Week 1

Day 4.

Opening the shutters on the room and seeing a bright sunny morning is always a good start on a gliding expedition and being able to see the tops of the mountains confirmed that we should get something out of today

At the briefing we were promised light westerly winds and not much else as the top meteo website was down. So it was make it up as you go along, and we took a guess that it wouldn’t be worth launching until at least 1pm. As there was no sign of activity at one, the lunch break was extended and a decision was taken to give it a go at 2pm

As we towed out on the first launch the air clearly felt like it was doing something, and Richard said that he wanted to stay on tow until the second stage. As we were nearing the second stage the turbulence increased and the tug started to go down(at any other time this wouldn’t be a good thing). We released in front of stage two and started climbing in the rotor thermals which were peaking at 8kts. The transition into the wave was relatively easy, but it appeared that the area of lift was quite small. The climb topped out at 14,500ft and then we started to venture East.

The Duo also launched and they released over the valley and climbed into the wave. Eventually they pushed forward two wave systems into the primary, and also topped out at around 14,000ft. It appeared that the wind at this height had dropped and also veered around to the North East.

As is often the case the people who launched second found the transition into the wave had become impossable as the thermals were stopping well before the laminar layer. So both Malcolm and Derek in the DG and Paul and Colin in the Duo made the most of the rotor thermals over the valley, with the last landing taking place just before sunset.

Week 1.

Day 3.

Day three Is acutely in fact day four of the trip due to a series of fronts that came across us on Wednesday and wiped out the day. It started with rain, but very quickly that became snow that lasted into the evening. Most people went and did the tourist things or stayed indoors.

The real day three again started with low cloud, but by briefing time it was starting to burn off and lift. Due to the wet ground the improvement in the weather was very gradual and it wasn’t until 2pm that it looked worth taking a launch.

The wind on the ground was westerly, but when we launched it became clear that the upper wind had a northerly component. The wind sheer was having a devastating effect on the thermals and ridge lift on the lower slopes. Almost everyone who flew complained about the turbulence and the fact that none of the thermals were round.

By Jaca standards the flights were short at around an hour each, but it proved to be valuable experience dealing with the difficult condition an a mass landing.

The evening entertainment was curtsey of the airfield restaurant who laid on an excellent spread with tapas to start and then pork ribs for the main.

Week 1

Jaca Day 2.

When you see cumulus clouds over the valley at 9 in the morning you know its either very unstable or they are rotor clouds. Once we got to the airfield it was fairly obvious that there was a fresh northerly breeze  and the clouds we marking the position of the wave.

Launching started about an hour after briefing due to a slight delay with the new staff tug pilot. It was certainty an interesting launch with two people in the tug and a heavy two seater. We all towed to the North and generally released near stage two where there were strong rotor thermals that took us to around 8500ft.

It was an easy transition into the secondary wave system which was going up at around 8kts. Merv and Richard we already reporting strong climbs in the primary wave and had passed 15000ft. They eventually topped out at Flight level 195, but were still going up at over 6kts. As we went through 11,000ft we fired up the oxygen system, but after 5 mins we started to get low battery warnings from the mountain high regulator. We decided on a 12,000ft limit as it was around -20 at this height. After an hour and a half the cold started to set in and we descended back towards the airfield. The wind was now petty fresh from the North, but the circuit and landing were uneventful for us. 10 minutes later the other gliders started coming back and a number reported severe turbulence in the circuit and on the approach. 

We all decided that lunch was a good idea and we wouldn’t launch again until the wind had dropped a bit. It took around two hours for the conditions on the ground to calm down a bit and launching to restart. By now the snow showers we covering stage two and the tow into this area was one of the roughest I have ever experienced at Jaca. No one managed to contact the wave again, so it was just rotor thermals in the valley.

In the evening all of the expedition members plus the Booker pilots ventured into Jaca with the aim of eating at El Porton, but as we rounded the corner there was a distinct lack of light coming from the establishment. Anyway our next choice was open and certainly didn’t disappoint with an excellent 3 course meal plus wine for 17Euros.

Week 1.

Day 1.

When I looked out of the apartment this morning there was snow on the roof tops and low cloud covering the hills, so it was another cup of tea and no need to rush up to the airfield.

The morning briefing appeared to give some hope of an improvement and if you believed top Meteo’s forecast a cloud base of 2000meters by 2pm. Both Clive and myself were convinced that the cloud wouldn’t lift off of the hills, and it would be a day for getting the gliders and equipment ready.

It was clearly going to be a long wait to see if anything developed in the afternoon. At around 3pm it looked like the cloud base had risen above the local hills and it was probably worth trying a launch, so the DG 1000 was dispatched with Paul and Colin. The local hill was working, but any attempt to venture away from this was met with strong sink and then a scuttle back to the hot spot.