| Flight details: | Like last weekend Saturday was blown out, but the SHGC and others turned out in force for the Sunday. Although the wind was strong down in the pub car park, the decision was taken to go up the hill and sit and wait it out in the hope (expectation?) that conditions would calm down. For a couple of hours some 50 pilots sat on the hill in half a gale. Then a lone brave soul was seen attempting to inflate on the lower lower (hang-gliders) take-off. After a couple of failed attempts, he got off and flew around for some 20 minutes all alone - an Advance Alpha flying a red ribbon watched by some of the country's best pilots who chose to stay on the ground. But conditions were improving, so the BCC window was opened and people started getting ready to fly. I watched more or less everyone else take-off as I waited for conditions on launch to calm down and for the sky to get (in my inexpert view) more XC friendly. I fluffed my first attempt at launch (annoyingly and worryingly as I have done so several times lately) but got away cleanly on the second attempt straight into a good thermal. So I didn't hang around too long, but set off over the back. Lift was quite broken, and once near Crickhowell seemed to run out altogether. I saw several wings landing in the valley ahead of me, and it was evident that I would be unable to get over the ridge ahead and would soon be joining them. After I landed, 2 figures came down the road carrying paragliders, and turned out to be Catherine Castle and Jess Cox who had landed a couple of fields further on. That part of the countryside seemed to be littered with pilots hoovered down in the same way. All in all, a very enjoyable day, and it was really nice meeting various SHGC folks.
14.6k in a straight line for the comp.
16.5k using the nonsensical 'flight optimised' turnpoint system. |
