My glider arrived on the hill with John Barrett a bit late having had a strip down and check over due to handling problems I had been experiencing. When I did get it rigged the wind had died on the hill and thermals were very weak low down. after two top landings for fear of going down I eventually flew out from the hill to join a PG climbing on the other side of the road. This was an all or nothing gamble which paid off as I managed to climb out. I could hear Luke an Paul Harvey flying around Parham. I felt it was better to go East at that time so headed off towards Lewes. Conditions were pretty epic in places and I didn't find things too difficult. As I approached Ashford I could see the sea breeze had moved in cutting off my route towards Margate. I thought it would be fun to try and see how far I could get back. After 35km I encountered the sea breeze coming from the opposite direction at Etchingham where I landed. Poor Fran had a run around following the tracker as my radio battery had died. |