9th July: Racon

Much needed day's flying at Racon, with Yiğit and his sister. After a couple of ventures into the air in the hottest part of the day, and after lunch in the company of a chatty shepherd under the shade of the tree by the water trough, some Gazi University pilots turned up, and joining them on the hill, I was lucky to connect with a good thermal and circle my way up to 2000m above take off (approx. 3200m asl), my averager recording over an 8 up! It was around 4.30pm. I was wearing shorts. As Yiğit says, when you wear a flying suit - as I did earlier in the day - you end up on the deck overheating, not getting away. When you just want some fun, you wear shorts and find yourself at 3000m with the potential of an epic flight in front of you. I started getting cold at around 1,600m ato, and kept flying straight, trying to drop out of the thermal. But the vario just kept beeping - 1,700, 1,800, 1,900, 2000m - and the sky above me was blue! I was freezing. When I finally got some sink, I cored it for a few hundred metres to warm up again. I followed the main road, sinking at a steady 2 m/sec. I was trying to be smart about finding another thermal - over dark fields with tree-line triggers, over small towns, but nothing. I landed 16km from take-off, by a petrol station where I had a delicious tavuk and salata meal, and tea on the house. I hitched back to Racon with a lorry driver on his way to Istanbul, not realizing as I bid him goodbye that I had left my wallet on the seat. Luckily he reported it - an honest man - and it's being sent to sent to Bilkent. I trekked from the main road to the hill where by now there were a lot of pilots enjoying good soaring conditions. I had a go on Yiğit's proto Skywalk Poison which had a notable glide.

Yiğit couldn't fly xc that day. He had students to teach. One other pilot got away. I wonder where he got to? If he was dressed for it, he could have made a big distance. Conditions seemed excellent.

skew-t for the day at Racon