Aboyne 2009 Day 3 & 4 (Tues & Wed)

Tuesday was a complete washout. We all arrived at the gliding site just after 9am but it was soon obvious the grey, drizzly, and overcast sky was unlikely to clear.  From the Satellite we could see a long narrow band of grey stretching over Scotland which remained all day. So the hangar doors remained shut.  A few ventured out to Aberdeen. Others stayed in the local area drinking tea. In the evening we all met for dinner at La Mangiatoia, the local Italian restaurant in Ballater. To our surprise we spotted Billy Connolly having a quiet meal in the corner with one other person. I hope we didn't disturb him too much with our 11 strong group of glider pilots descended on the place.



However, Wednesday was complete contrast with glorious blue skies.  We had the hangar doors open at 7:30am, SH4 rigged, and all gliders DI'd ready for what looked like potentially the best day of the week. Only one stalling point, a low lying, ground hugging mist that just wouldn't shift.  We waited, drank tea, waited more, and eventually at midday the mist lifted enough to launch. So much for an early start!!  431 launched first with Dave Parfett at the controls. He managed to climb to 8000Ft before descending.  Then SH4 with Graham bell but somehow he missed the wave and was back on the ground in 20mis.   Alex and John took 776 and climbed to 15000Ft.  Tim Coldicott in SH4 managed 12700Ft.  With not much daylight left, Howard and John took the last flight and climbed to 14000Ft in about 30mins. The vario was against the stop as they climbed between perfectly formed and clearly defined wave bars extending into the sunset.  A great day all round topped off with a fantastic roast beef meal courtesy of Bowtell Farms.

Fingers crossed hoping tomorrow is just as great.

Howard & Alex