Wednesday 29th May

The replacement part for the Skylaunch arrived today and Adrian was straight on the case fitting it - Another '10 minute job' which took about 4 hours. He really did sterling service aided and abetted by Pete St and Mike R. Another vital contribution by willing members behind the scenes. - PSm.
 
Wednesday promised some good conditions, there were some early thermals but staying up was difficult by lunch time total cloud cover, we flew all day untill 6.30pm when the rain came in, by that time everyone had flown. - JSt

Henry and Muggles continue their part-time evening job preparing for Competition Enterprise, Henry has got the webcam back up and running, although the weather station requires further configuration work. - HF & AM

Sunday 26th May - Open Weekend

 The second day of our Open Weekend was blessed with glorious weather and a steady stream of visitors to enjoy their first experience of gliding. The four two-seaters were kept busy all day in the light westerly wind.

A busy family day out

 There was one small glitch when we were forced to bring the old Supacat winch out of hibernation after the Skylaunch developed a problem.  Once again Cheryl and the band of club member helpers ran the weekend very smoothly with hopefully a good intake of new members  both young and older to come.

Meanwhile on the other side of the airfield some of the North Hill Soaring Section aerotowed for todays good soaring forecast. The Club task set today was a 307 km out and return flight to Candover Church near Lasham.
Five  intrepid pilots set off on this task – Pete St (Discus 230), Lisa H (ASW20 LH), Simon M (ASW20 SM), Stu P LS3-17 KMV) and Phil M (ASW20 611). - And just to up the ante JP declared Lasham out and return (322 km) in his SF27, H5.

The tasks were going really well until Gillingham on the return leg where a huge sea air incursion from the South coast drove them all way North to avoid it and made for a very difficult final 50 km. Unfortunately Lisa H was downed by the sea air near Yeovilton. But the remaining five completed 300 km. Henry, who flew from The Park, completed a 100 km triangle and shared a thermal with JP in H5.

Sea air incursion at 1400

But the kudos today must go to Stu P who completed the task, his first 300 in not too easy conditions but he stuck with it and ground out a result, and also to JP who completed his Lasham task in the SF putting us all to shame! 

Many thanks must go to those who have worked so hard over the Club open weekend and allowed us to go flying, thanks to you all.
Pete St

Saturday 25th May - Open Weekend

Well for once the weather performed for us, and we had a long day flying for 10 hours introducing 60+ visitors to the joys of gliding. The launch rate was a little slow as we only had three two-seaters for most of the day, until the Puchacz from Yeovilton turned up to help out.  Almost eveybody had short soaring flights, which were limited to 15 minutes.

A busy launch point

A few private owners took aerotows to make use of the spectacular conditions. Ron and Daniel in ASH25 711 flew 449 km to Roadford and Candover. Pete St Discus 230 flew 303 km Whiddon Down - Salisbury, and Wyn in LS7 W7 after an early field landing nearby had a second attempt trying the Club 100.

Mike Jardine from Brentor popped in achieving  his 50 km flight to complete his Silver Badge.

We also welcomed a group (45) of aviation enthusiasts who arrived en-masse in a coach who are on a Bank Holiday weekend tour of south west airfields but they only had time to take photographs of the gliders.

We welcomed our local MP, Neil Parish, who had a guided tour of the gliding club.

Thanks to all the Club members who helped today, and ended up the day with a fish and chip supper and some karaoke.

Thursday 23rd May - Task week

By contrast,  Thursday started bright and sunny, but there was a rather strong wind from the north west. The keen Thursday group took a sample launch and decided it was flyable and even soarable.
Meanwhile the clubhouse was being tidied, in preparation for Open Weekend, and JB and Matt were preparing their gliders for their French holiday.
Given the poor forecast for Friday, it was agreed to scrub the final day of the Task week. Thanks to Pete St for his efforts in running both Task week and the Cross Country flying week- both of which were thwarted by the poor weather. Congratulations to Pete, who won Task week with his flight in 230 on Wednesday, completing two 21.8km  triangles at  88.1kph and 93.2kph (followed by a really nice wave flight).

