the bad lands and beond

[gary stenhouse]

jesus i started the flight getting a thermal and going for the sheep pens was almost there when the wind became very strong. i kept pushing forward untill i got lift then ended up with fast moving low lift thermal. now i was in the pop thinking i am going to have to land 200 ato. so persivered untill i got one more chance and thought it was a good one but, it was not so good as i was thrown out the back bellow the ball. so thought plonka push too clean air and a big walk out and there it came a broken thermal, ye ha. next i was thinking shit i am heading straight over the lake bt know the upper wind was 260 d and was having a gnd speed of 60-70k. i kept on thinking when i moved on below cloud base every time as they were too big and my glider will only loose height on spiral, so the side was the place and then i would head back into the black bottom clouds and keeping above the bad lands. i could not beleive it takes 45k to be clear of the moors and short walk outs. at 55-60 i was now getting worried about getting down at the coast as the streets were lifting like a bugger at the end i was on 2-3 bar and going up with 10k to landing but it soon was evident the sea air was there my speed was well down and it got real smooth. was it dificut the first 30 was and was trying to make every decision then i was watching my airspace as the wind wanted to take me south but a new i would airbust 4500. the rest of the flight was more of a worry about getting down. i thnk the key was follow the lift and forget the walkout. also the new harness allowed me to thermal easier to the right and had no preferance and confidence in my wing as it was a tad rough at times and drinking plenty of water.

thanks for all the help getting the van back

cheers gary

[Mike Brown]

Bloody hell Gary, Cracking distance and flight but!!!!....there were massive CB's all over NE coast in afternoon. Huge thunderstorm just south of Hartlepool. Glad you got down ok or this flight may well have had a different ending!! Please stay safe mate!
Regards
Mike

[gary stenhouse]

yep i heard it 20 minutes after landing i was heading for the blue hole to my left to the north as i could see the see breeze too my righ big developement. very hard reading the skies at height as you could only see the other streets and not your own. however the lift was never too strong and i always was keeping well away fron clowd in order to get ready to spiral.

cheers gary

[bill-scott]

so you were blown across the country like an empty bin bag only joking great flight gary it'll be a long time before anyone beats that well done

[steve-gill]

Well done Gary. Checked your flight and you managed to stay high the whole flight. Its years since I had a flight like that...infact it feels like years since I had an XC.