in the glenshee valley I was pushed north in the sea breeze for a k or so before landing (65k ish)
If only I had pushed NW earlier (would have been tricky... it was quite blue there) i might have been able to connect with the sea breeze convergence at glenshee proper where the air coming up from tbe braemar side meets the southerly flow... and flown over lochnagar.
Next time!
landing spot in glenshee after squeaking over power lines to avoid landing in a sheep field
the remains of the sea breeze front which suckered me too far south
We followed the hordes down from glencoe to ben lawers and after an hours walk up I spent at least 25 minutes sorting out the bracken clusterfuck that i had collected the day before in my lines. The thin lines on the xc2 love to tangle...
sorting out my lines in a sheltered spot as trias and another glider explore the south bowls
david t up and away
Meanwhile Trias was up and away with a few tip rustles and andy b scared the crap out of me flying the lee side of the spur and taking both hands off to get into his harness when only 10m up... David T was up as well and i chuckled as he rose up to my level from a take off lower on the spur exclaiming "f**king hell" as he rose erratically in the slightly leeside air (high level air was coming in from WNW as shown by the cracking cloud on the NW side of the mountain but at low levels the wind was WSW)
I waited for a good thermal and when i felt a cycle coming up the Tarmachan side of the spur launched and climbed out immediately without having to go near the anabatic lee side flow in the sunny bowls on the SSE face of the spur.
Apparently others were not enjoying the sporty conditions and there was radio chat to this effect which prevented some taking off. Ha! one of the advantages of not having a radio! I guess I wasnt in the same air as some because none of it felt even uncomfortable to me.... A push forward after the first climb got me into a climb above chris who had just taken off just after me and soon we got to base and headed downwind almost due west taking a little of the white room on the way.
I used the white room to push n over the main ridge and this got me a much better line than chris but it didnt hold him back much as he found a good one from lowish over a lee bowl a glide later to get back in the game. That put us both at base under a good cloud peeking out over the wide valley at the e end of loch tay which heads past the village of Kenmore.
Chris was in pootle mode not wanting to venture into the huge blue hole but i was impatient and went for it unaware that david t (as i found later from his igc file) had gone a similar route and we both got a weak climb off the bump in the middle of the valley (drummond hill) just past kenmore.
Disgusted at my move into the blue, chris was eventually forced into a route along the high ground on the n side of the valley and he found a bit of lift as he got level with me. Having climbed a bit i now had enough height to make a move a couple of k n to connect with the same spot and it was one of those unfair ones where i was high enough to get up but chris was low in the disorganised stuff and couldn't climb.
From there I made a bold move over the high ground covered in forestry to the n of weem hill - it was a necessary step to get back to the clouds and I eventually got a slow but good climb off the convergence cloud over farragon hill (slightly nw met wind meeting southerly anabatic). By this time i was aware of an inversion around 900m and a very distinct shear layer between the more northerly upper level winds and the lower winds at maybe 1200m.
It was definitely slow down and circle mode as the climbs were weak and it was impossible (for me) to stay in the same core through the various layers. Drift was as low as 10kph at times now in spite of being 20+ at take off but by being patient I had good height to cross the a9 over pitlochry. Although i was very tempted to push nw to a great cloud over ben vrackie (thats what decked david t) the clouds were cycling so fast i decided i would be better to head for wisps due e where there was more ground clearance.
Although that worked short term (for the next couple of glides) I got suckered into following wisps more and more se which i eventually realised were not true cumulus but the edge of the sea breeze front. My last glides were approaching the Drumderg windfarm still going due e but the windmills were showing wind on the surface due s and when i got low in the glenshee valley I was pushed north in the sea breeze for a k or so before landing (65k ish)
If only I had pushed NW earlier (would have been tricky... it was quite blue there) i might have been able to connect with the sea breeze convergence at glenshee proper where the air coming up from tbe braemar side meets the southerly flow... and flown over lochnagar.
Next time!
landing spot in glenshee after squeaking over power lines to avoid landing in a sheep field
the remains of the sea breeze front which suckered me too far south
Ben Toaig to Glencoe - 18th April 2009
More good weather and off to Ben Toaig near Bridge of Orchy for a SE wind predicted with bob g, trias, chris c and andy b.
