Walrus in the Wind

...a little too much can be a bit too much

Having recently suffered a lumbar incident by putting the squeeze on a spinal disc, I've been out of the air for a few days with activities limited to devising novel methods of sitting down and getting up without aggravating my back.

Yesterday, however, after a physio treatment and a few days rest, I awoke to finding my back much recovered. Buoyed by being finally on the mend I managed a tentative day at work and, with evening approaching and a picturesque pastel light show developing in the clouds, I headed off to the field for a well-earned fly.

The conditions were breezy, in fact before leaving I had stood at the car for several minutes trying to decide whether things were, perhaps, not a little too windy for comfort. However, having recently flown in quite gusty conditions, and found them quite entertaining, I decided to head off.

I launched the Walrus at almost full power, something I almost never do simply because it's not necessary, however in these conditions I wanted to make sure that Wally was well up into the air before backing off. Just as well, as, within seconds of launch, it was immediately apparent that conditions were more severe than anticipated.

The Walrus, despite being on full throttle, was being pushed by the wind so much so that it was in a nose-up attitude but not climbing at all, just being pushed forward. Fortunately, being generously powered, I managed to muscle the Walrus to a safe altitude where I could assess the flying conditions a bit better.

It didn't take long to realise that, despite the beautifully illuminated clouds and warm glow from the horizon, that this wasn't the best evening to be flying so I brought Wally in on finals. Easier said than done, though. The high winds meant the glider made almost no forward progress on its approach, and I had to power up and climb round for another try. This time too high, as once it reached the field, the protection of the trees meant it floated too far...

I finally managed to bring it in on a decent final, although a bit of tacking was required to bleed of a little height and, after a few sharp wobbles thanks to gusting wind, I put the Walrus down to a nice gentle landing...

Back into the air for the new year

...with flights book-ending a scorching day

Today was the first opportunity to get into the air again since Christmas. The weather forecast was for an absolute scorcher, so the options were either getting into the air early morning or evening. As it turns out, I did both.

It was a lovely calm cool morning, without hint of the extreme heat in store, and the field was deserted when I arrived. Despite not having flown for the best part of a month everything felt familiar, as the ever trusty Walrus buzzed off into the air as easily and reliably as ever.

With a large contingent of floodlights as well as a few trees it's not the cleanest of flying venues, however with good calm conditions to fly it was good enough. The Walrus had a bit of a run over the freeway adjoining the ground without attracting any unwonted attention, and again came close to being retrieved on landing. This time it was a friendly black Labrador who ran up to me after having briefly investigated the motionless Walrus and found it to be less intriguing than expected.



With the heat of the day abated, I headed off to the local field for an evening fly in the cool breeze. It was an exuberant flight to celebrate the end of a scorching day, with the Walrus' agility put through its paces in the turbulent conditions of the refreshing southerly...