Christmas/New Year Opening 2012

Richard writes:

The Club will be open as follows over the Christmas & New Year period :

 

Thursday 20th December

Saturday 22nd December

Sunday 23rd December

 

Thursday 27th December

Saturday 29th December

Sunday 30th December

 

Tuesday 1st January

Thursday 3rd January

Saturday 5th January

Sunday 6th January

 

You will note that its really just business as usual on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays over this period (normal rotas apply), with just one additional opening on New Years Day (thanks to Andy S for covering).

 

On behalf of myself and the Committee, may I take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

 

Regards

 

Richard

Sunday 16th December 2012

Today we managed to fly 33 more launches than on Saturday!

The field was very wet with little if any drying overnight so we had to go out and actively hunt the solid bits. The winch was set up on the southwest stub and we put the launchpoint in front of the main hangar.

The tow-out took the new ‘Z’ route along the cross runway and hugged the field edge back to the launchpoint.

The aircraft canopies took a fair while to stop misting (on the outside) which gave us plenty of time to get K8 G-CJHK and K8 former JXS ready to go on trailers to their new home at East Sussex Gliding Club.

Launch heights were good, 1,600ft was common and the cloud-base behaved for us.

Flight times were generally short but good training was done. Adrian F managed to squeak out 15 minutes and a 300ft climb on a street which was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

With careful planning, retrieves caused no problems and the field condition was not worsened.

Spot landings within a tracks width of the perimeter track on 190′ were order of the day and everybody achieved this admirably except for our Scottish visitor who had to show off his parallel parking technique. We duly kicked in his minor rut.

Ultimately, we kept flying until the canopies again began misting and the Sun escaped over the horizon.

Washing aircraft and vehicles down at the end of a good day!

Washing aircraft and vehicles down at the end of a good day!

Christmas Gliding Gift Vouchers

This Christmas you can give a friend or loved one the ultimate Christmas Gift; the gift of silent flight!

Give them a gliding adventure they will not forget with a £50 Gift Voucher taster lesson in one of our dual-control, two seat training gliders or a £70 Gold Voucher for two flights in a glider at Stratford on Avon Gliding Club on the same day!

Our Gliding Gift Vouchers are presented as a Gift Card with an area for you to include a greetings message for that special person.

You can buy a Gliding Gift Voucher securely via Paypal by using the drop-down menu on the top right of the page. You can also view more information on our Gliding Lesson Vouchers.

Please order before 19th December for delivery before Christmas.

 

Sunday 18th November 2012

Good, dirty fun today!

The airfield was still rather wet today but we managed to fly around the worst bits. Unfortunately the launch-point got a bit muddy as did the yellow retrieve Landrover which soon looked brown as it is now sporting the wide wheels again.

Plenty of flying done with yet more pilots taking to our new Ka6. The trick for smaller pilots, apparently, is to put all the cushions in and take out only the ones you don’t need.

We trained Joe on the backup winch and Adrian F began training towards a Basic Instructor rating.

Special congratulations to Phil who re-soloed with us today!

Adrian F, strangely pleased with how mucky he’s made the Land Rover.
(Yes, we know, the tow-out flag is in the back)

Sunday 11th November 2012

Our Chief Flying Instructor, Steve B was standing in for Mike C today and what a busy day it was!

We started a little earlier than usual due to the shortening days. The field was fairly wet in places so we set up as to avoid the worst of it. There were some valiant attempts at scratching for some slightly extended flights at the top of the day but the blue skies and moderate soaring conditions were probably best described as ‘good for training’.

The Junior was rigged and flown and the clubs’s new Ka6 G-DBWC was prepared and flown by club members for the first time as a club aircraft. Much praise was given to it’s handling and scratching qualities and general performance. Some pilots hope to use ‘BWC’ for cross-country tasks next season.

New and returning members of the University of Warwick Gliding Club kept the instructors busy with their insatiable appetite for gliding. They flew again and again; it’s great to have students with such enthusiasm.

In total despite the tricky field conditions, we launched 41 times with only failing light putting an end to play. The launch rate was assisted well in part by the UWGC people’s efficiency on the buggies.

Adam about to take his first flight in Stratford on Avon Gliding Club’s new Ka6-CR G-DBWC

Saturday 10th November 2012

Today started with a rather wet field and a very low cloud base. The wind which was predicted to be a strong South-Westerly, gave us an easier time than expected and we were able to operate on the less damp areas of the field. The cloud base lifted slowly but broke up to enable launching before midday.

Thermal soaring proved not to be possible in general despite significant vertical cloud formations. Some pilots enjoyed themselves flying around the lower clouds; it gives a real sense of speed!

Warwick University Gliding Club sent a contingent of students along and they all enjoyed their flights. 32 launches took place in all; flying was finally stopped when canopies began misting due to the atmospheric conditions.

The club K8 was derigged and stored in the hangar. It will not be flown again as a club aircraft and is now looking for a new home. The new Ka6 was rigged and test positioned in the hangar. It fits nicely!

In this video, Andy shows Mark from UWGC a couple of aerobatic figures in our K21.

Tuesday 6th November 2012 – Doughnuts

We were lucky with the weather up to a point today. We knew it was going to rain in the early afternoon, it was just a case of when. We did manage to make a fairly early start and were flying just after 10am. The rain did not start until 12-45 so we got nearly 3 hours of flying in.

Launches were good with most people getting around 1700′ to 1800′. If the rain had held off a little longer and with the slowly increasing wind I am sure we would have seen 2000′.

So it was worth opening if only for half a day, the details are below.

Total Launches……………….17
Longest Flight…………………11mins. Well done to MartinC in the K18. There were 5 people hot on his heels with 10min. each.
Average Flight time…………..8mins.
Total Flight Time……………..2hr. 26min.

Many thanks to everyone who helped get everything ready nice and early. And especially to Allan who spent a very frustrating hour sitting in a traffic jam after a car crash blocked the roads out of Bromsgrove.

See you soon, Steve P.

Glider Flying Lessons for just £35

This winter, Stratford on Avon Gliding Club are offering trial Flying Lessons in our two-seat training gliders for just £35 including 28 days club membership.

You will be flown by an experienced instructor in a winch-launched glider and may be lucky enough to experience flying over the spectacular frozen vistas of the Warwickshire countryside.

This offer is available between November and February. During this period, we fly on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays weather permitting and often on an extra day in the week as well. To find out if we can fly with you on the day, please give us a call at about 9.00am.

We look forward to flying with you this winter at Stratford on Avon Gliding Club.

Saturday 27th October 2012

It felt like brass monkeys today!

We had a stiff Northerly wind today which made the field setup a little awkward, flying from the SE stub runway, we had the winch in the NW corner and landed 34.The wind also provided significant chill against already low temperatures so most members have sworn to break out the thermals (underwear).

We had a good turnout of club members and a contingent of 4 from Warwick University Gliding Club. Launches were reasonable given the wind direction. Flights were a mixed bag; some pilots encountering only sink, some others getting short climbs under weak streets of cloud.

Winch driver training was given to PhilS and he gave some great launches. By the end of the day, everyone had got in the flying they wanted to do but the Snitterfield Arms and it’s open fire provided a more than welcome retreat.

AGM – Thursday 25th October @ 19:45

This year’s AGM will be held on Thursday 25th October at 19:45 in the clubhouse.

Please come along if you can, to show your support for the club and the committee, or otherwise, and to make your views known. The formal invitation has been sent to all members.