Good thermals but with climbs going to only just above the peaks limited the early action as we flew across to join a large horde taking off on the se spur of Meall a Mhuridh.
weak looking clouds during the walk up ben toaig
bob g setting up
Eventually we headed down the coe with Al Brown but failed to follow him on a better line to the cloud forming to Meall a Chrulaiste (?) next to the Kingshouse so bob and i bombed near the Devils Elbow path while chris' typically bold move down the n side didnt work either.
From there we walked up and took off again with bob getting a fine climb out from just above my head to a freshly forming cloud street and proceeded to do the out and return along the aonach egach while i bombed again (it was that kind of day) and then walked up in a sweaty rush.
Eventually i laid my wing out at the level where bob had climbed out to see paul m (northumberland) climbing out at the same level as me only to find true dispair as my seemingly nice grassy take off had lots of tiny dry bracken sticks only 5cm long which tangled so badly in my lines that i was unable to take off!
I had to walk down - flying along the aonach eagach remains an unfulfilled ambition!
looking e to meall a chrulaiste and the kingshouse and the street forming due to e winds and strong sun on s faces - the street was even better the other direction along the aonach egach. this grass patch proved impossible to take off from...
Good thermals but with climbs going to only just above the peaks limited the early action as we flew across to join a large horde taking off on the se spur of Meall a Mhuridh.
weak looking clouds during the walk up ben toaig
bob g setting up
Eventually we headed down the coe with Al Brown but failed to follow him on a better line to the cloud forming to Meall a Chrulaiste (?) next to the Kingshouse so bob and i bombed near the Devils Elbow path while chris' typically bold move down the n side didnt work either.
From there we walked up and took off again with bob getting a fine climb out from just above my head to a freshly forming cloud street and proceeded to do the out and return along the aonach egach while i bombed again (it was that kind of day) and then walked up in a sweaty rush.
Eventually i laid my wing out at the level where bob had climbed out to see paul m (northumberland) climbing out at the same level as me only to find true dispair as my seemingly nice grassy take off had lots of tiny dry bracken sticks only 5cm long which tangled so badly in my lines that i was unable to take off!
I had to walk down - flying along the aonach eagach remains an unfulfilled ambition!
looking e to meall a chrulaiste and the kingshouse and the street forming due to e winds and strong sun on s faces - the street was even better the other direction along the aonach egach. this grass patch proved impossible to take off from...
Balquidder - 12th April 2009
A nice day out with a good turn out of Scottish pilots in Balquidder but RASPtable was right and conditions were damper and weaker in the central highlands than further south where the hangies reported the best day at tinto in 25 years.... Good to be in the mountains again after all the Englandshire flying.
After a frustrating hour i finally got to base but flopped over the back for about 10 or 15k. Julian did better with about 40k along to St Fillans past Ben Lawers but we didnt hear yet where Stu and Roj got to... Here are some crap video clips but I suppose they give an impression of the site for those who don't know it
After a frustrating hour i finally got to base but flopped over the back for about 10 or 15k. Julian did better with about 40k along to St Fillans past Ben Lawers but we didnt hear yet where Stu and Roj got to... Here are some crap video clips but I suppose they give an impression of the site for those who don't know it
Whitestones to near Newcastle - 11th April 2009
Yet more good flying doon sooth as Scotland was too windy for the friday and saturday of easter long weekend. i met jules, adrian s and trias in keswick in time to steal some of their chips (ughh.. gravy on chips should be banned) before showing them the secret camping place ... not so secret anymore.
jules breaks camp in the morning
We wanted to go somewhere different than parlick although bobi s was there and said there were upwards of 30 gliders fluffing around in light air.
