Saturday.......

...........was showery, too wet to rig, so we variously went shopping and lunched and ate cakes. For week 2 we don't have Birkelunn so the team has split up and is lodging in different places. There are plenty of interesting cottages and hotels around the area, handy for the airfield and with great views of the mountains and the weather.

Freezing Friday and windy Saturday

Friday continued with bright sunshine and some spectacular skyscapes as big showers of rain and occasionally sleet passed through. Finally Ed decided he had to leave, so Julian and Jeremy took 315 for the only flight of the day. The day finished with yet another fine dinner at Birkelunn, masterminded by Chef Jeremy.

Saturday has dawned very wet and windy, so no flying for now. It's a day for exploring the local attractions.

Freezing Friday

Rain in the night, snow on the local mountain, Morven, and an icy NW wind. So far there has been breakfast and tea drinking. Ed and Julian have rigged the Duo and are going to do a photographic sortie in due course.

Thursday update

The day dawned clear and cold, a cloudless sky and ice on the wings as we rigged. Clouds were starting to form as Glyn 3D launched with Heggie, they found weak broken wave to around 4500ft. They were followed by Jane 118, Jeremy JDV, Bob D 208, Julian/Ed 315 and Don 318 who all after a while found that what they were actually flying in was thermals. But it was very enjoyable, the vis was excellent and the views superb. After lunch it looked as though the promised bad weather was arriving so we derigged most of the toys, leaving DR and Arnie still doing the rounds in ECZ. Then the wind picked up and Ed and Don had a short excursion in 315 and found wave to 4500ft in interesting conditions.

Our master chef Jim P had headed south but he was ably replaced by Jeremy, assisted by Don, who produced a magnificent feast to end another excellent day.

The front arrives

Wednesday 1st October was forecast to be miserable...and did not disappoint this time. A rescue crew of brave Booker pilots was assembled in the morning and departed at 9am in Roland's MPV with Glyn's trailer to retrieve 315 from Abington in southern Scotland, which is 198 miles from Aboyne, or 190 depending whether you are coming or going. 315 had to be abandoned there when one of the trailer's wheels fell off on the journey up. A few of the more optimistic, stupid and desperate pilots rigged early and then spent the day looking forlornly up at the low cloud base and intermittent rain.

The day finished with yet another dinner served up by Jim P, aided by his two friends from RAF Leuchars.

The forecast for the rest of the week is mixed but everyone is ready for the rain to break for some more great wave days.

Surprise weather

Tuesday 30th September started out looking bleak; high level cloud and a forecast of rain, with very little wind at ground level. DR and Don launched with the intent of doing some circuit practice in ECZ but nothing was heard from them for an hour, so the wave must have been working. Julian went off in 118 and got to 11'000, Jane and Roland shared a triplet of climbs to 5'000ft in ECZ, Arnie flew 318 and Bob got to 10'500 in 208. Ed Garner arrived in the morning after an eventful trailer towing journey, which left 315 stranded a few hours short of Aboyne and flew with Glyn in Duo Discus 3D.

After lunch the conditions seemed to get even better, prompting Jane to launch again but this time in 118, reaching 11'600ft in bright sunshine. Jim went up in 208, got to 11'500ft and flew halfway to Feshiebridge before retreating in the face of strong sink on the downward side of a wave bar. Jeremy experienced an interesting reversal of fortunes in JDV when exploring why not to co-ordinate stick and rudder during the landing ground roll. His rapid 180 degree turn did however give him an excellent view of the gliders on final approach. Ed and DR experienced a very interesting flight with a combination of both thermal and wave flying.

A few drinks in the bar and dinner at Birkellun rounded off another fantastic day of mountain soaring up here in Scotland.

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.

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.

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.