Sailplane & Gliding 1966 - Lakes Gliding Club

SKYlARK
FURTHER l.INES OF
LAUNCHED 1230 C!;L.OVD OBS~RVED POSSIBLE LINE OF
c:. REARS9Y
TO TH~E NORTH
LRONTAL 'TONGUES'
~;8~~G" /-----=1===-_- ~---::_)
J- :t::=~~OUGH ~BY! - - - - - -...--.-..--
V- OI.Y/t.4PIA .'04001"'OU"lDLf;:
*. LAUNCHEO'JOO J • ~ __ .......... __::>
~g~~~~~~ !7 ~-
A AI.:C~NBURY SEABREEZE FRO~T
~
N
FRONT
f~ONriACTED y___ _.__ __
• N.EWMARl'tET __'"
THIS PART OF HIE
FUGHT WA$ CARRIED
OUT IN" STRAtGMT
LINE IN ONE HOUR
,....-- /8
• 'CHE!DBURGH /
J
:::.---- RAF w.t.n, ISHAM
.~.' ~600 .
• / ~~~PS" -
~~~
LINE O~ CLOUD TO THE ~OUTH
._---~~------~~
The Tiger waved me off at 2,500 feet
a.s.l. (airfield 500 feet a.s.l.) with Downbarn
Market declared for Silver distance,
down a light (estimated 5 kts.) west wind.
The flight progressed normally, albeit
rather slowly, a,nd I concentrated on
staying high. Going too fast had been
my downfall on two previous attempts
and I was in no hurry this time. Some
thermals near Market Harborough were
worked in company with a 463 and,
later, a Ka-6, doing the Bicester Spitalgate
O. & R. task. Conditions 'by this
time were superb with smooth 4 and 6
kt. thermals and about 418 Co. based at
3,600 feet ;I.s.l. rising rapidly.
At 14.30 hrs. I crossed CQrby, heading
for Peterborough" but alas; directly on
track about five miles east of Corby
there was what appeared to be an enor­
~ous decaying Cu-nim with cloudbase
Virtually on the ground, tops at about
7,000 feet, and rags of fracto-cumulus
al(;mg its edges. The street that I was
usmg disappeared into this ragged grey
mass, and it was felt wise to divert
south where good C\I were still working.
This 'Cu-nim was an evil-looking thing,
squatting on the ground like some
science fiction monster, and it was disconcerting
to find that I was continually
being caught up by the cloud mass
whenever I stopped to make a climb.
It was at this point, desperately trying
to claw my way out of this mess,
that I lost myself. Descending rapidly
under a small local area of overdevelopment,
I was down to 1,200 feet a.s.1.
(about 1,000 feet above ground) when 1
was saved by a tiny thermal Just as 1
was giving up hope. During the slow
climb I located myself over tbe AS just·
south of Oundle,which gave me a great
fillip, since previous cross-countries have
found me lost almos,t the' moment I
crossed the airfield boundary, and. staying
lost thereafter.
00 reaching' cloudbase, I was in .a
position to see that the. Cu-nim formed
some sort. of front stretching to the
eastern horizon. It was about this time
that the possibility of a sea-breeze fmnt
occurred to me, since it seemed to fit in
with the book descriptions. At the time
3i3