They say that gliding offers something for everyone; that you can find pleasure from various aspects of the sport depending on your temperament. Some enjoy local flying; to soar and relish the delights of flying high over the beautiful landscape. Others go for cross country, battling the weather and airways to gain mammoth distances. There are also those that enjoy the thrill of being in the strange orientations of aerobatics. And then there are the ridge runners; flying low and fast amongst the hill tops.
Today I found myself amongst the ridge runners in the stunning Cotswolds surrounding Nympsfield. Ridge running seems to defy everything I have been trained to do while gliding. Fast and low is their mantra and when the vario screams lift, go faster!
I understand the attraction of this genre, to be buzzing past the rocks at such low heights where you would normally only see gliders on landing circuit. Today was no exception. It would be fair to say that today was a marginal day for the ridge. Our Task was to fly from Nympsfield to Bath race course and back. The wind strength and direction said yes, but the vario said no. That did not deter Matt (M5) my assigned lead. Turning doesn't seem to be in his repertoire. Fast. low and always toward the turn point. This worked superbly for our first leg. We passed underneath JB (KJW) and Pete (230) whilst they were deliberating whether to go on. Seeing our steadfast determination they found courage to continue on with us. Onwards we pushed over the M4 and round to the race course
We arrived low at our turn point and the ridge looked more like sloping hills. The lift was patchy and there was no room for loosing out. To compound issues we were flying in a flock of around five gliders making tight 'S' turns all at similar heights and we were low; low enough to bother the sheep that scattered as if to clear a possible landing strip.
I managed to get above ridge height and saw an opportunity to land safely in a freshly cut field next to the race course. Undercarriage down! The others carried on and were rewarded with enough lift to start the trip back to Nympsfield.
Today I found myself amongst the ridge runners in the stunning Cotswolds surrounding Nympsfield. Ridge running seems to defy everything I have been trained to do while gliding. Fast and low is their mantra and when the vario screams lift, go faster!
I understand the attraction of this genre, to be buzzing past the rocks at such low heights where you would normally only see gliders on landing circuit. Today was no exception. It would be fair to say that today was a marginal day for the ridge. Our Task was to fly from Nympsfield to Bath race course and back. The wind strength and direction said yes, but the vario said no. That did not deter Matt (M5) my assigned lead. Turning doesn't seem to be in his repertoire. Fast. low and always toward the turn point. This worked superbly for our first leg. We passed underneath JB (KJW) and Pete (230) whilst they were deliberating whether to go on. Seeing our steadfast determination they found courage to continue on with us. Onwards we pushed over the M4 and round to the race course
We arrived low at our turn point and the ridge looked more like sloping hills. The lift was patchy and there was no room for loosing out. To compound issues we were flying in a flock of around five gliders making tight 'S' turns all at similar heights and we were low; low enough to bother the sheep that scattered as if to clear a possible landing strip.
I managed to get above ridge height and saw an opportunity to land safely in a freshly cut field next to the race course. Undercarriage down! The others carried on and were rewarded with enough lift to start the trip back to Nympsfield.
Rowan in his field (top left of pic)
For me it was a nearby pub, where I awaited the retrieve. Fortunately it had wifi and beef sandwiches.
Rowan (CLM)
Rowan's first field landing!
A few hours later and still grinning!
As Rowan said we were low at Bath, and the ridge wasn't working very well so with about 200' above ridge height there was no point in hanging around. After watching Rowan land safely, Pete, JB and I set off north again. We were able to tip-toe our way back to Hawkesbury where we needed to climb to about 550' to enable the jump to the Wooton bowl and after about 10 minutes scratching at about 450' we decided to have a bash anyway. Luckily the bowl was working when we arrived and we soon able to make the leap to the NYM west ridge and climb to circuit height to land back. Diving into the ridge we passed CFI Pete H who was flying with Tim Macfadyen going out to the Wooton bowl for the second time and trying to get used to the idea of final gliding back to a place where you are a couple of km short of your field and below it!
- Matt
Pete crossing Wooton Under Edge going for the Wooton Bowl
