Practice Day Tuesday 28th April

6am. Not enough sleep. I had eventually got home from the previous day's fun at 1am in the morning, having had to stop for a power nap on the way back. I've learnt to stop driving at the first signs of driver fatigue so at least I had snuck in another half hour.

Tea in bed, iPad open, checking the forecast. WNW wind, switching around to SW by mid afternoon, but probably a bit blowy. And with RASP looking so good, it would be rude not to try. Things were still looking good for Frocester, Showered, dressed, light breakfast, and I was back on the road. My drive to the site was delayed having stopped to help a young mum push her car off the road with her three kids inside - why was everyone else driving past? Unbelievable. With a quick trip to the petrol station to get her some fuel she was soon back on the school run, much to the chagrin of her children! By 9.30 I was sat in the car at the Coaley Peak car park, looking out over the Severn Vale. Being a Cotswold boy, this is where I used to come for family picnics and kite flying, often lying on my back in the sunshine watching the sail planes soaring above. Little did I know then that one day I too would be able fly from here, often passing over both my primary and secondary schools, the open play fields of Minchinhampton Common, and the family home where my parents still live. Special indeed. 

Panorama over the Severn Vale

After a brief walk to the spur to check conditions, it was fairly obvious that the wind forecast was accurate in terms of strength and direction. Good and bad. Right direction, but maybe too strong. Oh well, I had made the effort to get here, so off the roof came the glider, and by 10.15  I was rigged just in time for the tops of the tress to start blowing over in a two fingered salut to my endeavours. Not to be beaten, I retreated to my car to finalise and declare my flight, and make sure the GPS was correctly programmed. Ambitious it might have been, but a 200km flight to goal at Kings Lynn was set, having carefully chosen a landing field near the train station as I would need to get back home to make sure I could get to an important meeting the next day.

Frocester Hill
A technical site. Lower tree line clearly visible.

Struggling to avoid conflict with gliding operations

Suddenly the wind dropped. A lull? A couple of minutes later and it was still blowing a steady 15mph.  Action stations. Glider checked, instruments on, clipped in. Wind? Still good. Three steps later and I was airborne, turning right over the trees which I had expected to climb over. Frocester is a technical site at the best of times, but when its turbulent it is very challenging. Landing fields are not easily accessible, and a quick decision has to be made when getting low to be able to reach them. I spent the first few beats almost at the base of the trees (if you know the site, you know that is "landing approach" time), but I managed to scramble back up in gnarly punchy lift, just in time as the wind switched within minutes to SW. I was lucky to have got airborne, but the hard work was only just beginning. As I gradually gained height in a three steps forward, two steps back fashion, the drift now was taking me along the ridge and not "over the back". I was struggling to stay off the end of the runway of the adjacent Bristol and Gloucestershire Gliding Club, and was making every effort not to inhibit their winch launching. Losing the battle I opted to go with a broken climb, lower than I had wanted at 2000ASL, but at least I was on my way.

Cranking it over in a punchy climb over Selsley

Slowly sinking I glided on to Selsley Common hoping to pick up a better climb from the ridge. With memories of my last flight there still vivid in my mind, I did not want to get too low, but with the wind now SW it was a gamble. Luckily, the gamble paid off as I stumbled in to a broken rough climb that allowed me to drift over the Stroud Valleys, hopefully to gain enough height to proceed over the rising Cotswold escarpment.

Cloudbase at last!

I had to drift for most of the flight in broken thermals, quickly covering ground with the strong wind but mostly between  2000' and 3000' ASL. Not high above hilly terrain in weak, broken lift surrounded by strong sink. As I passed to the West of Brize Norton ATZ during the highest point of the flight,  I could see a good line of clouds off to the East which I gauged to be in the airspace - would they be clear by the time I glided to them? I couldn't take the risk so I continued to glide on track. 

Damn. Better sky but probably in airspace...
So its off to an overcast sky.

A windy landing at Wychwood  golf course

Getting low again, a ploughed field kicked off some bubbling air, so I drifted on, often just maintaining height in the hope that either I would drift over a better source, or the sky would "cycle" and my thermal would mature in to a "boomer". The sailplane whizzing in beneath me obviously thought the same, but soon sped off to find something better. Eventually I became nauseous from circling for nearly two hours, interspersed with only a couple of short glides. I was becoming disorientated.
Erring on the side of caution for a safe landing in large field with no upwind "rotor inducing" obstacles, I glided on towards Chipping Norton for the village of Wychwood and its golf course. My initial choice of field turned out to be the driving range. Fearing a few air to ground missiles, I opted for the field over the road and made a perfect landing.

Retrieved in style.
And why does the sky always look good after you've landed?

A short walk to the edge of the field next to the main road and I sent a "landed safe" message to Hilly. As always I immediately started de-rigging, first packing harness and instruments, then the glider. The familiar "whistle" of a text message. Hilly: "I'll come and pick you up and take you back to your car..." Seriously? I was expecting to have to either hitch back or take public transport. Perhaps this would cost me a late lunch in a Cotswold hostelry? Oh, what a hardship. No sooner had I packed the glider and propped myself up on my harness to enjoy the rays of Spring sunshine, than I was awoken from my slumber by the throaty growl of an Audi TT pulling up next to me. An impressive retrieve in every respect!

A hard earned 55 kms, but all good practice for the start of the British Open Series in a few days time...