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| Endurance
Ariane had her name down to fly today with Hervé
Perrin, former French team trainer, in the Duo competition. The director
announced a 7-hour AAT, which led to raised eyebrows amongst the men and
serious concerns amongst the women about 'plumbing issues'. The time limit
was subsequently reduced to 'only' 6.5 hours but, since Ariane is unable
to say no to a
flight with a proven genius, they were both on the grid and ready to
launch by midday. Hervé is also the type of instructor that makes P2
do as much of the flying as possible, so Ariane would be kept busy for
most of the day.
The day was another excellent opportunity to
explore the mountains of the Maurienne. As the photo shows, cloudbase was
high, well above the peaks, making the flight a visual treat as well as
easing their workload on this part of the task. |
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As good as it gets in the high mountains
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| Hervé
noticed some cu-nim build up over the Vanoise and made a tactical decision
to retreat back to the south, turning near Bonneval in the Sollieres
valley. This gave the best chance of increasing the distance flown by not
getting caught in any storms. When they reached the Ecrins they had to
pick their way past a storm that covered the entire range, reaching better
weather again in the Gap valley. They continued to the lac Ste Croix
before landing back at Sisteron. |
Warning signs
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Threading a path through Ecrins storm...
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...to the clear weather in the south
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| Having
spent so long airborne, the resulting distance covered (420km) seemed
surprisingly small. However, their logger
file reveals that it took them 1 hour 40 minutes to get away and, with
other problems later on in the flight (not least the weak climbs they had
to take returning from the lac Ste Croix), on the whole they did quite
well. |
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| Mont
Blanc
Meanwhile, I was back in my own LS6 heading north. As I
passed the col du Carro I could see the cu-nims start to build up but
nevertheless decided to carry on as the surrounding cumulus in the
sunshine was well-separated and looked good and high. I managed to reach
the Mont Blanc and, after turning back, realised that the storms over the
Vanoise had grown rather larger than I would have liked. I decided to
retrace my steps to the east rather than risk getting caught out over the
heart of the Vanoise. I managed to escape the worst of the weather but it
wasn't until I reached the Gap valley that I felt secure enough to get
home. |
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