"A good day was had by all"
With a reasonable weather forecast suggesting that flying might be possible, if not all day, it was to be expected that quite a few members would turn up at the Club in the hope that the weather would be as forecast.
With a reasonable weather forecast suggesting that flying might be possible, if not all day, it was to be expected that quite a few members would turn up at the Club in the hope that the weather would be as forecast.
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| Lets hope the sky stays like this... (Mike Sl) |
As ever "many hands make
light work" of getting the gliders out of the hangar and setting up the
field - soon after 9am the K21s were being walked up to the launch point
which had been set up in the South East corner of the field.
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| Time to start flying (Mike Sl) |
With
the sun shining in a bright blue sky the day's flying was under way
around 09:30 - with evident optimism that the West ridge might work
albeit a thought or two that the strength and direction of the wind
might not be as helpful as it might be.
Today's flying list was quite long with various members wanting to 'have the fun of flying with an instructor' for one reason or another, so all five two seaters were quickly brought into use.
Today's flying list was quite long with various members wanting to 'have the fun of flying with an instructor' for one reason or another, so all five two seaters were quickly brought into use.
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| Lizzie tries out the K13 back seat (Mark E) |
Whether card checks, general training,
eventualities, how to fly on the ridge or lots of other reasons to fly
with an instructor the flying list was worked through steadily and with
all members working well as a team to launch and retrieve gliders good
progress was made during the morning.
There was lift of all sorts in and around the West ridge providing the opportunity for extended flights in the 'interesting' weather conditions.
As the temperature lowered and the wind strength increased under a darkening grey sky so did the members' appetite and desire for hot drinks so a decision was made to stop for lunch.
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| Now where did that blue sky go? (Mike Sl) |
After lunch the first change
of card colour for the day took place - having started with Red, the
increasing wind strength resulted in a change to Yellow.
But as is said 'every cloud has a silver lining' - with the increasing wind speed seeing an improvement in the consistency and strength of the lift along the West ridge.
But as is said 'every cloud has a silver lining' - with the increasing wind speed seeing an improvement in the consistency and strength of the lift along the West ridge.
The next couple of hours saw the flying list completed with much 'fun' to be had in various gliders making good use of the conditions - as ever lookout and adherence to 'ridge rules' was suitably tested...
By mid-afternoon as the wind strength continued to increase a decision was made to change the card colour from Yellow to Blue - with the approach over the trees now providing a good test of pilot skills in the more challenging conditions.
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| Afternoon view from the winch (Marie W) |
And then
late afternoon, with everyone who wanted to fly having had the
opportunity to do so, the decision was made to put all the toys away
ahead of the anticipated rain.
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| Empty hangar - Who can remember which one goes in first? (Mike Sl) |
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| Teamwork (Mike Sl) |
In amongst the total of 43 flights (9 solo, 34 dual) and just under 19 hours of flight time for the day...
Gordon had the 'fun' of starting his BI training with Mark C, Lizzie and Toby (Junior Members) continued to make good progress, Andrew L flew the only private glider flown during the day K6 (GDE), James completed his NavEx in the Rotax Falke with Ian M. - Mike Sl
Gordon had the 'fun' of starting his BI training with Mark C, Lizzie and Toby (Junior Members) continued to make good progress, Andrew L flew the only private glider flown during the day K6 (GDE), James completed his NavEx in the Rotax Falke with Ian M. - Mike Sl
CFI Pete, Deputy CFI Martin, Vice-Chairman Stu, and Regional Examiner Simon M enjoyed a day out at Yeovilton attending the Southwest regional CFI's conference learning more about last year's accident record and where EASA is going with Licensing, ATO's, Examining and Instructor coaching and the new training syllabus - Pete
