Jaca week 2 - Day 5

Friday was forecast to be a game of two halves with the better conditions expected after the cold front had passed through. Wave bars were already evident by briefing, due to the strong north west wind, but it was not expected to be a classic wave day as the wind changed direction with altitude.

Both gliders were launched, just after briefing, to try and contact the wave with mixed success. Much of their flights were spent at low level working rotor thermals just to the south of the airfield. Dave and Merv made the transition getting to over 6,000' whilst Richard and Bob landed back in time for lunch.

The cold front turned out to be a very weak feature that only amounted to some high level cloud that passed over quite quickly. As promised, the conditions improved mid afternoon with good looking cumulus out to the west and a blue wave slot overhead the airfield which offered no clues about where to look.

Thanks to Julian, all 3 course members launched around 3pm. A combination of patience, skill and experience eventually got Bob A. and Merv into the wave with a max height of 8,600'. The other two gliders shared some rotor thermals to the west of the airfield before admitting defeat.

Iain and Julian put E6 back in the hanger whilst Stuart and Bob took another launch, this time finding good climbs under the cumulus that were now closer to the airfield. A pleasant change after a week of cumulus free flying.
Bob.

Dave fixing the flat tyre on the dolly of No. 4,

Cumulus!