A relatively pessimistic forecast for Saturday earlier in the week, became more promising as the week progressed and as it was, the day started with generally good conditions for gliding, albeit with some showers forecast for lunchtime onwards. A gentle easterly breeze meant setting up at the western side of the field, allowing us to see the excellent work completed by club volunteers in levelling and rolling the area in the Southwest corner of the field ready for seeding – looking great and a sterling effort from all involved.
First off the blocks just after 10 o’clock was K-21 ‘KEK’ with instructor James Flory and student Andy Batchelor, in a series of 3 flights that ultimately led to Andy being sent solo. This was Andy’s ‘second’ first solo in a winch-launched glider, having had a short break of around 27 years from gliding and returning to the sport last Autumn, being enthused to take up gliding again when son Josh joined the club. Glad to say that 2 solo launches were followed by 2 satisfactory landings!
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| Congratulations to Andy on resolo (Josh Batchelor) |
Instructional duties were shared between John Pursey, James Flory and Glenn Turpin on a series of training and check flights that included pressing the Pawnee into service for aerotow duties. The Saturday crew had the luxury of using the new launch control vehicle which is a significant improvement on the previous temporary arrangements – an outstanding project from those club members who contributed to creating this excellent facility. James Flory wasted no time at all in putting the integral classroom to use, delivering a whiteboard brief on spinning.
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| James Flory using the integral lecture facility (Andy Batchelor) |
Just after lunch, the wind spun round to the west, necessitating a change to the eastern end of the field. This change precipitated the ‘how many people does it take to level up the new launch control vehicle’ competition. The answer seemed to be 1, but with 7 or 8 other members involved in studious contemplation!
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| Technique to get it level (Andy Batchelor) |
Shortly after 15:00, the rain arrived,albeit later than forecast so with 28 launches completed, and sadly before some members who had contributed significantly to the days’ efforts had chance to fly, the aircraft were returned to the hanger. Meanwhile, well done to David Cowley for passing his Bronze exam with flying colours. - Andy Batchelor
