As I arrived on site this morning at 7:45 I thought I'd be one of the first people there ready to get out the ground equipment only to discover Ashley Thomas in his ever keen state had already got the launch point positioned at the west end of the airfield so that was one less job to do. Many more members were on site soon after with the first gliders being brought out the hangar before 8:00.
There was good attendance at the briefing with Duty Instructor Simon Leeson giving us an overview of what we could expect from the day (very little soaring wise). The gliders were then towed up to the far end of the field with the very efficient ground crew retrieving gliders at lightning rate under the watchful eye of DLM Stirling Melhuish. Dan Hender looked after the Trial lesson Visitors.
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| Dave Perriam acceptance checks for BI by Mark Courtney (Hans Jenssen) |
First up was Dave Perriam for his CFI acceptance checks with Mark Courtney - well done Dave just need the paperwork back now before your first Trial lesson visitor flight. And during the day Simon Minson was putting (returning DSGC Instructor) Simon Jordy through his paces for BI rating - well done Simon for passing the RE tests.
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| Simon Jordy being checked out for BI by Simon Minson (RE) |
After a couple of hours the LPV was repositioned in the Northwest corner so as to decrease the number of gliders landing near the cables hence further increasing the launch rate. Around lunchtime some flights managed to get away with some pilots having flights of 45ish mins in the very turbulent blue thermals. The airfield was all packed up by 17:30 with the gliders safely in the hangar. A good day was had by all. - Connor Williams
At the other end of the field a work party led by Peter Smith were busy..."Meanwhile James Hood, Stuart Proctor and Peter Smith removed the bottom tracks for the sliding doors to the tug hangar. Many years of steel rubbing on steel have caused corrosion and expansion making the doors very difficult to operate. One door was twisted and had to be cut open and straightened prior to the main task. Nuts and bolts have long since rusted solid so removal had to be by disc cutters.
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| Stuart Procter, Peter Smith and James working on the Tug Hangar door rails (James Hood) |
By great good luck with a little trimming the replacement tracks fitted exactly and were welded in place. Some final touches will be needed over the next few days but they were back in use for the end of the day. A big bill from outside contractors avoided" - Peter Smith
We are so fortunate to have many willing volunteers skilled in helping with all sorts of tasks involved with running the Club. If any club member has a hidden skill - please make it known to a Committee Member or Club Officer. - J&P
