Simon rigs the Mossie
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The wind had turned westerly, with prospect of Ydas and the south bowl working, however the cloud took its time to clear the tops of the hills, slightly delaying the start of launching. However, once the tops were were clear 'Doc' was soon out at the lauchpoint with the tug.
Talybont Reservoir on the edge of the Beacons...
Adrian took the first launch and did 1hr 13min in the K13 with duty instructor Gordon Dennis, they then had a lunch-break before going soaring again later. It was Jan's turn on the '20' and launched after the weather started to improve at around lunchtime, clocking up just over 2hrs in ridge and thermal. Simon rigged and flew his Mosquito for over 2 hours completing his first solo on site with a perfect approach and landing on the SW runway. Later, after Jan landed back, Ian took a launch in the '20' and soared for 2 hours in mainly thermal lift exploring out towards Brecon and the Becons with a max altitude of almost 5000ft QNH achieved at one point. He managed to explore out to the reservior at Talybont.
Looking towards Talgarth along the Lagorse Ridge
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The westerly winds were quite strong at height and there were some good thermal streets out to Brecon. It proved difficult however to get out much beyond this and explore the Brecon Beacons because of the huge area of sink which could well have been wave induced. By around 5pm the top-cover was moving in quickly ahead of the front and cut off the solar energy. The rain didn't arrive until well after dark, by which time we were at The Castle Inn enjoying a hearty meal and good ale.
Top-cover finally moves in to kill the day
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Total time soaring from site today was 10hrs 14 mins over 8 launches. Average flight time about 1hr 15mins. A nice day had by all, shame the turn out was so few....
Photos: Ian.
