A good weather forecast for today, together with the second day of Advanced Aerobatics training for some Instructors with Aerobatic Instructor Will Jones, ensured a busy airfield at the start of the day.
The wind was not quite in line with the forecast and therefore it was a choice of either waiting for the wind to potentially move more round to the West or walk the gliders down to the other end of the airfield and start the day’s flying. With everyone keen to get into the air as soon as possible the decision was made to set up the launch point in the South West corner of the airfield and soon most of the Club gliders were on their way to the West end. Mid-morning and just a few flights into the day the wind decided to become more Westerly so a change of ends was organised.
The wind was not quite in line with the forecast and therefore it was a choice of either waiting for the wind to potentially move more round to the West or walk the gliders down to the other end of the airfield and start the day’s flying. With everyone keen to get into the air as soon as possible the decision was made to set up the launch point in the South West corner of the airfield and soon most of the Club gliders were on their way to the West end. Mid-morning and just a few flights into the day the wind decided to become more Westerly so a change of ends was organised.
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| Chris Wool and Chairman Nick Jones (Mike Sloggett) |
As the day progressed, the sky continued to improve with evident thermals around the airfield and soon Simon Minson (ASW20 SM) and Pete Startup (Discus 230) were being launched into the air. Initially a task of Tiverton to Dorchester and back was declared but with the thermals no longer being marked by fluffy clouds as the sea air had moved in, then Simon and Pete decided to abandon the task and stay local.
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| Going blue (Simon Minson) |
It became clear that there were ‘blue’ thermals around, one just had to be fortunate enough to fly into them, and the ridge was working here and there - both the blue thermals and the ridge allowing extended flights to those able to make the most of the conditions.
With various Instructors working their way through the flying list during the day all the required training and check flights were completed by mid-afternoon allowing Instructors to have some fun in the gliders available.
With various Instructors working their way through the flying list during the day all the required training and check flights were completed by mid-afternoon allowing Instructors to have some fun in the gliders available.
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| A different weather day to yesterday (Mike Sloggett) |
We were pleased to see several of our new Junior members on the airfield helping with various ground tasks and starting on their flying training, with proud parents watching from the sidelines.
The Perkoz was in use for much of the day as Will Jones put several Instructors through their paces demonstrating the capabilities of the Perkoz with its aerobatic tips - the last aerobatic flight of the day saw Daniel Hender (watch the video) (or this one) have some fun seeing the airfield from all angles, mostly upside down.
A big thanks to Rob Hender for uploading some 'beta' Condor2 scenery on the Simulator with North Hill becoming much more realistic (thanks to Andy from the Condor development team.)
The Perkoz was in use for much of the day as Will Jones put several Instructors through their paces demonstrating the capabilities of the Perkoz with its aerobatic tips - the last aerobatic flight of the day saw Daniel Hender (watch the video) (or this one) have some fun seeing the airfield from all angles, mostly upside down.
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| Daniel enjoys some aerobatic training with Will Jones (GoPro) |
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| North Hill objects added (Jill Harmer) |
All being well the first of many nice days of soaring in 2019, thank you to everyone who helped others to get into the air today and a special thank you to Will Jones for the weekend of aerobatic instruction. - Mike Sloggett
