A bustling day at North Hill
today. Hosting ICL, 3 trial lessons and the usual lengthy summer's day
flying list, meant the club was a hive of activity all day.
The
ICL briefing gave an average weather forecast, so the tasks were set to
make the most of the better area east of Yeovil. After much glider
pilot type faffing (water in, water out, flight computers programmed,
maps found (Liam), covers on, covers off) and a bit of hanging around
posturing next to gliders, the first and most enthusiastic entrant
launched finally at 13:20 (Williamson obviously). He was soon back on
the ground, deciding that a tug was required. By this time Mick (The
Park pundit) had already taken a tug in a Ventus turbo so Matt Wi was
next. With the benefit of hindsight, this proved to be the best time to
launch. Spot The Gliders showed Mick making good progress towards
Yeovil. At 14:30, the next 'bunch' decided to launch. Steve Lambourne
and Hugh Stewart (The Park), Liam, Tom Hogarth and Jack Tonkin
(Mendip). Out of these, all ended up on the ground in the following 20
minutes apart from Jack (the last to launch). Steve proved the bravest
and in an attempt to get away despite the conditions, ended up in a
field east of Dunkeswell. Simon M left slightly later at 15:00. After much
bullying encouraging, Liam had another launch at 15.50.
By
this time an enthusiastic group had gathered around the Spot The
Gliders display in the club house to keep track of Mick's progress and
found that this proved nearly(?) as exciting as actually flying. He had
managed CLS-YEO-BLD-FRO-YEO and was heading back to wards CLS. Mental
calculations were being carried out on how far he might be able to get
(it was looking close). The highs were being felt as the climb rate
increased, the lows as it decreased. Unfortunately he had to turbo his
way out of trouble 3km from the finish line at CLS. I think it's fair to say the
enthusiastic group felt his pain. A great flight nonetheless.
Meanwhile
. . back at the club, Roly was in fine form flying all the trial
lessons and pretending the 505 was his glider. JP took the newly ARC'd
Lak 12 for a spin and Oscar was busy familiarising himself with the K6
under the watchful eye of Dad Simon. Pete B and James F were getting
some further BI training completed, ready for their upcoming assessments. - Tim P
Mike F got cleared off checks and had some interesting lift on the ridge - the southwest corner of the west ridge was working which enabled me to stay up for an extended circuit and some ridge soaring. I certainly had to keep a very good lookout, with gliders running up/down the ridge and soaring above!! Lift could also be found over Forest Glade and the Bowl, and as always on the downwind leg. Later in the afternoon I received the inevitable phone call from Liam....''I'm in a field...again'' so his crew was scrambled for his retrieve.- MF
ICL News:
The weather looked a little tricky to get into the good task area far to the east of North Hill, but Tasks were set, all with a remote start and finish to the North of the club at Culmstock, then on towards Yeovil and then differing turn points within the good air dependant on Class:
Pundits CLS-YEO-BLD-FRO-YEO-CLS (210km)
Intermediate CLS-YEO-BLD-SHA-YEO-CLS (174km)
Novice CLS-YEO-SHB-YEO-CLS (108km)
Matt's flight report:
There was a low cloud base and many found it difficult, but with isolated strong climbs, and after turning Yeovil for the second time on the way home the sky ahead looked dire, H5 Matt pressed on as much as he dared into the headwind but the declining conditions prevailed. He landed just to the South of Yeovil Reservoir in a very well kept private airstrip, thanks to Paul L for the retrieve. Fortunately it transpired that a 3/4 completed task was enough to win the day in the poor conditions.
Novice
Matt's flight report:
There was a low cloud base and many found it difficult, but with isolated strong climbs, and after turning Yeovil for the second time on the way home the sky ahead looked dire, H5 Matt pressed on as much as he dared into the headwind but the declining conditions prevailed. He landed just to the South of Yeovil Reservoir in a very well kept private airstrip, thanks to Paul L for the retrieve. Fortunately it transpired that a 3/4 completed task was enough to win the day in the poor conditions.
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| Yeovil Reservoir (H5 Matt) |
Simon's flight report:
SM launched late and missed the best part of the day, he got within 10km of Blandford but with the rest of the task in sea air aborted the task attempting to return home. He ended up landing at the Yeovil / Westland airfield, Pete St went for the retrieve.
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| Almost as smooth as tarmac Yeovil Westlands (Simon) |
After a few drinks in the evening SM recalled that the stringent security procedures both in and out of Yeovil airfield put Heathrow to shame, they were extremely friendly and it all went smoothly, unlike Liam's 3 hour retrieve from 2km away from the North Hill at the bottom of Hembury Hill..... - MW
Liam's flight report:
"I launched first at about 2:30ish made a pretty good start for the first 10km then it all went terrible, I came back to have a cup of tea. At about 4 o'clock , (as the weather had improved and the launch point was empty), the peer pressure from Jill persuaded me to relight. The start wasn't as good as my first attempt, the climb rate was stronger but the thermals weren't as predictable and rather gusty and turbulent. I got low over Chard but managed to get a good climb to take me to Yeovil, getting low had really stopped me from being competitive so decided just to get home nice and early... which I nearly did... The glide back was horrific with never really getting above 2000ft, but little by little I got closer and closer home, all I needed was one more climb just to get over Hembury ridge, It didn't happen...
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| Almost within shouting distance. We can't disconnect the brakes! (Liam) |
I landed in a field... again.. full of cow pats... Thank you to Stirling who was sterling.. Mike, Pete and Jess for being extremely patient with me being grumpy and having little idea what I was doing with this new glider... LV
Provisional results subject to scrutineering:
Pundit
The Park - Mick Longhurst Ventus CT - 6 points
North Hill - Simon Minson ASW20 - 5 points
Intermediate
North Hill - Liam Vile Cirrus - 6 points
Mendip - Jack Tonkin LS8 - 5 points
The Park - Steve Lambourne Pik 20b - 1 points
Novice
North Hill - Matthew Williamson SF27 - 6 points
Mendip - Tom Hogarth Astir CS- 0 points
The Park - Hugh Stewart Carnam JP15- 0 points
With the provisional totals after today:
•1st The Park- 38 Points
•2nd North Hill- 36 Points
•3rd Wyvern- 26 Points
•4th Keevil- 19 Points
•5th Mendip- 19 Points
In the evening, there was the usual North Hill hospitality with Cheryl and Graham catering for the teams,
and just a little birthday cake for Liam saying goodbye to teenage years.
With the provisional totals after today:
•1st The Park- 38 Points
•2nd North Hill- 36 Points
•3rd Wyvern- 26 Points
•4th Keevil- 19 Points
•5th Mendip- 19 Points
In the evening, there was the usual North Hill hospitality with Cheryl and Graham catering for the teams,
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| Happy Birthday Liam ( Jess) |
and just a little birthday cake for Liam saying goodbye to teenage years.
