Saturday 21st & Sunday 2nd March

One of the great things about Milfield is that we have so many options when it comes to soaring. This weekend was a good illustration. On Saturday, with a fairly low cloudbase and a fresh NE wind, we enjoyed ridge soaring from Yeavering Bell down to Wooler and back. There are signs of spring though and there were also some suprisingly good thermals, your blogger had a solid 3 kt climb near Branxton. Sunday dawned with a complete transformation of the weather, a light SW wind and blue skies. There was no obvious signs of wave but early flights found a fairly small area behind the Milfield Hill which allowed some quite long flights, including a 2 hour + flight for Paddy Clarke -well done. Your blogger had arrived late and joined the group of 3 gliders which were, frustratingly, sticking below 3000'. I thought I saw a glider well above us over the high ground towards Cheviot and, on checking with base realised that Mike Rose wasn't with us. Mike helpfully told us that he had contacted wave on the higher ground behind Yeavering Bell and, on arriving there, found that it was still present. It wasn't a classic wave day as the lift appeared in lots of small patches but later in the day there were some quite strong bits of lift which allowed some fun. 90 kts and still going up is hard to beat ! As usual, after the hangar doors were closed the sky got better and better, there were bits of wave all over the sky. Some photos taken on the way home show the end of another brilliant day at Milfield.

A sky full of flying saucers