Category Archives: Flying reports

Flying Report 24/2/17 – Doughnuts and Curry

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We had a great day yesterday that turned out much better than expected. We broke the record for the longest flight of the year twice and there were lots of long flights as well.

The day started well with plenty of sun and a brisk breeze from almost due west, the field was in good condition after the strong wind from the previous two days with only a couple of wet patches which were easy to miss. We started flying at 10-44am and at 10-55 Allan W. launched in the Junior and it soon became obvious it was thermic as we watched him climb away. Despite Allan’s best efforts he has still not learned to fly straight and level as he spent most of his time upside down.! Ben was keen to get away as we watched Allan climb and after a short delay we followed him and flew straight into a 4 kt. thermal which took us to 2800′ (thanks Allan). From then on it just got better and it was thermic until 15-30pm. and at least one flight got to 3900′

We stopped flying at 16-44.

No rain and plenty of sun helped to make it a great day and when it did cloud over for half an hour at around 1pm Charlie’s Curry was ready and we all enjoyed that and then the sun came out again, perfect timing. Many thanks to Charlie for probably his best Curry yet.

Statistics below…………………

Total Launches…………………….32……..(We still have some way to go to beat the 64 launches last Sunday but the conditions were better.)

Longest Flight……………………..43mins in the K21, very well done to Jeff G. and Geoff G. and a new record to beat.

Second longest…………………..35mins…..also well done to Dave Y. in the Junior. There was another flight of 31min and several in the 20’s. V.G. Effort.

Total Glider Flight Time………..7hrs.

Glider Average Time………….13mins.

Another great day.

Steve P.

Sunday 19th February 2017 – 64 Launches!

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Cold, overcast and an awkward wind direction.

It didn’t stop loads of Stratford members turning out along with members of University of Warwick Gliding Club for a day’s training and local flying at Snitterfield.

An area of the airfield was coned off at the start of flying due to water-logging and that area became larger as other poor areas were identified. The telemetry signalling was back in operation and working well, assisting with a high launch rate.

The members from UWGC are a mixture of ab-initios and pilots with experience so we have both initial training as well as solo flying and a conversion to Stratford’s Standard Astir G-FECO. They also bring with them a Skylaunch winch driver.

Stratford member Kit was introduced to basic aerobatics for the first time while Jesal also practiced his basic figures.

There was no soaring to speak of under a steady overcast but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for taking launches.

K21 LS4 Snitterfield
The club’s LS4 G-DEMG rejoined the active fleet after coming back from ARC and is now back in the hangar waiting for a dryer field and some thermals.

We normally only see the whole glider fleet at the launchpoint during the summer months.

By the end of the day, we’d completed 64 winch launches, not bad for this time of year!

The last glider to land was the Junior flown by our CFI at SS+10. Obviously the key to doing so many launches is finding the right balance of efficiency at the launch point and not losing momentum.

With a steady queue of gliders at the standpipe for a wash, it was pretty dark by the time the hangar doors were closed.

Packing away

Packing away after sunset

Flying report 7/2/17

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Although it was a slow start today because of some early fog it turned out to be a brilliant day with several thermic flights. Early on it looked very promising when the light mist cleared at around 9am but 20 mins later very thick fog rolled in and stayed until around 10-30am. It then cleared very quickly and we started flying at 11am.

From then on it just got better and better with 18mins in the T21 and a couple of flights of 20 mins and then 23 min and finally an epic 34 mins which I think is the best flight of the year so far. It was warm in the sun and stayed dry all day until we finished flying at around 4pm when the canopies started misting.

A great day and well worth the wait for the fog to clear.

launchpoint 7/2/17

Statistics are…………..

Total Launches………24.

Longest flight…………34 min, very well done to Ken M., a really good effort in light conditions.

Second Longest……23 mins by David C. in the Junior, ……..as above.

Followed by………….20 mins from David R. and Steve F. in HSM and Paul R. also in the Junior.

And Finally……………18 mins by Phil P. in the T21, well worth a mention as he got to 2200′. I think it was the cold that brought him down !!!

Total Flight Time…….3 hr. 55 min

Average Flight Time……9 min. This included several S.C.B.’s

Roll on Summer,

Steve P.

