A small but enthusiastic group of around a dozen Club members arrived at North Hill early Saturday to be greeted with stunning, clear blue skies, but hopes of long hours in the air were tempered by the very strong, gusty easterly wind. Both K-21s and a Junior were prepared for flight, but with a combination of blue card conditions and a paucity of members able to take advantage of single-seat flying in the conditions, the Junior was returned to the hanger. The flying day continued with just a pair of K-21s, with the first aircraft in the air just before 0930.
The day continued with a mixture of training flights and card checks, with an ebb and flow of numbers as people came and went – some to fly, some just popping in to say hello, with Club members very obviously enjoying being able to meet up again – albeit in an outdoor socially distanced fashion - after the enforced Covid lay-off. James Flory, as Duty Instructor, took the lion’s share of the instructional training flights, supported by John Pursey, Stuart Procter and Pete Harmer at various points throughout the day, with Sally Hender, James Smart and Jill Harmer looking after launch control duties. As the morning progressed, we were rewarded with an increase in the availability of lift. Although there was some debate among the seasoned veterans over the actual origin of said lift, it was nevertheless gratefully received by all who were fortunate enough to experience it. Dan Hender, flying with CFI Stuart, blagged the longest flight of the day at 47 minutes, and several other Club members were lucky enough to have flights of over 35 minutes.A short period of concern ensued when an Air Ambulance flew directly over the airfield at around 500’ from south to north, directly across the launch run, without any warning or communication, illustrating the continuing need for awareness, vigilance and, above all, lookout.
Rob Hender and Pete Harmer (Jill Harmer)
By mid-afternoon, the wind had abated a little, but veered round to become a southerly cross wind so, with all who wanted to fly having flown, the flying day was declared complete with the last launch at around 1645 with 26 launches completed over the day. Overall, a very good day for those that were there, and as ever, very grateful thanks to all those who worked hard to made the flying possible. - Andy and Josh Batchelor (first-time bloggers)
