| Comments | :: | Headed out early and picked Kay and Paul up en route as the weather men had promised a beautiful day and we wanted to make the most of it. Arrived at 10.30 and by 10.45 we were in the air. Very good lift right along the ridge and the thermals were starting to get very bouncy, the lift however was incredible! Weather was beautiful and the view out over Portland and along the coast was stunning (but that wind was cold!) Landed for coffee at mid-day and whilst down the wind got steadily stronger and wisps of orographic cloud kept appearing. We hung in there for the afternoon and were rewarded with an arial display by the Red Arrows over Swanage. At 6.30 the howling of the wind died and we all got in the air for another hours flight. The height gain we were getting was amazing and I couldn't resist the temptation to fly over to the sea cliffs, this was a mistake however as the wind did not have enough south in it so had to land and walk back up to the ridge again. By the time I got back in the air, Kay and Paul had landed and as I got higher and higher I noticed how pronounced the Orographic cloud had become, forming a solid layer. Was very damp in the sky and I landed backwards as the wind had picked up again with a rather wet wing. I nice pint finished off a very pleasant day. |
