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Lac de Morgon
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English
Weather (2)
Today's forecast warned of a greater level of
instability than occurred yesterday and, once again, we were unable to
determine in advance the best direction to fly. We were further warned by
the CFI to
use only airfields as our safety, not the fields in the book, due to the
extreme turbulence associated with the storms. By the time I launched it looked
best to the south, so once again I set off towards Vinon, this time
crossing to the west of the Durance. |
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specks of cloud here were only at 5000ft, but this was perfectly adequate
for me to get back to the more convective Valensole plateau. |
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Storms building...
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As I
reached Malijai, near St Auban, my way was blocked by a large shower
cloud. A long glide from 7600ft through the rain to the eastern arm of the
Lure and then la Baume cost me 3000ft, but after some scraping I managed
to climb away again and continue to the north. By the time I reached
Morgon it was clear that the Ecrins would be unavailable today, so I ran
along Chabrieres and back towards the south. |
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| At the pic de Bure
I wondered whether the south-west face would be working, but after losing
1600ft in 4 minutes decided that it probably wasn't. I then explored the
hills to the west of Aspres but found that the thermals, though good
looking, were very difficult to work. After running the Lure I decided to
land while I was still ahead of the game. Total distance today, 320km. |
...nearly here...get that wing off!
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| Interestingly, the wind
direction at the Lure was about 15 knots NW, while on the ground at
Sisteron it was 10 knots
southerly. So sound advice then, from the CFI. |
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