| Flight details: | Had expected Saturday to be too windy and too west, but checked on the spur of the moment and descided to give it a go. Was actually rather nice, but after 1/2 hr had to land to adjust goggles, and then noticed lots of people were sinking out - a sure sign of a big thermal out front, so lauched into it. Had not intended to go xc, but at the last minute had stuffed an airmap into my pocket where I could reach it if needed. Within a couple of minutes had hooked a good thermal. The air was now pretty full of wings, and as the forecast was for going more west and stronger, and as the sky was already developing nicely I decided to go for it when only about 300' ato, and early in the day, at about 10am. Got to base on that one, although base was only about 2,700' asl. I then followed a downwind ESE track. Got next climb when crossing the A23, another small one over ASDA, a good one back to base downwind of University of Sussex + over the NW end of the Swanborough ridge. I set my sights in the Firle ridge, where I could see one wing flying low down. The sky was now overdeveloping 9/10 plus high cirrus, there was no sign of the seabreeze coming in yet, there seemed little chance of getting much lift from the low lying damp floodplanes of the Ouse, and base was too low to go on a straight glide from there to the firle ridge - so I stayed under that cloud in zeros (at best) while it drifted ESE to Rodmell, loosing some hight at the lift fizzled out. In the end descided there was no more lift, and at about 1,300 ASL now, but with a couple of small patches of sunlight on the fields half way across to the Firle ridge I descided that I might as well go for it, and did. The sky then completly clouded over and my bits of sunlight vanished, leaving a couple of unworkable bubbles of lift to fly through on the way, so landed in a nice mown hayfield next to the south downs way footbridge over the A26.
Not to be outdone in my determination to get to Firle from the dyke |
