As Kung Fu Panda says, "There's no charge for awesomeness!". Epicness however requires a little sacrifice. After the retrieve saga, the long drive north and about 4 hours sleep in our cars, Pete (Discus 230) and Matt (ASW20 M5), felt like the price might be a bit too high.
Snug as a bug!???
The morning sky however was showing signs that epicness was definitely on the cards. By the time the admin bits were sorted out and the gliders rigged, there were at least 15 gliders on Bishop with a gaggle still in the queue to launch. The wind on the ground was a steady 310°/18kts, increasing to 50 odd kts at 18000', .......technically perfect. (Ed: Congratulations to Matt for Diamond Height - you're far too modest!!)
We connected with the wave by thermalling up to the 4000' cloud base and pushing out to the upwind side of the cloud bar which was forming over Benarty on the south side of club. To the north west the wave bars were lining up and lenticulars were forming over the usual hot spots at Crieff and Loch Tay. Moving out to the west into the mountains was relatively straight forward, certainly compared to previous attempts and the views were spectacular.
Loch Tay with space ships ready to beam us up.
The adrenaline highs took about five hours to wear off and our lack of sleep coupled with the cold had us heading for home, that and the fear of being late for dinner. So we final glid the 75 odd km back from Pitlochry to end an epic day's flying. The price was well worth it!
Cruising with Flying Saucers
