A lovely sunny 28-degree day today in Cootamundra, but very windy – windy enough to blow your hat off! It is difficult to fly cross-country in strong winds when you intend to return to your takeoff point. You drift down wind very quickly when circling in thermals and it is difficult to track back into a strong headwind.
I had an enjoyable flight of three hours and fifteen minutes in the DG303, climbing up to 6000 feet. I tried to head towards the town of Harden, but the thermals were not strong enough to allow me to make headway, I had to keep stopping to top up the height!
However, it is all good training for my next gliding goal, a flight of 500 kilometres. To achieve that, I need a hot day with good thermals rising high – preferably to 12000 feet. The forecast for the rest of the week is not brilliant, but hope springs eternal . . .
Dinner was at the Cootamundra Country Club (It’s the golf club, really.) I had a tasty dish of pasta and a glass of Guinness.