Flying report 10/1/17

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We had a great day today with the weather getting better and better as the day went on.  We tried to make an early start as we thought it may be a short day, however the rain we expected at 2pm did not arrive until 3-30pm and even then it was very light.
The day started well with a good high cloudbase and launches to 1800′ – 1900′. a little bit of sun and bits of blue sky. It did however look misty a long way out to the West and we thought this may be a sign of rain later.
By 12 noon it was full sun and plenty of blue sky and even the temperature which was cold first thing had gone up to 9 or 10*c and felt quite pleasant, as long as you were well wrapped up.
We did the first two launches with the Skylaunch and then moved over to Doris, she gave us very good launches all day to around 1700′ – 1800′. As the wind had dropped slightly during the morning this was very acceptable. We had a few small delays while the winch team sorted out a few problems but given that Doris had not been used for many months it was only to be expected. We now have several members who are current on her again!! Thanks to David S.
A little rain at 15-30 finally stopped play but everyone who wanted to fly had, with several members having a couple of flights each. Overall a great day, many thanks to all those who arrived really early to get all the kit out so we could make an early start. It really was well worth the effort.
Total Launches………………….21.
Total Flight Time……………….2hrs  32min.
Average Flight Time…………7mins.  This included a few aerobatic flights which were of course short.
Longest Flight…………………10mins. Very well done to….David C,  Lance P.( with Adrian F),  Roger H., and last but not least Dave G.
And finally apologies to all who came today cos I forgot the Doughnuts, at least I have a good excuse, must try harder next week !!!
Steve P.

Winter at SoAGC – Wednesday 2nd Nov 2016

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We had a great day on Wednesday for the start of the winter season, Wall to wall sunshine, dry all day and a reasonable breeze. It was just a bit soarable for an hour or so. It really felt quite warm in the afternoon sunshine.

We started off outside the clubhouse but because the wind increased a little and went a bit more north than we hoped we finally had to move over to the south stub.

This gave us better launches and meant we could land directly into wind. There was a good turnout and everyone had a good day.

John G. finally managed his second flight in the Junior after a very frustrating couple of weeks when it was in the workshop for it’s ARC.

Apologies to everyone for the lack of Doughnuts, apart from not being able to drive for the next few weeks we had the gas man booked for yesterday but the gas man was late so I was not able to get down until the middle of the afternoon. Meant to bring them for lunch, must try harder next week !!!

So to the statistics,

Total Launches……………26

Total Flight Time………….3hr. 42mins.

Longest Flight……………..17mins. Very well done to John H. in the Junior. Saved my bacon by showing it was thermic.

Well done also to Lance P. and John G. who had good flights in HSM and the Junior respectively.

Thanks also to Tony for running a great day and sending everyone home a happy bunny.

Steve P.

October Gliding from the LS4

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Sunday was an unseasonably good soaring day and Peter C sent some air to air photos from his flight in Stratford Gliding Club’s LS4 G-DEMG.

Sutton Bank Expedition Report September 2016

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56,000 ft: The sum of all the maximum height gains from Stratford members flights at Sutton Bank – the most successful week in almost a decade.

The first week of September sees the Stratford bi-annual club expedition to Yorkshire Gliding Club at Sutton Bank. This year was no different with over a dozen members from early solo to pundits with several thousands of hours making the pilgrimage, with one straggler from Trent Valley Gliding club.

K21 CubPhoto of a K-21 launching at Sutton Bank. Image courtesy of Sharon Kerby.

Sunday 4th September.

With cloud base at approximately 500 ft QFE the day seemed all but scrubbed. However, late afternoon the front moved through to reveal a clear evening sky. The first flight took off at 16:00. Barry Kerby kindly aero-tow checked Paul Mcauley, Keith and Rois Lorenz. Neil and Richard Croxford proceeded to have several aero-tow training flights.

Left: Neil Croxford and John Right: Rois Lorenz and Barry Kerby. Images courtesy of Jeffery Gale.

Tuesday 6th.

With the met office forecasting good wave all the pundits scrambled to their gliders, with the remaining Stratford pilots setting up the launch point. Neil Croxford and Andy Parish proceeded to have one of the first flights in the DG 500 and quickly climbed to 7000 ft QFE, only having to return on account of the large flying list.

Barry Kerby and Keith Lorenz were the first privateers to launch contacting well organised wave almost immediately after release from aero-tow, and quickly out climbed Neil and Andy in the DG 500. They subsequently went for a 4:30 minute tour around the Yorkshire countryside in 666 reaching FL 125 with ease, only having to stop the ascent due to an active airway.

