Lasham took the only launch at Aboyne today: David Williams and Helen Evans in Duo Discus 775 aerotowed to 3,800ft. The reward for spending more than half an hour in most forms of lift known to glider pilots – rotor, wave-influenced thermal, and (David insists) a bit of ridge – was contacting laminar wave. Maximum height for the two-hour flight: 8,200ft. Conditions in a brisk wind, slightly north of west, were exhilarating but not unsafe, and a small crowd of spectators emerged from the clubhouse to watch the circuit and landing, as if planning to award marks out of ten. A few minutes later, John Simmonds and Dave Paffett were lined up, hooked on and ready to go at the end of runway 27 when the rain swept in. We returned the toys to the hangar and waited a while before reluctantly scrubbing mid-afternoon.
Text and photos: Helen Evans
Above: The nearest thing to an obvious wave bar we saw: at about 4,500ft, looking towards Loch Kinord (LOK)
Above: Looking towards the east coast of Scotland. Visibility was so good it was possible to see all the way south to Fife.
Above: Loch Kinord is just visible on the extreme left of this photograph; the one in the centre is Loch Davan. The rainbow is a hint of things to come...
Above: So near and yet so far: Dave Paffett (front) and John Simmonds prepare for a flight in the Duo. We got as far as hooking on the rope...
... before rain stopped play.
No comments:
Post a Comment