Windy!

I suppose I should say a bit more, but windy pretty much covers the mood, fear, and pace of the day.

Milk Hill and Golden Ball were draped in fog early on so there was little else to do other than sit and chat, and Mike M's van was the ideal spot. By 9.15 ish it all started to clear so Mike, army James and myself grabbed our kit and set off for take-off.

The early morning breeze was strong and smooth at around 14 - 18mph, but this soon changed to strong and a bit boisterous. MHWH is a good spot when conditions are strong, and about 30 pilots were in attendance to give it a go including a 10+ groups from the forces. With conditions marginal at best, a migration down the hill was the only way to get airborne safely.

For a brief spell conditions greatly improved and the sky just seemed to vacuum up all those who dared to take off. Several small groups had already left the hill by the time James P, Charles N, myself and several others managed to get away. Conditions low down were at times extremely rough, the strong winds and punchy thermals creating a fairly hazardous cocktail. But up high, things were a tad more mellow, even pleasant. During the early phases of the flight our gaggle worked well, crossing the M4 high and navigating the narrow South Cerney gap. But just past Cheltenham the cloud cover increased, the lift weakened and James, Charles and myself, the last of our gaggle were down within 3km of each other. 10 mins later, the sky was back to blue.

A great day of flying, farmers offering us lifts to the Pheasant Inn, and taxi drivers just a week into the job all added to the adventure of getting back.

I love this sport!