Wednesday 22nd May - Task week

It  was yet another grey start, but cloudbase was a little higher and the Wednesday members started flying. Tasks were set, based on the non too promising forecast. A small racing task  Tiverton East, Culmstock 21.8km and a longer but very optimistic task.

Pete St Discus 230 made a couple of runs round the short task and Matt ASW24 163 in his new toy at least one.

But then the sky cleared in the blink of an eye to a clear sky with a brisk NNW wind.

Roly  on a 'mile high trial lesson flight' made the call about wave and Matt the all-important call on how and where to contact it – there were good thermals too.

The wave was good and consistent up to the base of the airway and over a wide area – Pete St, Matt and Wyn LS7 W7 made the most of it, Wyn flying for over 6 hours!

Wyn in the wave

 Not quite what we had planned for a task week task but what a fantastic fallback and a real bonus this time of year – warm wave, give me more! - PSt

In the evening, a group from Teign Scouts enjoyed some spectacular views in the clear air, 

Climbing in wave

and James found some late evening wave in the sunset.

Tuesday 21st May - Task week

Another grey start with just a little drizzle in the wind, so it became a 'housework day'. The front of the clubhouse was painted, another tacho cable was fitted to the Pawnee. Tom's new bookcase was populated enabling a general tidy up. Congratulations to Ruth who passed her Bronze exam.

Monday 20th May - Task week

It was decidely grey, which gave us plenty of time for a met.tutorial, after lunch desperation set in and just to prove the tug was working, there were a few launches. Mark L in K21 was re-cleared for aerotow and soared for approx 40 mins on the ridge with Martin. Ruth practised some aerotow launches, and Wyn in LS7 W7 thought about attempting Pete's mini task but it was too difficult to get away from the security of the ridge. Matt proved that an ASW24 would fit the ASW20 trailer.  At 1700pm, the sky opened up to a beautiful clear, blue evening.

Sunday 19th May

The forecast was decidedly dodgy today with doubt over the northern edge of rain appearing to discourage many members. So with just three trainees to fly, the other two seaters were put to good use with instructor checks.
Paul S successfully completed his Basic Instructor course with Regional Examiner Adam, and Rowan successfully completed his upgrade to Assistant Cat Instructor with Regional Examiner Simon M after the disappointing weather on his Lasham course last month.  Many thanks to our Regional Examiners.
Paul and Rowan now join Clive who completed his BI course at Bicester,  in just needing to pass the CFI acceptance checks before going on the roster.

 And ICL at The Park
Tasks were set to the NE of The Park but the edge of cloud and rain was just too far north and tasks were scrubbed. We came back still happy that we had completed yesterday's tasks.

Saturday 18th May

After the rain and thunderstorms of yesterday, there was a lot of moisture in the lower levels initially, and it took a while for the good conditions to develop. But once it had started going it got very good. There was a long list again with 70 winch launches and 8 aerotows today and 14 private gliders flying alongside the reduced club fleet. 

Paul S completed most of the flying phase of his BI course with Regional Examiner Adam.

Paul going through the BI syllabus with Adam

 There were also a large number of trial lessons,

Flying for more than 2 hours were John Si in Pilatus B4 CVV, Ernie in ASW20 LH, Jeff in Mosquito 380, Jonathan in ASW19 877 and Pete St in Discus 230. Robin had the longest flight in ASW27b JPT for 3:31.

Pete St is looking for a new task as he's getting bored with the Club 100 having done it 6 times already this year.

Congratulations to Ray R for achieving Silver height in the Junior.

News from The Park Inter Club League

Our team of Andrew  in Cirrus, Henry in Cirrus  and Liam  in SZD Junior did really well today, 

Muggles pundit 3rd
Henry intermediate 3rd
Liam novice 3rd
Overcast to begin with over The Park, several low points. Embedded cumulus.

Tasks were set as follows:

Novice Bishops Caundle, Yeovil Reservoir 91km
Intermediate Sixpenny Handley, Beaminster 145km
Pundit Sixpenny Handley, Axminster, Cerne Abbas 186km
 This was Liam's first experience of flying competition and only his second cross-country flight.
A sea breeze helped some around Axminster.
In a reversal of fortunes, cloudbase was 3500ft over the Park but up to 5500ft nearer Yeovil and Axminster.
Thanks to Liam's Granddad for bringing the Junior as we had no other crew.

