Rainy Tuesday

A wet easterly and no prospect of flying, so the team split up to find alternative diversions. Some went to Aberdeen, others went to the Bridge of Feugh in Banchory to watch the salmon leaping, and afterwards to the excellent cafe opposite. William MH, Bob 279, Jane 118 and Symeon FUN set off on a short x-c of 4.8km. Mostly the going was good but at one point they had to divert from track due to gorse and ended up in some serious sink. Later the team re-assembled at Clearfield, the house in the hills, for afternoon tea provided by Parker, Smith and Moore. It was quite a sight to see the gang making polite conversation while consuming tea and daintily cut sandwiches and cake.

Late Season Sun n' Fun

Well past the equinox now but still enough energy to give useful thermals as today's video shows. A little later getting going as the sun sinks lower, this timelapse video spans the 2 hours from 11am to 1pm (BST). Nice to see the grass is still being cut.

Monday.......

.........started unimpressive, good for check flights for Barry, Leon and Rolf. Most people rigged in hope, and after lunch there was a sudden rush of enthusiasm. Booker took to the skies in an interesting southerly airflow with plenty of cloud. John 607 got to 13000ft, Steve JDV, William MH and Bob 279 to 9000ft or so, while Jane 118 was soon back on the ground. Symeon went to 5000ft three times in ECZ. Andy P and Chris R took 315 to great heights, giving Chris his first taste of wave, Mike C/Emily then went to 7500ft. Former Concorde Senior First Officer, Senior Training Capt 777 D. Byass and Rob Munro, Banker (retd) went to 8300ft in 315. Around 1700 we were thinking of calling it a day, but Barry/Dave B in 315 and Leon/Mike C in ECZ fancied another check ride. While they were in the air the sky recycled and they got to 7000ft in the late evening light and only came down because it was getting dark.

William MH at 7500ft

Toys away, the forecast for tomorrow is for teashops.

Sunday report

The start of Week 2 and lots more Booker people have arrived.
A stiff northerly today, making for some interest on take off and landing. Various people launched and explored, but mainly found themselves experimenting with ridge lift: Andy P and Chris R in 315, then Mike C and Symeon, DR and Leon in ECZ, then DR and Barry, Glyn and Heggie in 3D, Steve in JDV, Bob in 279, William in MH and Jane in 118. John H in 607 cracked it, managing 2.5 hours and reaching the dizzy height of 5000ft.

27 launch point

The view from 2500ft over the lochs

The wind dropped towards evening, producing ideal model flying conditions. So far Glyn and Bob S have crashed their models, John H and Mike C are still doing arms length aeros.

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.