The call for an early start was answered today, even by “Crack of Sparrows Ashley’s” standards it was very early! In fact when he arrived at 8am the ground equipment was already out! With military precision the gliders were removed from the hangar, daily inspections done and the transport team were soon winging their way to the far west. ( AGAIN).
We welcomed new members Steve Lesson, Mark Elliott and Junior member Jacob Pollard to the club today. All three were soon given a safety briefing by Robert before being let loose on helping getting gliders launched. I was on duty, aided by Simon Leeson and James ( my tug is broken) Flory, with Steve Westlake arriving for the afternoon shift.
Early start (Paul Gunner)
The high cloud of the approaching weak front was over us almost immediately and there was a noticeably warmer wind than of late. We were short of experienced members so I found myself doing the log for the first hour, I apologise for my errors in advance William......
We moved through the list as quickly as possible, with a continuous eye on various conflicting rain radar apps on our (not so smart) phones. The wiser non technical members simply looked south east and said “ it’s going to rain soon!”
We had a unique situation where both K21’s went U/S within minutes of each other. Ian Mitchell (thanks) fixed one quickly but the other needed more careful attention, thanks to Andrew Logan for sorting the wheel brake.
Sadly the predicted rain started to arrive (the non-technical members said “told you so” which persuaded us to stop for lunch in the hope that it might clear. Sadly it didn’t, so all the gliders and kit were retrieved from the far end, wiped down and put to bed.
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| Can't fly so let's play with big toys (Mark Courtney) |
Thanks also to Nick and Stirling for fixing the parking brake on the Gator, and to all those continuing with the cleaning, painting and tidying the estate ready for Competition Enterprise.
We made the most of what we had, I’m sorry that all members did not get to fly but a big thanks to all those who helped today, now anyone want a not so smart phone? - Mark Courtney