Provisional results are

Park 15 points
Bannerdown 13 points
North Hill 11 points
Upavon 11 points
Mendip 9 points
Dartmoor 2 points
WELL DONE TEAM.

Thursday 16th May

A cold bright morning welcomed many members, with a lot of check flights to do and some new members, the two-seaters were very busy all day, and the Juniors were soaring. The sea air moved in quite early with a strengthening southerly breeze, but it remained soarable with new small clouds forming.

Pete St Discus 230 tried to go round the club 100 but beyond Ilminster the sky was messed up by sea air so didn’t fancy the jump to Yeovil, or indeed the run back!

Matt collected his new toy ASW24 from the Midlands and took it for a 'shake down' flight.

Capt Nemo surveys his new submersible

A convergence line of large Cu remained to the west throughout the afternoon.

A wettish looking convergence in the west

The first of our cross-country flying weeks has been disappointing to say the least with Monday, Tuesday and Friday all scrubbed. Everyone is looking forward to better weather for the Task week next week. Good luck to our Inter-Club League team who will be flying at The Park this weekend.

Wednesday 15th May

With a reasonable forecast all the gliders were out just after 9.00am, yesterday's rain had not affected the field so it was an early start to flying.

It was soarable from the first flight in the brisk north westerly wind helped by thermals and cloud streets, there were a few brief showers but they did not disrupt flying as they were small and you could fly around them. There was a very long list that kept all two seaters and the Juniors in the air all day. Peter Sm continuing his BI preparation,  soloed in the DG 505, 

 

Peter in DG505

 Nick H converted to the ASW 20 LH having bought into Lisa's syndicate.

Nick in the pink tipped  ASW20

The evening saw the first of this summers group evenings . - JSt

Sunday 12th May - A gift of a day

With several pilots requiring instructor training a small group descended on the club this morning. We all thought that there was only going to be a very short window possibly only till 11 to practice cable breaks in the dire weather that was forecast.
How wrong we were, the launches were to full height, some to 1500 ft, the ridge was working and there were small thermals!
Rowan started with Simon M, Mike S with Mark C and John Si held the fort with the club flying.
Because of the low turn out we were able to use two of the club two seaters for instructor training, this was a great help as their courses are looming!
Ruth enjoyed floating up and down the ridge with Mark C for 30 min or so whilst John Si and Michael F had a similar experience. The Junior was in full use sniffing out the ridge lift that at times became weak due to the wind backing.
Flying continued until 4 pm when the forecast front finally appeared.
Meanwhile down in the Tug hanger Stuart had a frustrating time fitting the new tachometer cable only to find that the new one snapped as soon as the engine was started ! (He was so pleased)
In the end it was a gift of a day, all the new instructor candidates progressed very well and everyone that was at the club early and got their name on the list got to fly, the latecomers sadly dipped out. ( birds and worms)

Remember my old saying "if you stay at home you  definitely won't fly, but if you turn up you might just get that little gem of a flight"
See you all the next time they forecast rain ! - MC

Wednesday 8th May

There were only a few members present but with three instructors, and a strong south westerly and lowish cloudbase, a start was made. There was an early lunch with the hope that it would improve in the afternoon, which it did for a couple of hours with the ridge working until the low cloud rolled up the hill.

Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday

Monday morning dawned bright and clear, and it stayed that way all day. A good number of members turned up and the K21 and two Juniors were kept busy all day with Paul M, Ray R and Mark L all consolidating their Junior conversions. Several private gliders were also on line including Wyn and Roy B LS7 W7 and Paul L SF27. Late in the day, there were a few extended flights off the south ridge.

The DG505 was taken to the Uffculme show, it was a huge success with lots of interest for the Open Weekend on Sat 25th and Sun 26th May and much thanks to those who gave up their time  today!

Uffculme Show

Sunday 5th May

There were many private gliders on the grid and it was busy all day. Lift was good until just after lunch when the sea air seemed to come in kill it.

