Monday 7 October 2013

Aboyne Week 1 Days 0-1

Three gliders, two instructors and a handful of Lasham members arrived at Aboyne in Scotland in time for a magnificent wave weekend – so magnificent that I haven't got round to posting this until Day Two. The dramatis personae for the first week of this annual three-week expedition are:

DCFI: John Simmonds
Instructor: David Williams
Pilots: Kevin Wood, Darren Smith, Dave Paffett, Geoff Martin, Helen Evans
Gliders: Duo Discus 775, Discus SH4, Grob SH9

On the Saturday (Day 0), the Duo went wave soaring with David and Lasham member Graham Bell, since none of the expedition members was available. Graham, who isn't on the expedition but has brought his own glider up here, then took that to 27,000ft on the Sunday. "I launched, I climbed, I landed," he said. He already had his Diamond height...

Day 1, Sunday, was exceptional by anyone's standards: good south-westerly wave; warm on the ground; no worries about the gaps filling in; and the lower, mid and high-level bars were all well marked. The system shifted mid-afternoon for an hour or two, which thwarted a couple of Diamond height attempts, but then set up again nicely at the end of the day. After a flight with John, Dave Paffett soared the Grob, SH9, to 12,800ft. David took Kevin for the latter's first proper wave flight, before an orientation flight with Darren and an end-of-day wave climb with me, Helen. This was the highest I've soared in the UK (15,500ft agl) and one of the most beautiful flights I've ever had, with the low sun illuminating lenticulars at all levels in a spectacular sky. Only the approach of darkness stopped play.

We're looking forward to the rest of the week!  


Above: Day 0, Saturday, David Williams in 775 with Graham Bell (Pic: David Williams)


Above: Graham Bell after his flight to 27,000ft (Pic: Helen Evans)


Above: 775, with David Williams instructing, transits to the upper system on the last flight of day one (Pic: Helen Evans)


Above: low and mid-level lenticulars, photographed from 775 on day one (Pic: Helen Evans)


Above: Kevin Wood at the Aboyne launchpoint after his "first proper wave flight" (Pic: Helen Evans) 


Above: the view from 775 on the way up (Pic: David Williams)


Above: Looking back up at the higher-level lenticulars, on the way down (Pic: Helen Evans)






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