We ended up at whitestones just off the m6 maybe 30 or 40km n of parlick after some helpful confirmation from kitt r. I missed the chance to move to the next hill s to climb out with jules and after some messing about i eventually climbed out in rough thermals with a blue mantra (dangerous dave) and went for a sinky glide over the complicated terrain behind. I drifted in bouncy zeros for as long as i could before a long sinky glide out onto the flats and a heathery moor which gave some hope. A last, last move sideways got me into a small valley/ravine when i was only a few metres above the level of the surrounding moor. A rock scarp on the far side facing almost into wind and as soon as i got there i knew there was a climb out.
or watch in HD here
The tricky first glide decked jules (twice) but sean and tim j got a bit further as did adrian s. Following my low save the flight got easier with entertaining cloud to cloud flying until a weaker section before the end of the pennine high ground as the day blued out. Patience and endless drifting in zeros got me high at the right time and I was able to make good progress between the better clouds on the flatlands again with base now up to 1800m.
The end of the flight was interesting as the predicted alto cloud sheet over the e side of the country was receding in front of me and a southerly wind (we realised later) was pushing up the east of country to meet my southwesterly creating a beautiful convergence zone along the coast. I was faced with either trying to go north to hexham to avoid newcastle airspace or going east to slot the gap between newcastle and middlesborough. I chose the latter and it was probably the wrong decision esp as i was 10k further north than i should have been.
That evening we headed north again and wild camped near gladhouse reservoir in the borders not far from the moorfoots which as it is a bird reserve was a bit noisy. During the night we had oyster catcher, curlew, snipe, peewits, owls and in the morning the geese, blackheaded gulls, various duck, woodpecker and the skylarks joined in.
jules objects to me "accidentally" setting off the car alarm in the morning
another frosty night snug in bivvy bag
gladhouse morning
jules breaks camp in the morning
We wanted to go somewhere different than parlick although bobi s was there and said there were upwards of 30 gliders fluffing around in light air.
We ended up at whitestones just off the m6 maybe 30 or 40km n of parlick after some helpful confirmation from kitt r. I missed the chance to move to the next hill s to climb out with jules and after some messing about i eventually climbed out in rough thermals with a blue mantra (dangerous dave) and went for a sinky glide over the complicated terrain behind. I drifted in bouncy zeros for as long as i could before a long sinky glide out onto the flats and a heathery moor which gave some hope. A last, last move sideways got me into a small valley/ravine when i was only a few metres above the level of the surrounding moor. A rock scarp on the far side facing almost into wind and as soon as i got there i knew there was a climb out.
or watch in HD here
The tricky first glide decked jules (twice) but sean and tim j got a bit further as did adrian s. Following my low save the flight got easier with entertaining cloud to cloud flying until a weaker section before the end of the pennine high ground as the day blued out. Patience and endless drifting in zeros got me high at the right time and I was able to make good progress between the better clouds on the flatlands again with base now up to 1800m.
The end of the flight was interesting as the predicted alto cloud sheet over the e side of the country was receding in front of me and a southerly wind (we realised later) was pushing up the east of country to meet my southwesterly creating a beautiful convergence zone along the coast. I was faced with either trying to go north to hexham to avoid newcastle airspace or going east to slot the gap between newcastle and middlesborough. I chose the latter and it was probably the wrong decision esp as i was 10k further north than i should have been.
That evening we headed north again and wild camped near gladhouse reservoir in the borders not far from the moorfoots which as it is a bird reserve was a bit noisy. During the night we had oyster catcher, curlew, snipe, peewits, owls and in the morning the geese, blackheaded gulls, various duck, woodpecker and the skylarks joined in.
jules objects to me "accidentally" setting off the car alarm in the morning
another frosty night snug in bivvy bag
gladhouse morning
Parlick to Kettleburn - 5th April 2009
Well one week on from our first trip s and the scottish horde found another forecast with winds too high in Scotland but really nice post cold frontal conditions in the north of England.
After picking up a demo harness from chris s (a light pod at only 3.5kg ava x-alps) I camped with chris c at a lovely wild camping spot in the Lakes (right beside the car this time). The moon was only half full but it was so bright that it kept me awake for several hours. We walked up from our camp site in the frosty morning light to some awesome views of the lakes and my 2.5 seconds under the local waterfall sufficed for a rather bracing morning wash.
Jules, Trias, Paolo and Scott came down from Aberdeen after staying in Biggar overnight and after meeting up at Shap there was the usual "oh shit we are late" dash down the motorway to Parlick again.
