Mercury sunday30 January

arrived at 11.30 blue sky,sunshine,blowing a gale several coffees and a walk later returned to find wind had subsided Grant and i rigged took off and cruised loverly buoyant air once away from the shadows Pete tried the PG but didn't really like it and might yet change to a HG Tim King

Mercury

Sent from my iPhoneLovely day on Mercury, thermic as well. Nice to be going round in circles again!

Very very very very very cold...

James

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Westbury Monday Jan 24.

The three optimistic HG pilots arrived at Westbury by 10.30am to find a very light WNW. Undeterred they rigged & waited for conditions to improve.
PG pilots indicated that conditions were soarable & at 1250hrs the mighty Atos went airborne & quickly rose above the PGs at about 200ft ato!
Alan & Ian drew straws to see who would follow as there were about 6 PGs airborne. Alan lost & joined me shortly followed by Ian. (assisted by Chris Jones who had left his Atos at home & was tempting fate by flying his PG).
Conditions remained soarable albeit very light. The whole ridge was working with light thermal.(please read 0-1up!)
Alan was the first to top land followed by Ian. The conditions permitted a low approach-they didn't have the height to try anything else. Both landings were uneventful.
After 1hr 40mins of endlessly circling to maintain between 100-450ft ato, my heated socks were getting cold & it was time to land.
A pleasant afternoon at Westbury & on the way home by 4pm.

have fun

Wayne

Harting Down 21st January

First flight of the new year James, Nev , Grant ,Jamie Ian ,and me at harting -so max no of gliders and Brian you may spectate?  northerly breeze 15mph Take off over the electric fence (is that on the risk assessment?) little lift to start but improved as cloud lifted from 100 ato to about 450 ato flew down ridge to cocking gap but not enough height to cross Grant and Jamie joined me for a short while until the rain started and we retreated back to take off landing with wet wings Spring must be on its way soon Tim King

Harting Thursday Jan 20th.

Yesterday Thursday Jan 20th saw 3 optimistic HG pilots at Harting where they were confronted by low cloud & a 10mph NNE.

At 1250 the Atos went airborne & headed to a bowl 200meters to the east where the nat trust were working & burning! A few beats along the ridge at 50-75ft ato convinced me to head for the bowl at Beacon where I arrived & disappeared from view! The air was damp ,lumpy & very light lift with cloudbase about 400ft ato!

However after 25mins sufficient height was gained (200ft ato) to fly back & show Alan & Ian how to do a top landing!

An enjoyable & challenging flight with a little bit of excitement when a Chinook flew towards me at Beacon. A high banked 360 to show my presence & the pilot banked right, desended to ridge height & flew up the valley between Beacon & take-off!

Both Alan & Ian enjoyed exended top to bottoms.

For the info of PG pilots:- Chinooks frequently fly in this area & the pilots may give you a low flying display at a safe distance! Also in a NNE the wind at below ridge height may be due EAST!

safe flying

Wayne

 

 

St Aldhelms Head, Dorset, 9th January

A very blowy afternoon watching some Polish pilots doing acro over a blown out St Aldhelms before it calmed down enough to let  us mere mortals in the air. I think the lack of airtime over winter has gone to peoples heads as the 4 in the air rule was stretched somewhat for a while. Still, a lovely few hours in the air watching a beautiful sunset over the stunning Jurassic coast, followed by a landing by the car and a pint in the pub. Does it get any better than that?

Richard

Butser NE Sunday morning 2nd Jan 2011

Had a very nice early morning flight for a couple of hours. Wind was
initially very light (about 7 mph), and I was amazed not to sink down.
Then it picked up to about 10 mph, making it easy to maintain height
above the fence line. Explored all along the ridge as far as the big
(oak?) tree, beyond which I feared there might turbulence coming off
pillow mound. Practiced spot landings and pitch-roll turns, and waved
to dog-walkers.

Dave Harvey