An Unusual Tandem

I got back from a trip to the States this weekend and went for a flight today. The flight was pretty routine, pleasant but nothing to write home (or online) about. The highpoint of the day happened on launch. It was a dog telling its owner it wanted to fly now. As soon as the dog had his harness on, he could barely contain himself - super excited, trembling and yelping. At one point the pilot pointed out to his friend that 'my dog has more hours than you this year' and his friend had to agree (this year has been pretty dire, the dog is lucky). I talked to the pilot's partner and she told me the dog had been flying at 3 months - even in dog years, that's pretty young!

Storms or Overdevelopment?

We're into summer and my flying routine has changed. It's too hot to enjoyably hike up to launch with an aircraft on my back, so I'm taking the shuttle or riding up with locals. This changes my flying days' workout to an early morning run when it's still relatively cool.

Unfortunately the forecasts this weekend were for afternoon overdevelopment with a substantial risk (depending on the forecast you choose) of storms. Over three days, I flew the first two. Both days, I immediately headed out to the west of St Andre where the lower mountains and a wide valley reduce the risk of storms. Both flights involved a lot of cloud monitoring and avoidance; as the afternoons went on that became harder and I landed just short of 3 hours on both flights rather than risk any drama. 

On Sunday the forecasts more clearly showed storms and I took a bike ride. The clouds didn't actually build as quickly as they did the previous two days. But by the time I got back to St Andre they clouds were growing very tall. The storm broke very suddenly 30 minutes later, with hail, winds and lots of rain. I'm glad I wasn't on my bike, never mind in the air.

A few more pics.

Well Equipped…

Gliding down the S ridge of Maurel
 back to St Andre

Two helmets, two sunglasses, 3 pairs of gloves, 2 balaclavas, 2 varios. I wasn't short of equipment for today's flight. All in all, it was a little embarrassing. 

Last weekend I landed with some local pilots as overdevelopment threatened. There was quite a lot of socializing as we packed up and as I went to close my pack, I realized my helmet - complete with vario, gloves etc  - was missing. Searching and inquiries were all in vain. 

So today I arrived at launch with a bicycle helmet and replacement gear. As I prepared my wing, a lump transformed into my old helmet. Somehow, I had wrapped my helmet up in my wing! I packed the spare stuff in my harness and had a nice flight (the standard triangle back to St Andre over Cordoeil). 

From now on, I'll pack my gear away before starting on the beer…

Barre des Dourbes

Hike or fly? The forecasts indicated marginally strong winds and so-so conditions but it seemed safely flyable. Normally, I'd have done something else, but this year has been poor enough that it's hard to turn down flying opportunities. Just before hiking up to launch I checked the winds on launch. 15K gusting to 25K (or 10-16 mph in old money). Hmm, ok for noon, but a bit spicy for 9.00…

So I did a hike I've been looking forward to for some time, along the Barre des Dourbes (aka Montagne de Coupe). It's a high, isolated ridge that isn't used by sheep in the summer. This means lots of vegetation, including alpine flowers and shrubbery. It gets very few hikers (it's flown more often than it is hiked) and there's a big drop on one side, so it was pretty slow going.  

The wind wasn't terribly strong on the ridge, so it may well have been flyable but I didn't see any paragliders in the air. Towards the end of the ridge walk, 7 sail planes flew about 100m over me and headed straight to Digne and then home to Chateau Arnoux - none of this turning in lift nonsense, their performance is amazing.

Right at the end of the hike, I could see my car. As I neared it, the sound of flowing water got louder and louder. I turned a corner and there was a substantial river I'd never seen before. I'd hiked this trail before but it must have been at the end of the summer. Wet feet or extend my hike by 4Km? Wet feet!

A few more pics

Puy de Rent

Saturday's forecast was a little windy, a little cloudy and a little thundery, so a hike seemed a better choice than trying to fly or even a bike ride. I had a long hike, climbing the 2000m Puy de Rent, then layered up for a chilly ridge walk. Right as I reached my car, the first drops of rain started. Launch was visible almost all day, so I couldn't help checking if I'd made the right decision. There were some very early flights, but no-one was in the air after 11.00, so I think I made the best use of the day. 

Early overdevelopment

There's not much point complaining about flying conditions, but… We've gone straight from a 'Mistral' (strong N winds aloft) to an 'over-development' (midday thunderstorms) weather pattern. I arrived at launch before 11.00 on Friday morning, hoping for an hour or so of airtime before having to land, and was immediately greeted by a rumble of thunder. A lot of pilots looked at each other, surprised just how early things were starting, wondering what to do. The occasional rumbles continued; it didn't look ready to storm but who knows for sure? One or two pilots packed up, most - including me - launched and flew quickly to the LZ. There a found a group of pilots packing up, disappointed the day's flying had finished well before noon but relieved to have at least flown. I was safely home watching the tennis when the rain started.

Maybe, finally, the winter is over...

Looking NE

The winter has been long and hard in St Andre. It's really only in the last week that we seem to have clearly left it behind. Leaves and blossom are appearing, the grass is green and the rivers are torrents of melting snow. 

Normally, I would have flown 40+ hours by this point of the year - but not this year. I've managed to fly the last 3 days and that's taken my hours to around 15 for the year. 

Finally crossing the Mouchon and heading back to launch

Today's flight was supposed to be pretty short (partly because of the risk of storms), so I flew a little triangle out to the west. I got stuck on the last mountain (the Mouchon) on the way back to St Andre. By the time I got over it, clouds were building and the air was pretty rough. I landed and by the time I packed up, big, slow, lazy raindrops were falling, but it never went beyond that.