As we walked up at about 12 we could already see the first gaggle of about 6 gliders heading over the back but it was heartening to see steve e and marra were also late. When we got in the air there was an extended shadowy period and nobody was getting much height. The air was buoyant though and long glides out front to look for thermals were the order of the day. Gradually a sunnier period came along and i just managed to stop myself leaving with chris c in a reasonable thermal before the sun arrived and hence found myself in good position to join steve e and marra who were climbing well out front in the first of the sun.
Soon i was committed over the back but the lowest of the three but we all found individual bitty climbs coming from the heathery bowls for the first few k with steve e doing a lot of pimping above me and marra.
On the first proper glide I was confused to see steve e and marra heading s of downwind to an open valley well to the sunny side of what looked like a nice cloud over the high ground and kept to my own line for a bit but heavy sink persuaded me that they knew something i didn't and i scuttled sideways to where they were now maintaining in zeros in the valley which looked like a distinct improvement over my 3.5m/s down. In retrospect, base was still low that early in the day and it may have just been ground clearance they were going for.
Now well below the other two i was forced to run downwind over down going terrain towards a reservoir (same reservoir in pics from last week) and was relieved to pick out a nice core which boosted me up to the other two but not before they had spotted me and pimped again.
Even the strong cores were weakening and spreading out as they approached base and I've noticed before that I am rubbish at climbing in weak stuff. My temptation to bank it up in the surges you get in a wide core or a series of linked weak cores doesn't work so well and the energy conversion of steve's awesome 7.5 (?) aspect ratio comp wing and the wide flat circles he was flying were leaving me for dead in the top few hundred metres.
The next climb was straight forward over a huge felled area of forestry on a col at the end of the valley leading up from the reservoir and finally I was up level with steve. It was marra's turn to be low as we glided on towards Ingleton and again i was confused by the messing about (perhaps as steve e waited for marra) as if on my own I would have blasted straight on for the next cloud over the high ground.
Unfortunately I missed the next good climb that steve got - he got ahead after finding a lifty line along the back end of a cloud well below base while I was distracted by working a weak thermal and keeping an eye on marra below. That left me with a long glide over high ground in sink towards hawkswick (a popular dales takeoff) and i ended up diving over the back of it in wind that was now about trim speed or just above to try and catch marra climbing in the next lee/valley. However, that was a bit of an optimistic move considering the distance i was below him and the wind strength and I ended up pinned on the next ridge leading up to Great Whernside above the village of Kettleburn. After an uncomfortable 10 or 15 minutes trying to climb out in very rough air (big surges and 90 degree yaws at times) which was possibly a bit of mild downgoing wave from the ridge in front. Wind speed was more than trim speed during the gusts and soon I decided now or never and went with a rough one but was unable to get more than a few partially lifty turns in before the hillside climbed to meet my ineffective efforts and I landed going backwards up the gentle slope pockmarked with hundreds of 5m diameter craters which I decided might be old mine workings.
So, a bit relieved to be down safe but rather unsatisfied with the end result (50k). Well done trias (75k) and jules (70k) who got away a bit later from take off but ended up several valleys further n and to marra (80k) and steve e (114k) who threaded the danger area and the middlesborough and newcastle airspaces perfectly.
Overall the flight was frustrating as i had learned the week before the importance of being high as you approach the end of high ground and also frustrating as i felt i had followed the other guys rather than flown my own flight. On the other hand it was good to fly with two top pilots and reviewing the flight in SeeYou against steve e's tracklog i didn't do a whole lot wrong.
Retrieve was entertaining as dave s (a local dales pilot) picked me up and then responded to a desperate plea by ali g (for it was he) and turned round and drove me 10 miles back at Ali's car back at Hawkswick. I then drove his chip oil powered diesel to Sedgefield between Durham and Middlesborough and he returned the favour by taking me past his home in Hexham and on to Carlisle where i caught up with chris c and my own car again. Home by 10 so not too bad.
Julian's write up is here
Track log is here
After picking up a demo harness from chris s (a light pod at only 3.5kg ava x-alps) I camped with chris c at a lovely wild camping spot in the Lakes (right beside the car this time). The moon was only half full but it was so bright that it kept me awake for several hours. We walked up from our camp site in the frosty morning light to some awesome views of the lakes and my 2.5 seconds under the local waterfall sufficed for a rather bracing morning wash.
