With lots of card checks still to do after weeks of prohibitive weather together with many trainees, the club buildings were well-populated by the hopeful from an early hour today. The aircraft were extracted from their new hangar configuration by the early risers and everything set up for launching into a westerly wind, such as it was.
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| A bit grey to start (Mike Sloggett) |
Some early low cloud caused Mike Rigby and Peter Field to release early on the first winch launch of the day but this soon dissipated to sunny conditions allowing full-height winch launches and high aerotows. The return of the DG505 from the Long Mynd helped instructors to make brisk progress through the two-seater list; the Perkoz remaining elusively out of reach for a little longer, pending CAA paperwork.
A couple of trial lessons punctuated the flying list and were met with enthusiasm and, in one case, observed by almost a dozen family members. It was good to see junior members, including Harry Rigby, Ellie Carter and Jack Raybould getting airborne and getting stuck in with launch and retrieval duties. Harry was chuffed to receive sign-off to retrieve gliders in the Gator. Well done also to Paul Little for his soloing the DG505.
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| Ron checks out Paul for the DG505 (Mike Sloggett) |
Some took the opportunity to take lunch during a pause to change the troublesome winch battery, which produced a queue on the aerotow line. Cloud came and went through the day, at times squeezing the headroom a little, but also with some weak wave. By mid-afternoon, with a lifting cloud base and strengthening wind, the ridge began to work well, giving some extended flight times.
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| North Hill and Forest Glade (Lisa Humphries) |
The motor-gliders made regular appearances including James Flory at the controls completing his Tug rating. The kit finally being packed away under James’s direction at around 1800 after 50 launches. The new configuration actually seems to work better, with the aircraft arranged in symmetrical fashion. Hot cakes from Cheryl & Graham put smiles on many faces as we shaped up to head home. Until the next time. - (First time blogger) Mike Rigby