Barry Kerby and Keith Lorenz in 666 at FL125. Images courtesy of Barry Kerby.

Hearing of the quick success over the radio of the club gliders and 666 Barry Monslow, Sharon Kerby, Jeffrey Gale, Paul Mcauley and Rois Lorenz all took aero-tows and contacted strong lift. Jeffrey Gale reached an impressive height of 7500 ft QFE were he captured some fantastic photographs.

wave_sutton_bank_asw20Picture from 7000 ft QFE. The Yorkshire Dales are just visible in the distance. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gale

Wednesday 7th

Wednesday saw a southerly wind bringing unusual some strong lift. All the pundits had several hours local soaring. Paul Mcauley set a 100 Km cross-country task, set off early and made good progress on track. However, the weather was less favourable down south and he landed out safely at Pocklington and consequently had an aero-tow retrieve back to Sutton Bank.

Thursday 8th

Thursdays wind was SW at 20 knots gusting 30, a classic day for the ridge to work with the Met Office predicting wave. Keith Lorenz participated in a aerobatics course ran by George Rizk from Saltby and practiced some manoeuvres from the basic aerobatics badge syllabus.

Barry Kerby and Rois Lorenz took an early winch launch in 666 along with Jeffrey Gale in 643 onto the ridge which seemed to work well. This was followed by Sharon Kerby and Barry Monslow taking an aero-tow in an attempt to contact wave.

Keith Lorenz took a late aero-tow at 16:10 in 302. By this time most of the privateers had little success with the wave and had been forced back on the ridge taking the occasional thermal. Sharon Kerby successfully contacted wave just North of Lake Gormire and radioed her find. Sharon very quickly climbed to 7500 ft QFE and marked the way for other gliders. Following this Keith Lorenz contacted the same lift and climbed to 11,800 ft QFE in a large blue gap.

ls8_gliding_wave_panoramaPanoramic picture of the evening sky from 302. Image courtesy of Keith Lorenz

Keith Lorenz then subsequently pushed into wind in search of lift but it seemed to bottom at the same altitude as the previous wave bar. Conscious of daylight and strong winds on the surface Keith headed back home and landed at 19:10 missing out on his gold height by 120 ft.

evening_sky_wave_flightPicture of the evening sky from 302. Image courtesy of Keith Lorenz

News quickly spread of the successful week to members back at Stratford which prompted Chris Edkins to fly up from Wellesbourne in a PA32 Saratoga. He landed at Bagby at 19:00.

Left: A picture of Chris flying the Saratoga into Bagby. Right: Picture of the flight to Sutton Bank. Images courtesy of the Saratoga’s in flight photography system.

Friday 9th

Friday saw a strong SW wind with the Met Office forecasting some wave. Barry Kerby and Chris E took a high aero-tow in 666 and contacted ‘difficult’ wave and climbed 5000 ft to 9000ft QFE. In addition to this Barry Monslow and Jeffrey Gale had similar flights in UG and 643 respectively. Both taking high aero-tows and contacting ‘difficult’ wave and making solid progress.

Saturday 10th

All members de-camped. Chris E and others, flew back from Bagby to Wellesbourne in difficult conditions – nothing too difficult for a man with 1000’s of hours powered flying.

-Keith Lorenz

Flying Report 21/7/16

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Cross-country wise, we’ve been trying to make the most of the taskable days presented to us. Today was another day that looked sufficiently taskable to result in a turnout of cross-country pilots.

The expectation was that the milky top-cover would be thin enough to allow an early thermal start followed by an early shut-off as the top cover thickened. The topmeteo and RASP forecasts were broadly in agreement and they turned out to be right.

General tasking was South-East as far as Aylesbury or Thame and then North East to Alcester with a leg back to Edgehill. Several 18M ships took this tasking along with a Duo Discus. The club’s 15M LS4 tasked shorter along the same line with an out-and-return from Bicester.

The 18M ships made their Southern turnpoints but on returning to the Stratford area were met by an overcast sky with scarce thermals. The club’s LS4 turned Bicester and made it back around the same time. Meanwhile Duo Discus 666 managed to get around the whole task by taking some pretty long glides through thermal-less areas to reach better climbs.