Jules, Trias, Paolo and Scott came down from Aberdeen after staying in Biggar overnight and after meeting up at Shap there was the usual "oh shit we are late" dash down the motorway to Parlick again.
As we walked up at about 12 we could already see the first gaggle of about 6 gliders heading over the back but it was heartening to see steve e and marra were also late. When we got in the air there was an extended shadowy period and nobody was getting much height. The air was buoyant though and long glides out front to look for thermals were the order of the day. Gradually a sunnier period came along and i just managed to stop myself leaving with chris c in a reasonable thermal before the sun arrived and hence found myself in good position to join steve e and marra who were climbing well out front in the first of the sun.
Soon i was committed over the back but the lowest of the three but we all found individual bitty climbs coming from the heathery bowls for the first few k with steve e doing a lot of pimping above me and marra.
On the first proper glide I was confused to see steve e and marra heading s of downwind to an open valley well to the sunny side of what looked like a nice cloud over the high ground and kept to my own line for a bit but heavy sink persuaded me that they knew something i didn't and i scuttled sideways to where they were now maintaining in zeros in the valley which looked like a distinct improvement over my 3.5m/s down. In retrospect, base was still low that early in the day and it may have just been ground clearance they were going for.
Now well below the other two i was forced to run downwind over down going terrain towards a reservoir (same reservoir in pics from last week) and was relieved to pick out a nice core which boosted me up to the other two but not before they had spotted me and pimped again.
Even the strong cores were weakening and spreading out as they approached base and I've noticed before that I am rubbish at climbing in weak stuff. My temptation to bank it up in the surges you get in a wide core or a series of linked weak cores doesn't work so well and the energy conversion of steve's awesome 7.5 (?) aspect ratio comp wing and the wide flat circles he was flying were leaving me for dead in the top few hundred metres.
The next climb was straight forward over a huge felled area of forestry on a col at the end of the valley leading up from the reservoir and finally I was up level with steve. It was marra's turn to be low as we glided on towards Ingleton and again i was confused by the messing about (perhaps as steve e waited for marra) as if on my own I would have blasted straight on for the next cloud over the high ground.
Unfortunately I missed the next good climb that steve got - he got ahead after finding a lifty line along the back end of a cloud well below base while I was distracted by working a weak thermal and keeping an eye on marra below. That left me with a long glide over high ground in sink towards hawkswick (a popular dales takeoff) and i ended up diving over the back of it in wind that was now about trim speed or just above to try and catch marra climbing in the next lee/valley. However, that was a bit of an optimistic move considering the distance i was below him and the wind strength and I ended up pinned on the next ridge leading up to Great Whernside above the village of Kettleburn. After an uncomfortable 10 or 15 minutes trying to climb out in very rough air (big surges and 90 degree yaws at times) which was possibly a bit of mild downgoing wave from the ridge in front. Wind speed was more than trim speed during the gusts and soon I decided now or never and went with a rough one but was unable to get more than a few partially lifty turns in before the hillside climbed to meet my ineffective efforts and I landed going backwards up the gentle slope pockmarked with hundreds of 5m diameter craters which I decided might be old mine workings.
So, a bit relieved to be down safe but rather unsatisfied with the end result (50k). Well done trias (75k) and jules (70k) who got away a bit later from take off but ended up several valleys further n and to marra (80k) and steve e (114k) who threaded the danger area and the middlesborough and newcastle airspaces perfectly.
Overall the flight was frustrating as i had learned the week before the importance of being high as you approach the end of high ground and also frustrating as i felt i had followed the other guys rather than flown my own flight. On the other hand it was good to fly with two top pilots and reviewing the flight in SeeYou against steve e's tracklog i didn't do a whole lot wrong.
Retrieve was entertaining as dave s (a local dales pilot) picked me up and then responded to a desperate plea by ali g (for it was he) and turned round and drove me 10 miles back at Ali's car back at Hawkswick. I then drove his chip oil powered diesel to Sedgefield between Durham and Middlesborough and he returned the favour by taking me past his home in Hexham and on to Carlisle where i caught up with chris c and my own car again. Home by 10 so not too bad.
