Well, if I was you I would put my money on Tuesday.
Today poor until the afternoon when it should be flyable
Tuesday, light southwesterly, day of the week (probably)
Wednesday, still ok, a bit more wind, a bit more moisture about
Thursday, brisk WSW with more moisture than Wednesday, however if a little more round to the west and less moisture could be worth keeping an eye on
Friday very brisk, very moist.
Dave
A pretty mixed bag.
Monday very poor
Tuesday not as bad as Monday
Wednesday better than Tuesday
Thursday not as good as Wednessday
Friday worse than Thursday
It’s all a matter of timing but Wednesday looks the best so far. I will keep an eye on it and post if there is any significant change, sorry Jared there are no solo days this week.
Dave
If you are planning your week then I would go for Wednesday . After midday today (Monday) it looks poor til Wednesday which looks very nice, then it depends on the amount of cloud about but my money is on Friday as the ridge should work.
This morning I am sitting in the clubhouse with the sun shinning waiting for the rain which should be here by lunchtime.
Let me know if you are coming Wednesday and I will try to find a second instructor if there are enough of you.
Dave
Another wave profile on Sunday, last Wednesday worked albeit late in the day with climbs to 7500′ AMSL.
Tomorrow has a similar profile and Rasp has a little more faith, so should we.
Keep your eye on Wednesday, if I were asked to draw a Tephi profile of a wave day the GFS tephi for Wednesdat afternoon is what it would look like.
Dave
It’s Friday morning and the Burway is clear, still no flying though as we have a 25knt+ easterly!
We have just had about 4″ of imperial snow or 100mm of metric snow depending your age, blown along by a 30knt easterly!!.
If you are coming up on Friday ring first as I will test the roads to see if they are clear. At the moment they have significant drifts and are impassable even with 4×4 I will try again in the morning.
Riccardo soloed on Friday managing 5 flights in the K13 and 1 in the K8. Hefin resoloed and flew the K8, these days he can get here quite easily when he first started he cycled all the way from Aberystwyth !!!
Does anyone out there have a Track IR5 camera I could borrow to test before I spend the money.
Thanks, Dave
In a word, brilliant. Westerly all week, plenty of sunshine and wave (see Tuesdays blog). Have a look for yourself with this link https://youtu.be/X3n2T6NCLPs
Congratulations to Ray Lewis, who when not fixing software problems with the simulator head tracking found time to finish off his bronze.
There is an expedition planned to Lleweni Parc, so far Phil Foster is going with his Duo. I suggest if you are interested you pay your deposit early (to Denbigh) as spaces are limited.
See their website (http://www.denbighgliding.co.uk) for more information on booking and charges.
Rasp says yes for a discus starting at 11am , and yes for a duo starting at 12
MYN-BUB-BOZ-HAB-MYN 502K
However far you want to go it looks like yet another day of the year!!!
Dave
Quite an extraordinary course week, we managed to get all but one solo including three first solos. Then we converted all but two of the solo’s into the discus. Plenty of soaring including a five hour thermal flight and 222 launches loosing Friday afternoon to rain!!! (almost forgotten what that was like).
Then I took the last fight solo, I took an aerotow from Denbigh then thermalled away up to Snowden then set of for the Mynd. When thermalling away from Bala town to cross the Berwyns Helen said it was time for bed so I landed in a field and switched the simulator off.
I was quite impressed with it though the head tracking takes a little getting used to, it makes flying a circuit much easier. So the simulator is working, it just needs a bit of tidying up and I have yet to get the trimmer working.
I will produce a list of instructions for starting it, a process I hope to streamline soon. So many thanks to Geoff for the instrument panels, Roger for his welding and fabric work and to Rob French for his tech support and computer rebuild skills.
Dave
First day of wood week and a reasonable xc day. Top it off with a bbq from the kitchen, loads of Helen salads and side dishes plus a pud (strawberries and ice cream) all for £12.
Please phone and confirm as Helen has to pick up the order from the butcher and he closes early to go to a wedding. Confirm asap, latest 12 am Sat.
If you fancy a barbie out of the kitchen to enjoy this fantastic weather and sunset then contact Helen 01588 650405 before 2pm then helen will get the meat.
Usual Helen spread of side dishes and salads with strawberries and ice cream £8.00
For those who haven’t had time to check the weather have a look at Thursday and get the day off, the aim higher group are all marking up for 300k’s and Kevin Atkinson doesn’t overset to leave you in a field.
Pundits could stretch to 400+ probably 500 could be on.
Dave
Two good days in a week , is this too good to be true!!
There is some slight dissent amongst the models. so in true form go with the best but keep an eye open for the predictions of the worst.
Rasp stratus star rating is literally off the scale and the GM version is good too. I put in MYN-WOR-CCC-SWD-MYN 420k in wales (nearly) and rasp says it is on. Then I realised I hadn’t changed the glider from the default Discus A !!! When I put in a Duo it was even easier!
If you look at the GSD sounding then there is prediction of showers and a substantial layer of stratus. I like the sound of the good forcast.
Dave
Next weekend, 7th April, a few of us are going to Booker for their annual Easter egg aerobatics competition. This is a very light hearted comp open to anyone, pre solo up to championship standard. For those that wish to try something above their ability level a safety pilot will be provided hence pre solo are welcome, the more the merrier. So if you would like to join Nige Lassetter, Matt Cook and myself please do, just let us know and who knows you may be on your way to becoming the next Guy Westgate.
Dave
Thanks to a lot of hard work by the visiting Cambridge group digging considerable amounts of snow we managed to fly today, thanks to Orch for winching. There have been the usual large drifts blocking both the hangar and the MT shed with access to the airfield via the removal of a length of hitch rail.
The route up via ratlinghope is now ok with two wheel drive, there may be some ice if you aim to get up here early the worst part is below the cattle grid after that it is completely clear all the way to the clubhouse. Don’t even think of trying the burway or asterton.
Wednesday is a good westerly, 15/20knts with no significant weather to spoil our day. See you tomorrow.
Dave.
After bundu bashing we drove easily to the cattle grid at Ratlinghope, after this it is a bit slippy. The road has been cleared by snow plough which has left a thin layer of compacted snow. At the moment to get up from the tee junction at Mansell Towers (the bit through the trees) you will need 4 wheel drive, once at the cattle grid it is an easy 2 wheel drive all the way to the club. Forget the Burway and Asterton.
We have a visiting group from Cambridge who have been very busy digging out the MT shed and the hangar so we can fly and tomorrow and Wednesday looks hopeful.
We now have water again, the supply from the car park froze up so Roger and Liz spent most of the day defrosting the pipes just in time before we ran out