Whilst a lot of the west country started with misty conditions, North Hill was bathed in sunshine. All the kit was out ready to go and after James Flory had given the briefing for the day and the importance of social distancing, the small contingent of Wednesday regulars were itching to get going. Most members hadn't flown since mid-March but luckily noone needed a check flight as two-seater flying is suspended for the time being.
It was decided that we would start winch launching again (thanks to those who checked out the winch and ropes) in addition to aerotowing. As the telecoms were playing up, we set up the comms with radios which worked very well, in the meantime Tim Petty tried to sort the telecom problem, -Tim looked more like Buffalo Bill with his longer hair and wide brimmed hat.
The flying started and ran very smoothly with the winch launches and occasional aerotow, continued to work well all day, James Flory and Pete Warren shared the aerotowing and kindly let Stu Procter do the last one.
The flying was fairly easy and there was some broken lift usually below1,000ft, many flights managed to stay up for a reasonable extended circuit the longest was 17min off the winch.
Nick Harrison and Andy Davey flew there own gliders Andy had a slight plumbing problem with his first flight and landed pretty smartly to sort it, the two K21s and a Junior were used for the rest of us.
Let's hope this lovely weather lasts with just the occasional rain to let the grass seed germinate. - John Street.
It was decided that we would start winch launching again (thanks to those who checked out the winch and ropes) in addition to aerotowing. As the telecoms were playing up, we set up the comms with radios which worked very well, in the meantime Tim Petty tried to sort the telecom problem, -Tim looked more like Buffalo Bill with his longer hair and wide brimmed hat.
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| Pete Warren gets back in the air (John Street) |
The flying was fairly easy and there was some broken lift usually below1,000ft, many flights managed to stay up for a reasonable extended circuit the longest was 17min off the winch.
Nick Harrison and Andy Davey flew there own gliders Andy had a slight plumbing problem with his first flight and landed pretty smartly to sort it, the two K21s and a Junior were used for the rest of us.
Let's hope this lovely weather lasts with just the occasional rain to let the grass seed germinate. - John Street.
Meanwhile today's DSGC, Condor virtual task was from Hembury Hill with turn points at Crediton West, and Witheridge, finishing at North Hill North. The wind was from the North, northwest at 10 knots with a cloud base of 5500 feet above sea level with moderate thermals. Jill and Pete set the parameters of the task in a Duo Discus (with the option to take a P2 as ballast) and Dan input the data into Condor, then hosted the task.
Not so many could join us today for varying reasons, the nice weather and the fact that people can actually go out a little bit more now with real solo flying at North Hill probably had something to do with it! We still managed to get five people on the grid, Stewart Henshall, Matt Howard, Geoff Lawrence, Dan and Rob Hender.
Not so many could join us today for varying reasons, the nice weather and the fact that people can actually go out a little bit more now with real solo flying at North Hill probably had something to do with it! We still managed to get five people on the grid, Stewart Henshall, Matt Howard, Geoff Lawrence, Dan and Rob Hender.
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| Stewart waiting for the start line to open (Stewart Henshall) |
From the launch (winch) there was not much lift to be had with the exception of a nice-looking cloud on Dunkeswell’s approach. Rob made an executive decision and decided that Dunkeswell weren't operating today and that it would be okay to take that thermal. The others struggled to get lift legally, so they eventually decided to join the thermal Rob was marking.
By the time that everybody had got to height and Dan opened the start gate we all had to fly quite some way just to start! Rob had drifted ahead of the start gate and had to fly back towards it to go through it and then turn back again, All the others had a reasonably good start and left Rob a couple of minutes behind.
By the time that everybody had got to height and Dan opened the start gate we all had to fly quite some way just to start! Rob had drifted ahead of the start gate and had to fly back towards it to go through it and then turn back again, All the others had a reasonably good start and left Rob a couple of minutes behind.
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| Good conditions on track (Stewart Henshall) |
Stewart, Dan and Matt carried on as normal leaving Rob and Geoff to catch up (it was never going to happen). Unfortunately, 15 kilometres into the task, Geoff's PC decided it had had enough and froze up on him and he had to exit Condor. Once he had reset his PC, he could only re-join as a spectator (which I think he enjoyed).
With Stewart, Matt and Dan out in front and Geoff now spectating, Rob was left at the back of the pack about 9 kilometres behind the rest.
With Stewart, Matt and Dan out in front and Geoff now spectating, Rob was left at the back of the pack about 9 kilometres behind the rest.
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| Matt puts the smoke on (Matt Howard) |
Stewart completed the task first in about 40 minutes followed by Matt about 10 minutes later with Dan hot on his tail about 10 seconds after that. Then came the long wait for Rob who came in about 10 minutes later.
All in all, an enjoyable flight that had been purposely designed to challenge us more in making decisions whether to take the lift or hope we had enough height to get to the next thermal.
Thanks to Jill and Pete for setting the task and to Jill for the minute by minute coaching helping Rob get round. - Rob Hender
All in all, an enjoyable flight that had been purposely designed to challenge us more in making decisions whether to take the lift or hope we had enough height to get to the next thermal.
Thanks to Jill and Pete for setting the task and to Jill for the minute by minute coaching helping Rob get round. - Rob Hender
