Sunday 9th March

Your blogger didn't get a chance to write a post before going on holiday but felt the day's flying should be mentioned. Although there weren't any strong indications of wave, the sky gave the impression that something might be happening. A tow over the hills upwind of Wooler and towards the Langleford Valley gave results with rather patchy lift producing a knot or so. Things steadily improved though and from 5000' there was a steady 3 - 4 knots. The problems came with the increasing wind at height which eventually reached over 50kts and topped climbs at around 17,500'. Cloud cover was also came and went but not enough to prevent quite a few good flights. Sadly, apart from your blogger, none have been logged on the National Ladder. The BGA are again appealing for flights to be logged to support the case for the freedoms we have, so we must try harder ! Interestingly, when Kate Ashley rang to get the Southern wave box opened, we were again told of a 2 hour wait. The LOA we have makes no mention of this so it may be we will have to push against this. Having logger evidence may help.

On my way down I met Steve Marriott on the way up at around 12,000' and, just, managed to get a photo. I don't know how Steve found things when he descended but, by the time I came down the cloud cover was getting quite bad and meant quite a bit of manoeuvring to get through the gaps. The last person I passed on my way down was John Brown having his first flight in the Discus. The grin said it all when he landed !

DG300 at 12,000'