Where and when we've been flying
Drinking coffee, eating muesli and checking the weather revealed a fair few sites possible so a text from Dorita to say her and Quinton were off to Broughton with space for me in their hill climbing tonka truck brought the struggle to an obvious conclusion. High noon found me multi-tasking again loading my glider into said truck, putting on the suntan cream and gulping an early lunch.
Well what a mixed bag experience in my first ever 'competition' and first proper thermic flights in the Alps. Wasn't sure what to expect and this was a full-on week of activity, with plenty of opportunity to learn, but also some pretty scary moments along the way: we had four reserves thrown and several helicopter rescues for tree landings in the week, plus some dramatic footage of a Delta collapsing and tumbling through the gaggle, but thankfully no serious injuries. But don't let that put you off trying it - each pilot decides their own safety margins and there is an excellent organising team to provide expert knowledge and support.
A flyable evening. Maybe strong but worth heading out.
Well. That was what I hoped for. Quite a few people showed some interest in heading out.
South Westerly forecast. Strong to start with dropping maybe as the evening went on.
I set my sights on getting to the hill for 18.30. It was probably flyable earlier in the day but had a lot on with work.
Someone said it might be worth going to Glencoe on Saturday. Probably Derek. We'll blame him as a starting point.
I've only been up that way once before. So thought... Why not.
Friday night. Checked the forecast. Westerly. WTF?
Rob's response... It's an adventure. Why not.
Woke up to a beautiful morning and what looked like a steady breeze in Innerleithen, and it looked stronger than the 6mph in the forecast.
I was willing to wait till later on to see if things improved. I then remembered we had an estate car with plenty room so I suggested a family trip to St Marys Loch for a paddle, ice-cream and hopefully a flight.
Headed up Bridgend on Thursday evening as there were rumblings on the Wingbeat email group. No-one about when I walked up but just after six when I had set out and clipped in I saw Jamie arriving at the bottom with Steven.
Left Lockerbie at 6pm ever hopeful that the day was not done and it might be still flyable at bridgend.
Slight breeze at the bottom but no one else about.
