Congratulations to junior glider pilot Alistair who went solo on Saturday at Stratford on Avon Gliding Club.
Alistair was sent solo by senior instructor Andy S on a very hot day at Snitterfield Airfield.
Tag Archives: gliding
Flying Report 7/5/16
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.
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- Last out and first in. Stratford’s LS4 hangar-lands before a big CB arrives
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- A string of CBs march up the country
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 16/8/15
We had a great day of flying today despite the early spreadout.
Every aircraft was out of the hangar and flying including our new Grob Astir CS 77 G-FECO. Those who have flown it have reported that they very much enjoyed it.
Brilliant achievements were also had by Keith L who reached Silver height (1000m height gain) and his two hour duration towards Bronze X/C.
Junior pilot Jesal P achieved his two hour duration flight with a brilliant bit a scratching in weak lift under heavy spread-out, needing to stay aloft until after 6pm.
Jesal P soaring towards his 2hr goal under heavy Spreadout.
Flying Report 11/7/15
Bristol Sid’s forecast for today matched up well with what we experienced in our area, particularly the arrival of the top-cover.
However, tasks were flown, the longest being by Mike C in his LS10 flying Snitterfield South West > Winchcombe > Calvert > Snitterfield South West for a 157.1km triangle at 82.2kph. http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=55215
Geoff B and one of Stratford’s newly cross-country endorsed Bronze C pilots, Phil S converted onto the club’s new LS4 G-DEMG.
We couldn’t get Phil out of it, he flew it a total of 5 times and enjoyed every minute of it.
The club’s LS4
Today saw the first day of operating the club’s LS4, 9 pilots flew the glider and it did 11 launches and flew for 209 minutes.
Everyone that flew the LS4 was delighted with the flying characteristics along with the gliders performance and I can see it will become a popular glider.
The minimum requirement’s needed to fly the LS4 are as follows.
Bronze C with a Cross County Endorsement along with 30 hours solo.
Bronze C pilots without the Cross Country Endorsement will be limited to no more than 5 nm from the site and must carry a FR300 flight logger.
A minimum of 15 launches in the Junior, experience on other single seater glass types will count and a conversion flight in the K21 may be required.
At the moment instructors that are authorised to brief pilots for there first flight in the LS4 are the CFI, DCFI, Barry K , Mike C and Andy B.
Regards Steve
Neil Croxford goes solo at Stratford on Avon Gliding Club
Today Neil Croxford, father of junior member Richard, flew his first solo flight in a glider.
Despite a wet (but thankfully quickly drying) field, the decision was made to fly. After being put through the mill by Allan W, Neil was briefed for solo in K-13 G-CHSM.
Adding slightly to the technical difficulty today was the shorter winch run and cross-field landing direction but Neil took it in his stride and had two successful solo flights.
Well done Neil!
Flying Report 16/12/14
We had a brilliant day with cloudless sunshine all morning and a gentle westerly breeze giving us launches to around 1700′. The only problem we had was a late start due to the canopies misting up and being slow to clear. We started to fly at around 10.45am which was a shame as we were very busy with about 25 members on the flying list when we started to fly and more came later.
We welcome 2 new members who both signed up for full membership today, by the way they are flying it should not be long before they are off on their own.
Everyone managed to fly and some managed 2 or 3 but we could have done so much more. We had to stop flying at about 15-30am once again due to misting canopies. Overall a very good day and a very busy day with the instructors being kept busy all day.
Total Launches……………..37.
Total Flight Time…………..4hr. 40min.
Longest flight……………..14min. Well done to John H. in the Junior and Ken M and Nick in the K21, closely followed by Tony M, Phill C, and once more John H. all with 13mins.
Average Flight Time………..7mins. but this did include quite a few S.C.B.’s.
Steve P.
Flying report Thursday 28th August 2014
We were lucky with the weather yesterday getting pretty well what the forecast predicted. We were very busy from early on and by lunch time there were 27 cars in the car park.
The wind was in the S.W. all day which was much better than the easterly on Wednesday.
We had several visitors who all had a good time and we did manage to get everyone flown but it did mean flying until quite late. Welcome to Graham F. who has joined after a trial lesson last year and to Rob, a young man who lives fairly locally and had a couple of flights with Allan, he is seriously thinking of joining us and learning to fly.
We only had one shower and that was at lunch time, it was heavy and lasted around 30 mins but the sun soon came out and dried things out very quickly. It was overall a good day but I am sorry that some members had to wait until the end of the day to get their flights in. We will do things differently next time.
The thermals were very weak for most of the day but there were some good flights and it was still thermic at nearly 6pm. Best flight of the day was by Geoff W. and Mark P. who managed a very creditable 30mins. Bob H., Stewart A., George S. all did very well with extended flights and Phil P. and Chris B. had a good flight in the Barge, from the ground it looked like they were impersonating a helicopter !
As I said earlier a very busy day especially for the 2 seaters, details are below,
Total Launches…………..43.
Total Flying Time………….6 hrs.
Longest Flight…………….30 mins.
Average Flight Time……….8 min. (which included several S.C.B’s).
The Doughnuts all went early on, must remember to buy another couple of packets next time.
Proof that we’re actually on a hill: The lunchtime clouds were passing below the airfield.
Steve P.
Flying report Good Friday 2014
An interesting day today with thin cumulus capping thermals at 4,500ft.
The NE wind made a relatively simple decision to set up down at the western end of the field. Much thanks go to those who walked the club aircraft down there. Winch launch heights were around a respectable 1,400 feet given the shorter cable run. Most pilots had little difficulty finding their first thermal and climbing away except for one Standard Cirrus pilot who set the record for the shortest flight of the day. Thankfully he climbed away after a relight.
There were a number of private aircraft flown such as a Duo Discus, a couple of ASW24s, a Sport Vega, and a Cirrus. There was also a Discus B present but we’re not entirely sure who’s it is.
At one point we had an entirely empty launchpoint having launched all of the club fleet on training and solo details and all of the privateers.
Mike C completed a 300km+ task in his LS8, Barry K & David B completed a 300km+ task in their Duo Discus and Sharon K went round a 200km+ task in her ASW24.
Surely there will be no argument this year over who get’s the “first 300k of the year” trophy.
In terms of club-ship flying a K18 was flow around a 43km “local” task and several high and/or long K13 flights were made.
A great start to the Easter Bank-Holiday Weekend.
Flying Report 13/4/14
It turned out rather well today. It was a cold start in the westerly breeze but flat-ish looking cumulus clouds formed into orderly rows and wave was encountered early on. One ASW24 pilot climbed to over 5,000 feet in wave while those who were encountering thermal lift were considerably lower.
Some cross-country flying was attempted with mixed results. Wave influence on the otherwise often abundant thermals made tasks tricky. At least one cross-country pilot had to fire the turbo to get home.
We also entertained many visitors today. Some just enjoying the sunshine and the airfield spectacle and others partaking in trial gliding lessons with us. Visitors came from across the region as well as the nearby village of Wilmcote.
Towards the end of the day, we heard one pilot flying from Aston Down on the radio informing his home field that he would be a “little late” home as he was at 10,000ft in wave overhead the Black Mountains.
With over 40 launches and 24hours logged flying time, we were packing the hangar and de-rigging private aircraft late into the day.