It was pretty daunting as we began to be organised on Thursday. The flying list was long, both for dual and single seat flying, there weren't many instructors on hand (and several of those that were available were hoping to coach and train other upcoming instructors). But Mike Sloggett took a deep breath and off we started. The weather gods finally looked kindly on North Hill, though it must be noted that CFI Courtney later revised his initial decision of where to position the launch point as the wind veered more northerly than predicted.
Private gliders lining up on the grid (Mark Courtney)
The initial broken thermals began firming up and the first of 10 private gliders took off just before 12:00. Simon Jordy handled the first Trial Voucher flight, but the demand for discounted aerotows forced him to assume tug pilot duty. Luckily, Dave Perriam stepped in to take care of the other Voucher Trial Flight Visitors and one Day Walk-in Flight while I handled two other Walk-in flights.
Simon, Dave and Tom looked after the Visitors (Mark Courtney)
Chris Wool worked with Andy Pincombe and Mark with Shaun Dayman on Instructor training while an indefatigable Mike kept flying with others on the two-seater list. We had a number of new young members keeping him busy: Finley Brooks, Aaron Harris and Robin Dafforn were also kept occupied with ground training activities when not flying.
Pete Stapleton flew in for his checkout with Ian in EuroFox (Mark Courtney)
The instructors had to put a two flight limit in order to insure everyone was able to fly, so apologies go out as the thermals became easier to find and we had longer flights as the afternoon wore on. We ended up with 46 glider flights so this was one of the best flying days the club has seen for some time.
It was a pleasure to see Pete Harmer visit the club following his recent heart surgery. We all hope his recovery is rapid and that he and Jill are soon back enjoying the summer with us. - Tom Sides
