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Good forecast.  Go to the airfield and rig. Sky full of good-looking cu. Launch straight into a 6kt thermal to 3000ft.  Great, it’s a romper, let’s do a 100k for starters: ChilBoltoN – LASham – HUNgerford.  Er… getting low and not even at Andover, sky that way not so good any more, but looks better towards LASham, so let’s do LASham-DIDcot instead.  Got low again but climbed away and made LASham OK, but turned round to look North, and West – sky had really gone bad again.  Looking doubtful I could get home, best hope was back towards Andover. It did work, but only just – land-out averted, fortunately.  Meanwhile Chris and Chris were doing a lead-and-follow round LYNham and WELford, but apparently that wasn’t a romp either, though Trevor reported good conditions Lambourn way later. 

There were also several local soaring flights of an hour or more, in total about 20hrs soaring and 400km by the dozen or so members available.  So all-in-all it was a good day, if not the absolute romp promised.

Rigged, followed Pete (above me). Followed Pete more (still above me). Got low at Cheively, slight poop on how low I was with no lift, asked Peter to call if he found a climb (still above me) scratched and got high enough to get back to Rivar landed and changed underpants. Big job done…
It would seem the first thermal was a freebie, the rest you had to work for. Still it was flying, just  not far. Rivar-Cheively, Newbury, Hungerford, Rivar. Depressingly small.

I did have my daughter, son in law, as well as Grace and Daisy turn up at the airfield. to wish me a happy fathers day. Priceless.

Pulled kit out, rigged, begged map, watched a couple of launches, pulled on line, climbed off the wire, blasted down a street towards chievely, fell off street at chievely, below glide for home, begged back up, blasted down street to Rivar, scratched in the rain with club 2 seaters, went to another street, climbed, headed off down the vale, climbed at PEW, next cloud at DEV, glide, scratched, then stonked (muppet), set off to wantage, scratched north of Malborough, then stonked (muppet), glide round Wantage, home down street, quick top up, finish, wheel down, landed, derigged. Done.

AA Milne’s Owl might have described today as “blustery”, and surely it was. But no houses fell down. The Puchacz syndicate took bits out of the inside of the wings and then put them back in. Just for good measure they cut some holes and then immediately repaired them.

Chris and I did some plumbing, no not a new Italian tiled customer restroom at the clock shop, but inside a wing – we’re gliderpilots see…

Phil and Carol polished the Janus – CFI quote “I find polishing 20m wings reasonably relaxing.”

Well funny you should say that…