The first day of the Pocklington 2-seat Comp was not blessed with ideal weather conditions especially for JB and John Pursey in the old Eagle. It was blowing half a gale from the south west which made for interesting launches due to the cross wind on the south runway!
The wind strength at flying height was 23 to 30 kts so making any real progress to North Duffield, the first TP, 15km upwind was not easy for the plastic ships and nearly impossible for the old Eagle and we spent the first hour crossing the start line many times in both directions - drifting back in the climbs, then pushing into wind - only to end up back where we started our last climb and in need of another climb! This seemed to be the order of the day for everyone and quite a few had to land back for a second launch.
From past experiences flying in the Eagle at Pocklington we have established three rules;
1.Never go back,
2.Take every climb to the top,
3. No breaking of the wind by the P2.
Unfortunately two of the rules were broken due to the conditions and the breaking of rule number 3 went completely unnoticed due to the extreme concentration of the P1!
After a while the cloudbase got higher and eventually we managed to follow a street out to the west til it ended in a large blue hole - clearly influenced by wave. Having finally managed to get 5km out of the start zone the excitement was just too much; we got completely carried away and roared off towards the first TP at a breakneck ground speed of 23kts!
Another two climbs got us to nearly 5000ft and suddenly the Oudie said we might get to the TP with 1700 ft to spare. Unfortunately the sky ahead was devoid of sun or clouds within reach of the 61 year old Eagle - (even one with new plumage), so we just crept on and watched the arrival height dwindle as we progressed. (Clearly reducing the Oudie’s glide calculator settings from a K13 with 20% bugs to 10% bugs was a touch too optimistic!)
The wind strength at flying height was 23 to 30 kts so making any real progress to North Duffield, the first TP, 15km upwind was not easy for the plastic ships and nearly impossible for the old Eagle and we spent the first hour crossing the start line many times in both directions - drifting back in the climbs, then pushing into wind - only to end up back where we started our last climb and in need of another climb! This seemed to be the order of the day for everyone and quite a few had to land back for a second launch.
From past experiences flying in the Eagle at Pocklington we have established three rules;
1.Never go back,
2.Take every climb to the top,
3. No breaking of the wind by the P2.
Unfortunately two of the rules were broken due to the conditions and the breaking of rule number 3 went completely unnoticed due to the extreme concentration of the P1!
After a while the cloudbase got higher and eventually we managed to follow a street out to the west til it ended in a large blue hole - clearly influenced by wave. Having finally managed to get 5km out of the start zone the excitement was just too much; we got completely carried away and roared off towards the first TP at a breakneck ground speed of 23kts!
Another two climbs got us to nearly 5000ft and suddenly the Oudie said we might get to the TP with 1700 ft to spare. Unfortunately the sky ahead was devoid of sun or clouds within reach of the 61 year old Eagle - (even one with new plumage), so we just crept on and watched the arrival height dwindle as we progressed. (Clearly reducing the Oudie’s glide calculator settings from a K13 with 20% bugs to 10% bugs was a touch too optimistic!)
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| Eagle Day 1 field (JB) |
As the Eagle approached the TP a nice landing field was spotted and duly chosen on the return leg. It was a lovely field with a nice stone track out to the main road with a lovely wide gate. What could possibly go wrong!
The gate was locked!!
Fortunately Nick’s Land Rover was able to get the trailer in via another field down the road so it all ended well and the Eagle won Best Wood for the day and 14th overall.
The gate was locked!!
Fortunately Nick’s Land Rover was able to get the trailer in via another field down the road so it all ended well and the Eagle won Best Wood for the day and 14th overall.
