Sun 13th October

 The Sunday crowd was small but organised, and had the gliders out and inspected before Ron's briefing. Though we were faced  with a high overcast, there was hope for the sun to eventually bring us some thermic activity. Up went the troops and the gliders to the west end, and with the grass wet from Saturday's rain, everyone started flying with wet socks. 

Well done to Dan Hender who completed his Cloud flying endorsement with Ian Mitchell.

 

James Flory and Mike Sloggett were available to assist Ron Johns, and the first flights were launched shortly after 10:00, but apparently the sun gods didn't hear our pleas, as it was predominantly a day for circuits. Those not flying must have heeded my Launch Marshall harrangues, as we had retrieve vehicles poised to go after landing gliders just as the gliders were tuning final. And this resulted in a very good launch rate. Thank you all!!

After a break for Vicki's outstanding Sunday pork roast lunch.....

Vicki's Roast Pork - a very pleased Rob Hender (Tom Sides)

 

......we resumed flying only to be surprised by a dog running on the field in front of the launch area. 

Landing long with Paul Medlock (Rich Roberts)

 

Our stalwart dog wrangler team cleared the area in true cattle drive style and flying continued until almost 5pm. Thanks to Alan for aerotowing, the instructors, and truthfully, everyone. It wasn't an epic flying day, but with 35 flights, it brought a smile to your Treasurer's face. - Tom Sides

Sat 12th October

Saturday turned out quite nice with a good turn out of members and in the afternoon some nice soaring flights. Bumblebee was kept busy and thanks to Alan Rappaport and Stuart Procter for getting us aloft. 

Steve Westlake worked tirelessly all day in the back of the K21,  and Simon Jordy looked after todays Trial lesson visitor in the DG505  behind BX. 

Well done Joel Roulson converting to Perkoz (James Flory)

 Joel Roulson was grinning from ear to ear following his conversion to the Perkoz under the watchful eyes of James Flory - what's next on Joel's list before he is allowed to go cross-country?? VG was also out and about on various sorties with its syndicate members. 

It was nice to see Wyn, who has recently been flying in the Alps again. Thanks to all of the members who took turns completing the the various tasks , the day ran very smoothly. - Lisa Humphries

Thur 10th October

Thursday morning dawned overcast and raining steadily - not encouraging for a days gliding. The journey was slow with heavy traffic and there was light rain on arriving at North Hill. 

A great job from Peter Smith and his helpers (Peter Smith)

A small group of intrepid 'North Hillers' were huddled at the entrance to the storage tunnel watching our resident engineering wizard (Peter Smith) and his able assistants, who were installing Peter Smith’s latest creation - New doors for the Tunnel. 

So great to have such skilled volunteers (John Borland)

The days briefing was put back to 10:30 waiting the promised clearance from the west. A light NE wind dictated  launching from the west end and despite the overnight rain the field had drained sufficiently to allow winching. The first met flight took off at 11:28 followed by a 3000ft aerotow which managed to stay airborne for 28 minutes in the rather dead conditions, however as the day progressed the sun made an appearance, the sky improved and it even felt slightly warm. 

Thanks to Alan for the aerotows (John Borland)

 Flight times improved as the afternoon wore on with the  longest flight (58 minutes) going to John Borland in the Junior who therefore got the job of writing the blog.  In all a good days flying rescued from a dodgy start. It pays to turn up even if it doesn’t look promising. Big thanks to Mike Sloggett for running the day and sounding optimistic on the previous days forecast. Also a big thanks to Alan Rappaport piloting the yellow EuroFox for five aerotows. The Red EuroFox still being u/s.

A total of 23 flights, 18 winch launches, 5 aerotows, approximately 5 ½ hours defying gravity.- John Borland

 

Wed 9th September

It was a very inauspicious start with fog / low cloud which gave the opportunity for Peter Smith and crew to continue  constructing the new doors for the tunnel. Even during lunch it didn't look much better, but by 1pm the skies began to show some improvement. A K21 and Junior had already been taken out and DI'd just incase...

Which direction to launch was the next problem, as the wind was almost directly across, and an aerotow only day (using Bumblebee) was decided, mainly due to lack of people, with only 7 members to fly.

A small group of members today (Mark Layton)

The field was in good condition considering that it had collected 48mm of rain only a few hours earlier.

Aerotows with backup tug Bumblebee (Mark Layton)

By 1:30pm we were ready to go and from the clubhouse end, as the lowest cloud cleared leaving some blue sky enabling tows to 2000ft. There was little or no lift, but everyone flew, and a halt was called just after 4pm when the cloud returned. - Chris Warnes

Sat 5th October

 Despite Mark's warning about wind strength and direction it was possible that there would be members attending given that we are heading into winter.  However by 8:45 there was only one man and his dog.

Shortly after David and Arthur Hier arrived followed by a small number of other members.  We all set to work so that by the 9:30 brief the winch and launch point had been set up.  While Mark enjoyed his breakfast! a K21 and the Perkoz and DG505 were taken out of the hangar, DI'd and walked to the north west corner. 

Another fantastic October sky (Simon Leeson)

With the forecast being for a strong and gusting South Easterly it was found at the west end that the wind was firmly set as South West.  Over time this settled down to being a strong southerly crosswind, occasionally switching between South East and South West.  This led to some interesting or character building approaches, depending on your point of view. 

Quick break for lunch (Mark Courtney)

 

With the small flying list and a number of instructors flying commenced and other than a break for lunch it continued all day until everyone that wanted to fly had done so.  Despite the forecast some good flying was undertaken, ranging from a few minutes to an hour.  Team Hender competed for the longest flight with Dan and Sally (63mins) just being pipped by Dan and Rob (64mins).

Dan and Sally Hender in DG505 (Sally Hender)

Pilots either just experiencing the conditions or building on their skills in more challenging weather.  10 flights in total.  Thank you to the instructors who made the day possible.

Today proved the adage "if you don't come to the airfield you will not fly" - Ashley Thomas

Thurs 3rd October

 After what seemed an eternity it was great to have a 'normal flying day', although we did have to endure the long walk to the far west end of the airfield. Clear blue skies greeted us from the start which made such a change from the low cloud base and windy conditions of recent weeks!

Initially the flights were short in the moderate wind which was straight down the field with various gliders searching the sky for the elusive wave that never really materialised. Around lunch time the clouds and thermals appeared, extending the flight times considerably. Quite a few achieved times approaching the hour. 

A "normal flying day" library photo

 After much activity, those on the ground felt the air temperature turn cold and within minutes all the airborne gliders were on the ground with them. Someone had turned the thermals off. Short flights returned for the rest of the day. 

More days like this please

 Mike Sloggett as duty instructor was no doubt pleased to have assistance from Pete Smith, Steve Westlake, Ron Johns and Chris Wool, who all turned up to help instruct. Mike also had the pleasure of flying with Pete Harmer for over an hour after his long layoff. 

Could have been a summer sky (Mark Courtney)

A good time was had by all, shame it's not like this every week! - Mark Layton