abort! abort!

As we all know, there are times when slope soaring can prove to be the most frustrating pastime known to man or beast.

Add the vagaries of UK winter weather into the mix, and it doesn't take long for even the most casual of glider guiding enthusiasts to develop hairy palms.

It's times like these that find some of us turning to substitutes

which others may consider to be not entirely wholesome...

It doesn't seem to signal the lift very well at all....

Eric is quite taken with the manner in which it beats the air into submission!

Though it appears that Simon is going take a little more convincing.

screw in the sky

Monday before last, Charlie was checking up on everyone from

the comfort of his private jet.....where were you all?

meanwhile, back in the Netherlands...

a bit of power

When the wind fails to cooperate for an

extended period, it's time to

consider the alternatives....

1:1 powered scale anyone?

77 years ago

Thurnham 1940

Thurnham 2016 

line of shite

A mad dash up to Thurnham first thing this morning to capture the drama of

mist hanging on the Downs.

A pre-flight assessment of the conditions show that the northerly breeze is blowing the clag away rapidly, so it's off with the Radian asap circling up through the hole in the fog flying line of sight only. The more initiated amongst you have probably guessed what was about to happen...

Here's the view looking back down toward the cow shed.

Looking back towards Detling and Maidstone. Hugging tightly within the bubble of clear airspace, gracefully cinematic sweeps captured the drama of the morning air, and then....

the mist closed in....

the Radian vanished....

Her final resting place....and to top it all

the camera battery died a minute and a half into the flight :-(

Today's subject for the North Downs debating society-

'Line of sight safer than FPV?- discuss'

Off to TJD tomorrow then....

take it to the bridge

Not only are the Netherlands as flat as a witch's mammary gland, but last Tuesday they just happened to be just as cold as one too. Enough to stop even the most deranged slope enthusiast from committing aviation you might have thought?

Well it seems not.....

If you're after a hill in Holland, this is the best they have to offer.

Count yourself lucky the tide is out Paul, that's doubled the

height of the slope....for a limited time only!

a Radian, a shoreline and a motorway embankment

and we're in business!

with a bit of coaxing the Radian can be floated

up the embankment to the slightly stronger lift band.

the local soaring enthusiasts are friendly and helpful;

marking the way to the best lift with an outstretched beak

it's only then that we notice a much steeper slope

and so make a beeline for it....

 

...to be rewarded with the best lift of the day

fortune favours the brave

...dryness rewards the cautious!

and coastal air encourages proximity

'Hey Paul, has anyone ever told you that you look

just like Tom Cruise?' (when he has his

face reconfigured in Minority Report)