|
         
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
Byeeee
|
|
I decided to continue my mid-summer mission
of trying to hit Sisteron in a single day. For the record, timings were:
04:00 left home; 07:00 arrived Dover; 10:00 (local) left Calais; 21:30
arrived Sisteron. I had 8/8ths with drizzle all the way to Lyon, after
which I could see Cu tops further south, which buoyed up my enthusiasm for
the sun-lit mountain stretch of the journey. Meanwhile, Charlie remained
peaceful and uncomplaining - he's been through this dozens of times. |
|
|
|
Pre-Alpes
|
|
|
|
Today the forecast was for brisk
northerlies in the west and much lighter winds to the east. I didn't fancy
a wave-hunt (regular readers will know why) and I decided that a trip to
the parcours would be more fun. It is with great regret that I must report
a complete failure to achieve anything of note today. The thermals were
weak, the cumulus drifted continually out of reach; clearly, extra
practice was called for, so I played around the local hills before calling
it a day and landing back. The good news is that other pilots did much
better! |
|
|
|
Phew
|
|
|
|
Here's a vignette of village life in the
valley du Jabron...
A microlight club wants to set up an alti-port
near Vieux Noyers, close to our village in the valley du Jabron. Most locals are against the idea
(for the usual reasons), so a meeting was set up between the microlighters and the village
community. Vieux Noyers is situated on the northern side of the valley
which runs east-west, that is, just below a large south-facing ridge. Safety issues were
being raised and Ariane joined in the fun with the following exchange:
| Ariane: |
"How are you going to deal with
curl-over and rotor in a strong north wind?" |
| Microlight Man: |
"Huh! What would you
know about curl-over and rotor?!" |
| Ariane: |
"2800 hours gliding and a Diamond
height over the valley du Jabron." |
...back of the net! |
|
|
|
