The Day, Where were you.!!

A Very Good Day.

The day was long overdue (no more fruitless fishing from JH) and the results were :-

1 x Gold Height ("Long" Steve in JH)

2 x Five Hours (Louis in 971 and "Wide" Steve in 703)

3 x Diamond Heights (JH in a borrowed Discus, "Wide Steve" and Louis)

And no outlandings (but a picture in the local paper www.deesidepiper.co.uk - someone please send to S&G )

And one reply from a text saying "bugger".

The Wait

Still waiting for the wind to blow but the sun is starting to peep through.

Monday sees a new expedition

Given the outlook for the day a walk up Mount Keen to visit the resident Cessna is the plan.

An alternative day

Over optimism saw us rig before breakfast only to then have second breakfast before discovering the local botany on the banks of the Dee. Meanwhile Martin Kicks and Dave took to the sky in 315 for some thermaling, this saw the only flight of the day from our end. A brave attempt at the Tullich fishery followed by John, Louis and Phil. Needless to say it was steak for dinner!

The rest of Saturday

It turned out a great effort in the end, Phil in 971 made 10,200ft, JH with Steve Williams reached 9,500ft over Ballater but due to the call of nature aborted the flight given that the internal plumbing was u/s. Most made 8,000ft+.
The entertainment continued with John looking for new fishing spots in the lee of Morven with -7 knots but his carnivore instincts took him to a field full of heifers as well as one very keen bull.
Needless to say John's landing was a load of old bull and the glider quickly became suitably decorated by his keen onlookers.

Was there anyone left at Booker?

Outside the Deeside clubhouse - 2 October 2007

Saturday wave

Saturday started in true Aboyne style with an easterly on the ground and a westerly on Morven. Many made the rash decision to leave, then a classic westerly wave day developed. Derek unhitched and went to 9k. Nine other Booker pilots flew, although JH (John) landed at Tarland literally aux vaches. Most enjoyed 7knot averages alongside picture-book lenticular wave bars.

Pingu's gold height

Despite various comments such as "Didn't the engine cut out at that height?", Jim got to 14'000ft in 208 to secure his gold height. A couple of people climbed to 17'000ft in the same spot but Jim called it a day after his head felt even emptier and dizzier than normal.

Classic wave day

Lenticulars...

more lenticulars...

...and yet more lentinulcars (taken from 208 at about 7000ft)

Pingu gets above 14'000ft in 208 but even with oxygen he was seeing stars, so decided to knock the five and a half hour flight on the head at this point

Glorious sunset taken from 315 (Dave Byass and Mike C)

Thursday 4th's pictures

Pretty claggy and miserable but still some wave to be had for the keen

A couple of hours spent over the same two lochs

Hard work for not much height but good fun

Geoff (GA) gives a demonstration of his climbing prowess

Weak wave up to 4000ft above the lochs today. At one point the flight was livened up a bit by a brace of Tornados tearing around at about 500ft, when they saw us they disappeared rapidly to the north much to the relief of everyone in the area.


A 'quick walk' turned into a great two hour hike, which included Geoff climbing up a sheer rock face.

Another great day

Today we got everyone into the air, in some cases more than once. It was a bit surprising that any of the Birkelunn crew got off the ground, last night's dinner, courtesy of Geoff Tabbner and master chef Rolf Kern (formerly of the Dorchester and Claridges) was a masterpiece. There was quite a lot left over so we we will be entertaining this evening.

Flying: it was fantastic. Max height around 17000, Pingu got his gold, the rest of us weren't counting. Dennis 370 went to Strathcarron (315k out and return) and Geoff GA did much the same.

Amazing skies, wonderful sunset. The two who landed out near Balmoral (971 and 318-William) don't quite share these sentiments, but beer and whisky are wonderful healers.

Pics to follow...

New personnel

Forgot to mention that Dave Richardson and Bob Davey left on Wednesday, many thanks to Dave for organising the trip and making it all happen. Just as well they went in a way, because by return we got Heggie (Adrian Hegner), so there must be a bit of a shortage of tug pilots down south. Heggie will be standing in for Andras who is leaving shortly for Hungary to try and decide which of the many job offers to accept.

Pingu leads the way

Jim (208 TURBO) Pingu Pengelly led the way today with a lunchtime launch into wave over the lochs, shortly to be joined by Rolf (318) Kern and Steve (JH) Williams. This encouraged Lasham into the air and, after soup, Jane (118) Moore, Bob (279) Smith, William (318 - second wave) Parker, Phil (971) Cumming, John (JH - second wave) Herman to take to the air.
Most flew for a couple of hours and reached around 5,000 feet with John topping out at 5,751.34 feet. Climbs over the Lochs and up the valley to Ballater were reliable but limited by low and mid level cloud, although this did make for lots of interesting cloudscapes and a glorious sunset. Pics to follow....

