Category Archives: Flying reports

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

Flying report 5/6/16 – Lots of launches!

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Today’s flying started early but to a rather low cloud base. Finding big enough gaps in the cloud was the trick.

The whole club fleet was taken to the west end to launch into a moderate easterly. Initial launches were cable-break practice towards aircraft conversion and pre-solo training. The cloud-base didn’t vary much early on but it started to break up to reveal blue sky albeit with a low-ish inversion. Once we were able to launch to full height, a number of private aircraft began to show up at the launchpoint including an LS8, LS4, ASW28 and a Sport Vega.

By early afternoon it was a busy cycle at the launchpoint due to the weak soaring conditions. Kit B had a good flight in the club’s Astir CS77 and several others managed to climb to over 2,000ft. After being put through the mill in the K21 by Barry K, Peter C was converted onto the club LS4 G-DEMG which he apparently rather enjoyed flying, having three flights including soaring. Others who hadn’t flown recently were given check flights and the cycle of annual flying checks was well under-way (more SCBs!).

peter_ls4

Peter gets into Stratford’s LS4

Catherine J took several flights with CFI Steve B and re-soloed on K13 G-CHSM having previously been a solo glass pilot at other clubs.

David G also took a couple of flights with Steve B and coverted into the club’s SZD Junior G-CHDB, his first glass single-seater!

Dave converts onto the Junior

David G converts onto Stratford’s SZD Junior

The day was warm, nowhere more-so than in the Skylaunch cab which left winch-drivers wilting towards the end. Many thanks to Tony M who put in another epic session getting us all launched.

Visiting pilot Outi from Finland had the last flight of the day in G-CHSM with Steve H.

last flight of the day
After just missing 60 launches a few weeks ago, Steve B reckoned we’d make it today and we in fact managed 66 winch launches which we think is the highest day total this year.

After packing everything away, it was approaching 8pm and a number of pilots retired to the Snitterfield Arms with the notable exception of Peter C who couldn’t make it. 😉

Sutton Bank Spring 2016 Expedition Report

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For over 20 years Stratford on Avon Gliding Club has been making the twice yearly pilgrimage to the YGC at Sutton Bank. The following gives a brief insight into what our 15 club members got up to on our latest adventure up north.

Friday 20th May
With great trepidation and with many excuses made at work to leave early, the journey northbound started. For the first time in many years a club aircraft was to be taken to SB and so Peter C joined the trailer convey with the Astir, nervously towing for the first time. Some were brave and tackled the 25% Sutton Bank climb head on, whereas the “youngsters” in their small cars chose the scenic but less steep back-route to reach the club and more importantly the bar.

Preparing the Astir’s trailer before the journey

Preparing the Astir’s trailer before the journey

Saturday 21st May
With rain and low cloud, flying was scrubbed and so the day was our own. Peter C and Neil C were introduced to YGC’s fantastic simulator. After some virtual aerotow practise and site familiarisation we soon progressed rapidly from flying the K21, to mid-air refuelling a Tornado and finally to low level formation flying through the Lake District in F-35’s!
We all reconvened for the traditional meal out at the Forrester’s Arms in Kilburn and this was followed up with more drink and games back at the Club house.

Neil C mastering the F-35

Neil C mastering the F-35

Sunday 22nd May
The weather seemed to be on our side and so the SoAGC pundits rigged their machines and those requiring check flights/instruction patiently awaited their turn to get airborne. Conditions in the end weren’t that great and so only Barry K and Barry M in the Duo Discus T went cross country whilst the other pundits explored the local scenery.

