It was a busy day at North Hill, with a long flying list and many Instructors available, but having seen both AltoCu Castellanus and Lenticulars in the morning, it was no real surprise when we realised there was rotor over the airfield and it wasn't going to be straightforward. CFI Mark Courtney finished the paperwork acceptance for Simon Jordy - BI - love the shirt!
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| Well done - Simon Jordy BI |
And Dave Perriam who got his BI paperwork back from BGA in the week, looked after the Trial lesson visitors who had returned after being unable to fly on Thursday due to the low cloud. (ed)
(JP continues..) As a late arrival at the club after sister-helping-DIY-carpentry duties, I was intrigued to see Pete 230 and then Ron 711 arriving back after almost sled rides down from their launches. As a firm believer in the faith of RASP I didn’t understand.
Buzzards had been soaring above Screwfix in Honiton, only 20 mins earlier (maybe looking for scraps from Greggs) and so definitely it was working- RASP said so! After a pit stop in the Clubhouse, the launch point was a scene of action with circuits and check flights. How could this be so?
Fortunately, High Priestess of RASP, Barbara F, had the faith, and defied the run of play by keeping a Junior aloft and encouraging others to do likewise.
Narrow squirrely thermals they were but it definitely started to work, in fact just as Pete “glass half empty” Startup and Ron “I had rotor on the approach” Johns were putting their gliders away.
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| Gill Morrison returns (John Pursey) |
The later afternoon got better and better and your scribe had several enjoyable flights being piloted by first Gill Morrison, who is returning to gliding after a decade-plus absence, and then Kevin Fairburn who needed a buddy for the by now blue card conditions.
Spirited thermals, later driven by the sea breeze front that formed overhead, meant some fairly active circling was needed at times. I watched with awe as Dan Hender brought back an IFP chap back having stayed up but never really cranked it round - a skill indeed! I have to admit Kevin was great company and never buckled under my helpful torrent of advice about owning a thermal and having purpose -maybe I should write a book… Ron?
As followers of the faith of RASP perhaps we should acknowledge that maybe it is only a question of time… in fact about 3 hours for that was how far out the good spell was from forecast! For the latecomer with halo intact from brotherly good-deeds, 3 hours was just fine. Followed in only by Stewart Henshall's DG HMS, Kevin and I were late to land but very happy.
45 winch launches and 7 aerotows- John Pursey
