All I want to do is go to Galinat, fit 56NE’s new battery and plugs and make sure its engine starts and runs sweetly. Oh, and if possible, get a flight in. But ever since I’ve had the battery and plugs, the weather has contrived to find a way to prevent me from doing so. We seem to have had rain followed by no rain and fog, followed by more rain. But the weather forecast for today promised bright sunshine after a dull start, so I had hopes that I’d be able to get done what I wanted to do.
But no! A quick look outside first thing revealed another blanket of fog so thick that I could hardly see the field over the road from my house, so it looked once again that my plans would be thwarted. But just a minute, the weather hadn’t finished playing its tricks just yet. On my way back from Intermarché it was obvious from the bright sunshine that occasionally penetrated it, that the fog was burning off. Indeed, after I’d arrived home, although the odd small bank kept sweeping through, for most of the time the sun was shining brightly overhead in a clear blue sky, even if you could hardly describe it as warm.
But between my house and Galinat, there’s the valley that carries the River Vézère. The river’s not very wide or deep, but if you think that it wouldn’t therefore affect the local micro-climate very much then think again. Remember the pic I showed from my last flight with both the Vézère and Dordogne valleys near Le Bugue filled from top to bottom with cloud? Well, that’s exactly what happened again today and was what I could see clearly from my front garden.
This shot was taken looking to the north-east, towards Fanlac.
This one shows a neighbour’s house opposite mine, to the east and a bit further down the hillside.
And this one was taken looking towards Galinat.
Because Galinat is situated on a north-facing slope, if the Vézère valley is full of mist, as it was today, the mist tends to cling to the airfield because, being north-facing, the ground doesn’t get that much direct sunshine at this time of year and is therefore quite cold. So even if I went over there to fit the battery and plugs, I know from experience that not only would the conditions be cold and uncomfortable in which to work, but everything would also be dripping wet and running with water.
So yet another No-No for doing my 56NE jobs today. I finished off the shots that I took today with a panorama of the valley, as shown below.
Tomorrow looks like being cold and dull, so probably unsuitable again, and Wednesday looks like rain. Thursday’s forecast looks like a goer, but to be honest, I’m not holding my breath 😕