Category Archives: Flying reports

Flying Report 4/3/14

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Tuesday’s Doughnut Day went very well with a good turn out and excellent flying conditions. It was not too cold with a gentle westerly breeze all day, plenty of sunshine and good thermals to cloud base for some. It was thermic as soon as we started flying around 11am and just got better as time went on. By 12noon we were getting to cloudbase at 2400′ .

First Cumulus

It did cloud over for an hour and a half soon after which it cut off the lift but it did clear and was thermic for the next 2 hours, it was a nice afternoon and it stayed dry all day.

We had set a maximum time for each flight of 30mins at the briefing and several people easily managed this, with several others getting close. It was a very good day and after another good day last Saturday and the previous Wednesday lets hope this is a sign of things to come.

Total Launches……………….35. ( Single cable all day and a cable break, this is good going.)

Longest Flight……………….30mins. Well done to Neil Cr. (he has had very few flights so far and this was his second long flight.) Chris B. and Phil Pa. all managed 30mins. Allan and Rob C. also had good flights but not quite the 30mins. A certain person (often seen on the bus) gave up his turn in the K18 as he thought it would not be worth the effort, he will be pleased to know that the person who took his place had a great flight and easily managed his allotted time.

Total Flight Time…………….6hrs. 8mins.

Average Flight Time…………10mins.

Steve P.

Flying Report 26/2/14

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We had a really good day on Wednesday getting exactly as the weather forecast said. A good breeze from the S.W. so launches to about 1800′, nice and warm for the time of year and only 3 light showers all day. Best of all, for most of the day, we had brilliant sunshine. It was thermic for a couple of hours with several pilots managing decent flights. We flew from straight after the briefing until light stopped play.

Taking shelter during a brief shower at Stratford Gliding Club

Taking shelter during a brief shower at Stratford Gliding Club

Many thanks to Tony P. for running a really good and busy day. We had all 4 two seaters out and also the K18 and Junior, all were well used. As it was a Wednesday our esteemed C.F.I. turned up at lunchtime and Tony put him straight to work.

At lunch time there were 25 cars in the car park ! A brilliant turnout for a brilliant day.

Total Launches……………41

Total Flight Time…………..7hrs. 7mins.

Longest Flight……………..25mins…. Well done to Paul R. in the K18. Other notable flights were 24mins by Phil Pa. and Nic J. in a K13…. 22mins by Andy S. and Tony P. in this years first outing of the K21. and finally 19mins by Vic A. in a K13 after a very long layoff.

Average Flight Time……..10mins…. First time it has been double figures this year. Here come Spring…… From now on the only way is UP.

Steve P.

Flying Report 19/2/14

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Another really good day. The weather was even better than expected with glorious sunshine all morning instead of the broken cloud we were promised. It did cloud over around lunch time for a couple of hours but it did not stop us flying. The sun came out soon after to give us a brilliant end to the day. No rain or even a shower and it really was quite warm until the last hour or so.

A very busy day kept all 3 x K13’s and the K18 in the air all day. The T21 also made several flights for those brave souls who don’t mind getting slightly chilled. It was not as thermic as Sunday but there were several flights of 11 mins. and Humph managed 12 in the K18. A special mention to Pete M. who managed 11mins. 2 up in a K13 from a very middling launch. He found some lift and climbed away a 100ft or so, all that on a check flight after a fair lay off, well done Pete. The wind stayed in the west for most of the day but finally backed to S.S.W. at the end.

The only down side was we had to be on single cable all day, if we had been able to tow out both cables we would have probably have done over 50 launches as we had to stop flying when the canopies finally started misting and there was still a lot to do. At least we were able to operate from outside the clubhouse.

Total Launches…………39.

Longest Flight………….12 mins. Well done Humph.

Total flight time………….5 hr. 2 mins.

Average flight time 7 min.

Flying Report 23/1/13

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We took a bit of a chance this week in going for Thursday but it turned out very well. As forecast we had some rain early in the morning but it had stopped by 8-30am and within half an hour we had blue sky and by 10-30 it was nice and sunny although it was a cold wind. After the heavy rain on Tuesday night the field had dried out well and we were able to do a 2 cable tow out which helped with the launch rate.

Apart from a very quick shower during the briefing it was dry all day after the early morning rain. We had a very good day with 16 members on the flying list at 10am and a couple more arriving later. Everyone flew and several had 4 flights. It blew mostly West or W.N.W. for most of the day only going around to N.W. later in the afternoon, so for most of the day we were able to land on 27 and then on 33 for the last few flights.

