A positive forecast for good weather and some good potential for cross-country flying saw a fairly busy Clubhouse for morning briefing. The first dilemma to solve was one for James Flory who, in addition to standing in at short notice as the Duty Instructor, was also the rostered duty tug pilot. A brief discussion ensued, at which it became apparent that even the multi-talented James Flory cannot be in 2 places at once. Luckily, help was on hand in the form of Peter Smith, who kindly volunteered to bear the brunt of the morning instructional duties, and Robert Lee who, after enjoying 70 minutes soaring in his own glider, took over tug duties for some of the afternoon.
K21 (Arthur Lean)
The triumvirate of James, Peter and Robert were ably assisted by some excellent teamwork on the ground, resulting in a great days gliding. The two-seater flying list was relatively short, with a mix of spinning, currency flying and training for new member Christian Sheer, a returnee from a recent trial flight. Christian enjoyed an extended soaring flight of 54 minutes with Peter Smith, followed by 2 shorter flights with James Flory. It was obvious that he had retained a lot of his skills from an Air Cadet gliding scholarship completed around 12 years ago, and we look forward to watching his progress now with DSGC.
A number of members enjoyed extended soaring flights with private gliders, some flights exceeding 3 hours. To the amusement of a small audience of club members, Andy Batchelor emerged from a soaring flight in the Junior rather wet, having sat on a soaked cushion for about 75 minutes due to a very leaky Camelback. Luckily, it was rather warm in the cockpit so conditions were akin to an airborne jacuzzi rather than a glacial lake!
Simon Jordy looked after the trial flight visitors and helped out with some friends and family flying – happy customers all round. All in all, an excellent days’ gliding enabled by some great supporting teamwork on the ground. - Andy Batchelor
