Into the Mountains

The flying forecast looked really good for Friday and not so good for Sunday - a good reason to exchange some Friday flying for Sunday working. I was a little late setting off and I could see wings in the air as I hiked up; it was obviously pretty strong and I saw a couple of substantial collapses - always thought provoking. By the time I reached launch everyone had either landed or headed off. Conditions were a little gusty on launch; the clocks have not changed yet in France and I realized - in solar time - I was a bit late to be launching.

Once in the air, though, conditions were lovely; strong, but smooth (by St Andre standards, anyway). There were enough clouds to help mark the lift, but not so many to be threatening. It was cold, and I knew the batteries in my gloves would give up after 2 hours, so I didn't commit to any long distances.

After flying for an hour and a bit I had a choice whether to head back to St Andre or to fly deeper into the mountains. I decided to keep flying North, and followed the Verdon up to Allos, landing just after my glove batteries ran out. A local gave me a lift to Colmars and I took the bus back to St Andre (all of 3 Euros). It's just great to be able to have such good flights in March, but a little frustrating to land because of the cold. 

Pics and tracklog

Pintade

The butcher's shop in St Andre has changed hands. I went there this morning and bought a pintade ( guinea fowl, I think) for my Sunday evening meal. I got a big surprise when I unwrapped it this evening; a head looking at me. Yep, it still had head and feet … 

Mind you, it tasted pretty good once it was cooked. Probably as near a 'hunter' experience as I'll ever have…

The route to the table

Sunday, bumpy Sunday

Today's forecast degraded over night. it was encouraging enough to go up the hill, but long before getting to launch I doubted it would be good. The wind was too strong, the sky was too blue and then I saw a couple of wings struggling at launch height.

I flew for about 30 minutes before deciding to land. Some of the thermals were really abrupt, like flying into a brick wall. But they were all broken up; I could only get 250m above launch. It didn't really feel dangerous, but I didn't see any point flying all afternoon in super-rough air with limited terrain clearance.

The air was messy enough to avoid the main LZ. I landed at La Mure in gusty conditions and spent an hour talking to an old gentlemen. He had seen me land and offered me a lift back to St Andre but he settled for a chat.

 A not very impressive tracklog

A Very Cold Triangle

Every pilot hopes for a good flying forecast on Saturday! Today's fit the bill, so I headed eagerly up the hill. Surprisingly (and a little spookily), launch was deserted but conditions looked great as I ate my lunch. 

Normally at St Andre, you launch and go straight up. Today I spent an uncomfortable few minutes below launch before finding organized lift. Conditions were very nice but it was cold; the views were exceptional. I knew I could only fly for a couple of hours and I wanted to keep the logistics simple. So I decided to fly a little triangle I've flown before; this took me over Le Petit Cordoeil, where I hiked last weekend.

Clouds became more and more of a problem as the day went on. There are many places around St Andre with limited LZs, so this gives fewer escape routes. But a combination of going round some clouds and using a lot of bar below others did the trick. 

The batteries in my gloves gave up after 2 hours; I rushed back to St Andre, landed and spent the next 10 minutes warming my fingers. Considering it's the start of March, a pretty good day - and tomorrow's forecast is even better!

Pics and tracklog.

Le Petit Cordoeil

Sunday was good for hiking but the wind was too strong to fly. I checked out a peak I've flown over many times - le Petit Cordoeil. It's an interesting peak for a hike and fly because it should work in almost any wind with a northern component.

A very nice hike up, through lavender fields covered in snow to a snowy summit. On top it was just a little too strong for a safe launch, so I was glad I had left by wing behind. But it certainly looks like a nice outing for a hike and fly, with a few interesting (but not very convenient) hiking options.

Some pics

Gray Day Hike

Obviously, good weather is one thing that attracted me to the Southern Alps. Last week, I managed to sneak away from work for a sunny, mid-afternoon hike every day - not bad for February. But it's more than having lots of good weather days; it's that there are very few days when the weather is bad all day.

Today showed that pretty well. The days started cold, gray and damp; the local peaks were all hidden in the clouds. It looked totally miserable, but it didn't look as though it would get any worse. I hadn't driven my car for about 10 days, so I decided we could both use some exercise and we headed out to Tartonne.

I decided on a low level hike - mostly on deserted roads - that would be out of the clouds. After about an hours hiking, patches of blue appeared in the sky. The rest of the hike was very pleasant; cold when the clouds closed in, warm whenever the sun appeared, with occasional glimpse of snowy peaks thought the clouds. I extended my hike into a 5 hour loop.

Even the bad days can be good here! 

A few pics

A quiet Saturday in the air

During the week, it snowed in St Andre; it didn't stay long in town, but it left the peaks in their winter coat. Saturday's forecasts showed clearly flyable conditions, with sun and low winds. Aeroweb didn't think the thermals would be useable (due to high pressure subsidence), but their forecasts are more oriented to flying gliders on the plains.

I set off later than I intended. A lovely hike up through new snow, a deserted launch, lunch and I was in the air. There were plenty of thermals, though they were a bit broken and hard to center. Top of lift was very low (2200m) and I didn't want to risk a long hike home, so I played it safe. After a while I headed E to the Crete des Serres and soared it for a while. The batteries for my gloves ran out just after 2 hours, and I headed down to land just as a small plane was circling the LZ. Fortunately, there were no 'misunderstandings' and I was glad to land and warm my fingers.

Tracklog but no flying pics!