I went to Sundvollen on Sunday, it was windy, and I spent some hours checking over the Falcon that one of our students had landed in a tree. The glider looked suprisingly fine, it just had some marks in the sail. No holes or rifts, I disassembled both leading edges to check them thoroughly and they were OK.

Terje Brønstad carried his glider down the stairs, and was the only who flew in the windy period. He reported some turbulence. Since it was too windy for the Falcon, I went to Vik and had dinner with Frode and Krister. While we ate it calmed down and became soarable. I watched 4 gliders ridge soar, but it was too late for me to set up again.

Monday afternoon looked very promising with nice cu’s and NW winds. I met Steinar and Petter at Sundvollen again and set up the Falcon. The conditions were very good while we were setting up, but calmed down to almost nothing when we were ready. Typical… All 3 got a sled ride down. I had a borrowed old Moyes harness, it was too short and very difficult to get the right position in. Guess I should have held on to my Skyline until I got the new one.
Petter and Steinar went up for another flight, and Tor Inge came there too. I helped him set up and fly his new WillsWing U2 for the first time. He did well, but the takeoff was a little nose high.

It’s very easy to relax and make a sloppy takeoff when it’s “enough” wind, that’s when most pilots make the big turn back into takeoff. It’s much safer to keep the nose down and run like hell even if it’s windy, it gives you much more energy and thus more control. You might need it sometime, so it’s better to make it a habit.

Since I have no good harness I have to find some alternative way to get airborne. Today I went to Spydeberg and dug out the hangar with the Dragonfly from the snowdrifts. Thanks to Terje S who cleared the snow with his tractor it was quick not much work. The plane seemed fine, so I decided to take it for a flight. We probably need to cover the radiator, since the engine ran very cold in the sub-zero temperatures.

It was very nice conditions, clear weather and nice thermals. I thermalled the Dragonfly in pretty good lift. I could see some very nice clouds, and lots of overdevelopment around. Over the Swedish border it looked like a small CuNimbus might develop, but it died out quickly and dumped lots of snow instead.

Some more pictures from the air today

Steinar had a good thermal flight from Ringerud, and Arne Kristian flew with PG from Grefsenkollen.