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"That Ridge Is Bound To
Work..." (1)
Most of us took advantage of another sunny Sisteron
afternoon to make our final flights of the expedition. Ariane flew once
again with Hervé in one of the Sisteron Duos (TD) on a cat's cradle task
designed to get everyone around in time for prize-giving in the evening. The
task consisted of 7 legs totalling about 170km with a height limit of 2500m
(to make it slightly less easy for the ASH25). TD managed to get round at
100kph, despite suffering an unwanted low point at Chabre just before the
finish.
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Looking up at Chabre from 1000m
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"That Ridge Is Bound To
Work..." (2)
Robert, flying his LS8 (W8), hurtled towards the Ecrins
and, on his way to Guillaume, decided to try to make Chabrières work. To
Rob's great annoyance, the mountain, despite being south-west facing
and in sunshine, not only failed to co-operate but also injected a huge
amount of sink into his path, dumping him over some non-approved fields
requiring some rapid and accurate decision making. His assessment of the
field after a safe landing was that it was perfectly ok, apart from a water
hydrant on approach. And trees at the far end of a short landing run. And
the slopes, of course, in both longitudinal and lateral axes.
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"The field was perfectly good - 2 out of
10" (quote from Rob)
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'...and for best labrador...'
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Everyone's A Winner
The end of the Regionals brought with it the traditional
prize-giving session. In the UK, this usually involves some recognition of
the sponsors and a countdown, in reverse order, of the top three places with
cups awarded accordingly.
Here, in France, things are done differently. Every pilot
who took part was introduced by the club president and awarded a prize.
With 30 entrants, this understandably took some time.
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The true stoke of genius was to hold the event in a
non-air-conditioned room, while the outdoor temperature was only just
descending through the mid-30s. The president nevertheless stuck gamely to
his script, despite frequent interjections of ribald singing from the
competitors, forgetting only to acknowledge the sponsors who were simmering
quietly in the background. The event only ended when there was no more
audience left, either because they had already won a prize or, having lost
the will to live, had gone off to the bar for a cold beer.
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Postscript:
Click here to find out what we really thought
of our expedition.
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