Last words

Thirty years ago you could take a glider to France or Spain and experience the concept of travel. Today, it is quite easy to hop onto Eurotunnel and be in Rieti a couple of days later, having had no more social interaction on the way than stopping at a service station and paying for a hotel. The flying is still terrific when you get there, but something is missing.

Somebody once hitch-hiked round Ireland with a fridge, in order to have a travelling experience worth writing about and I think we achieved the same effect by taking a glider to Morocco. It wasn’t easy, but we met a lot of people and had a quite a lot of problems to solve, usually in French. We learnt a lot about the country.

Last Sunday we regrouped and unpacked the trailer. Somebody asked us if we would do it again. In perfect harmony the three of us said together "Yes, but not with those two!"

Thank you

Graham.

For letting Bill and I loose in his wonderful glider. A great deal of trust was involved and I’m pleased he received the whole rig back in one piece. He seemed to be completely unruffled by the whole experience, which may indicate that he didn’t really understand what was happening

Bill.

None of this would have happened without Bill. He becomes completely focussed and single-minded when the chips are down and one can begin to understand how he has built up a successful business empire. I suspect that if he didn’t laugh at his own jokes he would be an entertaining travelling companion. We spent a lot of time together and you will notice that he is now more cultured and generally better informed. I chucked out the books he was reading and he is established on the novels of Patrick O'Brien.

Nigel.

For helping to source, purchase and equip a vehicle suitable for the trip. And for volunteering to rescue us if need be.

Bruce.

For lending us his MH oxygen kit

White Rose Aviation and Arab Air Services

Mike and Khalid for helping with various overflight permissions. At one point they arranged for the head of Morocco CAA and the chief of Morocco Customs to intervene on our behalf.

Debs, Jan and Poppy
Of course

Final day

On Saturday Bill and I had the last flight of the expedition. At last we got our act together. No more being the last glider to take off! Bill and I strapped in, and our sprightly young crew, (alright I exaggerate, John), hooked up the glider, requested  backtrack clearance and drove us at high speed backwards down the runway some 1000m to give us a good takeoff run. In moments we were ready and having been given clearance from the tower, launched. Alas we soon found out why no one else had taken off, we were too early and the blue thermals we were expecting were non existent. Fortunately we had a cunning plan. The Nimbus at this high altitude climbs very slowly, hence motoring to 3500’ above site took nearly half an hour, and by then the thermals had started. Meanwhile on the ground there was a rush to launch. ‘If glider ‘60’ can stay up we must go’, (little did they know the cunning plan). Soon the radio was full of complaints about the lack of thermals. One very experienced pilot complained of his worse start ever, at Ouarzazate!

Eventually we got away and worked our way up to the mountains. Visibility was fantastic and we climbed to over 15,000’ and headed north east following a ridge. However climbs were disappointing and still blue. After getting low (12,000’) we turned back.  Eventually later in the afternoon convergences appeared and we, climbed above the clouds and followed the ridges that were controlling them.

                                                                     Great Visibility

 

Climbing up the Ridge

Above the Convergence Cloud

 Convergence Clouds following the Ridge

With daylight running out we headed for home, arriving at our usual 4000’ above the airfield. We pushed south to extend our distance and then started to climb slowly in very smooth lift for a considerable distance. Not sure what was happening we turned and saw a brown stain in the air, north of the field. Some sort of dust cloud was approaching. We decided to return home quickly and on arriving in circuit were told to land southerly on 12 in to a slight crosswind. As we approached downwind and about to turn base we saw dust blowing straight towards us at a considerable speed. We asked to change landing direction and just had the height to retrace our path and land in the opposite direction, to find a slight headwind.  A following glider decided to do the same some 1 minute later, but by this time the wind was gusting 20 knts and the glider was blown off the runway, but without any significant damage.

We knew that we were going to have long flights and that external catheters would be needed. One of our group ordered  a box of extra large . When the first one was tried on there was going to be a sealing issue. We now have a box to go to the highest, or largest bidder.

Sunday night and we are in Marrakesh. Tomorrow John and Bill are going to again experience the pleasures of Tangiers Port, and will get back on Saturday,inshallah, whilst I have the bad luck to have to fly directly back to the UK.

                        

                                             Buzzing in Marrakesh Central Square

Graham

Nimbus 4DM

It’s been an interesting experience getting to grips with a Nimbus 4DM. It carries a health warning for being inclined to shed its wings in a spiral dive. Also that amputations are the only way to get the AUW below 850kgs.

I used to fly my ASH in company with Macca flying the 4DM and he said that themalling in broken lift was like driving an artic at high speed down narrow Devon roads. You will say that he is a gloomy bugger and prone to complaining, but to be fair, he was flying it in the wrong conditions. Down here it goes like a rocket, and is a terrific bit of kit.

The 4DM is surprisingly agile for such a big glider, and in particular the ailerons are light and responsive. Changing the flap settings takes a little effort, as the lever has a short travel and needs a bit of elbow. The trim takes some getting used to; the loads are high and it needs a lot of tweaking. It's easy to fail to juggle trim and flaps together when entering a climb. The rudder does not tolerate being mishandled, and it is important to make well co-ordinated turns.

I am new to self-launching and engine management was a bit daunting at first. There are a lot of switches, knobs and levers to juggle, and I have found a written checklist to be useful. Now that I have a few hours, it’s all become quite straightforward. Take-off performance is very good in the UK, and quite acceptable here. Ouarzazate is 3,800’asl with temperatures in the forties

Thanks are due to Graham for being a patient and tolerant instructor.

Here are some pictures from yesterday, Friday the 6th:

Blue convergence