For most of the morning it was blue sky and sunshine but there was some heavy cloud around lunch time but it soon cleared to give us a very sunny afternoon. There was a little lift about with some extended flights. A brisk 18 -22kt breeze gave us good launches to around 1600′. The lift was often replaced by 4 – 6 kts down just to make life a little more interesting.

Thanks to Nick for standing in for Allan and I think a good day was had by all with no problems.

Total Launches,,,,,,,,,..,,,,,31.

Longest Flight(s)………….13mins. Well done to Tony M. and Phil Pa. (closely followed by some others who shall remain nameless).

Total Flight Time…………..4 hrs. 9 min.

Average flight time…………8min.

A good day and well worth the effort.

See you soon,

Steve P.

Flying Report 9/1/14

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The first Doughnut Day of 2014 turned out to be a great success and we were very lucky in being able to use the field. The rain on Wednesday started several hours earlier than forecast and also stopped earlier and so we had several hours of a brisk breeze and no rain. The field improved as the day went on.

By the time we arrived on Thursday morning we had a good look at the field and although there were areas that were soft we also found a good firm area to launch from and also a good place to land. We were able to retrieve alongside the peri-track and so flew all day without any problems or damage to the field. The only drawback was we had to do a single tow out for each launch as we could not drive directly down the field to the launch point. The weather was kind to us with the Westerly wind slightly less than forecast at about 15 – 20 kts for most of the morning and then decreasing during the afternoon, The sun shone all day with no showers or rain although it was a cold wind as the upper wind was slightly from the North.

In the end we flew until we lost the light just using the 3 x K13’s.

Total launches…………….23.

Longest flights…………….11 mins. Well done to Tony M. and Phil Pa.

Average Flight Time……….7 mins. (including one cable break, well done Ken).

Flight Time for Day………..Just under 3 hours.

16 Members on the flying list when we started flying and it was good to see Humphrey and Neil back at the club after their brush with the N.H.S. last year. A really good start to 2014.

Steve P.First Flying Day of 2014

Tuesday 30th April 2013

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Here comes summer!

We certainly had a good day today but we did not get the weather we thought we would get. For most of the morning it was cool and cloudy with a lowish cloudbase. The first flight was at 10:30 with cloudbase at 2500′. It did rise during the day to finally get to the expected height but it was a slow job.

None the less we had good lift from early on, easily getting to cloudbase. Everyone flew although it was very late before the last on the list got their airtime. It was good to see 5 privateers out who all had good flights (eventually).

We flew until 5-45 when we saw the best of the day, high clouds and warm sun, ah well better late than never.

So our Doughnuts days are over until September, many thanks to everyone who helped make them so good. Winch drivers, retrieve drivers, manning the launch point in bitterly cold easterlies (grief, we had more than our fair share of those), control and of course Allan (and his little band of helpers). Thanks to you all, like links in a chain, on their own quite small but without you the bike goes nowhere.

Brilliant statistics are……………

Total launches…………..46

Safe landings……………46 (this one is for Steve B’s peace of mind).

Total Flight time………..29hr..42min. Told you it was good !

Longest Flight……………4hr. 12min on task. Well done to Mike C. in his LS8. Loads of other really good flights.

Average Flight Time…….38min. Would have been much longer but Nick seemed to have trouble getting to the top of the Launch.

And finally thanks to everyone for not giving me too much of a hard time when I got it wrong weatherwise.

Have a great summer, safe flying, Steve P.

S.E. of Malvern in Duo Discus Triple-Six

S.E. of Malvern in Duo Discus Triple-Six

Tuesday 9th April 2013

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We were lucky with the weather today getting almost exactly what we thought. A little overcast early on with a good but not too strong N. E. breeze. We made a slightly later start than usual as Phil P. needed a hand to unload an aircraft into the workshop. This took the best part of an hour.

Cloudbase was never a problem and there were thermals to be had. To start with they were quite weak but they did improve as time went by. Pete M. had a good flight of 15min. while others came and went leaving him up there.

After a late lunch the sun came out and it was a very pleasant afternoon. Allan and I found a really good thermal after doing a couple of spins, we had a gain of height of around 800′ to nearly 2000′ which enabled us to do a lot more exercises. Everyone flew with a couple of members getting their “buy 3 get one free deal” .

Congrats to George S. for doing his first spins and spiral dives and then he did a very good hangar landing, ok George you can relax now.

