Flight booked and the weather looking flyable . Marie and I headed to Barcelonnette , for me to have a week of gliding while there was still snow around.
Monday 23rd March 2015 Day 1 Flying in the DuoDiscus. Getting back to mountain flying and a fairly overcast day – so stayed very local, for a few hours soaring.
Monday 23rd March 2015 Day 1 Flying in the DuoDiscus. Getting back to mountain flying and a fairly overcast day – so stayed very local, for a few hours soaring.
Tuesday, we were told of an “accident” just to the south and that there was a No Fly zone established, which kept us to our local valley in the South, while we were free to explore to the north.
That was the last day of flying from Barcelo, until probably Easter. The details of the Crash are still unfolding – but sufficient to say visiting pilots from Germany and UK were saddened and stunned as various details unfolded over the days we were there.
Wednesday was overcast in many ways . Very “sombre”. Marie and I climbed a local mountain.
to the snow line and got back to the news the airfield was closed until further notice.
Thursday we drove north over the Col De Vars to St Crepin, with the possibility of using their gliders. Rewarded with an early afternoon flight in their Janus over the busy ski resort at Vars.
Friday had the Mistral gusting 45Knots and too rough to launch, so a drive to Briancon to see 3 “landout” fields.
Saturday started with a crystal clear sky. Drove over to St Crepin with the lenticulars looking stunning.
But - by the time we launched the sky was overcast.
An Aerotow to the North and a climb up the mountain. The wave was there, but try as we may, we (I) managed to totally avoid it. Climbed to just over 3,000m and enjoyed glances of the Glacier Blanc from a new perspective.
Followed by a fast return to the airfield at the edges of Les Ecrins National Park.
A big thanks to Vivian (and all the teams at Barcelonnette and St Crepin) for their hospitality, and making the best arrangements for all visiting pilots, that they could, under the circumstances. I hope they can open very soon. - Wyn
