It was a borderline forecast but as the days shorten it was worth a try. An early met flight and rapid descent determined cloudbase above 1200ft QFE and possibly higher in the lighter bits, so enough to fly. Mark Layton in a K21 and Dave Perriam in the Perkoz were swiftly away finding some lift along the west ridge. By the time Julian West and I launched the cloud was descending. George Sanderson and Ashley Thomas managed circuits and Tom Sides flew briefly in the Perkoz. Julian and I took a final launch before proceedings were halted, with me in the knowledge that we were never going to reach cloudbase anyway.
We suspended operations until early afternoon and were then well sustained by Julie and her helper. Two more checks confirmed that the ridge was working but cloudbase restricting the ability to use it, so sadly it was toys back to the hangar.
Two Foxes (Mark Courtney)
Meanwhile the "skulk" of Eurofoxes arrived in quick succession as promised, with the new one refuelling and quickly heading off back to the north, and the yellow one fitted into the tug hangar behind G-GNHL. - Peter Smith
