On Sunday, junior glider pilot Matthew S flew his first solo flight from Stratford on Avon Gliding Club!
Matthew was checked and cleared for his first solo by senior instructor and club chairman Andy B.
Matthew had a brief soaring flight in K13 G-DCBW before landing back at Snitterfield to be congratulated by his dad.
Well done Matthew!
On Monday, junior glider pilot Archie L completed his FAI Silver badge flying from Stratford on Avon Gliding Club.
The FAI Silver badge requires that a sailplane pilot complete:
A soaring flight of 5 hours duration.
A cross-county flight of at least 50km from the point of release.
A height gain of at least 1000m above the previous lowest point.
Archie achieved all three of these goals on a flight which took him south-east to Bicester airfield before returning to Snitterfield.
As well as completing all three silver legs for a single claim in one flight, the out-and-return distance of ~107km also qualifies for the UK 100km Diploma part 1.
This on a day where conditions meant some of our advanced cross-country pilots were unable to complete their own cross-country tasks.
Well done Archie!
Congratulations to junior glider pilot Owen, 16, who flew his first solo flight today at Stratford on Avon Gliding Club!
Owen took to the skies alone for the first time in Stratford’s K13 sailplane G-DCBW.
Owen was checked out and authorised for his first solo flight by senior Stratford instructor Steve F.
This is a flight I’d been wanting to make for some while, and I was just waiting for the right day. As Midlanders we don’t get to see the seaside very often (other than by car), but it was 185km to Weymouth, a 370km round trip, so it needed to be a good day. In the middle of last week, the weather started to look promising – a north westerly but not too strong and good soaring conditions particularly in the south.
I continued to watch the forecasts as the weekend got closer, and then on the day I was sure it looked on. A bit weak in the midlands to start with, but I felt sure that if I could get away from here then I’d find better conditions in the south and as the day went on the conditions would improve in the midlands for the trip back into wind.
I would just need to stay high and lift should remain good late on into the afternoon.
When I arrive at site most of the other cross county pilots seemed to be focused on the first 300k flight of the year following the resumption of the club ladder. I didn’t want to get caught up in all that – I was determined to fly my own flight.
I didn’t launch until 1.15 having been on the winch first thing and as a result finding myself last on the grid. Getting away was a real struggle, the sky was not very promising, and it took me 15 minutes to just get back to launch height climbing in broken lift at half a knot here, and half a knot there.
Eventually I found something more solid (thanks 777) and then climbed steadily to 4500 at an average of 4knots. The sky was looking better by now, so I immediately set off. A 4knot climb at Broadway to over 5000’ and then another good one at Cirencester (which I had to break off to avoid drifting into the South Cerny Parachute Drop Zone) set me well on the way. At Trowbridge with the sea now clearly visible in the distance I found a 2200’ 5knot climb.
Each time having got to near cloud base I had been able to then cruise in lift beneath the clouds turning lift into speed and this together with the tail wind was making for good task speed. Further south at Blandford I now had a bit of a blue hole to deal with and the clouds ahead were not looking so promising. I found a 4knot climb under a large Cu and took it to 6200’.
This got me to Dorchester at 5000’ and with about 12km to run to Weymouth I could see some straggly cloud a 1000’ or so beneath the cumulus a couple of km ahead – this looked like a sea-breeze front and so I headed for it – sure enough another 4+ knot climb to 5600’.
I then had the 10km glide into and back from Weymouth in relatively still air – losing some 2500’ before getting back to the sea-breeze front and some reliable though relatively weak lift. I worked my way north with the sky ahead looking great but only finding weak 2.5-3knot climbs.
I was convinced better conditions lay ahead and so kept breaking off these ‘weak’ climbs to push on – working in a height band 3500-4500.
Then at Trowbridge 6.5kts from 3400’ to 6200’. Now we were cooking! From there with lots of large Cu and a fantastic sky ahead I was able to cruise along at 80-90kts between the clouds, pulling up in the lift but not generally turning so as to maintain height between 4500’ and 5500’. I was conscious that it was now 4pm and getting low (below perhaps 3000’) could be a real problem. I needn’t have worried, on last climb to 6000’ just south of Cirencester and then cruising on until I got to Chedworth where suddenly I was on final glide.
I was flying with 18m tips, no water ballast, cruising speed around 80kts and a McCreedy setting of 2.
Total task distance 372km in 3 hours 59 minutes at a speed of 92.5kph.
All in all a grand day out!
Yesterday, junior glider pilot Ben E completed his FAI Silver badge plus his UK 100km Diploma parts 1 & 2 during a flight from Stratford on Avon Gliding Club.
The Silver badge requires: A height gain of 1000meters or more, a duration flight of at least 5hours and a distance flight at least 50km from the launch site.
Ben had previously completed the height and duration requirements and yesterday finished the badge with a flight from Snitterfield to Nympsfield 68.5km away.
On arriving overhead Nympsfield, he flew back up to Snitterfield for a total task distance of 137km. This completed ‘leg 1’ of the UK 100km gliding diploma.
He completed the flight at a speed of 73kph which, calculated for the aircraft handicap gives a handicap speed of 68kph. This completes the second leg of the 100km diploma!
