I was out with the dogs at just after five this mornin and it was a cracking morning too. We walked through the woods and enjoyed the early morning birdsong, well I enjoyed it, dogs didn't take much notice really, but we got back home at 6 ish. I had a coffee sat outside watching my windsock and decided to take a walk up to Pontlottyn with my kit. It is a mile from my gate to take off, uphill all the way and if you take it nice and steady it takes about twenty minutes, so twenty two minutes later I was at take off and thinking how hot I was. Wind was bang on the hill, a bit light but well do able. I got my glider out and at two minutes past seven I was off the ground. Took it nice and steady for the first few beats, just feeling the air and enjoying the peace and quiet. Very little traffic about, in fact I didn't see anything moving for a while. A couple of seagulls came drifting past, one of them quite close so I asked it to show me where the best lift was but he just looked at me and drifted along a bit faster than me. 07.36 and my phone binged at me so as it was nice and smooth I got it out to see that I had a text from Evan, so I phoned him back, he was a bit surprised when I told him where I was!! At the time I was about 185ft ATO. Half an hour later I got a text from Cookie, so I phoned him too, I really must start to fly with a hands free kit, save me taking my glove off all the time. After I finished chattin to Cookie I noted that it was getting a bit bumpy, little bullet thermals popping off in the early mornin sun, some of them quite boisterous. A cuckoo was shouting down in the valley and I was working hard to get some height. I topped off at 850ft ATO thanks to some little blobs that pulled the glider out of shape, and I flew right over to the mast at the south end of the ridge. That's the best height I've had on Ponty for a while, and that early in the day was a real bonus. Wind was picking up a bit and my arms were aching a bit. I checked my watch and was surprised to find I had been flying for almost two hours, golly it passes quickly when you are having fun. I decided that another cup of coffee was in order so I headed up the valley towards Ponty recreation ground. I had plenty of height in hand so I stayed over the main road all the way up the valley, and when I got to the village centre I had to fight my way down through all the lifty warm air that was booming up from the sun warmed ground. I was doing tightish turns and some wingovers to lose height, whilst staying downwind of the football pitch; there is a definite demarcation line at which you suddenly run out of lift and from there to landing is quite a small time interval so I didn't want to get caught out. Sure enough I suddenly started to pick up more ground speed as I came over the railway line and lined up on a diagonal path over the pitch. Landing here needs a bit of precision, you don't want to be too low over the railway, but if you come in too high there is the danger of flying into the wind shadow of the trees with a subsequent high ground speed. I've done it before so I flared to a smooth stop and managed not to fall over, always a bit of a bonus for me!! As I packed away I thought again how lucky I am to be able to walk to take off and then land two hundred yards from my kettle. Doesn't get much better now does it?
