A
strong, blustery, southerly wind, overcast skies and turbulent
conditions, meant that the flying list was rather shorter than usual.
Also, a rather late start; but thanks to John Sillett who stood in at
the very last minute as “am” Duty Instructor, and Ian Mitchell who took
over as official Duty Instructor for the “pm” slot assisted by John.
Our
South Coast Experts, John Burrow and Matt Wright, assessed conditions
as good for a bit of South Coast Cliff Soaring. Tug pilot, Robin W-F
briefed, calls to Exeter ATC made and the gliders were lined up. Matt
and William Stainer had nearly two hours in the DG 505, and made it back
to North Hill in time for lunch!! JB had a slightly longer flight of
two-and-a-half hours, landing during the lunch break.
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| The Sea mimics our warm glow inside! |
Fifteen flights in all, and some of them up to half-an-hour long using lift generated by the North Hill South Ridge. - Wendy Willis-Fleming
The flight started with a very buoyant and blustery aerotow, finally dropping us off near the town of Seaton. Whilst Matt and myself were waiting for John Burrow to catch us up we entertained ourselves by hooning around impressing the cliff walkers, doing wingovers and flying low and fast on Sidmouth sea front. Lift was working even at 100kt giving us an average of 3kt up.
Will's experience.......
I arrived at the club to be greeted with a very strong southerly wind. Immediately I assumed I would not be flying for the day. Imagine my disbelief and excitement when Matt offered me an opportunity to join him in the DG505 on a trip to the South coast for some cliff soaring.The flight started with a very buoyant and blustery aerotow, finally dropping us off near the town of Seaton. Whilst Matt and myself were waiting for John Burrow to catch us up we entertained ourselves by hooning around impressing the cliff walkers, doing wingovers and flying low and fast on Sidmouth sea front. Lift was working even at 100kt giving us an average of 3kt up.
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| Sidmouth |
As JB turned up we thought we ought to begin our task. Five legs from Beer Head to Ladram Bay with me doing four of the beats. With the task completed a small amount of formation flying was done to supplement the video footage.
Reluctantly our thoughts now turned to climbing away to make it back to North Hill where Simon Minson and Stuart Proctor were waiting their turn. We were fortunate enough to soar to just under 2300ft QFE and by this time, we had risen above the clouds, giving us a lovely cloud surfing final glide home.
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| JB over the windswept sea (William Stainer) |
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| Cloud surfing Return to NHL (William Stainer) |
-William Stainer
