Sunday, April 17, 2011

So-so weekend flying

The flying conditions this weekend weren't great in St Andre - windy, with overdevelopment forecast for both days. I flew both days, but not for terribly long - there was plenty of time for an evening hike both days. Today was slightly better with a more favorable wind direction. Fortunately, the overdevelopment was horizontal both days, with no afternoon storms.

I made a big effort to get up early to launch on both days, but I was still later than I should have been. I don't think I missed any big flights as a result (everyone seemed to land pretty quickly) but I had tougher launches than I'd have liked. 

I managed a little loop today; tricky flying with strong winds and a low cloudbase. I was a bit lazy and had my first collapse in 20 months. I headed low over the back of a ridge and underestimated the effects of the strong wind. A good wake-up call…

As ever, my wing behaved impeccably. All intermediate wings today are very good, but mine has proved an exceptionally reliable companion. Even in washing machine conditions, it keeps flying and on the very rare occasions when it collapses, it recovers without any panic.


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