The passage of a cold front brought a significant temperature drop with the return of the north wind but with crystal clear visibility. The team assembled for the compulsory 10:00 briefing. The forecast was unusually pessimistic but it looked ok out the window to us even though the high Pyrenees were getting a fresh covering of much needed snow. First up was Steve Sullivan in 431 who managed a fine aerotow with Merv in a howling crosswind into the turbulent mix of the rotor. Closely followed by Peter Bunnage with Bob in the Duo. Extremely tricky to start but eventually 431 scraped away and contacted wave over stage 2 climbing to 16000’.
Meanwhile, Peter was seriously overheating after listening to the discussions about expected temperatures in the cockpit. After preparing for the intense cold of high altitude they ended up closely inspecting the trees below the top of stage one for much longer that anticipated. Bob Akehurst contacted wave in the Duo’s second sortie but the climbs were limited by the lack of oxygen. Roger Pusey discovered the delights of flying in wave on his introductory flight here reaching 17000’.
Adrian Head was last to fly in the Duo but failed to connect and also ended up closely inspecting the trees in the bowls of stage 1. The approaches and landings were very sporting with a 20kt crosswind and provided some extra entertainment for those on the ground. After flying the Duo had its oxygen replaced ready for tomorrow.
Merv
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