The turbulent run of weather continued last evening with a thunderstorm and rain - the calm settled nature of mid winter seems now to be taking on the blustery characteristics of spring.
Remarkably, the morning dawned absolutely clear although a little gusty, not great for flying the Phoenix which, with its two-metre wingspan, is especially touchy in unstable conditions.
Nearing the field I rolled the car window down for a local weather report and found the conditions virtually still with only the slightest northerly - good to go. Arriving at the field three kangaroos were nibbling at the grass. I must say I feel very bad disturbing them - I try to be as inconspicuous as possible in the hope they'll stay, but being very shy, they disappear into the paddock within minutes.
Unfortunately getting a picture of them is beyond the scope of the phone camera - I hope my wing camera will open up opportunities for some closer views of the paddock inhabitants.
Not having flown for a few days I was a little nervous getting the Phoenix into the air, so launch and climb-out was a little on the wobbly side. However conditions were quite smooth, with the gentle northerly lofting the Phoenix a little as it turned into the wind, slowing it down to an almost standstill; surfing the breeze.
After a few circuits I decided not to push my luck and brought the glider in for a landing. Following on from my incident with the tree it was hard to see how I'd run out of space - that's what happens when you're not in the zone.
Anyway, I brought the Phoenix quite low over the fence at the duck-pond end and, having cleared the water, put down the flaps. Flying almost right past me, I brought it with a last second flare to land with the slightest of bumps...
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