Three days and four flights. Not too bad when there were
thunderstorms around every evening.
When we arrived on Friday in the afternoon there was heavy
wind. Too much for paragliding. Just before sunset the wind slowed down and it
was soarable. Bengt, Tawan, and I launched and got up. After a short flight we
landed before dark. As we watched the western sky and the lentics high up,
there came a burst of windgusts. Sand filled the air, and the others who had
not packed their wings had to hurry. There was a smell of rain, and to the east
the sky was black. We could hear thunderbolts not too far away.
Saturday morning we launched before the wind picked up. Very
much up and down, and the thermals were quite small and did not take us very
high. We landed on top of Khao Sadao in quite strong wind. We could may be have
landed on the take off. I tried once but that was it. Bengt and Tawan landed
close to the ridge. Bengt landed crosswind (there was no wind so he probably was
in the rotor area). Tawan had a major frontal collapse at low altitude close to
the ridge. I landed 300 meters back and almost did not penetrate till the wing
reached the wind gradient.
Then there were strong winds till the evening. A hangglider
pilot started in the variable wind, ran too slowly , and crashed to the right
of the takeoff. Only a few rifts in the sail and a bent upright.
Beng and I started in the evening. Once again there were
black clouds in the east. I did not see the heavy rainfall, a grey wall, some
three to five kilometers away, before I was airborne. I went up at a steady
speed. This was no normal thermal – the big cloud was sucking. I pulled ears to
show Bengt that these were no conditions for flying. There was lift everywhere
and not easy to find sink higher than the top of Khao Sadao. After a short
flight we landed.
Sunday morning there was sun and wind when Bengt and I
arrived at 08.30. We got out pretty fast. Scratchy thermals in the beginning,
and then very much up and down. Bengt landed after an hour. I waited for the
thermals to grow wider, and so they did. The main wind direction low down was
from the south. From 1300-1400 meters it was from NW as forecasted in the Ready
meteorogram. Catching the thermals I flew towards Khao Phrik. About 700 meters
above Bengt who had packed his glider I got a major collapse when I was spat
out from a very strong thermal. I did not see what was happening, but there was
a big bang when the glider folded itself out and started to fly. Even Bengt far
down heard the sound. I entered the thermal again but no more collapses.
Now Kru Khao, who wanted to go cross country, had landed due
to change of wind direction below. I chose to land close to Bengt after two and
a half hours of thermalling,
In the evening we were surrounded by rain, lightnings and
strong wind. No more flying.
