Setting off from home at 3.30am (Thursday morning) after a brief sleep I managed to get to Talgarth in time for breakfast at the snack bar in the car park. I arrived at the airfield at around 8.00 only seconds after Ian.

Robbie was duty instructor and we had one of the first club launches in the immaculate K21. We spent a short time on the ridge converting our 1500' launch into 2500' and pushed out into the valley to connect with thermals to 3000'. We explored the skies, returning to the ridge for the experience. We pushed out again, towards Llangorse and connected with a thermal which took us to 4000'. With this serious altitude we went over the Beacons, just about reaching Pen-y-fan before turning for home. Following the energy saw us back easily. The flight lasted 1hour 19 minutes and had I not been so tired after my long drive I would have taken the Astir for a flight but discretion is etc...

After a meal at The Old Barn we repaired to the B&B and 10 hours solid sleep.

Friday dawned and the weather was not a repeat of Thursday. Bands of rain kept rolling in on the south westerly wind with gaps of less than an hour between them. In the gaps we DI'ed K13 K13 and the K21 and sat and talked, drank tea and at 15.00 Ian and I decided to go for it in the K13.

The cross wind on the launch caused more problems for the tug than for the glider. Ron just managed to prevent Gasper's port wing touching the ground and I was a millisecond from pulling the bung. A very bumpy ride got us to the ridge, which was working well and we released at 1200'. We worked the ridge up to 2500' and pushed out over the valley to the edge of a rain shower and found lift on its fringes. Back to the ridge for more practice and exploration and then we tried the same trick again. This time the shower expanded as we flew towards it and after being unable to escape the snow coming out of it I told Ian I was heading back, even though we had 2000'. Ian took over at high key, which we reached at 1600', and we flew a constant aspect circuit with me calling out air speed as Ian concentrated on the approach. Very satisfying team work on a very blustery day. The flight lasted about 40 minutes but was packed with experiences.

After putting the gliders away and one more cup of tea(!) I headed back for Norfolk.

A fantastic experience and my thanks to everybody at the club for their hospitality. Watch out for that cake, I'm sure it gave me a hangover.