Sun 24th March

The first name on the flying list appeared at 7am! The gliders were DI’d by 8:30am, and by this time the list had nearly reached the bottom of the page! With everything set up, the first launch took place at 9:42am, unfortunately with a miscalculation of the wind setting, Peter Smith didn’t make it to the top of the launch! Duty Instructor Guy Adams was ably assisted by volunteers, James Flory, Peter Smith and John Pursey, however it was still pretty slow going with so many members needing currency and card checks.

W7 in a field near the North ridge (Wyn Davies)

Pete Startup (230) and Wyn Davies (W7) took their gliders out, Wyn managing to bag the first trophy of the year, with a land out just north of our north ridge, so close he was able to walk some of the way, after a lift from a local farmer!
Flying continued throughout lunch, with Dan Hender (JDP) and Ron and Dan Johns (711) taking launches.

Well done to our DLM’s Dave Weeks and Carl Tharme, for organising a challenging airfield. With a flying list of 21 members the list was finally completed at 4:45pm. With another land out, 711 Ron and Dan Johns ending up at Smeatharpe, being recovered by Pete Startup after he had completed the first Club 100 of the season. - Well done Pete.

711 at Smeatharpe - sky looking better than it was? (Ron Johns)

A very productive day, with about 47 launches/flights. Thanks to all that helped, it’s great to be back to ‘normal’ operation and even 'soarable'. - Sally Hender

Thurs 21st March

 That the two-seater flying list was into double figures by just after 8:30 was a reflection of general optimism as to flying happening today. The forecast suggested a day where patience might be needed first thing but that the weather would probably improve as the day unfolded.

An inspection of the airfield surface identified suitable launching and landing areas and so with an element of confidence the hangar was unpacked and gliders prepared for flight - all under a low cloudbase but with glimmers of blue skies here and there suggesting that the forecast might just be turning out to be reasonably correct. The launch point was set up on the North boundary with a landing area designed to minimise delay in launching gliders - and a morning brief completed by Mark Courtney to explain the preferred normal landing area to reduce damage to the airfield surface. 

Lined up and ready at the Launchpoint (Mike Horwood)

As the skies continued to brighten the launch point was soon as full as it has been for some time with all four two-seaters and a Junior lined up ready to be launched. 

Skies breaking nicely (Mike Sloggett)

 All that was needed now was for the cloudbase to improve and late morning the first flight of the day was a met flight finding that cloudbase was around 500’ so a good opportunity for launch failures to be practiced if nothing else. Then slowly but surely the cloudbase continued to improve and soon the launch point was busy with gliders being launched regularly and progress starting to be made with the (by now) very long flying list. 

46 winch launches today (Mike Sloggett)

 There were odd bits of lift here and there which meant extended circuits from early afternoon onwards. Apart from a short lunch break flying took place all day and by shortly after 5 the flying list was completed with most members having had a couple of flights whether to maintain or regain currency.

 

Currency  for most (Mike Horwood)

A good day had by all, thank you to everyone for the teamwork today. - Mike Sloggett

Wed 20th March

 Sitting in the warm evening sun, beer in hand, it is hard to believe how foreboding the weather was this morning.  Dark and dank, with the mist in the treetops.... but we persevered.

The winch went up to the west end fairly easily, keeping a few meters away from the really damp south boundary.  And the tow out along the center ridge was dry enough.  It was a still-wind day, so lots of power required to achieve the required torque for launches. 

North Hill airfield, lush and green after all the rain (Peter Smith)

 First flight was about 10 am, into a 1,100 ft cloudbase, that lifted very slowly throughout the day. The sun broke through to the south and west, but not over the site.  Nevertheless, everyone had two instructional flights, to get back into check, while many practice launch failures were sprung upon unsuspecting (or not) students.  Best flight of the day was only 12 minutes, but it was good to get the feet back into the air, and good to give all the equipment an airing.

Thanks to Peter Smith and Glenn Turpin, for checking everyone out. So we will all be ready for the brilliant 4-knot summer’s day we expect for next Wednesday….. ;-) - Roger Ellis (first-time blogger)

Sat 16th March

 North Hill Airfield is still waiting for the rain to stop, so that the waterlogged pitch can drain, (100mm since 1st March on top of the 224mm in February!!) but in the meantime, jobs, lectures and the Simulator are keeping the Members busy. The Gator now has 4 new mirrors, the EuroFox was polished and the wifi extender was refitted on the tug hangar after the cladding work. Potential new member Chris enjoyed some time in the Simulator with Steve Westlake.

Mike Benson RSO GASCo (Simon Leeson)

This evening we welcomed Mike Benson  - volunteer Regional Safety Officer from GASCo who provided a GASCo Safety evening presentation. Many thanks to Mike for an entertaining evening and to Pooleys and Haywards for sponsoring the event. 

A good crowd gathered for the safety presentation (Simon Leeson)

 Members very nearly filled the Clubroom  despite the foggy night for driving and a certain rugby match on TV. The safety messages were well-presented interspersed with audience participation 'clickers'. Pooleys raffle prizes were won by James Hood, Paul Summers, Stuart Procter and Dave Perriam. 

Evening supper (Simon Leeson)

 Following the talk, a good number stayed on for the dinner from Julie and Vicky.  - J&P

Wednesday 6th March - Dunkeswell

 After far too many flying days lost to weather so far this year, today was hopefully, a sign of the good flying days ahead. That we flew today was down to the persistence of various people working behind the scenes to see if we could perhaps work together with our fellow aviators at Dunkeswell and use one of the tarmac runways to aerotow whilst North Hill airfield continued to dry out. And so it was that a ‘call to arms’ saw quite a few members turn up at North Hill bright and early under nice blue skies and lovely sunshine with a plan worked out to allow some gliding to happen.

Mark Courtney and Ian Mitchell took the EuroFox across to Dunkeswell to talk though the final plan for the day and to check that the wind direction and strength would allow aerotowing, whilst both K21s were brought out of the hangar and daily inspections completed - Mark and Ian returned shortly thereafter to declare that the plan was on! With the airfield still quite soft in many places it was decided that the K21s would be flown solo by Glenn Turpin and Mike Sloggett for the ‘hop flights’ across to Dunkeswell, with the wind having developed some Easterly component both were walked down to the West end of the airfield which took longer than the ‘hop flights’ to our neighbours’ airfield!

Eurofox and K21 at Dunkeswell (James Hood)

 

And then after a suitable briefing by Mark at the Dunkeswell ‘launch point’ to add to the information messages provided yesterday to Club members it was on with the flying list which by now was rather long, unsurprisingly after the past few weeks. 

Dunkeswell Aerodrome (Mike Sloggett)

 

With great teamwork manoeuvring the K21s and the EuroFox in and amongst a very busy airfield with both visiting and powered aircraft. and helicopters, all keen to take advantage of the lovely weather. The day saw everyone present get into the air, regaining currency as well as invaluable experience from flying at a different airfield to usual. Instructors and tug pilots shared the opportunity to fly and whilst members only got one flight each the smiles and enjoyment of doing so were evident throughout the day. 

A busy day at Dunkeswell (James Hood)

 

As the flying list was completed late afternoon the K21s were ‘hopped back’ to North Hill and the success of the day readily discussed by all.

Getting Ready (Shaun Dayman)

 
A big Thank You to Mark and others for this initiative which went well and provided experience as well as learnings for when we all being well visit again (and Thank You to Nick for kindly transporting a golf buggy to/back from Dunkeswell) - and of course a particular Thank You to our neighbours at Dunkeswell Aerodrome without whose help and support today would not have been possible. - Mike Sloggett