Jan 20 & 21 - Flying with Selena and Jonas

Selena has been asking me to fly with her and Wednesday looked like a good day.  We set out to fly The Rock-Conargo for a 500km FAI triangle.  It was blue the whole day.  Selena was flying very well in the Mosquito and I was having a tough time keeping up with her in the ASW-19.  We were not going very fast so decided to turn Tocumwal on the way back for 400km.  The run west was straight into a headwind between 10 and 15 knots.  The weather was weakening so we turned early and headed for home.  At the end of the flight over the airfield was some good looking lenticulars.  I managed to get into some wave but had to leave because I got too close to the Albury airspace.  Chris' flight Selena's flight

On Thursday we were expecting another good day.  The only temp trace we had was from the day before.  It suggested an 11 o'clock start to the day and good lift to 10,000ft.  When we took off at 11 we could barely get above 2500ft above ground.  I got very close to landing back at the field.  It was like that until almost 2pm when I met up with Jonas.  We got above 8000ft and started cruising towards Temora.  After we passed The Rock I noticed some high clouds moving in quickly.  I decided we would take the next thermal and then turn around.  It was perhaps a better idea to turn around right away.  When we got back to The Rock it was all under shadows.  There were still some spots of sun on the ground and we still got some very good climbs for a while.  Eventually the way back became completely consumed in high cloud cover.  The wind also picked up to 20 knots.  We found a few weak climbs but eventually knew we could not make it home.  I called Angie on my cellphone and asked her to organize a crew and I would call her when we landed.  We found a nice cut hay field and made safe landings.  There was some light rain and some wind gusts but nothing too drastic.  Our crews got there quickly and we stopped in Wangaratta for pizza on the way home.  Chris' flight Jonas' flight
Today the temp trace is giving a late start but showing 18,000ft.  The wind is very strong.  Some members took launches and scared themselves.  I got the glider ready and then saw a line of gliders heading back to their hangars.  I decided to do the laundry instead today.

Selena Blue, Chris Red

Jonas Blue, Chris Red