February
6/2/2025 Whernside
During the previous day the pressure had been rising, but not until mid afternoon did it finally establish and get rid of the showers. Enough for some to have a spell of very good flying in the Lakes and slightly later, the western Dales. I saved myself for the following day which seemed better .... or at least a full day of light winds and sunshine.
I began walking in just after midday. The odd glider was flying around the summit area, but given the easterly wind the question was would the southern end be OK? Shortly after a glider soaring along proved it would .... so I chose the Ellerbeck approach.
I could make this account all about the way to approach, the best launch areas and why l think the guide needs a rethink. However, l'll do that as a quite separate subject, add a link and pilots can decide for themselves. For now I'll just describe the day.
Approaching the foot of the main slope it was blowing about 5mph - at the wall corner I always decide, left or right - but very rarely up. I decide to go left. Nice grassy slopes to layout on, clean take offs, and after 100', as usual, the wind is 7-8mph. Whernside soars easily from this point. The take off ridge? Near blown out! Whernside is notorious for its serious compression.
The rest of the day was hours of smooth soaring, being ESE to E the full ridge worked well. About seven gliders for company and a number trying the NCS task. Chris and Joseph did well in getting the TP out beyond the railway and managing to find a weak thermal to get back to the main ridge.
With four gliders laid out on the top take off I decided to land. Not a wise move, even less wise as I suspected it was very windy. Still ..... in the air, in front of the ridge it was quite light. The usual thing. Anyhow, I landed, well back and sure enough it was windy! The question now was getting back off again. I suggested the others headed south and down a little. I should perhaps have followed that advice.
On the second attempt I managed to get off from a balled position - just to take the sting out of the inflation. I got off OK - but with a cravat. Reluctantly, after some persuasion, it cleared. The rest was just floating about from end to end of the ridge with my hands mostly in my pockets - it was that smooth.
Finally, I headed out to the usual Ingleborough landing by the Hill Inn to get nearer the car. A very bouyant glide saw me arriving with lots of height, so I explored the nature reserve under Park before setting down.
A very enjoyable day.
27/2/2025 Pendle
Tom collected me at 10.45 on the dot in his new 'swanky' BMW mobile. We opted for Pendle (just for a change really, although Tom hadn't flown it before) then realised the guide said 'members only' ... so the wonders of online joining and paying up found us each £25 down, but happy to be able to be challenged if we passed for strangers. It turned out later - it wasn't members only, just an out of date site guide.
We arrived to see others walking down and yet more aimlessly wandering the hillside rather lost for a plan. Yes ... a tadge breezy, but nothing that wrote off the day. I took off low - it seemed OK, so after 20 minutes I set off towards the main face. I knew given the wind was NW I would only make it to the bottom ... and I did. Still ... a check on the contours showed about 200m further it turned slightly more into wind. So the plan was still on.
I traversed the hill, climbed slightly and the wind seemed a lot straighter - it also seemed a lot lighter; in fact I had to wait for a passing gust as I was very near the foot of the slope. Anyhow, it worked a treat and within five minutes I was near the top of the ridge and heading north.
I had the NCS task plugged into both instruments, but my traverse meant I hadn't actually started the task. Back down the ridge to grab it and it was game on. The lift was really good, the wind fairly light, even at height - rarely more than 10-12 mph. Better still - it was thermic! Some of the climbs were 2/3m/s and smooth with it ... so getting to 3500' was fairly simple at this stage.
I tagged TP1 easily, but TP2 proved a bit more challenging and took two attempts before I sussed out a way. Back to the ridge, top up and TP3 also proved quite straightforward. With the hard ones behind me I though I could just burn off the final three ... but it wasn't to be. The thermals had more or less gone, so it was ridge lift for the most part. Before I realised the absence of thermals I wasted a lot of time on a detour back to the north end of the ridge.
TP4 and 5 weren't too bad, but the long trek south to the shallow ridge holding TP6 was a bit touch and go on the out leg - not helped by the wind now being a westerly on a shallow, low NW ridge. Turning back it looked a fair way to the ESS and then goal. Actually, it proved quite easy as suddenly thermals started to appear and I arrived back with height.
Very happy to have completed the NCS task. I was in the air for over 2 hrs, but having a task really focuses the mind and provides a sense of fullfilment.
A great day out with Tom .... and lots of others turned up so plenty of company.
28/2/2025 Wether Fell
I arrived at the top road/track junction at 12.30 to check out the wind and finding the place deserted. There was some wind, just not enough and slightly off to the south. However, worth a walk in. It was pretty much what I expected, but I felt given the forecast and the sun soon to appear that it would improve later. I find driving the track rather unnecessary and I once knocked a sump out on it. Usually a 100m flat walk and there are nice take offs - not so today however as I planned to go 100m beyond the normal take off. When it's light and off to the south, the ridge turns 10 degrees, you get slightly higher and have a bale out before the main slope. It's also where the thermals tend to track through. In light conditions the main take off easily become a trip to the bottom. Just saying.
I laid out, walked around a bit and after 30 minutes the sun arrived, some wind, (not much) and two buzzards. They hung around well north of the main slope, even though it seemed well out of wind. Later, as the wind came a bit more on, they returned occasionally and proved very useful for what became light wind thermalling. ... never more than 1m/s. A few other pilots arrived on site too.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in picking a time to launch, about three 10 - 15 minute flights, some short hops and finally a better spell of about 40 minutes. On one occasion, and thinking about landing, a single buzzard appeared out front and began circling. A great marker that gave me a few turns - then he (?) decided there were better places to be.
A few more gliders turned up for the afternoon, and that was about it. A fly back to the car, pack and head home for tea.
Very few pics LINK
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