Saturday
Yes week kan – Final Report
Unfortunately we haven’t been able to write the blog as the wifi has been busticated by the huge storms that have ravaged the Pyrenees and destroyed our wifi mast, several cathedrals and a small hamlet called Villa Sureal.
However, as intrepid aviators, we were not about to let a little thing like this get in the way of our aviation. Now sit yourself down in your most comfy arm chair with a large whiskey and prepare to hear tales of daring and dangerous doings.
So, it is sooo far back – Ben says “Wednesday, we flew” (Helpful, thanks Ben). He has tried to move the conversation on to Thursday but this is because he wished to draw a veil over the creative pull-off on the lee side of a ridge with a power dive into the cascading sink having only interpreted the first half of Dave’s instruction being “pull off tow when ready”.
We are in the bar on Saturday, it is pouring with rain (and other things), we have had our first beer having derigged all gliders (only to receive instruction that said gliders were being used this week) therefore the following is no longer in chronological order due to the effects of ilcahol and the random order that the human mind recollects.
Bob, intrigued by the contents of the funny bags we carry on our backs when flying, decided to investigate. He was somewhat perturbed when he discovered that just like toothpaste, a drogue chute does not go back into the parachute – oops. Slide that one under the driver’s seat and hope no one notices.
On the topic of parachutes, we were deeply confused to be set the Lasham challenge to take four in-date parachutes and pack them in the trailer for Sisteron. This was as we only had three out of date parachutes. Much scratching of heads and perplexed brows. We therefore (after much deliberation) adopted the SEP approach (namely someone else’s problem (i.e. Mr Lewis who has just arrived in the bar).
For the vegetarians amongst us, the last two nights’ dinner have been a little bit on the shocking side, as Bob Johnson and Ben Warcup have committed farm yard genocide consuming a vast smorgasbord of nearly all the deceased (hopefully) quadrapeds of Aragon, whilst Chris and Dave looked on ashen faced. Another veil needs to be drawn over the mountain of detritus that remained on the creaking catering tables of the club as we crawled our way out of the bar.
Flying has been both dramatic and exciting. Including the following:
1. Mike Evans claiming that not only cars can do hand-brake turn, as he nimbly sashayed his Discus down the runway with a neat 90 degree turn into taxi way C. Most impressive. He has convinced us that it was intentional.
3. Alison (having called 20 mins to landing) attempting to sneak down a 8,000 ft street climbing at 6 knots away from the airfield whilst engaging Mr Williams in witty badinage in the vain hope that he might not notice the big numbers on the instruments
4. Mr Larry Marks conducting a lightening tour around the peaks and snow line in 1hr 20 minutes resulting in Mr Bob Johnson retuning somewhat subdued (unusual for a man of his calibre)
5. Chris going on THE grand tour of every nook cranny, col, ridge, cwm, arête, peak and summit of the Pyrenees in a monumental flight which he terminated after 2.5 hours due to the cold.
Anyway, enough now, time to return from the blazing heat of the Aragon plain to whatever England has to offer.