Julian's write up is here
Track log is here
Parlick to Leyburn 29th Mar 2009
Trias and I camped on top of Clough Head on Saturday night. The sky was amazingly clear and it was pretty cold at maybe -5C. Sunday dawned cold and clear and the views of Blencathra in the morning light were spectacular but after the largest hot chocolate Kendal could offer we were warmed up again and thinking about where to go.
looking n to Blencathra at 7am or was it 6am - the clocks had just changed!
Site choice was difficult as we didn't know where any were but a few phone calls later we had settled on Parlick near Lancaster as being far enough s to not be too windy (although david t was not convinced) and far enough w to allow for a long flight before getting to the complicated airspace on the e side of the yorkshire dales. David was far to the S (peak district) and heading further s (Long Mynd) which meant my copy his airspace map plan was not working out. I did ask the "what is the airspace like 100k downwind from here?" question of several people at take off but you feel like a bit of a tit asking it in the first place and all the guys who would have known were already in the air.
Jules was the first to notice me getting the first strong climb out of the day and headed my way just when 20 other gliders were trying the other end of the ridge. when my 3 metre climb fizzled (inversion?) still a few hundred metres below base i found some sink and dropped down to join jules in a weaker core that was drifting nicely over the the high ground behind the hill and it was great to circle wing tip to wing tip for the first few k (we both admitted later to quite enjoying leading out in front of all the local pilots).
jules joining the dots
After a few sideways moves to clouds we got established on the mother of all cloud streets where the flying was just too easy. Behind us a big gaggle of about 15 gliders was chasing (trias included?) and there also seemed to be a gaggle on another street 5k to the south.
radio chat indicated another gaggle to the s over the reservoir
As we crossed the flatlands before the start of the Dales Jules pulled ahead a glide or two and i didn't see him again although he was always just ahead. Towards the end of the Dales crossing and thinking of airspace again i waited for a blue gradient and a red gin who were just behind who I assumed were local fliers but in fact, as i found out later, were paolo and scott from Aberdeen. Unfortunately i missed the climb from the last big hill of the Dales and was on the ground not long after just before the A1 (75k) and instead watched Paulo and Scott climb up to an awesome street leading ne. You have to be pretty crap to stuff it up on such an epic day!
paolo and scott climb above my head
awesome street leads downwind to the ne for paolo and scott
Because I was over 1000m for almost the whole flight it did feel like true flatland flying. However, getting a lift back through Hawes in the heart of the Dales didn't feel like flatlands - beautiful country. It was interesting to rely on clouds all the time and not be thinking so much about what ground features they were connected to as this is very different to most of the flying i do. Even though the wind was quite strong (25kph) the air was very smooth through the whole flight and stress levels were pretty much zero. So, less intense compared to mountain flying but still with the subtlety needed for an enjoyable game!
Congratulations to trias on his first 50+km flight in the uk! Retrieve was epic - well done to trias for getting to the car eventually (10pm) and also thanks to local pilot Mike Sumnter from Leyburn who gave me a lift back through the Dales to Ingleton.
Track log for the flight is here.
Scott r's write up for the same day is here.
looking n to Blencathra at 7am or was it 6am - the clocks had just changed!
Site choice was difficult as we didn't know where any were but a few phone calls later we had settled on Parlick near Lancaster as being far enough s to not be too windy (although david t was not convinced) and far enough w to allow for a long flight before getting to the complicated airspace on the e side of the yorkshire dales. David was far to the S (peak district) and heading further s (Long Mynd) which meant my copy his airspace map plan was not working out. I did ask the "what is the airspace like 100k downwind from here?" question of several people at take off but you feel like a bit of a tit asking it in the first place and all the guys who would have known were already in the air.
