The teamwork to help others to get into the air today was evident from first thing with four two-seater gliders and two Juniors being brought out of the hangar and the winch set up in the North East corner of the airfield, all well before 09:00am. Both the two-seater and solo flying lists were very full - a combination of end of lockdown combined with a sunny weather forecast.
Gliders were soon being walked down to the South West corner of the airfield, with the brisk cross wind suggesting some interesting flying conditions. The first flight of the day confirmed the circuit in the ‘down’ side of the wave to the North East. As various Instructors got back in the air, the high sink rates on the circuit focused the mind with many turning in early and landing up the airfield.
With the full fleet in use, the gliders were being retrieved quickly, and James Smart and Sally Hender ran an efficient double act at the launch point.
Ron Johns and Guy Adams took advantage of the DG505’s performance to push out to the North East and successfully contact the wave getting to 2,600ft and easily achieving the longest flight of the day with 31minutes.
The wind strength decreased significantly and flying continued through lunchtime, to enable some pilots to enjoy a second flight. During the day the Pawnee and Falke VG were given airings by various pilots.
The short day meant that gliders were flown home before the canopies started misting so they could be washed and put away.
After a month of lockdown and this weeks poor weather, members certainly made the most of today. As ever thank you to all those who helped others get into the air - 56 flights in total. - Mike Sloggett
And in the evening members listened in to the Zoom webinar on SPL licensing given by Pete Stratten BGA, and there was also a rerun of the recent DSGC 100km navigation exercise on Condor, welcome back to Matt Howard after rebuilding his PC.
