The forecast suggested 11mph gusting 25 but we probably did not get that most of the time.  We did get blue sky, sunshine and impressive cumulus with only one light shower actually crossing the Heath.  There was one torrential shower that passed north of the river and it did hit Hackney.

Full vented 1.5s today so less wind than my expectations.  We did a couple of free flying sessions today as well as a brief fly before finally packing up and leaving at about 3:30pm.  Chris Beel had joined us travelling from Peterborough today, hence the extended session.

We also flew the full Malinski Eddy train c1985 using one of the replacement sails that I had made (for the missing green one) as a pilot.  The full set was mostly well behaved but the direction shifting gusts occasionally had the whole train looping down to the ground.  The self launch usually worked fairly quickly from the pilot end or the tethered end.

We also set up half of the JMH Expansible Box 1996 with the pilot kite configuration that I had been preparing.  I think that with just a couple more miles per hour of breeze we would have had stable flight. Once fully airborne the structure has a very high aspect possibly with the pilot pulling the top of the kite back into the power zone.  It will be interesting to try the full structure in slightly more wind now knowing a bit more about the pilot assisted launch.  It was hard work assembling and dis-assembling this kite.  Not too many stick broken today!

Felix