Algodonales - Cloudbase at last

I had a great week in Algodonales with FlySpain. We flew at 3 different sites over the week and finished off the week with a 30km cross-country to Rhonda.

Me and several other pilots were picked up from Malaga airport and driven to the very comfortable FlySpain townhouse in Algodonales where they put up all their visiting pilots. We had the afternoon to wander round the pretty village and generally take it easy before meeting Rob the next morning for our first briefing. Several of the pilots had been before and Rob seemed a very chilled-out kind of guy. We headed off later that day to a site about an hour away. Conditions by this point weren't looking too good as it had become quite grey and cloudy. Another group of pilots were just launching as we arrived but it looked like an extended top-to-bottom was the most we would get but we soon saw that they started to contact some good lift above a band of cliffs on the way to the landing field.

I was keen to get into the air but also a bit nervous about flying as it I hadn't had much airtime recently. I managed to launch perfectly first time (not always easy in light conditions) and flew across the hillside to where other pilots were marking thermals. For a while I managed to contact some decent enough lift but it wasn't really taking me much higher initially but I eventually found some decent thermals and quickly made it to base for the first time, then I popped up into the actual cloud itself. Now this is always something I'd wanted to do but when you can only see white stuff and you know there are other pilots flying nearby its actually a bit worrying. No problem I thought, I'll just big-ears back below base and I'll be fine. I pulled in my ears as far as I could but I was still going up with the vario screeching. I added some speedbar, then full speedbar and while my ascent rate slowed I was still going up rather than down. All I could do was hold a steady course and hope to reach the edge of the cloud. I did this eventually but it was pretty hard to hold in the A-lines for so long and the wing was thrashing around quite a bit. Being on full-bar was also quite tiring. While in the cloud I caught the odd glimpse of Nick (one of the other FlySpain pilots also in the cloud) but eventually the ground became clearer and I finally was below base once again.

All this was quite exhausting so I decided it was time for me to land, but there just seemed to be so much lift about I thought I'd better make the most of things and was soon back at base, onto the ridge and playing happily. I then decided to push out beyond the landing field into wind and went from one cloud and thermal to another, slowly creeping forward until I was about 1.5 km in front of the landing field just before a small hill. At this point I decided I'd had enough for a first flight and made a nice fast downwind run back to the landing field and the minibus. Only Rob was still flying but as soon as he was down and we had packed up we headed back to TO for another flight. Unfortunately conditions had deteriorated somewhat and it looked pretty lumpy and unpleasant judging by the first few to take off so me, Rob and Liam gave it a miss.

The next day we flew at Montellano which was a nice site but didn't really produce much flying on the day except for Rob who managed to climb out and go XC. Still, we all had a nice day trying to stay up and kept Lee busy doing retrieves all day long. The next day was blown out, as was the following one despite us checking out the launches at Montellano and Lejair just in case. Some of the more active people in the group went mountain biking while the rest mooched about the village and caught up on some reading.

We flew at Lejair for the final 2 days and I had some great late afternoon thermalling flights off the mountain managing to stay up for quite some time. It was great to have plenty of time to locate and then stay up in thermals. The scenery was really beautiful and I felt my flying improved enormously. On the final day we took off from the west launch at Lejair after a short flight from the upper launch earlier in the day. I quickly climbed out and joined the others above the main launch and got loads of height before pushing out towards the twin peaks. No-one else seemed to be getting up as high as me and I kept on finding climbs. I didn't want to waste this opportunity so via radio I confirmed the route to Rhonda and set off on a glide. It was only once I was past the twin peaks and still finding plenty of climbs that it dawned on me that I actually was going XC at long last. I knew there was a small ridge site with Roman amphitheatre between Lejair and Rhonda and this soon came into view. I was nice and high for the whole flight and found climbs easily despite it being a blue day and no other gliders around. At one point I was nearly 2 miles ASL and everything looked pretty small but I loved being up there. It was quite comforting to know that if I did have a collapse or worse I had plenty of time to sort it out but there was never any danger of that - conditions were extremely comfortable. I took the time to take some pictures of the scenery but couldn't see any other gliders following me. At one point I flew in a straight line for over 5 mins climbing all the time.

Rhonda was becoming nearer and nearer and I realised that I was going to make it there unless I encountered massive sink. I called Rob on the radio to ascertain the best landing field and eventually spotted the one he meant. First however, I wanted to fly over the town and check out the gorge and the bullring. I had plenty of height and I managed to have a leisurely waft about far above the town. Eventually I decided to land and headed for the field near the hotel Rob had described.

