The forecast was hopeful for a second decent day this week with a good cold front clearance over night and a fresh westerly in a bright clear airmass.
To let the field drain this morning, we delayed the start of flying a little, with the first task to rig the DG505 after its Annual inspection. Thanks to Carl Tharme and Pete Startup for the fast turnround, and just like magic, the 505 has regrown the tips.
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| DG505 complete with tips again and just look at that sky! (Mark Courtney) |
The field was still showing signs of the recent snow around the edges, but the surface was quite sound for winching.
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| Snow round the edges of North Hill (Mike Sloggett) |
It was soarable from the first flight until the last one with some chunky 6 knot thermals to 3000ft above North Hill. But it was the lovely streets that made it so enjoyable with many gliders heading off over the motorway.
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| Admiring the streeting whilst waiting to launch (George Vojtisek) |
The two-seater list kept ticking over with 3 gliders and 6 Instructors taking their turn. With the gusty approach, single seat flying was limited to the more experienced pilots (including 3 instructors getting the opportunity for some solo time.) There were 22 flights in total with the Club gliders averaging 50 min flights.
Pete Startup 230 and Eric Alston G29 explored the local area a little further with Pete clocking his first 100km flight of the season up over Exmoor. "Bit of a wander following the energy today. Wind c.260/24 at height made for some great wave boosted climbs matched equally by the wave boosted sink and difficulty going into wind - the streets looked better than they were. Great viz and scenery though and still quite a bit of snow on Exmoor. Great March day even if it was only local soaring."
Thanks to everyone for a very enjoyable day. - J&P
