We had a great day today after a slow (but expected) start. We had a glimmer of blue sky at 9am and the sky quickly cleared to clear blue with a few cumulus dotted about. It stayed like this for the rest of the day with no showers.

We started flying at around 11am. with a brisk S.W. breeze giving us launches to around 1800 – 1900ft. It was thermic from the start although difficult to centre in because of the wind. We kept both of the 2 seaters very busy all day with the K18 doing duty as the single seater.

Considering the strength of the wind we had some very good flights in challenging conditions with the wind gusting up to about 25kts. One flight of particular note was by new member Daniel F. who managed 20mins on the second flight of the day and just to prove it was not a one off managed another good flight in the afternoon. Well done to him. All this after only 8 previous flights and he did the take off and landing !!!!

We had about 20 members on the flying list and everyone flew. Overall a very good day that I think everyone enjoyed, many thanks to Allan who again worked very hard all day. No problems, just a great day.

Statistics are as follows,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Total Launches……,,,…….24.

Total Flight Time………….4hrs. 54min.

Longest Flight……………..32min…….Well done to Bob H. in the K18 but closely followed by Phil P (and Bob) in the K21 and in 3rd, place Daniel F. with 20mins.
lots of other flights well into double figures.

Average flight time………12mins. This included a couple of cable breaks by the K21.

Steve P.

We had a great day with better weather than expected. It was warm and dry all day and thermic from early afternoon almost until we finished flying at about 17-30 so we had another long day. Although the thermals did not go very high they were good enough for some really good long flights. We are now down to 2 x 2 seaters as C.B.W. has gone into the workshop for her annual check but we were able to make good use of her until she was de-rigged at lunch time. For most of the afternoon the launch point was empty as all the remaining 4 club gliders were in the air and as soon as one landed it was quickly turned around and re-launched.

Everyone flew and we all had a good day with no problems, we were a little late starting because of some early mist but it cleared very quickly at about 10-30 and we lost no more time.

So the statistics for the day were,

Total Launches………………..31. This was very good in view of the start time, length of flights and glider availability.

Total Flight Time……………….9hrs. 10min.

Longest Flight………………….1hr. exact, well done to Ken M. he could have stayed up longer but came back so others could enjoy the weather. Well done also to Tony M. and Humph who also had good long flights, there were several other who also had well over half an hour who I am sure could all have all stayed up longer.

Average Flight Time………….17mins. This is also good as it included quite a few simulated cable breaks and other short flight exercises. Well done to Alan B. for managing to stay in our field !

Overall a great day, well attended and enjoyed by everyone, must remember to re-stock with Doughnuts, all gone !!!

Steve P.

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′ .

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.

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

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.

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.

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.