Tuesday 22 March 2011

Jaca 2011 Week3 Day 1

Grey skies at breakfast time, gloom. Unpromising weather briefing and the skies still overcast, more gloom. So Gordon gave a detailed briefing on mountain flying and by the time he finished some blue sky was beginning to appear.

At this point the mandatory optimism of a Full Cat instructor kicked in and Gordon suggested we got the gliders out and went flying. First to launch was Gordon with Terry in 431 quickly followed by Bob and Peter in 775.

Gordon showed Terry how to get away from the lower reaches of Stage 1 and then a full tour of the local area only limited by the cloudbase which was below 7000'. The highlights of the flight were the low pass over Oriol and Terry´s bid to take over from his namesake on Radio 2. Radio 431 broadcast on 130.1 for several minutes due to P2´s firm grip on the stick.

Bob and Peter launched a bit higher and were able to make the transition to the lower slopes of Stage 3 in the improving conditions.

Second sorties were flow with Bob and Steve in 775 and Gordon and David in 431. Cloudbase was now up to 7800' making the transition to the main ridge easier and enabling a short section to be explored around the top of the Hecho valley.

Over 8 hours flown so not too bad for a day that was nearly written off by the forecast.

Bob.

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