April 2010
Monthly Archive
Friday, 16th April 2010
The forecast was for lighter winds today and cloud clearing to make a sunny (and really good XC) day. It was sunny early on, but very windy and then it clouded over. After some telephony with Mick and Dave T., we decided to wait until the cloud cleared again. It did at lunch time so we rushed out to Corndon. It was far too windy for our liking, but Glyn was up there for hours. As he says: “I’m happy as long as my feet are off the ground.”
We lounged about, occasionally thinking it might be worth getting out of the car when the next gust came through. So we sat through a classic XC sky until the wind dropped rapidly (doesn’t it always) and the sky blued out. Everyone flew, except me. I’m saving myself for tomorrow, when hopefully I don’t feel so wheezy and sniffly. Martin wet himself when his ballast tube came off and he did a funny little dance to get out of the harness and away from the deluge as fast as he could.
Thursday, 15th April 2010
Judith 15 Apr 2010 | : Archery, Flying
My first job this morning was going to be more steam inhaling, but we had no electricity. We called the emergency number (you have to listen to about two minutes of terms and conditions, info, etc. so great emergency line!) and they told us the power would be off until 4.30pm – they were cutting down trees, and we should have been notified. Might as well go out flying then…
We got a message from Pete Cook telling us it was still claggy at Corndon, so we took our time over our cafe breakfast. Once we headed up, the cloud was breaking and the wind seemed perfect. The walk up took me about twice as long as usual, with me wheezing my way up the little slope to the top of the hill.
The usual suspects soon assembled with Martin, Mick and Ian arriving, soon followed by the Barney bus full of DSC and Pennine pilots. We did the usual Corndon thing – someone launched, got up a little, everyone else launched, everyone got low, some top landed, some slope landed and slogged it back up. We did all get into a good thermal (well, it seemed like that at the time), but it petered out/we couldn’t work it and the only one to go with it was Mick, who took it over the back and went XC.
I landed on top, but running the glider forward to launch caused such a prolonged and painful coughing fit – which caused me to vomit – that I decided the day would have to be really, really good for me to make the effort to go XC. Everyone carried on trying and at one point Helen, Mark and Phil all went down and had to slog it back up the hill. Phil and Helen’s effort was rewarded when they hooked the only really decent thermal of the day and went with it. Helen got to Kerry and Phil further. The rest tried and tried, but the drift was too much for the weak thermals. I flew again, but only to land near the car.
We rushed off to try to get to archery on time to be able to see Tom the coach, so he could help me set up my new bow properly. The string is too long and I am using the wrong arrows and I have a list of other adjustments I need to make. There’s always something…
Wednesday, 14th April 2010
Judith 15 Apr 2010 | : Miscellaneous activities
When we went out on Monday night to music night, we took the newly taxed Corsa and on putting the heating on were hit by this disgusting smell – like burning, rotten fur. On the way home we had both windows open, despite the cold, it was so bad. When we got home Tuesday evening, we decided to clear out whatever had died in there. Once we opened the bonnet, we could see where they had nested, a nice cavity near the air intake for the heater. Luckily the inhabitants (rats we think) had gone, but half a bucketful of leaves, old snail shells and faeces remained. After we had cleaned it, Geoff decided to wait with his dinner, he was feeling a bit queasy. I felt really off. I started to have trouble breathing while eating. Next thing, I really couldn’t breathe, my throat was constricting, my face and hands were tingling and losing sensation. A mild version of anaphylactic shock. It subsided after a while, but I had a terrible night. Chest pains and painful coughing fits followed.
So when I woke up this morning I decided to go to the doctor. He examined me and confirmed that all my airways had swollen and were producing protective mucus, so really like having a chest infection but without any of the cold symptoms. So I was a bit ill today. I spent a lot of time with my head under a towel over a steaming bowl of Olbas oil to try to ease my breathing and the pain while coughing. The rest of the time I managed to sit at the computer and do the LMSC newsletter and do a husky voiced recording of two podcasts with Dave Thomas. Just need some bad weather to get them edited and uploaded.
