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Vaumuse
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Not much to report today. The forecast was for more storms
than yesterday, but we launched anyway in a spirit of optimism, buoyed up by
the sight of Jean-Pierre landing back early after yet another cost-saving
experiment.
We got away easily from Trainon but poor visibility and a
lowish (and indistinct) cloudbase persuaded us to head southwards towards
the lac Ste Croix. This plan worked well enough, but when we got there we
could see storm clouds building, both locally and back towards base, so we
decided to get back towards Sisteron to monitor developments.
The first step was to get on to the Vaumuse which would
lead us to Authon and an easy hop into the Sisteron cuvette. Aaaahh .. the
Vaumuse wasn't working. And neither was Authon, which looked a little too
interesting from 4500ft. It was clear that I would need to do a little work
in order to get home.
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Gorge de Verdon
Low on Authon
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Normally, one would patrol up and down the Vaumuse and pick
off the thermal that would get us home, but not today. An additional factor
today was the looming presence of a cu-nim to the south of the Lure, casting
a dense shadow which was moving its way eastwards and would soon cut off
whatever limited energy source we had. And another cu-nim was marching along
the Jabron valley and heading for Sisteron airfield. So no pressure
then.
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Lavender fields on the Valensole plateau
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Storm-watch
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After working our way to the southern tip of the Vaumuse we
found a weak climb to 5000ft and headed south to some cumulus on the
Valensole plateau. The lift was frustratingly weak and at one point I
recognised the possibility of being unable to land at St Auban due to
storms, and unable to reach Sisteron due to lack of altitude. Our problems
were resolved when I spotted two small birds in non-flapping mode which
pointed the way to a 4-knotter, 7000ft and an easy glide
home.
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We were about the last but one to land after what had been a
shortish flight. As is the way of storms, as soon as we were on the ground
the cu-nim's progress ground to a halt and no more than a few drops of rain
fell on the airfield. Later in the evening from the security of the terrace
at La Toupine we enjoyed the light-show from the parcours storm.
And this morning's forecast predicted more of the same for
tomorrow. Oh joy...
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Parcours Cu-nim
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