It was a really good day and well worth the effort, it was a shame a few more did not come along but 10 of us had a great day.

Total Launches…………..20.

Longest Flight…………….15mins, Well done Pete.

Total flight time……………2hr-20mins.

Average Flight time………6min. But this did include several flights doing height loss exercises.

We finished flying at 17:01 precisely.

See you soon, Steve.

Wednesday 3rd April 2013

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Today turned out to be a brilliant day. We were lucky that the wind did not reach the high speeds that were forecast by some of the media. However it did increase somewhat from 1pm until we finished flying at 16-30.

We had really good strong but broken thermals to a height of around 4000′. Most people managed to get away and have good flights. As we only had 2 instructors on for the morning and we were only flying 2 up we only took 2 x K13’s to the far end and because of that we set a flight time of 30mins so that everybody had a chance of a good flight. Everyone managed to stick to that except for one pair who stayed up for nearly an hour. Afraid no mention for them in the roll of honour.

We had a brilliant day and the field was in really good condition, we left no ruts, did no damage and did a 2 cable tow out all day. There are still a few puddles and soft spots but they were easy to see and avoid.

Doughnuts and Hot Cross Buns all went early on so everyone was prepared for the day ahead. Many thanks to Allan for letting us fly in interesting conditions, I have no doubt we all learned something as well as having a great day.

Thanks also to Geoff G. who spent all morning on the winch and gave us some excellent launches to 2000′ and then to John H. who did the same all afternoon.

Details are below,

Total Launches……………..14

Average Flight time…………19min.

Total Time Flown……………4hr.- 34min.

Longest Flight……..No need to put this because everyone could have stayed up longer but those who stuck to the 30min. time were Geoff C. John H. Nick J. Martin C. John Ha.

We were missing a few regulars which was a shame, mainly the K6 syndicate who were having their baby weighed at H.B. and a few others who may have been put off by the forecast.

All in all well worth the effort, we all had a good day. Even those who launched at just the wrong time enjoyed it.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 19th March 2013

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We tried really hard yesterday to make the best of difficult conditions. We found a good dry place to launch from at the far end but the landing area was more difficult. Although there were some firm places it was impossible to stay on them when landing. We took 2 x K13s to the launch point but after 4 launches we could see landing and retrieving the gliders would continue to be a problem so we called it a day.

It was a shame as the cloud base was rising with the promise of sunshine later on. Fingers crossed for Thursday. We can only hope the field will have dried out sufficiently for us to operate. At least we have missed most of the rain and snow showers that were forecast. Many thanks to everyone who helped set up. It was worth giving it a go, just a shame about the field.

Apart from the field it should be flyable on tomorrow with a brisk East or S.E. wind with some sunshine. The wind will increase during the day so if the field is useable we really could do with making an early start.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 12th March 2013

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We finally got exactly what it said on the tin today. It was a slow start as a couple of members phoned in to ask if it was worth coming over and as we were at the far end it was probably near to 11am for the first flight. The wind was blowing a steady 18 – 20 kts with higher gusts so we only flew 2 up in two K13’s.

Eleven members were on the flying list and everyone flew at least once. It was thermic and for the lucky (skillful) ones 2 to 4kt climbs were to be had. The strong N.E. wind stopped the climbs as we were careful not to get too far downwind. We stopped for lunch and soon after we restarted we had the only snow shower of the day. It only lasted for 10mins or so, it was not a problem.

As predicted the wind started to die away during the afternoon and what wind there was backed to the North which reduced our launch height by around 300′. It was cold in the morning but was quite pleasant as the wind decreased. The flying was much better in the stronger wind of the morning. We finally put the toys away at 4pm.

Total Launches…………….14.

Longest Flight………………20mins, Very well done to Tony M. it could easily have been much longer but he elected to put the airbrakes out at 2000′ and come down to give the others a go.

Second Longest…………..12mins, A really good effort by John H. Second flight of the day, very turbulent but he managed to get away and climb 500′ to 1800′. The climb was cut short because of drifting off downwind

Total flying Time…………….1hr. 40min.

Average Flight Time………..7min.

A really good day and well worth the effort. We took a bit of a chance with the weather but our luck was in. Lets hope Thursday is as good. It is looking good at the moment with some good thermals until the afternoon when the warm front will start to make it’s presence felt. It should stay dry all day and the wind should be back in the West. Lets make the best of Thursday because Saturday is looking very iffy.

See you soon, Steve P.