Keith L having his check flight in YGC’s DG 1000

Keith L having his check flight in YGC’s DG 1000

Sun setting over the Pennines

Sun setting over the Pennines

Monday 23d May
Whilst the privateers awaited for optimum conditions to develop, the club’s Astir was rigged and prepared for its first Sutton Bank adventure. Phil C was first into the seat and we all eagerly watched to see what he could achieve. Well, at about 500ft we all saw him come off the tow and with no chance of returning to the airfield he was last seen heading north towards what we hoped a nice grass field. Confirmation from Dan aloft in his Lak that Phil was down safe, 4 of us hitched up the trailer and set out to find him and the Astir. It wasn’t a nice green pasture as we hoped, but a newly planted potato field. (All credit for Phil landing in one of the furrows and for completing his first field landing) It took a couple of hours to de-rig and to carry the wings and fuselage out of the field to the trailer. Many of the Stratford pundits enjoyed watching us hard at work from their gliders high above!
Flying wise, not a lot to report. Those optimum conditions never really materialised so most of Stratford pilots stayed close to the airfield.

Tuesday 24th May
After confirmation that the Astir’s early departure from the tug was not due to a mechanical problem and was probably because of an inadvertently early release, Peter C jumped in for his first air tow solo. The thermals didn’t materialise as hoped and he was down in 12mins. With deteriorating conditions Phil C managed to complete a full tow to 2000ft but soon returned after 9mins. At least Kit B managed to scratch out 24mins in the Astir before he too returned to terra firma.
Barry K and Barry M in the Duo tasked 300km but were forced to use the engine a couple of times to get back. All other pilots reported poor conditions and stayed within gliding range of SB.

Duo landing at Sutton Bank

Duo landing at Sutton Bank

Wednesday 25th
With low cloud and rain forecast flying was cancelled for the day and so many of the party hit the roads south and headed home.

Thurs 26th to Fri 27th
No further flying to conclude the club expedition.

A big thank you to the Yorkshire Gliding Club for being great hosts. We look forward to returning again in September and hopefully for better weather.

Flying Report 8/5/16

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Today promised nothing but high temperatures, low visibility, high winds and thunderstorms.

As it happened, it turned out to be a pretty good flying day! Again we were over at the west end with the launchpoint for a south-easterly wind. Certainly after a relatively calm start, the winds picked up considerably although they were steady rather than gusty. The upper winds were impressive. One pilot recounted ‘pressing-on’ into wind at 80 knots and having the impression of going down rather more than forward.

The club’s TMG G-CHXK was out and about, Steve F flying with Les early on and then instructor Andy B flying out on a refresher with Barry K, visiting Wellesbourne for fuel. It’s possibly the first day the TMG hasn’t struggled with the field surface conditions this year.

Two of our aspiring cross-country pilots who were hampered by the weather yesterday were able to convert onto the club’s Grob Astir. Well done to David D and Kit B who will hopefully be able to fly the Astir during the club’s expedition this month to YGC at Sutton Bank.

New basic instructor Rois joined the team giving some fantastic flights in K21 G-CGAG to members of the public on their Trial Lessons.

Very noticeable wave indications formed in the sky but at least for a while, we were caught on the down-stroke and some flights through the middle of the day were fairly short.

The club’s LS4 was out for a second day of what looked like more circuits (timing guys!) but eventually climbed away to 3,000ft when the wave influence decayed and the air-mass started to become more unstable.

Privateers were also in evidence, Sharon brought her ASW28 ‘777’ out and had a good local soaring flight to shake down the aircraft for the cross-country season. Chris B had a soaring flight in SK. New arrival, Pegase 101 M7 also launched from Snitterfield for the first time!

The SZD Junior was popular; Jesal P flew it again with a view to flying the club’s Astir soon. Our newest member Outi, from Finland, flew with the CFI. An experienced pilot, hopefully she will be flying with us throughout the summer at Stratford.

All in all, a very busy day for us with 59 winch launches in total. Given the uncommonly warm conditions, we set up our first evening club barbeque hosted by Dan B. Around 20 members attended and the food was fantastic!

bbq

At the end of the BBQ, our CFI was lamenting that we’d done ‘only’ 59 launches instead of 60. He promptly launched himself backwards through the clubhouse fence to make up for it. What a hero.

last_launch

Flying Report 7/5/16

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We were chased away by a big CB today!