All rigged up but nowhere to go

208, JH, 971, 703, 370, GA, 318 and 315

We rigged the entire Booker club fleet and most of the private gliders this morning, launched 315 with a couple of expendable test pilots onboard and then derigged them all without flying any of the others due to the bleak weather. However, one pilot from Hus Bos managed to reach 10'000ft and snuck back to Aboyne before the last gap closed! Currently the main source of enterainment is tea drinking.

Still waving...

..but only just. 315 launched this morning with Steve Wiliiams and Dave Byass into good lift which was unfortunately in very wet cloud, so they didn't stay long. Bob Smith gave another brief demo of model aerobatics before we went off for lunch at the usual place. On the subject of model aircraft, the main after dinner entertainment at Birkelunn is now attempting to fly Geoff's helicopter around the room, preferably not into the log fire. With practice we may work out how to steer it, at the moment it's a bit like a demented bluebottle. And we're still waiting for a display from John Herman of his latest jet, hopefully with a happier outcome than last year's.

Booker goes Indian

21 Bookerites and special guest Roy Wilson from Deeside GC at the Derbar indian restaurant in Banchory

Waving in shirtsleeves

Today started with bright blue sky and nil wind on the ground. A couple of small lenticular clouds appeared at high level to the west and everyone started to launch and not come back down. The tally for the day is as follows: -

• Jane 118: 9200' Lochnagar and Balmoral
• Jim 208: 8500' Mount Keen
• Bob 279: 9400' Lochnagar
• Derek 249: 5300' Mount Keen
• Phil 971: 5000' Mount Keen
• Bob 208: 8200' Mount Keen and Balmoral
• Geoff GA: 8000' Feshie
• Dennis 370: 8000' Balmoral
• Mike C & Glyn 3D: 8200' Balmoral
• Mike C & Martin 315: 7700'
• John JH: 8000' Loch Muick & Balmoral
• Byass & Steve Brown 315: Unknown Glenshee
• Rolf (Flugzeugfuhrer) 318: 7000' Loch Muick

Typical view of mountains in Scotland from around 8000'

William in 318 reaching for the moon

If you look closely you can actually see the Queen waving from the balcony of Balmoral

View after de-rigging and before the bar (where we are blogging from)

Post script

Rolf also flew 318 locally and has just gone home to make us risotto! :-)

Images from Pingu and Phil

JH in the foreground followed by GA, 370 and 208

Phil posing in front of 971

Taken from 971 by Phil - clearly Lasham gliders scraping around in the heather

Jim in 208 heading back to Morven having failed to reach Braemar

Jane ready to launch in 118

Phil took this over Glen Tanar from 971

Heather fire north-west of Ballater taken from 208

John allows Steve to de-rig JH in return for a pound of sausages

Can this be October?

18deg C and a sky full of cumulus, unbelievable. Nearly everyone flew, Dennis 370 and Geoff GA went to Feshie and beyond, John JH, 315 with Dave Byass and Martin Kicks, and William 318 explored Loch Muick and Lochnagar. Jim 208 and Bob Davey 208 (but not at the same time), and Steve JH went up the valley to Balmoral and beyond. Phil 971 went over to Mount Keen to see what was on fire, and Jane 118 stuck to the local hills, as did 315 wih Mike C and Mr Kicks snr. The sky is still blue as the sun sets and the boys are now playing with various model aircraft. Last night there was a virtuoso display of model aerobatics by Bob Smith which won applause from the assembled drinkers.

Glorious sunshine

A bit busier today, with a crowd from Booker, plus Lasham and Camphill. After a briefing for visitors there was a lot of rigging to be done. A good thermalling sky developed, Dennis 370 Campbell and Geoff GA Tabbner went to Feshie, the rest had a good time over the local hills. That's John JH Herman, Jim 208 Pengelly, Phil 971 Cumming, William 318 Parker, Glyn G1 Read (who says he went past Ballater) and Bob 279 Smith, who by the way looks a little the worse for wear. He says he tripped over the trailer hitch..... Rolf Kern had a ride with Mike Collett in 315 and then flew 318, and Martin Kicks had his first experience of 315 with Dave Richardson. An excellent day's soaring over wonderful scenery.

Saturday blues.....

........the day started unpromising, Nick and John left for the south. But after lunch at the Black Faced Sheep, joined by Geoff GA Tabbner, the sky opened and we decided to try thermalling. Glyn and Geoff in Duo 3D had a brief look at the scenery, then Jane 118 took a launch. Dave and Phil 971 Cumming followed in 315. Eventually the clouds started working and we had a very nice afternoon. Jane says she got into wave, which is odd considering that the ground wind was easterly. The fact that she stayed up the longest makes up for the disbelief of the rest. 10 knots northwesterly forecast for Sunday, we are optimistic.

 

A quiet day

Perfect for type conversions.....onto Glyn's Capstan. Splendid views, and the side by side configuration is a very companionable way to fly. More home cooking planned for this evening, a peaceful evening before the crowds arrive for Booker week 2. Lasham will also be here next week, as well as a group from Camphill.

Today's task......

........was Midmar out and return, taking in the local sights including the landable fields at Tarland, various stone circles and church yards and a very nice cafe. The light north easterly didn't produce any showers, nor did it produce any wave. But a very good time was had by all.

