The Famous Five go thermalling …
Wingbeaters Tommy, Dudley, Rob, Ruth and Graham convened for a late afternoon/evening session at the Bridgend site. Ruth and Graham already heady from a Ranger led tour of the delights of the Ettrick Swamps. What a place and highly recommended.
Evidence of a good breeze and good direction was provided by the surface of the Loch so the intrepid adventurers headed up the steep slope to launch.
All looked promising. Slightly hazy blue cloudless vista perhaps giving hints of the predicted strong inversion. Predictions of strength in the Meteo wind were notably wide of the mark but a good strong Sun uninterrupted in the Sky was providing energy for a regular pulse of gentle and predictable thermals. As the afternoon progressed there were signs of Sea Breeze and a consequent puzzle about direction on launch occasionally.
Much happy flying ensued. Good thermalling experience for the lower airtime crew and a chance to demonstrate some exquisite skills from the more experienced. Tommy’s stylish waga above take off. Dudley’s unruffled silky smooth climbing and boating about. Robs’ ability to appear in the air without needing to concern himself with the effort of actually ascending the hill by foot. Rob then demonstrated his (half man/half Peregrine Falcon) magic skills to swoop and retrieve a dropped and non-responsive phone, barely pausing on the ground after the prize was bagged !
Good landings by all. For me, Dudley deserves a prize for his floating, with his classy exploitation of a little of the restitution as the evening drew in. Still no-one but the birds have ever seen the top of his wing in the air.
Well deserved refreshments were taken in the clubhouse garden to round off a special meet.
