We had ourselves a
real flight on Wednesday. We being the Jeff's,
Raul, Derrick Turner, Ben Dunn and his dad, Tim, Mike Glennon, Wolfi, and
numerous others. The forecast for 4,000' had been for light northerly winds
turning to light westerlies by 2 PM. There were plenty of cu's but the lift
seemed sparse around noon as we got to launch. Plenty of pilots had set up but
only a few were launching.

The winds were actually quite strong on launch, but not so strong that we
couldn't setup on the west side of the road. Other pilots set up behind the road
in the more protected area. Wolfi launched and did a series of low passes over
the almost flat launch so it looked like it was time to launch around 1:30 PM.

The hill side is quite dry and almost flat. But with the breeze coming into the
hill side you just wander off into the wind and it picks you up and you float
away in smooth air. A bit disconcerting because you spend so much time next to
the hill at first.

We headed south right after launch to find the thermals. They were weak at first
but then I spotted Tim climbing below us back north toward launch. Once I got
over him the lift rose to a smooth and fully packed 800 fpm and I called over
Shapiro and others. We quickly climbed to cloud base at 7,800'.

Having found the good lift earliest I headed out south with Raul just behind. I
had set a 107 kilometer task, with a thirty kilometer leg to the south, then a
fifty kilometer one to the north then back to the Sigillo landing field. The sky
held plenty of cus' and we were high on the north/south ridge line.

The lift had been very pleasant over launch but as we headed south the lift
became less so. There were plenty of thermals on the west face but they weren't
as smooth as one would like. There was quite a bit more wind than had been
forecasted.

Twenty six kilometers south the valley narrows. The turnpoint that I had chosen
from the maps was ten kilometers to our east, downwind away from the valley. The
winds had picked up to seventeen mph and the turbulence was not a bit pleasant.
Heading upwind to get more out in the flats away from the hillside did nothing
to ease the turbulence at the end of the valley. We were talking on the radio
about what to do next, as no one wanted to go downwind to the turnpoint.

I decided to head back north toward the launch and Derrick and the Jeff's also
turned around running away from the worse of the turbulence.

It was easy flying the face of the ridgeline and sometimes there was even
pleasant lift to thermal in as we headed back. The Jeff's hugged the hill side
flying fast and low and only stopping now and then to thermal up a bit. I kept
further out in front of the hill and climbed up at the wind mills ten kilometers
south of launch. I wanted to be west of the venturi that I had experienced on
the way down south just north of the wind mills.

Shapiro and I decided to head for the LZ and O'Brien headed back to launch. I
went out into the valley but the turbulence was still the same. It didn't matter
if you were in the" flats" or on the ridge. It was the winds mixed with the
strong thermals.

Raul decided to head west to Gubbio as we came over the LZ. I watched as Shaprio
got down. I had trouble getting down as I found lift all over the valley. I was
right over the LZ as Jeff landed. I could feel the thermal that he was in as he
tried to land. He said that he felt as though he could have turned at twenty
five feet and gone back up again. He mentioned how rough the LZ was.

I was looking at other areas to land, maybe next to where we are staying at the
Alba Rosa. But I was really hoping for a wind sock as the winds kept switching.

Finally the lift slacked off a bit and I was able to make a reasonable approach
with a west wind. Unlike when Jeff landed it was coming straight down the LZ
runway. I came in and it was smooth as could be. In fact, starting with my
landing and thereafter the LZ was smooth and friendly to the landing pilots.

The pilots who flew north first instead of south as we did reported
significantly less turbulence. They flew to the northern edge of the ridge line,
about twenty kilometers. I had set a turnpoint a bit further north than that for
our task. Eduardo from Brazil, had gone eighteen kilometers downwind wind to the
east and was contemplating going to the coast which is about eighty kilometers
away. There are not any airspace issues if you go due east from launch. He was
able to get high and fly back against the winds to the Sigillo LZ.

On Thursday the Jeff's went up to launch around 8 AM knowing that the day would
be blown out. They flew one glider (O'Brien's) taking turns, then O'Brien flew
down after Shapiro top landed a few times and drove the car down. There was
plenty of wind up top (45 km/h) but none next to the Alba Rosa as O'Brien landed
next to our Agriturismo.

Local weather.