A glass of whisky to finish off the day

The northerly brought in a few showers, but in between times Derek 249 and Bob 208 got their feet off the ground. 315 (Dave+Nick) and Jane 118 caught the evening wave over the Dee valley towards Ballater. And now the Wave Bar is open and the whisky is flowing.

Linn of Dee photo from Tuesday

A little late but here is a photograph taken of Nick Newton, John Binks and Andras Bruai at the Linn of Dee on Tuesday.

Jane M

Snow on the hills........

......... and 315 is at 7500ft climbing at 4 knots in northerly wave, Roy Wilson (DGC) is at 11000ft and off to join his mates from Portmoak. The ground crew is defrosting, then we'll be rigging and joining in the fun.

Forecasts.........

.........as I said, can be be unreliable. Roy Wilson, one of the locals, who thinks nothing of a task to Skye in wave, gave us a tour of weather sites and showed us how to predict a good wave day. For us southerners used to using RASP and so on to spot a good thermal day this was very interesting. With our new found knowledge we decided to go sightseeing. Up the valley to Braemar and then on to the Linn of Dee, there may be a photo of this later, depending on the technology. And then back through a series of magnificent rainbows.

Tomorrow is looking more promising, says Roy.

The wind in blowing....

...and the word 'thermals' has taken on a new meaning. We are ready to go as soon as the air dries out a bit so that there is a gap we can fly in.

Last night's Hungarian evening was a great success, excellent food and wine enjoyed by Birkelunn's residents and their guests. Many thanks to Andy for doing the cooking.

Never believe the forecast

The forecast was for wind and rain, and at breakfast time it didn't look very promising, but by 11 the sun was out and we rigged 315, Nick and Dave did some thermal practice while keeping an eye on the approaching front. Glyn and Jane dusted off his Duo 3D and went for a look at the view. Meanwhile the CFI was at 6000ft in wave over Ballater - must be local knowledge. The plan for the evening is for a genuine Hungarian goulash back at Birkelunn - yes we have brought our own tuggies with us, Andras Bruai and Pete Wyld (aka Boris). For the next few days we are promised westerlies, so we are looking forward to a bit of proper wave soaring.

FW: Aboyne Blog - Norfolk Wave

>
> Am pleased to hear everyone's having a nice time at Aboyne.
>
> Not sure why you all had to head up there to such hilly ground when
> there was fabulous wave yesterday over flat Norfolk - see attached
> taken whilst I was driving down the A11 from Norwich. I believe the
> weather over Booker at the time was 'not very good' - it was raining
> by the time I got back to Wycombe.
>
> For your blog?
>
> I trust things go well there - and Derek gets a long-overdue diamond.
>
> Geoff Lyons
> 949
>

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The Booker crew arrives at Aboyne

The Booker crew have arrived without incident, apart from
the lights on 318 trailer packing up in the dark at the
top of Glenshee. Great to be back in Birkelunn. Today we
started with a briefing from Dave RIchardson which
included a walk around the airfield pointing out reasons
not to undershoot when approaching to the west. We also
admired the new runways. The forecast was for rain and
wind, but it turned out sunny and warm - just shows how
forecasts can be misleading here. AFter lunch at the Black
Faced Sheep we rigged 315 and John Binks had a site check.
Then Nick Newton had over an hour in the evening thermals,
couldn't quite get into wave. Bob Davey also flew 208
without the engine. An excellent start to the week. The
bar's open and the whisky is good.

---

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Booker Crew - Aboyne Week One

Okay, i've asked for mug shots and embarrassing photos to go with the names.
Booker members at Aboyne this week are;
David Richardson, Glyn Read, Jane Moore, Nick Newton, Derek Staff, John Binks, Bob Davy, Peter (Boris) Wyld.
I'm sure there will be more to add.

Tug pilot defects

Nothing to do with the defective bits of tug pilots. It appears that Andy Bruai (thats the bloke who has been driving the tug in front of you at Booker all season) has defected to Aboyne for the winter. I was worried that he may not be sure where to tow us at Aboyne, but I hear that Bob Davy is at Aboyne for week 1 so there should be no shortage of tug pilot advice available.

First posting - well that's the best title I can think of.

I am delighted to say that Gary has allowed me direct access to make postings to the Booker 2007 Aboyne expedition blog. I hope that any postings I make will meet the high standards displayed in other esteemed Booker Gliding Club organs.
I won’t be at Aboyne until 29th Sept for week 2, but hopefully there will be some updates from elsewhere during week 1.

I need to learn how this blog thing works and I thought this page looked a little blank so here is a pic of a typical Aboyne sky to brighten the page up.




Booker GC is a gliding club from Buckinghamshire and this blog records the 2007 club expedition to Deeside Gliding Club at Aboyne airfield in the Scottish Highlands.
Aboyne is one of the top wave soaring sites in Europe. Soaring in mountain lee waves enables glider pilots to climb to high altitudes, often climbing 12,000 to 20,000 feet.