Flight

Apologies to interested readers for the delay, after my late return on Fri I needed to avoid PG related activities at the weekend as much as possible (apart from those that were foisted upon me)!

It is rather long I'm afraid so go and get a beer first.

So what about the flight then. Well it wasn't just the flight that made it such an epic day but the many things that happened before, during and after it too. Again I opted to avoid the other possible flying sites as I was jaded from yesterday and guessed from the forecast that it would be a 'thermal or bust' type of day. What better place to watch than the Dyke then. I say "watch" as I don't like this type of day, I like wind (yes and sometimes too much of it before somebody comments :o)) and today there was forecast precious little of it. I was actually completely happy to watch and chat if nothing much was happening but Ghandi's enthusiasm to set up drew me in after a short while and I was thinking of flying. Stage 2 arrived after he and Carlo launched into nothing in unison and then completed an awesome climb out in...nothing really but now my rucksack was out of the car. Simon S and a handful of others tried to get into the bottom of the pair's thermal but they all landed over the next 15 mins whilst the successful duo split and went their separate ways. Stage 3 saw everything but the wing out and ready to go which was triggered by several small thermic cycles in which a few tried but all went down, some to the very bottom and the odd one in bushes!

This was definitely NOT my sort of flying so more time passed without any meaningful action. However, some better, although still very short-lived cycles, came through and the sheep effect kicked in; I'm now sat sweating in flying suit and harness! I watched carefully for birds (and exactly how they were flying) and even pulled the glider up a few times with a launch in mind but there were always others quicker or keener than me and I was only too pleased to watch their limited progress. With half a mind to pack up and go home I sat and had lunch and boy was I glad I did.

My thermal finally arrived sometime before 2pm and with pilots scattered everywhere I saw my moment. A few got off before me so I watched to see how good the lift was then ran (like I rarely have to) to get airborne! I really can't remember much of the detail in that phase of the flight as the whole flight really tired me out but suffice to say after it had all shaken out I found myself over the modellers bowl in a decent core. Craig was a wing height above me and Simon well above us both (I think). After losing it and finding it again several times I realised that I wouldn't make it back so I committed to following two of my mentors wherever they wanted to take me :o). Today Simon got his own back and they both outclimbed me fairly easily and were soon off on a glide east. I decided to top out before following along thus allowing them to find something for me to head for (pimping is the term, I believe) but alas they were out of easy reach before I knew it. The words of Dave Watts, Ghandi and Carlo now came to the fore and I decided to fly my own flight and forget the chase.

After a age going around, taking short hops to wispies and going around again I decided that at some point I really needed to go on a glide if I was going to get any where before sunset! This time it was Craig's advice that influenced my planning and I opted to try to find the lift line behind the Ditchling ridge (or from the bowls behind it). It worked well for a while and although I got low, a couple of good climbs saw me back up again, the last taking me past 3500'asl just as I crossed into the FL55 Airspace, close! Lurking there though was what appeared to be a blue sea-breeze front with wispies suddenly forming really close and below me. Eek run away! That course quickly lead me down again though and I started to feel that Lewes, and home, was slipping away. "Forget the sink man, look for triggers and birds or you're on the ground" and sure enough a buzzard to my south east saved the day. Now south west of my target landing field (near home) a glide over Lewes seemed likely to provide some lift at this time of the day so... bar on - go! Along the way I noticed the time and realised that Paula and Aimee (my partner & step-daughter) would be somewhere below so I made contact and we exchanged waves (although I was too high to see them) another first and what a moment :o).

So there I was all lined up to land and...

...an apparition appears, "Not today my son, travel on and alight elsewhere". Well fuck my old boots if its not Ghandi! And flying on his own, how can this be? Not wishing to displease the powers that be and not wishing to pass up the chance to fly XC with another one of my mentors I duly climbed, topping out well above 3500' with the skinny man just above me. Instructions were given but not heard and we headed off toward Caburn (I think the tracklog was corrupted a bit here)! What the...? I didn't like this plan at all as there were 2 gliders on the hill there so I went back to plan A and headed off on my own... into sink! Observation kicked in though and I spotted the tractor that was to help get me back up and keep me aloft for quite some time. Lots more circling ensued and I was quite tired by now from the effort, "oh my god look at the time"! Time, I decided, to chill out and enjoy the flight more so I just staying up, enjoying the views became the priority! Another Buzzard showed me a better core so I flew with him until he got fed up of me and buggered of. 

Kenny had come across from Caburn really low by this time and I watched him low save and get back up ahead of me. Every time I set off to join him either he went down or I bumped into lift and so it was back to... plan A! Another tractor gave me my last good climb past 3000' and I started to think about where I ought to head for the best retrieve option. Arlington reservoir looked like a great target and between me and it several fields with ploughing tractors, excellent! Off I went into sink, sink, sink then... oh shit that tractor dust is blowing...from the south west. Too late, into the sea air! Feck, "now I'm in the middle of nowhere", so I took a run for the nearest road. Travelling at 40kmh+ but hardly going down landing field after landing field goes by and I clock up a few extra km. At some point Ghandi and Craig shouted up at me as I passed over but I didn't see them (well it's either that or I wanted to out-distance them, you decide)! Finally as I neared the A22 the ground was close enough to turn into wind and my feet found terra-firma. Actual time and distance were irrelevant, I knew I'd finally done a 'proper' XC (in my mind) and I was... well, a little bit chuffed.

Various calls were made and received the upshot of which lead me to walking away from the A22 some, not inconsiderable, distance to Ripe where Craig and Ghandi were waiting for me... only to find that they'd just got a lift, bugger! Once more though the gods smiled upon me and after a couple of phone calls my 2nd apparition of the day... Carlo arriving to collect me and ferry me to The Trevor. How honoured did I feel! And who was waiting there? Craig, Ghandi, Tefal, Annie all offering congratulations, cool. More still though, Dave Watts and then son Mark arrive and I can't believe it, a mortal amongst gods :o). The mad one very kindly took the 3 of us back to the Dyke a little later and thus ended a truly epic day. A hearty thanks goes to Carlo and Dave Watts for the lifts and to all for the congratulations, advice and entertaining conversation.