Three in one flight, Well done Ben!
Congratulations to junior glider pilot Ed F who converted into Stratford on Avon Gliding club’s Astir CS77 today, launching from Snitterfield airfield.
The Astir is Ed’s second single-seat glider type and presents a more complex type with retractable undercarriage and water ballast systems.
Our chairman Andy sent some photos from one of the few flights we managed on Sunday 19th January in VMC before walls of fog took up position at either end of our airfield and prevented further launching.
The regional pressure setting rose to 1047hpa towards the end of the day. Our aircraft altimeters can only set QNH up to 1050hpa on their subscales. The highest ever recorded sea level pressure in the UK was 1054.7millibars in 1902.
After many weeks of waiting for a break in the weather and for the field to dry, we have finally taken to the skies again! With a creative field set-up to ensure the launches and landings avoided the remaining water logged areas we managed to have a successful day. With a lot of members out of currency, instructors Andy and Alan conducted a number of check flights to ensure the post solo pilots were still up to standard.
It was good to see three of our junior pilots joining us and mucking in. One of whom was Elliot who signed up as a cadet on the day and did really well during his first flights – we welcome him to the club!
Initially the low cloud meant that flights were limited to a quick circuit, but as the day progressed the clouds lifted which allowed for higher launches and some longer flights.
Best flight of the day went to Dan B and Ben E who caught a hint of wave in one of our K21’s and managed to eek out 12 minutes of flying time. In total we had 25 flights and after packing up enjoyed a well deserved pint at the pub.
Thank you to Dave M who returned to the club following the pub and in the dark retrieved the stricken buggy that was stuck with a flat tyre down the far end of the field. (just don’t ask why it ended up down there!)
Peter Capron.
Last weekend two of our junior glider pilots converted onto new sailplane types.
First was junior pilot Ben L who, fresh from completing his Silver C in a single flight in our Astir CS-77, converted on Saturday to our LS4 high-performance single seater.
The following day, junior pilot Ed F who has previously flown our K21 and K13 single seater types converted onto our SZD Junior. The Junior is Ed’s first single-seat glider type and paves the way to fleet progression and cross-country flying.
Last Sunday, 17 year old Junior Glider Pilot Ben L flew his first cross-country solo gliding flight from Stratford on Avon Gliding Club.
After achieving my bronze and cross-country endorsement (Thank you Mike, Barry and Andy) I was keen to take the leap and fly out of gliding range of the airfield on my 50Km attempt. But before I could embark on this adventure, I received an email saying my application for the ‘Junior Nationals’ two seat training had been accepted! I spent 10 days at Bristol and Gloucestershire Gliding Club where I flew with some of the UK’s best pilots and had a go at some competition racing. Overall, I achieved more than 10 hrs of training on my three flights, which was all subsidised by the BGA!
This amazing experience motivated me even more to embark on my 50km flight, but with a few setbacks due to weather I found myself frustrated and looking at every forecast I could get my hands on, waiting and longing for the perfect day. That day came on Sunday the 8th September 2019 and I woke up early, excited about the potential day ahead. I helped prepare the gliders for flight and spent some time carefully wiping down the wings of the Astir, to ensure every last part of the gliders performance could be eked out. Many thanks to all that helped me prepare the Astir and to Mike ensuring my flight plan was up to scratch.
I took off at 12:45 aiming to fly 53.5km to Bicester airfield then another 53.5km back to Snitterfield! Well that was the plan anyway. After launching I secured my first climb of the day gaining 1,841ft with an average climb rate of 2.5knts. Eventually I started my task at 13:09 and with 3,500ft I pushed south leaving behind me the birds that had just aided my last thermal choice.
Following and jumping the cloud streets I flew over familiar sites, two of which being Caffeine and Machine, (a car enthusiast’s dream place) and eventually the M40, whilst still using all the ground reference points to ensure my electronic nav kit was in fact taking me to Bicester.
Eventually after only 50 minutes I found myself approaching the turn point, shortly after navigating around the restricted airspace in which skydivers would be jumping!
On my return leg I hit the most exhilarating part of the flight, I had just left Bicester and hit some tremendous lift which instilled the thought in my brain that the whole edge of this cloud street must be working so I pushed on, only to hit tremendous sink. I continued on to the next part of the street that looked remotely thermic but – more sink!
I made the decision to turn back to the lift I had previously encountered, as by this point I had already lost 1600ft and was down to 2500ft. Staring deeply at the cars whizzing down the M40 I climbed back to 4300ft and continued the flight where I managed to fly at 90Kts down a cloud street whilst holding my altitude. I was back into familiar territory and proceeded to fly towards the finishing line.
It was so rewarding and exhilarating to think I had flown over 100km without an engine! With this thought in my head I continued to fly for another 3 hrs, where I got to see hang gliders, hot air balloons, helicopters and other light aircraft! Just after landing I opened the canopy and heard ‘Well done Ben’ as some of the members congratulated me on my flight from the glider they had landed just before me.
Overall, I flew for 5 hours, 6 minutes achieving all of my Silver C Badge and part one of my 100K Diploma.
It was a great day and I encourage anyone who has the slightest interest in either taking up gliding or progressing to cross country standard to go for it!
Its awesome!!