X/C pilots are now generally very quick to upload and score their traces after a day’s flying so the (h’cap) results look like this:

Barry K (with Mike) in Duo Discus 666: 229.9km @ 72.1kph – 1367pts
David M in LS4 G-DEMG: 106.9km @ 63kph – 692pts
Keith L in LS8 302: 149.7km @ 54.1kph – 671pts
Sharon K in ASW28 777: 143.3km @ 56.5kph – 652pts

Peter C’s first 100km in the LS4

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Peter C completed his first 100km X/C task in Stratford’s LS4 on Sunday along with his Silver Duration and Silver Height gain achievements. He sent the following write-up:

With the first favourable forecast for many months, I dragged myself out of bed early to guarantee the LS4 as mine for the day. Phil had the same intentions but his delay of 15 mins meant he was relegated to the mighty Astir…..sorry.

Having done my 50km Silver Distance last season all I needed now was just my 5hrs and 1000m height to complete my Silver Badge so I “declared” 5hrs and with the sky already looking good at briefing, I was keen to get going.

It was “jokingly” suggested to me that taking the clubs hot ship for 5hrs of local soaring was not the done thing. Fortunately Dan and Keith came to the rescue and persuaded me to join them on a 100km task. (Snitterfield – Edge Hill/Shennington – Worcester –Snitterfield).

Dan in FA and Keith in 302 got themselves airborne and loitered around whilst I waited for my launch. Luckily I came off the wire straight into a thermal and I soon got up to nearly 4000ft and with a quick radio frequency change to 130.4 I got myself through the start line. The task was now on and we were Shennington bound.

Overlooking Gaydon

Overlooking Gaydon

It was great fun of the 3 us flying in formation and sharing thermals together. Flying efficiency was somewhat reduced due to us all taking photos of each other. It was more about positioning our gliders centre in frame and not centre in thermal whilst keeping lookout for other traffic!

Keith in his LS8 and Dan in his LAK19

Keith in his LS8 and Dan in his LAK19

With Shennington reached we then took it in turns to lead towards Worcester. All was going well until I got cautious and I stopped to take a climb and unlike the SAS, Dan and Keith at this point left a man behind. It was then just me and my poor thermalling technique to get me to Worcester. With the sky ahead not looking great I drifted back to the sanctuary of the sky above Snitterfield. Here I floated about until I got high and confident again to crack on towards Worcester. (Keith and Dan had already completed the task at this point and were already back on the ground).

Gaining Height over the Stratford River Festival

Gaining Height over the Stratford River Festival

With no obvious land-out fields below I tentatively made my way to the Worcester turn point. The next issue was a gaggle of competition gliders on task from the Shennington regionals right in the area I needed to go to turn Worcester. Eventually I eased myself within the group, turned Worcester and soon got above final glide and I made my way back to Stratford with no issues. At this point I still had 1.5hrs to go and so I kept high going through the finish line and then set about staying high until the 5hrs was up.

Turning WORcester over the Sixways Stadium

Turning WORcester over the Sixways Stadium

Ragley Hall and Alcester & Ragley Park Cricket Club where I played for many years

Ragley Hall and Alcester & Ragley Park Cricket Club where I played for many years

The next hour went quickly as I was enjoying climbing high, playing with the clouds, taking photos and finally getting my Silver Height. The best I got was 5750ft QNH just west of Stratford – the views were amazing.

The flight time was now 4.5hrs. The next 30mins seemed to take an age to get through. I kept looking at the time and each minute dragged by so slowly. I kept saying to myself, stay high, stay high.

5hrs up and time to relax. I radioed to Snitterfield Base to confirm my time but the reply came back that I had a lot of beers to buy. I took that as the confirmation.

As the conditions were still great I went on another quick tour to Alcester to take a photo of my old house and then tried to burn up some height by flying at 135knts. My fastest speed to date – it was great covering the ground so quickly.

Alcester from above.

Alcester from above.

5.5hrs now up and I thought I better come down as everyone was starting to get thirsty. After using the air brakes to lose 2000ft I entered the circuit and landed on 27.

Subject to the BGA’s rubber stamp, I’ve now completed my Silver Badge, my Part 1 100km Diploma and I also now have a significantly lighter wallet (thank you Chris for organising the monster round, I owe you one!)

Thanks must go to Dan and Keith for persuading me to do the unexpected 100km and for Phil who cleaned the LS4 wings after I landed even though he didn’t get to fly it. I promise it is all yours next time and I’ll return the cleaning favour.

Peter C