In a weak easterly wind, we set up with the launchpoint at the west end of the field. The field condition is pretty good now having had several days to dry in warm weather.

Speaking of warm weather, the club weather station recorded a high of 22 degrees today in 85% relative humidity. “Muggy” was an understatement. The visibility wasn’t fantastic with a moderate haze which although not obscuring the lateral view of the ground too badly, was masking the approach of expected towering cumulus and CBs.

All of the club pure gliders flew, the LS4 coming out late as two members wanted to fly it. The Astir was lined up for Kit and David D to convert onto but their intentions were scuppered by rumbles of thunder from an as-yet invisible approaching CB. Hopefully the field doesn’t get too much of a drenching this evening and the weather plays ball so they can have another try tomorrow.

Soaring wise, the thermals were slow and the visibility poor enough that no private gliders turned up at the launchpoint but Iain R managed a one hour flight in the SZD Junior scratching between 1,500′ and 1,700′. The next nearest flights out of 26 launches were only a quarter of that duration.

Ultimately, the rumbles of thunder decided that it was hangar-landings for the aircraft aloft and a long tow-home for the others. The hangar was packed with just a bit of time to spare before the first rain arrived.

 

Flying report 31/3/16 End of Winter Flying

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What a great day to finish the winter season with! It was pretty well as the forecast predicted with the thermals starting at around 10-30 and getting stronger as the day went on. Perhaps not quite as good as we thought but still a very good day.

Most members had good long flights but occasionally you could launch at just the wrong time and you were back on the ground a few minutes later but if you took another launch straight after, you usually got away. The conditions changed that quickly. The wind was a little more north than we hoped it would be so we were limited to around 1200′ which was usually enough but not always.

It was certainly the best day of the year so far with some very long flight times, total launches and hours flown. Mike and Barry both set off on long tasks, I believe Mike got around in his LS10 but in the end Barry with Keith in the Duo Discus had to use his Iron Topsail to get home. Congratulations to Jesal P. who successfully converted to the Junior and then showed us all how it was done by staying up for 52 mins, then making a perfect landing. I am sure that Nick is finally a happy man after getting his Dart 17R back on line after it had not flown for nearly 18 months. Whatever was done to it certainly worked as he had the longest Non-Turbo Flight of the day with 2hrs 10mins. Life in the old dog yet me-thinks ! (Now is that the glider or Nick ?).

So to the statistics which are impressive……………..

Total Launches…………….39.

Total Flight Time………….26hrs. 56mins.

Longest Flights (with out assistance)……. 4hrs. 26mins and 2hrs 10mins. Well done to Mike and Nick.

Longest Flight…………….4hrs. 58mins……Well done to Barry and Keith at least for their perseverance.

Average Flight Time………41mins.

Great day, great fights, great fun, which is really all that matters and most of all thanks to all the members who have helped to make the winter flying, which at times was in very difficult conditions, such a success.

Steve P.

Flying report 7/3/16

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Monday did turn out to be the best day of the year so far. We had wall to wall sunshine and some fantastic thermals almost from the start of flying. We were a little late with the first launch but it did not matter as that showed that it was starting to work and by the third launch it really was stonking.

The cloud base was initially around 3000′ but quickly rose to 4500′ and several people were able to see how cold it was at cloudbase. We had set a limit of 40 – 45 mins on each flight and many people were able to easily achieve that time, it really was that good.

We launched from the south stub as the wind was northerly and we were getting around 1400′ on the launch, which was usually enough to find the lift. There were a few who launched at just the wrong time but those of them who took another launch straight afterwards were usually able to have a great flight.

We only took the 3 two seaters to the launch point and they were kept very busy all day, many thanks to Allan and Tony who came down to help out, they were also kept busy all day.

