One thing you can always rely on, is the Thursday crew turning up if there is even a slim chance of flying, this was the case yesterday and they got their rewards. With Mike Sloggett not able to come to the club for personal reasons it was down to Ron Johns to put a note out for the Thursday crew. Ron’s note was a positive one with a caveat of gusts possibly spoiling our day.
The Clubhouse was rammed at briefing, held a little late because Ron had to endure snow showers, very heavy rain and extreme gusts on his long journey to the Club! surely we wouldn’t fly today? A very long pitch inspection was done first thing by myself, Dave Perriam and Ashley Thomas, we worked out a suitable run using a north strip so we could winch.
At the briefing, I mentioned that we might well be varying the card colour between yellow and blue all day due to the forecast gusts, this proved to be the case. The wind was WNW strong and very gusty at times, both Juniors, a K21 and the DG505 were taken to the launch point. From the very first launch the ridge was working with some lively thermals intermixing with ridge lift and what felt like wave rotor, the approach was tricky to say the least, initially Instructors opted to do the takeoff and landing unless there was a temporary lull in the gusts.
K21 on the sunny west ridge (Mark Courtney)
Watching the Juniors landing kept us amused in the very cold wind, but safe in the knowledge that the Clubhouse would be toasty with the log burner, we kept going until lunchtime. ( I did sneak off a bit early because my feet had turned into ice.)
We were treated to a 'Vicky Special' today, beautiful salmon, new potatoes and peas! It was a little tricky persuading people to leave the Clubhouse warmth with a full belly, but we did resume managing to get everyone flown.
Ron’s genuine low cable break was interesting to watch as the field was now immersed in turbulence, indeed that was enough for the day!
What a pleasure to be at the Club with so many hard-working Thursday regulars, it was especially nice to see Mike Horwood getting back in the swing of things, after a long absence.
The midweek flyers are reaping the rewards from regular attendance, everyone is current and new members are benefiting from theory lectures and simulator practice, let’s hope it rubs off on the weekend crews! - Mark Courtney
