Groundhog day: On arrival at the club, course members, instructors and helpers were greeted with exactly the same scene as was observed for several hours on Thursday before everyone went home, with the beech tree fading in and out of view in the mizzle and fog. Entertainment and education ensued with watching some of Balleka's finest work on YouTube until the cloud finally lifted off the deck late morning.
Layers of cloud (Hans Jenssen)
The winch and launch point were swiftly set up in the NW/NE corners of the field respectively with the westerly wind almost straight down the field for a change. The first launch reached almost full height but it was immediately clear there were layers of cloud all over the place lower than launch height and the glider skirted in and out of sight behind the cloud. The sky looked threatening throughout the day and there were frequent interruptions for rain after lunch, but we all gamely continued with most launches aborted early before going into cloud. Useful experience nevertheless for the students on how to react in these circumstances.
More layers of cloud (Hans Jenssen)
All course members flew today apart from Stewart, who as the only solo pilot didn't get off the ground due to the bad visibility. Testing conditions prevailed for much of the week with everything from extreme heat and crosswinds to rain and low cloud but despite that we flew for 4 out of 5 days and all the students whether returning, current or new members got a lot out of the week. Thanks to Tim Petty who stood in for Gordon H today and a belated thanks to Sally Hender for her all-day stint in the launch point on Tuesday and Dan Hender for pitching in on Tuesday too. Good team work from Hans J, Gordon H, Dave P and Tim P on each day that we flew ensured a good number of launches in the time we had. Last but not least, instructors Peter Field and John Sillett did a brilliant job as always. - Hans Jenssen