Apologies to all for no Doughnuts but as it was such short notice I just did not have time to get them and a special thanks to John H. who arrived just after 8am to make up some new brown strops as we had none on the day before, thanks John. His real reward came as he had the best flight of the day in the K21.

Sorry to all those who could not make it as it was such short notice but it really was the best day this week (year,so far) and no matter what happens later in the week the field is going to be wet again after tomorrows rain.

Amazing statistics are……………….

Total Launches………………….22

Longest Flight……………………56 mins, will let you off John because of your work on the strops.

Total Flight Time……………….8 hr. 27m min.

Average Flight Time…………..24 mins, brilliant !

Steve P.

Flying report 6/3/16

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With Barry K and Steve P on duty, today saw climbs available from the very first launch. Plenty of embedded Cu to play with and at one point we had all of the two seaters aloft plus the Junior.

Speaking of which, we’ve now rigged the club K21 and several pilots have had refreshers on it including cable breaks (even if they didn’t want them).

A privateer syndicate rigged their Ka6E, the gorgeous 715. The lift reliability wasn’t good enough across the local area to task so club and syndicate aircraft stayed close to home. Some good climbs were achieved and durations of up to 43mins although we set a limit on the club ships of 30mins to get everyone flown.

In spite of a broken cable for a while, we achieved 32 launches with Tony M heroically driving the winch without relief for most of the afternoon.

The day ended with both the field roller and the winch getting stuck in the soft ground. Many of the day’s pilots retired to the Navigation Inn, Wootton Wawen for dinner.

 

Flying report 29/2/16

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Apologies to all those who had made other arrangements for today and could not make it down to the club, but in view of the forecast it seemed the sensible thing to do.

We had another good day although we did not get the thermal strength we had last Wednesday but I think that was exceptional. It was cold first thing and did not seem to get much better as the day went on even though the wind was in the South. We did have sunshine all morning and for some time after lunch but it then clouded over making it seem even colder.

We were a little light on members first thing because it was such short notice but eventually about 15 members turned up. There were some extended flights and we all had a great time and everyone flew who wanted to. Allan was kept busy all day (as usual) and we had no problems. We were able to operate from outside the clubhouse and use 2 cables all day.

290216

Lets hope that the rain that is coming in will not spoil the field which is (or was) drying so well. Thanks to everyone who turned up and worked so hard to give us another good day.

Well winter is now officially over so roll on some nice, warm, sunny and thermic days !!!

Statistics are…………………….

Total Launches…………………19.

Longest Flight…………………..18 mins. Well done to Bob C. and Allan and also to John H. and Derek H. who both managed an impressive 13 min. each.

Total Flight Time……………….2 hrs. 36 mins.

Average Flight Time………….8 min.

Steve P.

Flying report 28/2/16

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With a contingent of our newest members with us today at Snitterfield as well as a visiting pilot from Talgarth, we took two K13s and the SZD Junior to the west end for flying ops. Andy B was standing in for Mike C as duty instructor. Inexplicably, the left winch cable which had proved so troublesome yesterday worked without fault today.

Launch heights were pretty good despite the moderate wind, 1,600 feet could be expected. Off the wire, there were a couple of good soaring flights with Des T in the Junior at 31 mins and Ian W at 34 mins.

Later on, what was appearing as cloud streets for others further south was appearing for us as wide bands of spreadout with narrower gaps of sunshine in between as they passed over. Lift was weak but it gave the opportunity for members to practice short-field landings on the zero-six west end landing area.

A little after 1600 as the shade of spreadout reached the field, David M climbed away in the SZD Junior for a short tour of local turnpoints. Although the spreadout looked uninviting, cloudbase was contacted at 3,300ft. Significant sink in the gloom brought him back in a hasty retreat.

Steven H converted to the SZD Junior having not added a new type to his logbook in a while.

A well staffed launchpoint meant that we were able to get around the flying list several times for a total of 32 launches.

Photos by Peter C.