Another day when the forecast didn't turn out as expected but was still better than yesterday....but probably not as good as tomorrow. But that's gliding for you! It was meant to be an epic 5 star day but although it didn't materialise it was still pretty good. Congratulations to Junior Member Joel Roulson for completing his Bronze with the flying tests with Stuart Procter.
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| Joel Roulson congratulated by Stuart Procter Bronze complete (Stu Procter) |
It was also good to see the first Navex in Eurofox, Nicholas Johnson flew his Navex flight with Mark Courtney in the Eurofox.
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| Perkoz on approach (Mark Layton) |
With Mark Courtney, Simon Jordy and Stu Procter doing the tugging between them, they actually outnumbered the winch launches as pilots took advantage of the cheap (but not for long) aerotows which gave most a better chance of connecting with the thermals.
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| Joel being tested by Stuart (Mark Layton) |
Instructors Steve Westlake helped by Chris Wool worked their way through the flying list which consisted of early learners, currency flights, bronze tests, instructor training and just those who wanted to fly for fun. Several private gliders joined in but most stayed local as although the thermals were plentiful, they were unpredictable at times. Shaun Dayman helping out Dave Perriam took his first Trial lesson visitors.
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| Shaun Dayman (new BI) looking after some of the Trial lesson visitors (David Clements |
230 NH2 - LANGPORT - HEMBURY HILL - CREDITON WEST - CULMSTOCK - NH2 151kms
" Very slow start to the day at North Hill and after my misadventures with sea air convergences a few days ago, I thought I'd play with them rather than them with me. Nice run along one out to Langport and back. Then decided to go West in thermal mode and had a couple of amazing climbs, Nice flight if not very ambitious." Pete Startup
KPA NH2 - KNOWSTONE - N TAWTON - HEMBURY HILL - Spreyton Church - NH2 181kms
"Not quite the weather we were expecting, and very hazy at times, but some very strong thermals on the sunny side of the clouds. I decided on the Club 100Km task. That went OK, although there was one fairly pushy glide to get past Tiverton initially. That done and back at NHL, it still seemed pretty good, so set out for Brentor by way of a track to follow - just to see how far I would get :-). Made it close to Whiddon Down, then decided it was getting harder to stay high reliably, as every other cloud seemed unreliable. Had to head over to the wind farm to the North to find a climb, no idea if it was the thermal source but did seem like it, and after that good climb I got all the way back without much turning following the cloud streets." John Allan
Come late afternoon one of the K21's was derigged for the weekend expedition to Brentor and things became very thin on the ground and unfortunately a couple of members missed out on their flights.
Meanwhile Paul Medlock saved the day by giving up a day's gliding to fix the club water supply as the pump in the pump house down the hill failed. With some outside assistance the issue was thankfully sorted by mid-afternoon. Well done and thank you to Paul and well done Vicki for coping in the kitchen and keeping us fed and watered with limited facilities. - Mark Layton
