| Flight details: | The BCC buzz, RASP and Meteoblue all pointed towards Selsley and a 4-star day. Selsley though wasn't somewhere I'd launched from before and every prior attempt at xc in the UK had met with ignominious failure to get away. So there was a degree of trepidation on the early morning train from London to Stroud. Another train ride to disappointment?
Things looked up though when I bumped in to an enthusiastic Mike Byfield on the way out of Stroud station, so took that as a vote of confidence in conditions. Selsley itself was a better than expected site. Spacious, steep, good elevation, a number of familiar faces, and with increasing wind and cumulus - today looked like it might just work. A lot of waiting on the ground in nil wind followed but soon small groups of half a dozen or so were launching and climbing away. By the time I launched the wind was soarable, but that wasn't necessary as a near continuous stream of punchy thermals were flowing through. 20 minutes of mincing around above launch and we were soon at around 3,000ft and trundling over the back.
Pushing off downwind alone it didn't take long to bump in to further climbs. Plenty of other wings were visible, most appearing to take a more south-westerly line though. After almost an hour the gaps between cumulus were smaller and life becoming even easier, ending in a solid period of climb with ears and bar to ~4,600'. The thermals though were harder to hold than expected; extending each turn's in-to-wind leg had me dropping out the front of the thermal, which was a bit weird, so the conditions took a while to dial in to. Particularly taxing was a mid-flight change of gloves, removing my frozen pincers from paper thin summer gloves in to winter gauntlets.
Looking down on Lynham was a unique experience. But pushing on, and nearing the two-hour mark, things were getting scratchier and the sky less promising - very little blue and becoming over-developed. Foot to the floor in heavy sink trying to |
