The Ides of March - was clearly a day some members were being beware of. There wasn't a huge number of people around - perhaps put off by the misty conditions elsewhere in the county (as close as Exeter Airport when we started the day).
It all started well enough - a nice long flight early on for John P and student. Then the times started to fall again - by lunchtime some owners who had rigged were wondering whether they'd made a mistake, and others were having second thoughts about rigging at all!
Eric A rigged and flew his ASG29 - "testing" his engine soon after launch, which helped him climb into wave - and staying aloft for over 3 hours. Pete St, having marshalled the launch line all morning, rigged with a "why am I doing this" expression, and then stayed up for more than 2 hours.
As the day wore on, it got better and better. The wave bar which had been sitting just at the western edge of the airfield moved slowly westwards, somehow making it easier to find and get into off a winch launch. Flight times rose, as pilots enjoyed playing in the wave.
To make the day feel even better, Ian M brought the tug back from Bodmin - where Stu P had dropped him off under a cloudbase at a mere 300'. He was back in time for the tug to clock up 4 tows. There was a flurry of late launches which got around an hour each at the end of the day.
All in all - 12 private gliders, more than 60 launches, and over 33 hours in the air. Roll on the soaring season! - Jonathan
It all started well enough - a nice long flight early on for John P and student. Then the times started to fall again - by lunchtime some owners who had rigged were wondering whether they'd made a mistake, and others were having second thoughts about rigging at all!
Eric A rigged and flew his ASG29 - "testing" his engine soon after launch, which helped him climb into wave - and staying aloft for over 3 hours. Pete St, having marshalled the launch line all morning, rigged with a "why am I doing this" expression, and then stayed up for more than 2 hours.
As the day wore on, it got better and better. The wave bar which had been sitting just at the western edge of the airfield moved slowly westwards, somehow making it easier to find and get into off a winch launch. Flight times rose, as pilots enjoyed playing in the wave.
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| The SF showed up the plastic gliders, that didn't have internal combustion assistance, in wave at 2500 above NHL. |
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| Wave clouds in evidence all day |
All in all - 12 private gliders, more than 60 launches, and over 33 hours in the air. Roll on the soaring season! - Jonathan
