Sat 17th February

The rain continues to soak the airfield with another day of 20+mm, not to mention the low-flying cloud / fog,   but there were a few jobs to be done...

A sparkling Gator with the CFI (Simon Leeson)

Mark Courtney and Simon Leeson gave the Gator some overdue loving care and attention with a full-clean valet. 

A sparkling mower (Peter Smith)

Similarly Peter Smith, John Borland, Tom Sides and James Hood teamed up and serviced and pressure-washed the airfield  mower ready for those long warm days that surely must arrive soon. This will be the eighth year for the freshly sharpened original blades and hopefully they are good for a few more yet,  similarly the drive belts. 

James Hood the pressure washer (Simon Leeson)

 The Eagle AXJ components were returned to North Hill for preparation for painting and new trailer fettling. 

AXJ ready for painting (John Pursey)

In the Club Simulator, new member Josh Newland has flown more time in the simulator than in the air, Hans Jenssen capably flew round the Club 100kms Knowstone - North Tawton with support from Stewart Henshall and Pete Harmer - the sun always shines in Condor. 

Hans' story 

So like everyone else I'm suffering from an acute flying deficit. Correction, it's been going on so long I think it has become chronic. However, I concur wholeheatedly with the CFI's recommendation of using the sim to keep those skills alive and well. A bit of prodding from Mr Henshall had me up at the club on Saturday rather unprepared but with the intention of attempting a club 100 NH2 Knowstone North Tawton NH2. After a chat, entering the task into XC Soar and marking it on my chart, I was sat in the cockpit ready to go. For genuine jeapardy, the conditions were set to variable and the Q function disabled. Wind at 7kts from the NW so a reasonably "typical" NH day. The simulation started with a winch launch and of course having to find the first climb, which was dragging me into the Dunks Drop Zone (again, typical NH!) but after some messing about I got some height and made it to the start. 

Setting off on track passing Tiverton to the north was relatively easy, with strong thermals keeping me well over 3000'AGL most of the time. Confirming what I could see with the chart was a useful exercise. Turning  at  the first turnpoint - Knowstone -  SW towards Okehampton I could see Dartmoor to the south and Barnstaple to the west and flew on track using the compass and glancing at XC Soar to confirm. And there was the first big blue hole. I was high to start and could see a cloud in the distance somewhere near the  next turnpoint so got some speed up and set off. I think The cloud was a little to the east of North Tawton so I did the turnpoint first and then went for the cloud, which surprise surprise didn't work very well. Still had some height to play with so circled in 2up 1down for a bit and assessed my options. Some better looking cloud roughly on track back to North Hill looked reachable so off I went. By this time I had a bit of an audience who were full of good ideas as to where the best lift might be so I changed my mind a couple of times about which way I was going- I'm sure that will resonate with many of you- If it's not voices from behind, it's voices from within! A couple of bitty sketchy weak thermals later I made a positive choice to go for a cloud that looked good to me, and it worked. 

Hans - nearly home (Stewart Henshall)

 I could see Tivvy and Cully by then and the west ridge in the distance. I was able to climb to a safe distance above final glide and then flew home. Phew.

I felt genuinely tense for much of the second and third legs and was proper knackered at the end. My first time flying cross-country, I appreciated being coached through it (thanks Stewart) and felt it is a tremendously useful way to prepare for the real thing. - Hans Jenssen

Meanwhile back In the Clubhouse, a small subcommittee convened to discuss succession planning. - ed mashup

Sat 10 February

Saturday started well, with calm winds and blue skies, although the forecast for the day was for rapidly increasing southerly winds, a lowering cloud base and some rain. It looked like most members were indeed deterred by the rather dreary forecast, and by 08:15, a grand total of just four club members were in the clubhouse.  The main topic of conversation was, of course, the weather, with Andy Batchelor’s pessimistic outlook being challenged by Dave Perriam's more optimistic and positive predictions.   

K21 ready - Eurofox ready (Andy Batchelor)

By 08:30, Team Optimistic were pulling ahead, with the arrival of the Duty Tuggie (Stu Proctor) declaring conditions were suitable for aerotowing and Duty Iinstructor James Flory announcing that the field was useable for aerotow.  Given the low numbers, the EuroFox and a single K-21 was prepared, and at 0938, Alan Turner took to the first flight of the day to do his EuroFox Aerotow conversion with James. With Peter Smith arriving and offering to help with instructor duties, a second K-21 was readied, with conditions now being at the upper end of yellow card and trending to blue card conditions.  A short pause in operations ensued to allow some low cloud and light rain to pass through, but this quickly passed and, with some lift evident on the south ridge , members were able to make the most of extended circuits.  While the air aloft was generally smooth, the same can’t be said of the sub 300ft conditions, which were challenging on both take off and landing.

Good to see the sun again (Andy Batchelor)

By 11:00, the increasing southerly crosswind and turbulence at low-level brought the days flying to a close.  All that came and had wanted to fly did so and were grateful for the opportunity to do so.  A win for Team Optimistic!  By midday, everything was washed down and packed away, and everyone adjourned to the cafe for a very welcome lunch.  A great effort by everyone present to grasp what we could from the day.  Thanks to all.  - Andy Batchelor

Thur 1st February

The low cloud on Wednesday that prevented flying gave way to a bright sunny Thursday as a high pressure edged in, only marred by some high milkiness restricting the strength of the sun and cancelling any winter thermals. A good crowd of Thursday regulars turned up and after a pitch inspection all was set up and ready to go by 9:30 waiting for canopies to clear. With zero wind the launch point was set up in the North East. The first flight  launched at 10:18. A good day for keeping or renewing currency and progressing card checks. 7 or 8 minute flights were the order of the day from the winch and 20 minutes for a 3000ft aerotow. In total  27 winch launches and 7 Fox aerotows.

Simon Jordy in the Eurofox (David Clements)

The last flight landed a few minutes before 3pm with everyone having flown at least once. Shaun Dayman continued his BI training with Chis Wool. Andy Davey took a 5000ft aerotow to practise aerobatics and Ron Johns gave Andrew Chisholm a first trial flight. All in all a good day of winter flying. 

Helper for hangar packing (Mark Layton)

 

Thanks to Ron Johns and Chris Wool for running the day and Simon Jordy tugging in the EuroFox. - John Borland