Monday 29 September 2008

Waving

ECZ at 10,000ft
Up early and rigged and ready to go. DR flew with Don in ECZ and introduced him to wave, they got to 10,000 before the -9degC persuaded them down. Jim 208 went to 10,500, then let Bob D take it to 7,000. Jane 118 got to 10,700 and Roland 318 to 8,200. Jeremy flew with Glyn in Duo 3D and reached 6,000. Then the wave collapsed and there was a mass landing for lunch. Refreshed and refuelled, DR flew with Arnie who then had a brief go in 318.

Arnie before his first flight in 318 at Aboyne


Excellent fun. It's started to rain now and all the toys are away, but the bar is open and the whisky is good. More of the same tomorrow if the forecast is to be believed.

Booker in Scotland

The annual Booker expedition to Aboyne (Deeside GC: http://www.deesideglidingcub.co.uk/ - check out their live webcam) has got off to a good start. Sunday dawned cold, but it looked as though it was waving, so Glyn G1 set off and got the climb of the day to 7000ft. Then the thermals set up and it was a question of 'this feels like wave, oh no it isn't, I'll just go round in circles'. But it was a very pleasant opportunity to make sure all the kit was working and that the mountains were still in the same place. Everyone flew: Don in ECZ, Roland and Julian in 318, Jeremy in JDV, Bob D and Jim in 208, Jane in 118. We packed up at around 1700 and went back to Birkelunn for a magnificent dinner cooked by Chef Jim. Meanwhile Lasham found the evening wave, landing after sunset.

Today the sky looks more promising, the air has dried out and the wind is blowing. More later.

Sunday 14 September 2008

What a day!


Glorious sunshine, and a grid to launch. Silverstone-Graffham not a bad task for mid-September. Back at Booker, local soaring in the K18 brought back memories of 50k attempts, getting to 1400ft over the Golden Ball as a starting point for an attempt on Lasham, no GPS, just the map and compass.


Two more weeks and Booker will be heading north to Aboyne for some wave soaring.

Saturday 13 September 2008

Summer returns


The 'Get your Solo' week 8-12 September worked for Mark Wolff, despite the weather. And today the sun finally returned, giving us a busy afternoon. Yan did yet another hour in the Junior to keep his Bronze qualifications in date, and scored bonus points for cleaning it afterwards.

More late summer tomorrow, with luck.