Busy day - great looking sky

James and Mike continued practising for their Asst. Cat. course in June. Paul S is nearly ready for his BI course in a couple of weeks time.
Heather continued getting used to the K6.

DLM Rowan employs new technique to get a pilot for trial lesson

 Around 17:00, a convergence was seen to build and floated its way from the north over North Hill. This worked for well over two hours and there were straight line flights up to 3,000 ft to Exmoor and back. A Cirrus and a K21 were seen out over Tiverton after 18:00. This lift worked well until after 19:30.

At least three flights had over 1h30 in this convergence. - Henry

Saturday 4th May

It was a grey start with some rain passing through early, but the sky cleared and a brisk westerly wind set up, and powerful thermals popped for the rest of the day.
Pete St Discus 230 dashed up the street to Eaglescott  in 1:05 and back again in 25mins. Soaring went on late into the evening.

Friday 3rd May - Course week

The wind had gone round to the west as forecast, and early on the sky was clear but it soon clouded up, and low cloud for the first time this week meant that there was some time to do some ground school. Pete gave a briefing on local airspace rules and Jill talked through the F215. By 1130, the cloud had lifted and flying started.

Although there was a westerly wind, the ridge did not seem to be working, just a few thermals to cloudbase at 1800ft. Paul M, Mark and Ray who had  converted to the Junior this week, took turn and turn about, whilst Jon continued soloing the K21. Paul G and Bob continued training flights and during the afternoon, there was one more set of congratulations for new member Bob for his first solo in gliders.

Pete congratulates Bob

Final stats for this fantastic course week were as follows:
First solos: Paul M, Bob, Jon (at North Hill)
Resolos: Mark W, Ray B
Conversion to Junior: Paul M, Ray B, Mark W
Silver height : Paul M
124 launches and 32+ hours flying

Thanks to Pete H and Peter F for instructing and for ground operations William, Nick and Jill  also helped by Peter Sm, Rick and Dave C.
Let's hope the rest of the season and our other course weeks enjoy the same great weather conditions.

Thursday 2nd May - Course week

And yet another great day of achievements....

The clear blue sky took quite a while before the Cu started popping, and persistent contrails made us think that it may be difficult conditions. The north easterly wind was much lighter today and course members got on with checkflights and solos straightaway. 

Ray surveying the sky

Ray B and Paul M converted to the Junior and both soared for over an hour. Jon flew a few more solos in K21, and Mark W resoloed the Junior.

Paul soars the Junior

Mark back in the Junior

 Paul G and Bob continued with soaring training.

Congratulations to Paul M and Dave Cl for achieving Silver heights in FZF and KHA respectively. ( Ray B missed it by 120 feet).
Thanks to John Si for keeping the Thursday thermallers in the air.

Pete St Discus 230 has moved on from the Club 100 with his second 300kms  flight in 7 days, (having been so impressed with Ron's photos of Cornwall form Tuesday he had to see Launceston for himself.)

Mike F Pik 20 DFK attempted Shaftesbury - Halesland but got stuck the wrong side of the Somerset levels. Phil M and Chris W flew the ASH25 after a ceremonial weighing, and completed the Club 100 in 65 minutes, and would have made it under the hour, but they carried on to Winkleigh.

Joe Sc completed his navigation exercise in the Rotax Falke with Mark C for his cross-country endorsement. 

Thanks to Adrian P for replacing the Disco Auto  spring and brake pipes instead of flying his glider today.

In the evening, there was the Course dinner with club members at the Keepers Cottage.

Wednesday 1st May - Course week

Bright sunshine  again, but the forecast was for a lighter north easterly wind which wasn't quite fulfilled, in fact the wind picked up significantly at lunch time and it was quite cold. There was soaring for most of the morning, and training, and check flights continued apace for both course and club members. In the afternoon soaring was a little more sporadic with some circuits in heavy sink, and gusty wind.
Congrats to Ray B for his 1 hour flight towards cross-country endorsement, Pete St Discus 230 and Mike F Pik 20 DFK and Pete Sm Lak T 1Up lurked around in the local area.