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That's better! I could see blue sky out the window when I woke up. Breakfast was quick as there was a push to get to the airfield early as today might be the best day of the week. We got the gliders out straight away on arrival at the airfield and were ready well before the 10:30AM briefing. It was looking potentially good for wave with lenticulars in places on the satpic. We were expecting a clear day. The gliders launched between 11AM and 12PM. The Northwesterly cross wind looked a bit challenging. I could see one of the 1st pilots circling over Stage 2 for quite a while.
Once the gliders were launched I returned to the clubhouse for lunch. But not for long as one glider soon came back. Soon the 2nd pilots were up. I got rather bored in the afternoon but the wait was well worth it as the gliders eventually returned to stories of it being might rough up there. While I was getting ready to fly in the Duo Discus the DG1000 returned and had a rather ehavy and wonky landing with a bounce. Curious...
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| A frosty clear start at the summit of Cuculo. | Getting the gliders ready to fly. | Towing to the launch point with Oroel in the background. | Cumulus developing to the West and seemingly going to showers. |
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| Gliders parked near runway 27 ready to fly. Seen from by the clubhouse. | Even from the ground the way the clouds flow over the peaks was spectacular. | Paul and Richard preparing to launch in the private glider. | ||
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| Paul and Richard preparing to launch in the private glider, E6. | Hooking E6 up to a Robin tug. | Blossom along the edge of the next field to the East. | The Lasham DG1000 returning from its first flight. |
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| E6 returning from its flight. | To the West the cloudscapes continue to pique my curiosity with big clouds and showers obscuring the hills. | |
It turned out that the wonky landing had caused a flat tail wheel. Derek would have flown again but the time spent fixing the flat ruled this out. Oops. At 5pm the bar had closed and everyone had returned to Toya's. But Derek gave car keys to Dave (who retrieved us) so I could drive car back. Phew. This time dinner was had at El Tizon. We weren't expecting such good weather tomorrow. But see what happens.
It was another lovely sunny start. There were lots of lenticulars aloft curiously. There was still a strong wind still but atleast it was Westerly at ground level (straight down the runway). The gliders were ready by 10AM again, with the briefing at 10:30 as usual. The day was looking good after all. I was to be first up with Dave in the Duo Discus.
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| A sky of lenticulars greets us when we arrive at the airfield. | A crystal clear sky to the Southeast above Oroel. | Another pretty low wave cloud (top of the rotor) with it's smooth shape. | ||
I enjoyed tea and lunch in clubhouse after my flight while the 2nd pilots flew. The weather seemed to be slowly closing in from the West meanwhile. They were back by 3:50pm as the weather started to rapidly deteriorate with cloudbase plummeting. Alas the 3rd pilot didn't get a go. It seems Dave was the wave master, so became known as Williams the Wave!
After the toys were put away we paused in the clubhouse for a while before returning to Santa Cilia (until dinner back in the clubhouse at 8:30PM). By then cloudbase was down onto stage 1. I gave John a pic for the blog then relaxed for a while, swapping pics with Derek and chatting to others. Eventually we gathered to return to the clubhouse. I was a popular choice for driving to the meal due to my lack of alcohol consumption! The meal was delicious. I was stuffed by the end. After much talking we finished about 10:30PM to retire for the night.
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| Comparing stories, pictures and video after the flights. | The weather deteriorating to the West. | A flock of vultures flying past. | Nice clouds overhead and to the North. |
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| 360 degree panorama and a view of Cuculo as we retrieve the DG1000 after its last landing of the day as sky fills with rapidly lowering cloud. | Two views of Oroel ten minutes apart showing the incoming moist air. | ||
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| Gliders away as Cuculo continues to get shrouded by the lowering cloud. | Derek showing us how to tie up a tow rope so it doesn't get tangled. | The clubhouse being prepared for our evening meal. | The evening meal in the clubhouse. | ||
Now the forecast for the next couple of days was looking good. How wrong the grim long range forecast had been in the end! Phew!
It was another clear looking start when dawn arrived, with just a few stacked lennies on the horizon. It was still quite windy. It was the same routine with breakfast at 8:30AM and gliders out and ready by the 10:30AM briefing. It was looking like another good wave day similar to yesterday. The first pilots were up between 11AM and 12PM, and John's glider was down by 1PM ready for me to fly next.
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| Inspecting a soft tail wheel. | Crystal clear peaks to the North are very beckoning. | Ready to fly another day. | Storks flying past. Curiously they were going East to West. I thought they migrated North at this time of year. | ||
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| A panorama of the peaks to the Northeast. | Once again moister air to the West shows off some beautiful UFO style wave lenticular clouds. | ||
Alas when we got back down we discovered the 3rd pilot had vanished. Shame that as I could have stayed up longer. But never mind as the pilot who missed out on Wednesday got a 2nd go to make up for it. I helped put a single seater away before the helping with the other gliders as they came back. All gliders were put away by 6PM. After a pause in the clubhouse we returned to the apartment.
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| Spectacular lenticulars erupting everywhere after I land. I wish I could have stayed up a bit longer but hey ho. | This lenticular appeared to be extending a 'scarf' into the wind. | |||
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| A view of twisted tortured rotor cloud under the main wave cloud. | A faint rainbow to the Northeast as a small shower appears to obscure the peaks. | The wave clouds continue to evolve and take on all sorts of spectacular shapes. | This lenticular resembles a tornado. | One more cumulus and lenticular shot to the West. | ||
At 7pm a group of us went to McDonalds! (We were a bit fed up of restaurants by now.) For once I was a passenger. There were nice sunset views on the way. Alas at McDonalds none of the familiar fish and veggie options were present. Only meat. So I couldn't eat. I watched the others eat while I waited.
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| A sunset rainbow to the East. | Sunset on the N-240. | Oroel in the twilight. | Venus was bright tonight, even under the Jaca street lights. | |
Then at Mercadona on the way back I found some Hake fish fingers and frozen vegetables. That did nicely for tonight and tomorrow night. (I knew I would need to make my own food for tomorrow as the final night meal in Santa Cilia would be like last year with all meat and other food I couldn't eat. I did not want a repeat of last year's starving by late evening.) Sorted! I ate soon after 9PM and retired for the night soon after.