The high pressure continues. The early morning saw a mostly blue sky but with the wind roaring in from the east it was very cold. As always, with the wind in the east, the talk was about wave but the temperature / pressure charts were not encouraging.
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| The hangar looked almost peaceful in the early morning sunshine. |
The wind was strong, certainly 15 knot +. The K8 was once again left safely in the hangar and a single K13 was got ready for a flight to test the conditions. The first flight was flown by myself with Instructor Mike Jardine as my front seat ballast. This flight confirmed what we already suspected. The flying conditions were very rough, with heavy turbulence all over the sky. The approach was best described as challenging.
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| Mike and I ready for our flight to check the weather |
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| Phil looked on knowingly as we prepared for the forst flight |
Unfortunately, this meant that was no chance that we could fly Steve, today's One Day Course candidate who took this in good spirit and will rebook to return soon. The Twin Astir had made a brief appearance at the launchpoint was quickly returned to it's hangar.
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| Visitor Steve will be back soon for his One Day Course |
Was this the end of the flying? No, this was an ideal opportunity to acclimatise our pilots to flying in these conditions. Perhaps, we should spare a thought for Mike Jardine, today's instructor, who made 11 flights in these testing conditions. Life's tough at the top Mike.
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| Henry's view from 2000 feet in the gloomy afternoon sky |
As the day wore on, there was more and more cloud. Eventually this seemed to arrange itself into a line of energy which allowed Henry Ford to soaring for 24 minutes with Rick who had just returned from North Hill. Henry is an experienced pilot from the Mendips club who visits us several times a year.
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| Henry's view to the rear. Scary |
With dreams of the wave that could have been.
Steve Lewis
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