June 2009
Monthly Archive
Monthly Archive
Judith 03 Jun 2009 | : Archery, Flying
We were hopeful that we could get a flight in (and maybe go XC) before the cold front came in from the NE. It was all looking good for Corndon and we set off at 10.30am with cumulus in the sky and a gentle breeze blowing. In preparation, we dropped off a car in Church Stoke to make the retrieve easier and even there it was all looking very good. Downwind of Corndon were cumulus and haze caps galore.
In the 15 minutes it took to drive up to launch, the spreadout had started and there was wall-to-wall cloud upwind. We had a fly anyway, but Geoff got low, while I managed to top land. The air was lumpy and I had a small frontal, just over the rocks, which isn’t really what you want to happen at Corndon.
The sun started to break through the gloom, and there were swifts everywhere, so I took off again and managed to get a bumpy thermal to 850′ ATO which was about 100′ below cloudbase. I considered going with it, but where to? Downwind was a mass of clag and with base only approximately 2600′ AMSL, it didn’t seem worth the effort. I headed back to the front and then couldn’t get down. Lift was everywhere and I narrowly escaped being hit in the face by a rogue swift who turned at the last second. I’ve never come so close to one in flight.
After about 20 minutes I landed – I didn’t really like the air and I was a bit knackered from yesterday. Corndon is worth the effort if it is possible to go XC or if it is a nice evening boat about, but roughish conditions just for the sake of a bit of air time at that site isn’t for me. There’s always another day and another hill.
Geoff had another flight, but we decided to head home and do some work. After looking at the forecast for the next couple of days we changed our mind and went to do some archery instead, since it might be our last chance for a few days, what with possible flying and the predicted rain.
Congrats to Mark’s student on the Hook who successfully top landed and got his CP.
The forecast this morning wasn’t clear at all. The Wales forecast had arrows pointing in every direction, but in north Wales it was going to be NW and RASP said thermal development would be good, getting better the further south you flew. We headed off to Llangollen and got there to find the Pennine Posse, of Cris Miles, Phil Wallbank, Simon Baillie and Mark Wilson already there. What we also found was that it was varying between ENE and NE! We got ready and slowly the wind came on enough to soar and catch thermals. Cris, Mark and another pilot took off and got high and we followed in pursuit. I flew along over the trees and got a thermal to cloudbase over the back. I was on my way, although not with others, who were a little ahead. They were climbing more efficiently than me, but I was content to happily drift up (although not really along) with the thermal. Geoff was still climbing in the Llangollen valley, so I didn’t want to rush off. As I was near cloudbase over the back, Geoff had gone on a glide, but chose a bad line and glided from 3000′ ATO to the ground. He was gutted!
I headed off and could see 5 guys a cloud ahead of me, climbing in line with a brilliant cloud street. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get sucked into Jocky’s ‘wedge of failure’ (see the XC tips for an explanation), so I just ignored them and kept thermalling in the lift I had. I am easily distracted from making my own decisions when other gliders are around me, so I let them get even more headway and then was able to just think about what I was doing, although I did keep an eye out for where they were getting lift/sink.
The drift was negligible and I was thermalling along this really flyable looking ridge, when I realised it was the Gyrn. Doh! At the 20km mark I got low and was then distracted by people chatting to me from Corndon, but I got a thermal off a ridge and this connected me back with the cloud street and I was away again. At 30km saw Simon very, very low and soaring a ridge when he hooked an excellent thermal. I carried on along the cloud street, when it petered out. I had two choices – to glide to his climb, which I would reach low, or carry on down wind to find a ground source. If you can see a sign and don’t have a more clear source/trigger go with the sign, so I headed to Simon. I never found the climb…
So a downwind dash to a village saw me find a boomer, but I was already set up for a landing and it was rough. I would do a 360, have a collapse, recover, chase the thermal, hit the side of it, have a collapse… Needless to say, I lost it and landed, just to see Mark get the thermal instead. Story of my life…
The sky looked fantastic when I landed and I was kicking myself for being patient the whole flight, only to blow it at the first tricky bit. I was convinced that everyone had flown to the coast, and it was only me who landed after 40km. Turns out I wasn’t the only one. Still, the flight taught me loads, but it also illustrated to me how much I need to learn! Maybe tomorrow…
Geoff writes: 3000′ ATO to the ground, without a sniff of a thermal, in spite of flying under the cloud street. Oh well, there’s plenty more days yet.
On a sadder note, we mentioned that on Sunday we saw a glider which had crashed at the Mynd, resulting in a fatality. We have just learned that the person was Mark Smallwood, who was also an LMSC paragliding member. It is always tragic when there is an accident or death, and this is the second in this area within a couple of months. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and on behalf of the LMSC we extend our sincere condolences to them.
Judith 02 Jun 2009 | : Archery
Another hot, gorgeous sunny day, but as usual this year, lots of wind. The trees were moving from the word go and it was obviously blown out even at 8.30am. We fixed my glider, which involved sewing (a strange experience sewing up bits of cell) and changing the line. Then off to archery…