Another inspired ad-hoc call by our Chairman led to another successful day’s flying on Friday.
The day started bright and fresh, some showers were expected and more persistent rain later. Temperatures were down on recent days but the brisk winds which had demolished yet another Thursday had abated to a light WSW. The turnout was good, with just enough hands to run an efficient operation.
Optimistically vehicles and gliders were extracted from hangers and prepped much earlier than in recent days. The K21s and a Junior were readied.
The field remained soft from the March rainfall - very soft in some places, making manoeuvring gliders challenging at times. A dry enough line was found along the centre of the field and at 9:23 the first glider was winched into an inviting sky, Peter Smith commencing card checks with Dave Cowley.
James Flory took the Falke off for a couple of local flights, then Mark Layton was first up in the Junior, managing a satisfying 56 minutes.
Mike Sloggett flew with Tim Petty to get his checks done before he flew solo in the K21. Martin Woolner and William Pope took the Falke up and away for nearly an hour.
Peter Smith then moved on to checking Trevor Russell in the K21. Pete Startup rigged his Discus for its first decent soaring flight of the year, and easily set the best for the day with a spring soaring flight of 1 minute short of 2 hours.
 |
| Discus eager to get airborne (Stewart Henshall) |
Debates continued about where the best conditions were to be had - North or South from the winch. Some streets were evident before the clouds filled in and blocked out most of the sun.
To keep the solo list happy it had been decided to bring out the Perkoz to add some more capacity. Andy Davey took it up first but despite his enthusiasm missed out on the lift. Rick Andrews was next in the Junior but also didn’t have the best of the conditions.
There were some interruptions due to passing showers, but the Treasurer’s DG-100 had its first outing, but he was less lucky with the conditions.
 |
| DG100 being dried off after a shower (Stewart Henshall) |
Andy Williams flew the Junior for 19 minutes before his return, and James Smart was next in the Perkoz followed by Andy Davey, but it was clear that the good conditions had passed. Mike Sloggett then flew with George Sanderson to go through his card checks. Rick Andrews flew the Junior for another short flight.
 |
| Photo competition - what exactly is Tim doing? (Stewart Henshall) |
At 13:00 a break for lunch was called to avail of Graham’s kind opening of the North Hill cafe. Before long the remaining instructor duo of Peter and Mike were cracking the whip to get things moving again.
Conditions were significantly less bright as more cloud moved in, and soaring opportunities seemed to have passed for the day.
Peter Smith was brave enough to fly with this ‘yaw uncoupled’ Airbus pilot for three flights. On the second we joined a small flock of gulls, a buzzard, and a lesser spotted Falke (crewed by Carl Tharme and our Chairman) which was in its rightful place for a photo shoot from above. Stretching the flight to 23 minutes was a small victory in this greying sky.
 |
| The Falke soaring (Peter Smith) |
Mike flew last with a patient David Perriam and ran through some launch failures and circuits.
Rick Andrews, Mark Layton and David Cowley flew the Junior again, before our CFI took it up for the last flight of the day but lost some enthusiasm when he encountered rain and opted for an immediate return.
All on the list had flown and gliders were cleaned and put to bed comfortably before the persistent rain finally arrived around 16:00.
All in all a pretty good day - with 41 launches and TMG flights achieved. - Stewart Henshall (first- time blogger)
