Saturday Triangle

Saturday's early morning sky was a darker, clearer shade of blue than usual; a sure sign of the Mistral. St Andre is some way E of the Rhone valley and if the Mistral isn't too strong you can still fly here, but it certainly complicates things. Conditions looked better earlier, with the N wind getting strong at altitude after 2 pm.

The shuttle logistics didn't work out in my favor (at this time of year it is too hot to walk up the hill), and I got to launch around 12.45. Conditions were already spicy on launch, and it was obviously bumpy in the air, but it appeared workable (some wings were moving around a lot less than others). I launched quickly; almost immediately afterwards there was an ominous radio transmission asking pilots not to launch and to keep the air clear around Moriez.

In a completely blue sky I headed north to clear the area; there was plenty of lift, though it was a bit bumpy. Arriving at Lambruisse, I headed east, hoping to fly a triangle back to St Andre. I got a nice climb at le Grand Cordeil and then headed SSE and everything went very smoothly. At one point I was considering heading to Annot (that would give less flying into the wind), but I got a good climb and saw I could make an upwind transition onto the Crete des Serres.

Once I made the transition, it meant I could keep heading S (instead of landing in St Andre). I had a nice ridge run to le Pic de Chamatte, then turned round and followed the ridge back to St. Andre (more into the wind in this direction). Although the flight didn't take me very far, and lasted less that 2.5 hours, it was very satisfying and, of course, eliminated the retrieve problem!

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