There had been high hopes of the Club flying week providing a number of good flying days as part of the next stage of lockdown exit plans, but as the week came closer then so did the increasingly unseasonable weather. The previous days had seen some flying but in and amongst rain showers - and with today having looked likely, since the weekend, to be the best day of the week it was no surprise that members started arriving at the Club well before 9am to add to the members already staying on site.
The sky was thermic from mid-morning, but as is often the case, some gliders got away from the winch easily and were soon having good soaring flights, whilst others needed to land for a re-launch. Whilst the Club flying list made good progress during the morning the number of private gliders seeking a winch launch steadily grew.
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| Initial Club glider queue (Mike Sloggett) |
With the Wednesday regulars, helped by the Club week, running the launch point and winch efficiently there was a steady launch rate and slowly but surely the Club and private glider queues were reduced as the day progressed.
The afternoon skies became so good that Club gliders were either being called down for other pilots to get a flight or airbrakes were needed to limit flight times.
North Hill in the evening sunshine (Lisa Humphries)
Well Done to Mark Wallis (Open Cirrus CEC) who completed his Silver Duration, landing after nearly six hours in the air and to Dave Perriam who kept Junior LRD airborne for just over two hours to complete the duration flights for his Cross-Country Endorsement
During the day both Falkes went to Compton Abbas for a boys' day out taking in the South coast en route.
Compton Abbas (Simon Leeson)
Of the many private gliders flying locally, some ventured further afield in the strong north westerly wind, DD3, 230 and JB went to Dorchester and either Bampton or Dulverton, the streets were good but it was still a struggle back into the head wind. It was good to see some pundits from Lasham enjoying the Devon countryside.
A small group of members then took over the K21s for the first club evening flying.
Sky still booming in the evening (Mike Sloggett)
A very busy day for instructors and members, where the most was made of what was forecast to be the best day of the week, and it was - as ever thank you to the instructors and members who worked tirelessly during the day and in the evening to get others into the air. - Mike Sloggett
