First XC's of 2020 - in JULY!

Well hasn't this year been fun, everyone?

It's been a long time since I wrote anything - but that's because it's been a long time since there was anything to write. The weather in February was bad, even for February, and as we were looking forward to getting going again in March/April, along came a global pandemic!

Thankfully we had the ability to get flying again as soon as regulations allowed in May, but the lockdown period had enjoyed a searing spring, and we returned to some less than stellar gliding conditions - not only that but we all needed to get some local flying done to get in practice after what was effectively a long winter break.

June came and went with no chance to use what few good flying days there were due to annual maintenance on the glider which is normally done in March before serious flying begins and so July was the first opportunity to try and get something out of the year.

The first day where me, my airworthy glider, and some good weather were all in the same place was the 19th, and despite not flying in a thermal all year I declared a 233km task.

The plan was to go to Catterick, which is about 35km to the Northwest, I set off just after 11am and the wind was blowing about 10kts from that direction making progress feel excruciatingly slow - with that and being a out of practice with the soaring part, it felt like I'd be lucky to get to Northallerton! Every time I stopped to take a thermal, I was blown a couple of kilometers back the way I came - this means that the thermals needed to be strong so as to make forward progress. After some less than impressive attempts, things started to come together a bit and I started to be able to make better progress. I went up one side of the Leeming ATZ, turned Catterick, rewarded myself with a biscuit, and flew down the other side of Leeming. Just under an hour taken, and an average speed of just over 36 kph was the fruit of my labour, taking 7 thermals but feeling like I'd taken 700.

The downwind leg was more like it, the day was improving as the sun shone more and heated the ground and now I was actively being blown by the wind in the direction I wanted to go - so in the glide I was fast, but even stopping to thermal brought me closer to where I wanted to go. Catterick to Pontefract is 81km, and it only took me an hour and six minutes! 10 thermals taken, and an average speed of 72 kph was still probably slower than it should have been but very respectable.

Confidence was now high, and my next turn was at Beverley, to the east. This would be a crosswind leg so the only thing to worry about was going too far south of track and getting tangled up with Doncaster. I headed towards Burn Gliding Club just north of track where I picked up a smashing thermal and so I pushed on with some purpose - 80 knots most of the way meant that I covered the 55km in 41 minutes, at a speed of 80 kph. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Beverley to Sutton Bank was a repeat of the first leg, only longer. Straight in to wind, which had slackened just slightly - and a distance of around 65km to cover. All I had to do was hold my concentration, and find the balance of pushing hard enough to make progress, but not too much so as to fall out of the sky. So I backed the speed off to between 60 and 70 knots depending on height and how the sky ahead looked - which was still generally soarable, at least that was the impression it gave.

The first problem came just east of Market Weighton. A weak thermal at 2000' only gave me another 500' or so - and pushed me back a kilometre down track. I needed the lift to be stronger so I pushed on to the next cloud which didn't work, and neither did the one after. At 1500' I would take anything that seemed vaguely workable, I'd spotted a long, thin field with what looked like grass and perfectly into wind and hit a weak bubble of lift. 5 turns later and I'd gained about one hundred feet and 3 more turns after that I'd lost it again - but i was sure something was there. I was over a set of farm buildings and I got the feeling that they might be producing some lift and I was down to 1200' by this point - each turn looking at my chosen field and inching closer, but rejecting it as I seemed to be in the edge of some lift that I just couldn't quite find.

At 1000' I levelled the wings and flew towards the landing field - and stumbled right into the thermal I'd been on the edge of. The vario peaked around 6 knots but that was only the core, I worked it until around 2000' (and I could breathe again) and it started improving. I eventually got back to over 4000' and set off for the next clouds. It had taken 20 minutes - let that be a warning for getting too low!

I flew on, and at 3000' started searching for the next bit of lift, figuring it would give me time to find it. I rejected one (which the flight trace seems to suggest I shouldn't have) and flew on. By 2000' I'd found nothing to stop in, having tried another bit and found nothing. Remarkably, I was 20km closer to home so the leg hasn't been a complete disaster - but I was back down to 1600' and in trouble. I'd found a patch of lift but again left when I should have stayed (hindsight and logger traces confirmed this, but it had seemed the right thing to do at the time) and this seems to be when I lost the plot completely. I circled aimlessly behind a small escarpment, hoping it would kick off a thermal as hills often do - and I also looked for somewhere to land - the nearest airfield at Full Sutton was 10km away and probably marginal, but I'd spotted a grass field on top of the hill - it looked big enough and flat enough, but had both power lines and telephone lines running through the into-wind approach so I would need to land crosswind, parallel to the sets of wires so they wouldn't be a problem. 

Once I was down to the height needed for the approach, I abandoned the idea of getting away, put the wheel down and turned to approach the field. The landing itself was uneventful, the long grass slowed me down nice and quickly and the surface was lovely and flat. All that remained to do was get out, curse at the sky and wonder what might have been if things had gone a little differently.... 

207km completed from 233km declared and we can go again another day!