A few years of fun
Deep Play
St Andre-les-Alpes at the end of summer is one of the best places in the world to fly. It was a rare pleasure to spend a week there with Matt, Przemek, Mike, Bob, Ben, Seb, Jonni and Paul before staying on for the British Open the following week. For the first week, we had great conditions and flew 7 XC days in a row with several trips up to St Vincent and back for some. The whole team flew really well. Thanks to Stu for the loan of the Mentor 2 - it took some getting used to but definitely helped gaggle cohesion.
Back on my Enzo 2 just before the comp, I had a lovely XC day out with Guy and Adrian out past Digne and then down to Moustiers at the mouth of the Verdon gorge but I got careless and got flushed on the way home. Racing gliders in St Andre is deep play and it was great fun to learn a bit more about just how good these gliders are at speed in big air. I managed to cross the line first by one second in one task but lost out on the win due to lead out points. It is hard to get many lead out points when you have an appalling start and are in about 90th place one thermal after the start ;-)
After it was all over, we went for a midnight fly down under the harvest full moon and I hit mild valley convergence over the lac and had to work to get down. Ooooaaaawwwoooohhhh!
Back on my Enzo 2 just before the comp, I had a lovely XC day out with Guy and Adrian out past Digne and then down to Moustiers at the mouth of the Verdon gorge but I got careless and got flushed on the way home. Racing gliders in St Andre is deep play and it was great fun to learn a bit more about just how good these gliders are at speed in big air. I managed to cross the line first by one second in one task but lost out on the win due to lead out points. It is hard to get many lead out points when you have an appalling start and are in about 90th place one thermal after the start ;-)
After it was all over, we went for a midnight fly down under the harvest full moon and I hit mild valley convergence over the lac and had to work to get down. Ooooaaaawwwoooohhhh!
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| Bob M on top of Coste Longue on a St V OR trip (Matt saw a wolf trotting along near the summit later) |
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| Adrian above Moustiers with the Verdon Gorge ahead |
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| Me, Ronnie and Adrian. Pic by Lawrie Noctor |
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| Turnpoint 1 on Task 1. Pic by Lawrie Noctor |
La grenouille volant
Funny story from Sunday 14th June... about 10mins after take off, I noticed a small dark ball inside the trailing edge of my glider and was puzzled by what it could be.
After another 10km it started moving!
After 20km he decided he was cold enough (it was probably below zero at base) and wanted to get out even though I was now at 1800m above the ground. But there was no stopping him and he jumped and crawled determinedly through the cell cross bracings to reach the cell opening in the leading edge.
There was a small pause and then the sharknose disgorged a 5cm long frog of the flying variety; he must have stowed away at take off. With his feet splayed out, he looked like a sky diving pro for the first few metres but a collision with one of the middle cascade lines put him in a vicious spin as he disappeared from view.
I hope he made it.
The flying was excellent with climbs up to 5m/s; four of us managed to do 85km out and return flights from Aonach Mor to the E near Dalwhinnie despite the met wind (up to 17kph NE at times),
Track log is here.
Pics below are from Graham Saunders
After another 10km it started moving!
After 20km he decided he was cold enough (it was probably below zero at base) and wanted to get out even though I was now at 1800m above the ground. But there was no stopping him and he jumped and crawled determinedly through the cell cross bracings to reach the cell opening in the leading edge.
There was a small pause and then the sharknose disgorged a 5cm long frog of the flying variety; he must have stowed away at take off. With his feet splayed out, he looked like a sky diving pro for the first few metres but a collision with one of the middle cascade lines put him in a vicious spin as he disappeared from view.
I hope he made it.
The flying was excellent with climbs up to 5m/s; four of us managed to do 85km out and return flights from Aonach Mor to the E near Dalwhinnie despite the met wind (up to 17kph NE at times),
Track log is here.
Pics below are from Graham Saunders
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| Looking W up Loch Eil from near take off, Pic by Graham Saunders |
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| Looking SW at Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis. Pic by Graham Saunders |
Moruisg to Home (Fairburn)
A nice 40km flight with Mark R from Glencarron with an amazing moment just as we were leaving Moruisg to avoid a growing cloud that was starting to rain on us.
A golden eagle joined our glide and then suddenly turned 90 degrees in front of us heading for the shallow back of a deep coire in heavy shade. I would never have chosen that glide. We turned and followed and soon all three were in a smooth 3m/s climb to base :)
Great fun to climb in smooth circles with Mark above Scardroy before managing to land in my Dad's garden in Fairburn.
A slide show is here.
Cluanie to Strath Oykel
A grand day out with friends from Glasgow, Aberdeen, the Lakes and the Pennines. A tired but happy crew met for fish and chips in the sun in Ullapool at the end of the day. Big grins all round.
A slide show is here.
A slide show is here.
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| Jules on his Boomerang 10 with the 5 Sisters of Kintail on the horizon in the centre. |
Glencoe, Glen Etive and Glen Orchy
Great fun to gaggle up with Tony, Mark, Phil W, Barney, Cav, Hugh and Jerome. Four of us managed to get home to close a declared 71km triangle on a day with a bit of wind, 5500ft base and some interesting lee-side flying.
A slide show is here.
A slide show is here.
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| Looking SW down Glen Etive. TP1 horizon right |
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| A key climb out for the day from the lee on the E shore of Loch Etive |
Cluanie to Kintail
The hills NW of Fort William are probably some of the best in the UK for flying. However, they are a fair drive to reach from the main cities and are relatively rarely flown.
Last weekend I met up with Mark, Tony, Iain and Mike for a lovely day starting in a new spot on a hill called Carn nam Feuaich above Loch Cluanie. Despite weak thermals and a rock solid inversion at the same height as the peaks we managed to make progress W towards the Five Sisters of Kintail ridge which I have been wanting to fly along for a while.
A slide show is here.
Track log.
Last weekend I met up with Mark, Tony, Iain and Mike for a lovely day starting in a new spot on a hill called Carn nam Feuaich above Loch Cluanie. Despite weak thermals and a rock solid inversion at the same height as the peaks we managed to make progress W towards the Five Sisters of Kintail ridge which I have been wanting to fly along for a while.
A slide show is here.
Track log.
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| Iain's photo looking N to Aonach Shasuinn. Glen Affric is a couple of hills over the back. |
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| Iain's photo of Tony and me working the first climb with Loch Cluanie below |
Winter sun in Colombia
Colombia is a fascinating country, thriving, vibrant, varied and friendly. At 4 degrees N of the equator, it is blessed with a climate that is ideal for a trip in the middle of a European winter (and almost the same year round). We did a road trip from Bucaramanga in the N down through Medellin, Damasco (one of the prettiest valleys ever and one I would like to go back to) near La Pintada and then on to Ansermanuevo and Roldanillo in the Valle de Cauca. Thanks to Gum for the invite to join a great group from both sides of the pond and a memorable trip.
Here is a slide show of an out and return to the N of Roldanillo.
Below are short videos from Jonni and Thai
Here is a slide show of an out and return to the N of Roldanillo.
Below are short videos from Jonni and Thai
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| Fire thermal - avoid! |
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| Tony Shepherd over Onando |
Sgorr Dhearg Hike and Fly
A memorable day out with Mark R on Beinn a'Bheithir (hill of the thunderbolt). I was nervous at take off just below the summit but the air turned out to be smoother than expected and holes in the cloud layers lined up for us perfectly. My downwind landing with crampons was a bit messy though!
Slide show is here.
Slide show is here.
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