On approaching the field I discovered the wind was far stronger than at first thought - despite carefully assessing direction etc by flying around above before making a final approach. My careful planned landing was going a bit awry and I ended up landing (slowly going backwards) in a farmers back garden with his Alpacas. Luckily I missed his house and any high fences/trees and other hard objects but I was now fenced in. I packed up my kit and started looking for a way out just as the farmer appeared. He seemed a bit suspicious of me at first (who wouldn't finding someone in their fenced off back garden with a large rucksack) but as luck would have it he was an English ex-pat and so I was able to explain myself (my Spanish being somewhat lacking!). I walked along the track to the hotel and waited for Rob and Lee to arrive (they had followed on behind me from Algo). We sat in the bar for quite some time before Lee arrived with the minibus and it was 11am before we got out for dinner that evening. It was a great last flight to end the holiday with and I'm already looking forward to a return trip next year.

FlySpain were a great outfit to fly with and I'd recommend them to anyone - either to get their EP/CP or for a flying holiday. Can't wait to get back!

See more photos on flickr

Malvern - 16th February 2008 (2)

Made the trip over from Milton Keynes leaving a little later than planned and getting to the site around midday after negotiation a road closure near Worcester which added to the delay.

Was straining to see if I could spot any wings in the air from the moment I saw the ridge in the distance but was quickly becoming certain it was a wasted trip over as I couldn't see a thing. Still, I was going to have a nice days walking even if there was no flying.

As I got closer I started to be able to pick out a few gliders in the sky but by the time I was near the the hill I could see plenty in the air - but it looked cold.

For once I managed a (nearly) perfect launch first time after waiting ages for a lull in the medium-strong conditions on take-off. Everyone seemed to be maintaining height with no problems at all and even pushing far out in front of the ridge.

It was freezing on take-off but once I was in the air it was surprisingly OK. By the end of the days flying I was well and truly frozen - or my fingertips were at least. I seriously started to wonder whether it was posiible to get frost-bite from a few hours flying! Letting go of the brakes and dangling my arms down seemed to restore some blood flow which helped a bit.

Deciding to land I discovered a problem...there was so much lift it was impossible to top-land. i tried so many times but just locked onto the magic staircase every time and just couldn't get down. Eventually I decided I'd better head for the main landing field before the light went and on landing quickly packed up as I needed to find a lift back to the car park on the other side of the ridge. Luckily one last pilot was waiting for a lift round and his mate dropped me off too - thanks very much whoever you were!

Malvern - 16th February 2008

First flight at Malvern. Managed 2 1/2 hrs before succumbing to the cold and failling sunlight. A great days flying with lots of silky smooth air. Not much chance of sinking out - there was lift everywhere!

I'll add more photos and details in the next couple of days.

See more photos on flickr

I was particularly pleased with this image.

Dynamic Decisions DVD

Browsing XCShop just recently I found myself tempted by this DVD. Having received it a fews days after ordering I watched it few times and was fairly pleased with what I got for my £5.95.

If i'd ever been tempted to upgrade my wing this DVD would have cautioned me against getting one beyond my experience. As it is I haven't been tempted to upgrade as (a) I don't fly often enough; (b) I still consider myself a relative beginner; and (c) cost is unlikely to ever not be an issue!

Anyway, I was very much reassured that the low-end 1-2 gliders exhibited lots of passive safety. My wing is a Skywalk Tequilla (a low-end 1-2) and seeing how some of the higher rated gliders reacted to both symetric and asymetric collapses I shall remain happy with my glider for some time to come.

There is also some nice flying footage on the DVD as well as the demonstrations of how the different grade gliders react to collapses. While its not a full-on professionally filmed and produced DVD I felt that for the price it was certainly good value for money and much welcome inspiration in the UK winter time.

Algodonales

I've just booked up for a weeks XC/thermalling course with Flyspain at the end of March in Algodonales. Having looked at many other courses/holidays and locations this seemed to offer the best deal for my level of experience and they also have self-catering accomodation. Hopefully i'll get some longer flights than I managed last year in Greece but without conditions being too booming! I had been planning an SIV course in Turkey this year but the dates clash with a friends wedding. Given the awful flying weather we've been having lately in the UK I'm currently wondering if I'll even get back in the air before I head off to Algodonales?

Anyway - time to start dreaming about some big distance flights in a sunny land...

Ground Handling Techniques - DVD

I bought this DVD a few weeks back from XCShop. I have watched it a couple of times now but to be honest I wasn't that impressed. There were a few useful tips I picked up regarding launches but I think my copy will be hitting eBay in the not to distant future. I would be great to handle a glider that well but just to have suitable conditions for groundhandling would be a major achievement in the UK. Most of the time it seems that the wind is far too strong and gusty. I would rate it 4 or 5 out of 10. Worth a look but not worth £19.95. Save your money for one of Jocky Sanderson's or Bruce Goldsmith's titles.