Jules was the first to notice me getting the first strong climb out of the day and headed my way just when 20 other gliders were trying the other end of the ridge. when my 3 metre climb fizzled (inversion?) still a few hundred metres below base i found some sink and dropped down to join jules in a weaker core that was drifting nicely over the the high ground behind the hill and it was great to circle wing tip to wing tip for the first few k (we both admitted later to quite enjoying leading out in front of all the local pilots).
jules joining the dots
After a few sideways moves to clouds we got established on the mother of all cloud streets where the flying was just too easy. Behind us a big gaggle of about 15 gliders was chasing (trias included?) and there also seemed to be a gaggle on another street 5k to the south.
radio chat indicated another gaggle to the s over the reservoir
As we crossed the flatlands before the start of the Dales Jules pulled ahead a glide or two and i didn't see him again although he was always just ahead. Towards the end of the Dales crossing and thinking of airspace again i waited for a blue gradient and a red gin who were just behind who I assumed were local fliers but in fact, as i found out later, were paolo and scott from Aberdeen. Unfortunately i missed the climb from the last big hill of the Dales and was on the ground not long after just before the A1 (75k) and instead watched Paulo and Scott climb up to an awesome street leading ne. You have to be pretty crap to stuff it up on such an epic day!
paolo and scott climb above my head
awesome street leads downwind to the ne for paolo and scott
Because I was over 1000m for almost the whole flight it did feel like true flatland flying. However, getting a lift back through Hawes in the heart of the Dales didn't feel like flatlands - beautiful country. It was interesting to rely on clouds all the time and not be thinking so much about what ground features they were connected to as this is very different to most of the flying i do. Even though the wind was quite strong (25kph) the air was very smooth through the whole flight and stress levels were pretty much zero. So, less intense compared to mountain flying but still with the subtlety needed for an enjoyable game!
Congratulations to trias on his first 50+km flight in the uk! Retrieve was epic - well done to trias for getting to the car eventually (10pm) and also thanks to local pilot Mike Sumnter from Leyburn who gave me a lift back through the Dales to Ingleton.
Track log for the flight is here.
Scott r's write up for the same day is here.
Ben Leanachan - Braco 21st March 2009
A windy day in the central highlands with <800m base and buoyant frontal air - managed a couple of hours and 40k - ben leanachan - s end glen ample - lochearnhead - near braco.
6/8 cloud initially with some decent sized clouds showing in the gaps. At the bottom of glen ogle i left trias and paul m to their weak thermals leading out over the water decided to try going south first to glen ample - the bluest bit of sky around. i was fortunate to find Ben Our was soarable from right down in the bracken on the s side of the loch (bob g was higher later and not so lucky)
lochearnhead village bottom right (photo by trias)
looking east along loch earn (photo by trias)
The south end of glen ample was a bit stressful as my blue hole filled in - full bar and big ears were needed to keep away from clouds with mountains in them and the venturi between Ben Each and Stuc a Chroin was quite strong and rough.
However, once halfway back up to lochearnhead the flight was enjoyable again and i was able to thermal and soar along to St Fillans before heading SE for a low save in Glen Artney thanks to 3 buzzards and a honking black cloud before a landing a k or two NW of Braco Castle on the edge of Glen Lichorn. I blew the last climb which was a good one and would have probably got me across the A9 and into the Ochil hills.
My max ground speed was 73k so just as well I was on the ground by half one before the wind picked up further. Track log for the flight is here
photo by trias
6/8 cloud initially with some decent sized clouds showing in the gaps. At the bottom of glen ogle i left trias and paul m to their weak thermals leading out over the water decided to try going south first to glen ample - the bluest bit of sky around. i was fortunate to find Ben Our was soarable from right down in the bracken on the s side of the loch (bob g was higher later and not so lucky)
lochearnhead village bottom right (photo by trias) looking east along loch earn (photo by trias)The south end of glen ample was a bit stressful as my blue hole filled in - full bar and big ears were needed to keep away from clouds with mountains in them and the venturi between Ben Each and Stuc a Chroin was quite strong and rough.
However, once halfway back up to lochearnhead the flight was enjoyable again and i was able to thermal and soar along to St Fillans before heading SE for a low save in Glen Artney thanks to 3 buzzards and a honking black cloud before a landing a k or two NW of Braco Castle on the edge of Glen Lichorn. I blew the last climb which was a good one and would have probably got me across the A9 and into the Ochil hills.
My max ground speed was 73k so just as well I was on the ground by half one before the wind picked up further. Track log for the flight is here
photo by trias
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