We had a really great day today with the weather behaving itself all day. We got exactly what it said on the tin. A good westerly breeze of about 10 – 15 kts. gave us really good launches to around 1700′. The sun shone all day and we had an excellent turnout. We were a little late starting with the first flight at 10-30am but flew all day and took lunch in shifts to keep all 4 gliders in the air, our last flight was at 17-10, we made the best of the day.

It was thermic with the best flight at 2pm in the Junior. They managed 23mins with nearly a 1000′ gain in height. There was lots of lift about but it was weak and difficult to centre in.

So probably the best day of the year so far with the longest flight of the year. It was quite cold on the field but was nice and warm in the gliders, winch and bus.

Many thanks to Tony P. and to Nick J. who worked all day to make the day such a success and help to get such a high launch total. But also thanks to all the members who did all the unsung jobs without which we could not fly. No complaints even when it was getting late and even colder.

Total Launches…………………48

Total Flight Time………………6 hrs. 36 mins.

Longest Flight(s)………………23 min. Well done to Tony M. but also well done to Vic (glad your back) A. and Alan B. who both managed 14mins in difficult conditions.

Average Flight Time…………….8 mins. but that does include lots of cable breaks (Thanks Tony).

A great day, why can’t it be like this every week ?

Steve P.

We had a great day yesterday after the rain finally stopped. It was a shame it took a little longer to clear than the forecast but when it did clear we had a great day. Because of the rain we did not start to fly until 12 noon but certainly made the best use of the day after that. The wind was also lighter than forecast so for the first couple of hours we were only getting around 14 – 1500′ but the visibility was very good and we had lots of warm sun.

By 2pm the wind had increased to around 20kts and our launches went up to 17 – 1800′ which was much better. Several members were away on holiday so 15 members on the flying list was pretty good. Infact because of the late start it was just about enough as we would have been hard pushed to make sure everyone flew if there had been anymore on the list. As it was everyone did fly and the 2 x K13’s and the K18 gliders we did use were kept busy all day. We did not use the K21 because of the soft ground.

A very good day and well worth the wait for the rain to clear. We stopped flying at about 16.15 as the light was going and everyone had flown.

Total Launches…………..25…………. A good total as we only had 4 hours flying time.

Longest Flight……………15mins…..A very good effort from a really nice chap but modesty stops me from mentioning his name. Well done to David S. Phil P. and Nick J. for all getting the second longest flights of 10mins.

Average Flight Time…….7mins…. This did include a few S.C.B.’s.

Total Hours Flown………..3hrs.

Steve P.

Wall to wall sunshine was the order of the day today. No fog, no rain, not much warmth either but that was a small price to pay for such a nice day.

To start with we had a breeze from due north so we had to make a decision where to launch from but after a while it became obvious that we needed to be at the far end. With a small amount of east in the wind we were getting good launches up to 1700′ and we all got some practice in crosswind launches and landings.

There were no thermals of course but there was reduced sink in places and so some pilots (ok, just one) managed to extend their flight by a few minutes. We had a good turnout but there were a few of the usual members missing. Because we were a little late starting and an early finish because of misting canopies we did not manage to do as many launches as we would have liked so apologies to those who missed out on missed launches. Several members did get 2 flights but we could have done quite a lot more given more time. But we all had a good day in glorious winter sunshine with no problems except a broken cable on the last but one flight, it seemed to be just fair wear and tear as it broke on the shackle next to the chute. At least it did not cost us any launches as we were finishing by that time.

Total Launches……………..21

Total Flight Time…………..2 hrs. 27 min.

Longest Flight……………..11 min. Well done to Dave C. This is the second week running Dave has got this prize, must remember next week to launch straight
after him and follow him around and go where he goes !!!!!

Average Flight Time…………7 min.

Steve P.

We did manage to fly today and certainly made the best of the day. As it was S.E. we had to set up at the far end and so we were a little later starting than usual. Cloudbase was 1400′ pretty well all morning and there was lift under the cloud.

By lunch time the wind was gusting up to around 30kts and it was starting to rain so we called it a day. Everyone flew who wanted to and a couple managed 2 flights. It was very turbulent but I think we all had a good time and we put the 2 gliders away with no problems. It was well worth the effort and was a very interesting morning. It was a shame the rain did not hold off a little longer but overall a good day.

Total Launches…………….10.

Total Flight Time……………1hr. 12mins.

Longest Flight………………10min. Well done to Steve Ba. and Allan and then very closely followed by John H. (with me as extra ballast) getting 9min.

Average Flight Time………..7min.

Steve P.

We had a great day today with perfect weather for the time of year, it was very warm, a good breeze from S.S.W. which was giving us launches to an average of 1500′ with the occasional one to 1800′ and it stayed dry all day. We flew until light stopped play but it was just a shame we were about an hour late starting as we lost several launches at the best time of the day.
All in all a good day with one exceptional flight by John H. in the K21. He managed 20 mins and gained quite a lot of height while us lesser mortals floundered around some 400′ below him. Well done John.

Statistics for the day are below…………..

Total Launches…………..37.

Total flight Time…………..3hr. 49min.

Longest Flight…………….20min. (as above, no one else got even close to this).

Average Flight Time………6min. (To be fair this did include several very short flights and S.C.B.’s)

Steve P.