|
     
| |
|
Early Storms
|
|
As my early-morning ferry approached Calais yesterday I
spotted my first soaring demonstration of the day - a pair of paragliders
were soaring the cliffs to the west of the port. Sadly, no further evidence
of human soaring presented itself for the remaining 12 hours to Sisteron,
despite a patch of good weather between Dijon and Lyon. After dumping the
Duo trailer at Vaumeilh airfield I retired to meet up with Ariane at La
Toupine, ready for a glass of wine, a stroke of the dog (Charlie, not a
euphemism) and a very long sleep.
|
Back in the saddle
|
|
|
Fully refreshed, we met up with old and new friends at this
morning's 10am briefing, where we were guided through myriad Met forecasts,
finally settling on the one that mentioned likely storms to the west, north
and east of the club, including a specific reference to a possible storm
over the Lure.
An early start was called for which, due to prevarication
on our part, led to a late-ish 1pm launch. Conditions were good, if a little
turbulent, and we climbed away from Malaup and headed north up the barrage
at the lac de Serre-Poncon, where cloudbase was an adequate 7000ft.
We threw a turn or two there and as we looked back towards
the Sisteron valley it became clear that a juicy thunderstorm was a-brewing
over the nearby Jabron valley (yes, just in front of the Lure), so we headed
back south past Jouere and Authon, reaching St Auban, where we monitored the
situation aware that a decision was required.
|
|
Still sunny at Trainon
|
|
|
Ground control at Sisteron hinted that pilots should either
land back within the next 45 minutes or stay clear until (hopefully) the cu-nim
had passed. We chose the former, probably the better option, given that the
approaching unpleasantness appeared rather extensive. The covers were on
before the rain hit, which should calm the nerves of the rest of the Duo
syndicate who are no doubt basking in the glory of a typical UK summer. Tea
and biscuits at Dave and Pam's rounded off today's excitement.
|
|
|
|
Somewhere down there ... is Sisteron
airfield...
|
|
