Sunday 7 January 2018
Hardly any wind at home all morning but Aldergrove METAR showed light SE wind so after lunch I headed out to Big Collin. Just through the gate I met Eveleen McMaster and Sam heading home and we had a chat. On the hill I found Phil Barron with some students, Ken McConnell and Dermot Lagan as well as Walter Hoy and Al McMaster with their paramotors at the bottom of the hill.
Walter took off on his first flight on his new reflex wing and everything looked steady. Al and I had a chat while I piled on the insulation and boots. The walk up the hill seemed much steeper and longer than usual but I suppose the lying around and overeating during the Christmas period had something to do with it.
After a chat with Phil on the way up I eventually made it to the top where the wind was very light - less that 10mph. Ken managed to scratch around and squeaked in to a top landing. For the next half hour or so, after laying out my gear ready to go, Ken, Dermot and I had a blether before they took off. Both did soaring beats but did not get any height, gradually getting lower to land at the bottom.
I waited for a detectable increase in the very light wind and took off. I managed several soaring beats and, being mindful of Bruce Goldsmith's view that modern gliders perform better with brakes off, I tried that. Of course Bruce was right - it works and I was able to maintain height for more beats than I expected but eventually went down to land in nil wind in the normal bottom landing area. It was good to be in the air again after such a long layoff. Hoping for more flying in 2018.
