Thr (19.6.) very hot; very high pressure; big inversion/ very stable >> almost no thermals :-(
Eddie made a nice flight with my LeelooX and he rather liked the wing ;-) He has been lucky, as he has been the only one in the morning to catch some thermals and he could even topland. I on the other hand flew afterwards in less than 5mins top to bottom...
 |
| 'Whitter' - Edie's dog |
 |
| Gyrn Moelfre. Pano looking South; LZ in middle of pix |
 |
| Eddie getting ready to launch my LeelooX |
Luckily there has been a flight school present, so we could ride with them to launch. Eddie's second flight (on his own wing) lasted also only a few minutes; he flew then again more with the same result ;-)
Only later in the afternoon the inversion began to break and Eddie made another nice flight. I also made a second flight, but no thermals, just ridge soaring, which became 'boring' after a while...
 |
| Gyrn Moelfre (lower) launch (toplandable) |
 |
| huge LZ |
Later we had dinner at a local inn together with a couple of local pilots. Afterwards I drove to a hotel in Shrewsbury, as Dave (a local instructor and friend of Eddie), had recommended to fly a site called 'Wrekin' the next day - but with a chance of max 50:50 due to wind.
Fri (20.6.) Already when I left the hotel, I could feel that the wind speed was rather fast. I met by 0900 Eddie at the parking for Wrekin; he had already walked up to launch and reported strong wind: barely launchable (but apparently a very nice launch). As the fcst for Saturday looked very bleak, we settled the open accounts while having a cup of tea; I also booked a ferry passage to Calais. Then we said good-bye and I drove to Dover (420km/ 5hrs) with almost no hold-ups (contrary to the opposite direction...) While waiting to embark I had organized a hotel in Calais, so I could start the drive home (about 850km/ 9.5hrs) well rested...
 |
| White cliffs of Dover |
Sat (21.6.) ...already the longest day of the year :-(
Uneventful drive back home, as there have been only a few lorries/ trucks on the road.
Conclusion: of course many would call it a 'write-off' with only 8 flights on 4 sites in 12 days - especially compared to last year (UK'24 blog starts here). But I don't think so, as I feel I have improved my reverse- / cobra-launch technique quite a bit thanks to Eddie's inputs. The thermal flying here is also quite different to what I'm normally used to: with working altitudes of sometimes barely more than100 meters, one has to 'milk' the first available thermal, otherwise it's 'game over' and back up to launch. Also here Eddie has given me valuable inputs/ advice; and anyway: it's fun and very interesting to hang out with him as he started paragliding also in the late 80's and being also an instructor, tandem pilot and 'paraguide' in India (several months each year) he has an very wide range of experience.
Total distance driven: just a little more than 4300km ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment