A lot of weather talk was happening in the clubhouse on 'late' (10am) arrival at North Hill this morning. A cold front was forecast to have passed overnight, but there was no sign of the typical post cold front loveliness. Questions being asked by at least one weather amateur (ahem); Had it passed? Was it still passing? Where was the rain? After some chart checking, all of these questions were superceeded in favour of the 'it'll be fine later on' theory. Quite a few private owners seemed satisfied with this outcome and set about rigging in the cold, cloudy conditions.
Meanwhile in a galaxy far, far away . . or the west end of the field as its normally referred to, James Hood was busy covering instructing duties for the holidaying Mark Courtney. Silence at the back - stop that 'not another one?' chat. He works hard and deserves it. James was joined by Mike Sloggett, clearly not satisfied with instructing all week on the course. There weren't many members present but plenty enough for things to run smoothly under this morning's DLM Andrew Logan. Maybe the Mark Courtney fans had heard about his holiday?
By mid-morning, no one had yet discovered any lift and the first trial lesson of the day was back on the ground in 15 minutes after a 2000ft aerotow. As the morning progressed, the cloud began to clear and the heat of the sun began to take effect. William Pope was the first to find some decent air and stayed aloft for 23 minutes. He was willing to share some of his methods with less experienced members if you paid attention ;). He was also willing to put some of it down to luck! Let's hear no more of that nonsense.
By early afternoon the sky looked like it had much more potential and the private owners began to grace the launch point with their presence. JP, in LAK12 HOG, Matt Williamson getting more practice in ASW20 611, Tom Sides in DG300 FAJ and Ron Johns and Phil Morrison in ASH25 711. Lower down conditions were more challenging. In fact even from a 2000ft aerotow and with big wings, conditions could be challenging! There was some vicious sink around, especially on circuit it seemed, but given enough height, scampering to the next cloud became easier and longer flights were possible. Most flights stayed reasonably local to North Hill apart from the ASH that made it around The Park, Blandford and Cullompton for 205 Km.
Rowan took over for the afternoon instructing slot, with DLM Aston. Mike Sloggett was finishing up for his day by flying new boy Liam! Apparently he showed potential... Team 'J' was also back, with JB carrying out 3 year checks on JP. Rumour has it, JP was reading an actual book about gliding and muttering something about 'spinning' on the trip to the club this morning. After the flights he was looking slightly ill and JB was chuckling. Weather professionals Pete and Jill Harmer obviously knew exactly what the weather was going to do, so turned up at lunchtime, rigged Duo Discus OL for its first airing of the year and flew for 2 hours towards the later part of the afternoon.
Once the usual post gliding ritual of sitting outside of the clubhouse drinking tea was performed, an evening of first aid training began.
15 members enjoyed the excellent training on the new defibrillator, CPR and choking by Debbie Ledger. This was followed by another great dining in from Cheryl and Graham, disguised as an ad-hoc Eurovision party.
North Hill just served up another great days adventuring in the sky. Thanks to all those that helped out so efficiently to keep things flowing. - Tim Peters
Meanwhile in a galaxy far, far away . . or the west end of the field as its normally referred to, James Hood was busy covering instructing duties for the holidaying Mark Courtney. Silence at the back - stop that 'not another one?' chat. He works hard and deserves it. James was joined by Mike Sloggett, clearly not satisfied with instructing all week on the course. There weren't many members present but plenty enough for things to run smoothly under this morning's DLM Andrew Logan. Maybe the Mark Courtney fans had heard about his holiday?
By mid-morning, no one had yet discovered any lift and the first trial lesson of the day was back on the ground in 15 minutes after a 2000ft aerotow. As the morning progressed, the cloud began to clear and the heat of the sun began to take effect. William Pope was the first to find some decent air and stayed aloft for 23 minutes. He was willing to share some of his methods with less experienced members if you paid attention ;). He was also willing to put some of it down to luck! Let's hear no more of that nonsense.
By early afternoon the sky looked like it had much more potential and the private owners began to grace the launch point with their presence. JP, in LAK12 HOG, Matt Williamson getting more practice in ASW20 611, Tom Sides in DG300 FAJ and Ron Johns and Phil Morrison in ASH25 711. Lower down conditions were more challenging. In fact even from a 2000ft aerotow and with big wings, conditions could be challenging! There was some vicious sink around, especially on circuit it seemed, but given enough height, scampering to the next cloud became easier and longer flights were possible. Most flights stayed reasonably local to North Hill apart from the ASH that made it around The Park, Blandford and Cullompton for 205 Km.
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| Matt in 611 found some turbo charged (wave) cumulus (Matt Williamson) |
Once the usual post gliding ritual of sitting outside of the clubhouse drinking tea was performed, an evening of first aid training began.
 |
| Roly giving Little Annie a blast (Cheryl Smith) |
15 members enjoyed the excellent training on the new defibrillator, CPR and choking by Debbie Ledger. This was followed by another great dining in from Cheryl and Graham, disguised as an ad-hoc Eurovision party.
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| Eurovision party (Cheryl Smith) |