Tuesday, 13th April 2010
Geoff writes: another sunny, but windy, day. After some discussion with Martin and Mick, we wrote off Corndon, because of the wind, and decided to go to Moel y Faen, at the Horseshoe Pass, near Llangollen. We’d never been before, but Mick and Glyn, who also came out, know it well. It seems a nice site, with an old slate quarry in front to provide thermals, but the problem was that the wind wasn’t quite the right direction, and it was also a little strong. The result was pretty rough flights for most of us – including a very big collapse for me when I went a little too close and too low to the quarry – and not a brilliant day – though Glyn did fly for quite a while, as usual. But he’s an ex-skydiver!
The best bit was the tea, jam and scones in the cafe later. One of the nice things about being back in the UK!
See Glyn’s video of Judith flying today.
Monday, 12th April 2010
Geoff writes: well, it was flyable, but it was Corndon, and we didn’t get away, so it was the usual scratchy Corndon day, with ourselves, Martin, Graeme, and a visitor called Helen (and later David turned up). The day had started off cloudy, but began to clear about lunchtime, and cumulus started to form. But it never really worked at Corndon, and what thermals there were, were very broken. Still, we flew, better than nothing! And the weather was a lot nicer than the Catalunya forecast, which was just giving rain everywhere. April isn’t the best month there, which is part of the reason we tend to leave when we do.
Sunday, 11th April 2010
Geoff 11 Apr 2010 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
Geoff writes: a stronger forecast today, but still east, or ENE. It was stronger further south, so we decided to go local, rather than the Malverns, and try Corndon. As we drove up, some people were flying, but whilst we were walking to the front it started to pick up. We thought it was likely to stay strong, though some others thought it might drop off early afternoon. After a little while, we decided to go with what we thought – the sky wasn’t looking that good anyway and was full of wave – and canned it, going home via Michaela’s for a cup of tea, to do some house jobs.
Saturday, 10th April 2010
Today looked a better day for the Malverns than Corndon, with higher cloudbase and better thermal strength. When we got there we discovered that half the XC flying population of northern England seemed to agree. It was packed, with locals, visitors and the BCC comp there too. It was clear that it wouldn’t be too early a day, since there was high cloud around, although people were climbing out and getting high from the start. The problem seemed to be where to go once you left the ridge.
I did some chatting and then got ready to launch when the first cumulus started forming out front. Helen, Simon and others managed to climb out in a thermal before me, so I waited for the next cycle. Geoff launched, but forgot to turn his vario on, and by the time he had done fiddling with it he was below ridge height and he had to get a low save to get up and high. I tried to get into his thermal, but it was weak, so only took me about 500ATO. However, someone else’s temporary misfortune is often opportunity for others and Nick Le Gras had nearly gone down, but hit a boomer which I jumped into. It took us high, but not quite to base. I lead out to the next cloud, which was decaying as I got there, but Nick, Geoff and Dave Thomas had followed me, so we had to keep going to the next thermal source. Dave found it over a big area of polytunnels. Nick and I got into it too, but Geoff got there just a bit too low and landed. Martin had seen us climbing and hot footed it over, but hit strong sink and also didn’t make the thermal. Geoff gave him a masterclass in ride-hustling and they got a lift up to the hill for another go!
Our little gaggle caught up with Helen and Simon’s gaggle and we merged to form an even bigger group. As the flight continued, some split off or went for other climbs, so I ended up with Nick, Dave, Ben Friedland, Mick Guppy and a few others I didn’t recognise. We got a really weak climb which we worked in a left hand turn. I can turn the Vega left (unlike the Aspen), but prefer to turn right, especially in really light, scratchy, center-or-sink thermals. I was blundering about and decided I was probably more hindrance than help to the others, so I decided to head for the next cloud. I was sure I could make it, but as I got closer the cloud started decaying and had gone by the time I got there. Damn! I did get a blip and as I turned I realised that Nick and another person had followed me.
My plan B was to fly over a polytunnel field. It didn’t work. Then I flew over some dark plowed fields. They didn’t work. Then I flew to a tractor which was plowing a field. Most unfortunately, he stopped plowing to watch me fly. So that failed as well. However, there was a buzzard thermalling just beyond the field so I headed to him. He did one turn, flew off, then came back and did another. It was then that I realised he was just a youngster and was just testing out how it all works. And at that point I landed for 25km. Too impetuous again. Lots of lessons again, some of which I will try to add to the XC tips later.
And thanks to Gill for the great retrieve.
See Mick Guppy’s video of our flight.