Another day, another task. With a good forecast and the possibility of long flights, today saw the first DHT task of the Regionals. The full size task was Edgehill, Rattlesden (Suffolk!), Ramsey (near Peterborough), Banbury West then home. For the glider with biggest handicap this meant a flight almost 340km, but for the rest of us the triangle became prgressively smaller as the handicap was lowered. So a discus would fly approx 300km, with a cirrus flying around 260-70km. The day was forecast to start cutting off after 4pm, and the slowcoaches amongst us were taken aback when it did exactly that. The guys that got back quickly had great conditions around the task - Tim Fletcher won the day again completing in less than 3 hours.
The later returners had a big struggle beyond Northampton, as the clouds spread out and the thermals died. We last few back spent a long time flying field to field over the last 30km. I was last back (v late) after a last lucky weak climb. Others landed just short of Banbury as the fields between Banbury and Edgehill were not landable. A good day anyway, and a very pleasant evening back at the club with one of the best sunsets I've seen in years. Dave S and helpers cooked steak & burgers, and we were entertained by the Adderbury Morris Men, with a little help at the end from pilots!
