Hello all
After checking The "Israeli meteorological services" web site advising easterly winds of 20to thirty five 35 Kph and the Sarona wind meter, Hen katz and I arrived to Yavniel at around 9
the wind at Yavniel was a non flyable 28-33 Kph, we checked mavoe hama wind meter at around 50-60Kph easterly, sarona was perfect, wind meter readings of 18-25
(The large difference between Mavoe and sarona readings didn't make me nervous since I have seen it before on normal sarona days with no ill effects)
So we went back to sarona and Hen waited for a break in the wind and tookoff with 12 kph wind, unfortunately that brake was the beginning of a down turn and his flight ended in less than two minutes
at that point the two fully assembled gliders next to me are tallking about closing down shop and going home
So, I picked Hen up and we figured that probably the wind at Yavniel also died down so we can fly that higher site. When We got there the wind really died down to about 6-8 kph
My car was at the bottom of yavniel and I decided I rather fly down than be driven down, so I got my gear lined up, The wind picked up a little to about 12-15 Kph, I checked again Mavoe hama meter to avoid Easterly gusting surprises and as expected , the wind there died down as well to 35 kph with gusts to 45, I also checked with Roman at the gilboa mountain to find out that the wind was 10-15 and bellow all day long
So I tookoff into 13 kph wind and as expected, with nothing to hold me up and small inefficient thermals, I landed after 5 minutes at the buttom, the time was about 11:30
Menwhile the wind at the top went up to almost 22 and Hen decided to attempt a flight, by the time he put out his equipment about 5 minutes pass and the wind went up to 30 gusting to 40, he decided to cancel
While packing my glider I felt the same gust coming in at the buttom of yavniel, a usually calm place, a look towards sarona and I can see 2 gliders up in the air a few hundred meters up
Another call to Hen on top and he measured 60 kph
the wind stayed at that level for the balance of the day
The point of the story, the wind at yavniel and Sarona went up from 8kph to 60 kph in less than 10 minutes
I don't want to think of what could have happened with a few minutes delay on my flight
What did I learn, unfortunately not much, except the obvious, use extreme caution
I would be happy to here some smart remarks for future reference
Moshe Grad
