KRONFELD ON GLIDING AND SOARING.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

SOME FLIGHTS OF MY OWN 133
violently shaken and flung about. The speed indicator
ceased to function correctly when the first heavy shower
came, and my glasses were dimmed by the rain, so that
I had to discard them as useless. I was high enough up
to feel the cold ; regretfully I thought of the jacket I had
left behind me down in the close, thundery heat. But at
the moment I hardly noticed its absence as there was far
too much to do and to consider.
I realized at once that for me there was to-day no question
of a flight along the slopes, which had now dwindled into
insignificance. This time my slope was the front of the
storm which assumed with ever-increasing rapidity the
form of a mighty roller.
This first stage of the flight was literally a race with the
storm. The altimeter rose to six thousand six hundred
feet and higher ; as I flew over Geisa I gradually gained
a bird's eye view of the whole front, which stretched from
west to east and moved northwards at a tremendous speed.
Beneath me I saw groups of little white clouds forming like
clusters of grapes ; these showed me where the wind blew
upwards. At a slant behind me lay the white roller, but
I was still rising. To the north the country lay bathed in
sunshine. Looking backwards, I sometimes saw villages
reappearing behind the storm through the dark grey veil
of the rain which followed it. In less than an hour I was
high above Berka.
I had now flown somewhat in advance of the storm and
waited for it to catch up with me. But it failed to do so,
and, somewhat uneasy, I turned and flew along the wall,
at first towards the north-west. I learnt later that Hirth
had also flown in that direction. Soon I reached a curiously
rounded cloud peak which lay beneath me. Looking
closely, I saw that it was motionless. I turned, and
realized, to my dismay, that the thunderstorm was split
in twain. One half, which was dying down, moved to
the west, which had hitherto been my course, while the
other was heading eastwards in the direction of Eisenach
and had already become wrapped in mists. Over Berka
the weather was fine again.
If I can only manage to cross this gap, I thought, I