Sunshine in Aboyne

Last night the sky cleared and there was talk of the aurora borealis being visible from the UK. Most of us went to bed, but Bob happened to be up in the small hours and took some pics of strange lights in the sky.

Orange aurora

Green version

This morning we were up with the lark and soon rigged and ready to go. Unfortunately the wind wasn't quite strong enough to provide more than a bit of elusive weak wave but there were plenty of thermals and some excellent views.

Waiting to join the launch queue

The two lochs

Sheep

Graham (C6) did his first solo at Aboyne in his own glider - well done Graham. The turbo gang - Richard (FI), Geoff (GA) and Denis (370) went to Tomintoul and the Lecht - so nice to have the reassurance of an engine - and then set off over the high ground towards Braemar. They made it over the high stuff, arriving in Braemar low enough to have a good look at the castle and other local sights. Denis and Richard fired up their engines, but Geoff had to land in a nice field by the river when his failed to start. He was soon safely back at Aboyne thanks to an efficient retrieve by Richard and Nick.

Post flying entertainment was provided by Glyn with his Radian model which soared effortlessly in the convergence over the airfield. Bob tested the new installation on his Cub, a camera providing a pilot's eye view of the flight transmitted to a laptop. Presumably he's training for a second career in drone flying.

What was that about minimising drag?