The final flying day. 

To our relief the wind had dropped - not a breath to start with.  The weather was fine, but a cold front was forecast to arrive early in the afternoon, so we made a start straight after breakfast.

Ian flew with Steve in the Duo for the experience of landing 'down the hill' on RWY 13, then Steve took his first flight in the LS4 'H4'.  He caught the first thermal of the day and soared for over an hour.  Tony was also briefed and made his type conversion flight in the other LS4.  So far, so good.

However, the cloud cover was approaching from the west and we were keen to keep flying; Ian & Jan took a tow to 1600' and released straight into a thermal off the ridge marked by swifts.  They flew the Duo for 1hr 41 but by now the wind at height had strengthened and made it difficult to go anywhere.  Keith launched in the Astir and climbed away nicely, Paul soared away in 'H4' and Tony took a relight.  Inevitably, the cloud cover from the approaching front cut off the sun, and with rain approaching the thermals died and we were all back on the ground by 2:30.  We'd made the most of the soaring and everyone but Alex had flown.

Reluctantly, we packed the hangar and retired for a late lunch.  Luckily we'd run out off beer...

Amazingly, however, a couple of hours later the front had gone through and a  blustery post cold frontal sky was now above us.  The wind had shifted to give a 8-10kt cross-wind making take-off and landing more challenging, but the sky was again looking good and we unpacked the hangar to make the most of what remained of the day.

Ian & Alex launched the Duo for its final excursion of the week, contacting a 5kt thermal straight off tow that whisked them skywards to over 7500'QNH, and they pushed upwind along the street through some light showers.  The drizzle formed minute spots of ice on the leading edge of the wings, but this melted quickly once the Duo got into the sunlight making for the next good looking cloud... 

Meanwhile, Jan and Steve also launched in LS4s to make the most of the unexpected bonus soaring.  

The Duo eventually reached the beautiful lakes in the mountains 35km to the South and South West.  Here it was joined in a thermal by a magnificent Golden Eagle which kept perfect station on the opposite side of the thermal - the highlight of the week for Ian!  Then, after a few short privileged minutes, the Eagle vanished.  With the threat of heavier showers ahead marching eastwards they decided to turn back for a quick look at Jumilla before heading back to base to clock up just over 100k. 

The LS4 pilots had seen the showers marching across the landscape and were just landing as the Duo arrived overhead.  Ian couldn't resist a low pass at 120kts to 'dry off the wings' - pulling up into a left-hand climbing turn round the hangar onto final for 31.  As the Duo rolled to a halt outside the hangar Jan snapped a photo of the glider framed by a beautiful rainbow... what a great way to finish the week!

Stats for the day - 8 hrs 32 mins, 10 flights average flight time 51 minutes.  The longest flight of the day was Ian & Alex in the Duo at 1:47.

Tonight we had the traditional final night meal at the Hotel Encarta in Fuente.  The seafood paella was excellent as always and was washed down with a few glasses of local red wine.  Over coffee Ian made a quick speech and presented some rather tongue-in-cheek awards (novelty pencils) for the weeks 'achievements'.

XC Award - Alex for 225k on day one.

Sniffer Award - Keith for flying in hope even when it was barely thermic.

Maintenance Award - Paul for his 'dismantling' abilities.

Best Female Pilot  - Jan for being the only lady to fly.

Most Improved  - Tony for arriving completely uncurrent but achieving type conversion to the LS4.

Best Newcomer  - Steve for being the only pilot new to site.

Ground-crew - Jane (Steve's wife, the only none pilot) for keeping us all fed.

Bravery Award - Roger the tuggy, for his skillful towing.

Back-Seat Driver Award - Ian for being chauffeured around in the Duo.

Special Awards:

Expert Tea-Making Award (Box of Chocs and a Teapot Stand) - Jane.

Outstanding Exped Member Award (Ceramic Twin-Pig Piggy Bank) -  Paul for all his Admin and work in the background, so Ian could concentrate on the primary task of getting everyone flying.

Adios Ontur!