Another
blue sky start to a Saturday heralded another classic January day. Post-front and the wind in the NWish quarter is always cause to shun sleep and
head to North Hill. The South Hams team started in the dark and the John P 'cup
to bean machine' was put to good use to get Tim P over the limit on
caffeine (Tim is a 2 cup a week man with coffee) with a boost that saw
him through logging, white card checks, logging, solo(s), logging and a
Raspberry Pi love in with Jill. (ed. ????). A trip up to North Hill that was un-memorable for its
tunes but laced with coffee machine porn including under the counter
photos of a £2.5k grinder and the usual “so what trips this year”
discussion…
An
efficient hanger evacuation and DI session meant that some half-price
launches were achieved and Steve W settled into the back of his K21 for a
morning duty. JP did likewise forsaking the intended LAK experience to
let Chris, James and Mia experience the joys of a sparkly NNW which
despite being quite cross on the ridge, did bring some lively winter
thermals and a mixture of ridge and wave that teased all day.
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| Eddie & Ian M preparing to fly (Tim P) |
Much as
RASP predicted the middle of the day thermals did allow for some
extended flights and Pete S, despite hating the glider, disappeared in
the DG505 for long enough to qualify for a Cross Country award. Roly
showed that gloves don’t stop a man soaring and he kept it up with
Heather for quite some time despite the cold… He had started the day
quite distraught that the South Hams crew had not prepared his glider to
his high standards and it did not have its usual surfeit of batteries.
Lesson learned by the mortals not qualified to handle the pride of the
fleet! Late day thermals slipped into gentle ridge action and the
welcome addition of SM to the Saturday skies. Unfortunately for Simon he
had to land when the experts all landed and he had no one to follow any
more - poor Simon.
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| SM gets an outing (Simon) |
A Falke syndicate meeting no doubt made up for later.
Ian M pushed the last K21 back to the hanger and the day was done,
misting canopies and low sun were but minutes away.
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| Final flight (Tim P) |
As the South Hams
van left the club house the haggis party were gathering. As Tim P said
on the way home “winter days are some of the best”…here here. - JP
In the evening the inaugural DSGC Burns Supper took place, with tablecloths! A mottley crew gathered in a variety of dress styles, with Chris C presiding and the whisky flowing, the haggis was skirled in,
and Steve W gave a magnificent 'Address to the Haggis'. The lovely meal was followed by The Toasts, and poems and songs from Chris and Steve.
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| Steve addressing the haggis (Mark C) |
and Steve W gave a magnificent 'Address to the Haggis'. The lovely meal was followed by The Toasts, and poems and songs from Chris and Steve.
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| Some of the gathering (Pete H) |
A big Thank you to Cheryl and Graham for capturing the biggest haggis to grace North Hill and to everyone for an entertaining evening. - J&P
