The forecast looked good and the tide was going out so it was time to ale a trip to the east to Freathy to not only catch up with some of our friends in devon but to hopefully get some hill conversions underway.
There was a good crowd assembled on arrival and in fact a good turn out from Kernow who seemed to make up at least 25 % of those there. With the wind very light indeed we did a site brief and hill soaring brief with Bev P (N.Devon) and Paddy (Falmouth) took the opportunity for a refresh having not been out since leaving us back in the spring!
All done and the guys played with a bit of ground handling as the breeze filed a little but the lift didn't. Bit by bit it improved and soon pilots began to launch. Kaz popped in a demo' take off and Bill N a demo' landing then Paddy was off and away with a warning to keep his eyes out for and increase in the wind as a large cloud lingered out to sea. With Bev on launch it was clearly picking up and the site of a pilot getting a bit of dragging was enough to encourage us to hold fire.
Paddy now well up there headed the advice and headed back for a landing although not quite as quickly as I would have liked as the cloud approached. Still with a little encouragement he came in and did a super landing collapsing the wing nicely just in time. A few minutes later the masses headed on with various degrees of success, some making a few dents and grooves in the field.
We waited for the cloud to pass and in a short interlude Adie popped up to check conditions but soon returned with the advice that it was lively to say the least so we clued it a day after a brief try on the Aska confirmed the wind had now picked up into the high twenties!
A fun day out and nice to see some old friends and some ex students as well. Phil L actually got his glider out and flew it in the UK for the first time doing a fine job in the challenging conditions.
Quote of the day "he has got something in his sack"
No comments :
Post a Comment