Day 4 and 5

The gremlins of technology have been with us for the last two days and I have been unable to access the blog site due to what appears to be a problem with the French site being down for maintenance.

Rolling two days flying in to one blog seams like a good idea as the weather on both days had the same trends and eventual outcome by mid to late afternoon.

Forecasting the location of afternoon thunderstorms is obviously something that the French Metrological office at St Auban have refined into a fine art and their morning forecast has been surprisingly accurate in the last two days. Despite knowing that the storms are going to develop, it never fails to surprise me how quickly they develop from a small Cu in to a raging Cu Nim and how it then moves in any direction they like. It really focuses the mind when the storms are near the airfield and how quickly wind direction goes from light southerly to 20kt northly within moments.

Both days showed signs of Cumulous developing over the high mountains before the morning briefing at 10 am and by the time we launched around midday some of the tops were starting to go ballistic. The three-hour weather window has allowed us to explore the local area with diverse conditions ranging from having to park on a small ridge for half an hour waiting for a thermal to kick off to cloud base going being over 10,000ft in the high mountains near Barcelonette. Today the Duo with Merv an Ed Foxon on board ventured east towards Mont Viso and the Italian border with the return journey around the thunderstorms sounded very interesting. Hopefully I can post some photos later when we download the cameras

As I write this blog in the early evening I can hear the thunderstorm rumbling away in the La Motte valley and the rain that’s falling looks like it may stop our evenings BBO at the house.

Colin

Day 3.

Later Start
Around midday the top cover started to thin and the first signs of usable convection appeared to the east. It was another hour before a self launching ASH 26 got airborne and started to report back that it was working up to 6500ft.

Both Duo’s launched at about 2pm and the first climb over Hongrie was 4 knots. Moving South we found another strong climb on Trainon gave us the confidence to push on to Authon. We failed to find a climb at Authon so I made the decision to push South again to some Cu at the end of the Vaumuse. Arriving under this it we found a week climb and cloud base 1000ft lower. We had found strong sink between the climbs so very quickly we were down in the low hills near St Auban doing battle with broken thermals and the local glider from the French national centre. This struggle lasted for over an hour and we constantly found the climbs stopped abruptly at 4000ft and we came to the conclusion there was no possibility of re tracing our steps. After a radio conversation with 775 who was under the Cu on the Lure Ed and myself decided we had to take our chances crossing the valley on to the south side of the Lure. Eventually the pull of the of St Auban got us and we dropped in.

Towing back to Sisteron we released when we could reach a local ridge next to the town and then local soared in the company of 775 for another hour in week evening thermals.

Colin

Day 3

Morning update.

Rather thick top cover first thing this morning which as I write this at 1pm is starting to thin out and allow the sun through. The morning forecast from St Auban promised soarable condition by mid afternoon and it looks like they could be right. So a relaxed lunch, more coffee and a possible launch later on.

Colin

Day 2

French hangar packing is an entertaining thing to watch and even more amusing if you are involved in the pushing, pulling and shouting. Today was no exception with the entire hangar having to be emptied to get out an LS 6 and then repacked in a different order. By the time we had done this, DI the Duo we are renting and towed it to the launch-point we were a little way down the launch queue.

By 11:30 Merv was getting itchy feet and launched with Martin Conboy as P2 on to one of the local hills called Malaupe. The radio remained silent for 20 mins before they gained enough height to contact us. This didn’t really inspire the RAF GSA contingent to launch and it was probably about an hour later before Alex and myself got airborne in the Sisteron club Duo.

As we aerotowed out I went into sheep mode and let the tug pilot take us in the same direction as the previous 3 glider had been towed, towards St Genis. Releasing above the top we did one run along it and were going down it fast. At the point where the computer said we were 75 meters above glide back to Sisteron one part of my brain reminded the other part that it’s a rented glider with a hefty excess, so home we went. A low save in the circuit saved the embarrassment and cost of a relight and we were then back in the game.

Everyone did two and a half to three hour flights with reliable conditions on the rock faces giving people good practice at climbing away from low level. By late afternoon Merv and Ed Foxon managed to reach Pic de Bure but with the upper wind coming from the North the climb up the southern side was slow.

Colin.

Morning update Day 2

Another hot and sunny day so Just a quick post before we climb into the Duo's and head into the mountaiins. It looks like a repeat of yesterday with thunderstorms forecast for the high mountains and possably near to Sisteron in the afternoon.

I will post some pictures this evening when we get back!

Colin

Day 1.

As in previous years you need to pay attention at the morning briefing because that vital bit of information may be missed in translation or lost in the chatter of French pilots. As it was only Brits at the briefing it was remarkably quiet and as it turned out a very accurate forecast.

The slight spanner in the works today was new rule number 3, which requires all pilots who want to fly Sisteron club gliders to have a check flight each year. As we are hiring a two seater from the Areoclub they managed to find an instructor to do this flight with me, but it quickly became apparent that there might be a communication issue as he spoke no English and my French language does not go much beyond making radio calls in the circuit and buying beers in the bar.

On to the flying. After a bit of a wait just to be sure it was working in the mountains Merv and Ed Foxon launched in the Duo and disappeared towards the east. Once established under the Cu on the Tete Grosse they had a good run up into the Ecrins and then back home for a good 3 hour sight seeing flight.

After my check ride we launched with the second crew of Alex and Martin Conboy. By now it evident that the forecast was correct and the thunderstorms were brewing to the East. Both gliders still managed to run to Dormillouse and at that point we went separate ways with Merv and Alex heading west to the Pic de Bure and myself and Martin going south.

A pleasant evening arrival back at Sisteron followed by a few beers and a good meal was the perfect the way to end the first day of the expedition.

Colin

Pre expedition practice day

When you go away on an expedition it always takes a few days to settle into the routines of another club and evan if you have flown there many times before things change. Well the big thing that has changed at Sisteron this year is that they have not employed professional staff to run the airfield and are going to try to rely on volunteers. The Jury is still out on this one, but so far everything appears to be OK.

The tug pilot informed me that for this year there is only one new rule, you must be local to the airfield by 7pm. By the time we parked the Duo at the North end of the airfield ready for a launch and it was then we had found out that there is a second new rule that the gliders need to be further back towards the hedge and we had parked in front of a Swiss glider that wanted to launch. Well if you cant find any Germans to annoy then the Swiss are the second best option.

So a relaxed start today as we were one of the last to launch at about 1pm. After ten minuets on one of the local hills we realised that it may be a bit more difficult than it looked with very turbulent thermals and possibly of wave mixed in with it. After two hours flying we finally managed to climb high enough to move away from La Motte and head towards the higher mountains. The parcours was working well but again it took a long time to get over 10,000ft. I was then persuaded by the P2 to try pushing towards the wave clouds over the Barcelonnette valley. It didn’t take long before we were doing a passable impression of a grand piano thrown out of a second floor window with the result that we had to scuttle back around the corner of Dormillouse.

Colin