Tag Archives: gliding

Monday 22nd July – Friday 26th July Opening

Posted on by
The Club will be open each day this week under the supervision of a Senior Club Pilot (SCP).
 

The SCP will run the field but there can be NO INSTRUCTION of any sort undertaken. That means we cannot take Trial Lessons or undertake check flights or site checks or conduct any ab-initio training etc.

P1 Flying is restricted to pilots holding a Bronze C + Cross Country endorsement  (EASA Licence standard). Pilots must be current on winch launch and the glider type they are flying. No authorisation for cross country flights in club gliders may be given, although this may be obtained if the CFI can be contacted.

If you do not fit the EASA Licence criteria, you will still be able to get airborne but it would need to be with a suitably rated pilot, flying to their privileges, BUT NOT PROVIDING INSTRUCTION. This is a strict requirement and MUST BE COMPLIED WITH in these circumstances.

This weeks SCPs are :

Monday – Geoff G

Tuesday – Nick J

Wednesday – Steve P

Thursday – Chris B

Friday – Daniel B

Tuesday 30th April 2013

Posted on by

Here comes summer!

We certainly had a good day today but we did not get the weather we thought we would get. For most of the morning it was cool and cloudy with a lowish cloudbase. The first flight was at 10:30 with cloudbase at 2500′. It did rise during the day to finally get to the expected height but it was a slow job.

None the less we had good lift from early on, easily getting to cloudbase. Everyone flew although it was very late before the last on the list got their airtime. It was good to see 5 privateers out who all had good flights (eventually).

We flew until 5-45 when we saw the best of the day, high clouds and warm sun, ah well better late than never.

So our Doughnuts days are over until September, many thanks to everyone who helped make them so good. Winch drivers, retrieve drivers, manning the launch point in bitterly cold easterlies (grief, we had more than our fair share of those), control and of course Allan (and his little band of helpers). Thanks to you all, like links in a chain, on their own quite small but without you the bike goes nowhere.

Brilliant statistics are……………

Total launches…………..46

Safe landings……………46 (this one is for Steve B’s peace of mind).

Total Flight time………..29hr..42min. Told you it was good !

Longest Flight……………4hr. 12min on task. Well done to Mike C. in his LS8. Loads of other really good flights.

Average Flight Time…….38min. Would have been much longer but Nick seemed to have trouble getting to the top of the Launch.

And finally thanks to everyone for not giving me too much of a hard time when I got it wrong weatherwise.

Have a great summer, safe flying, Steve P.

S.E. of Malvern in Duo Discus Triple-Six

S.E. of Malvern in Duo Discus Triple-Six

Tuesday 9th April 2013

Posted on by

We were lucky with the weather today getting almost exactly what we thought. A little overcast early on with a good but not too strong N. E. breeze. We made a slightly later start than usual as Phil P. needed a hand to unload an aircraft into the workshop. This took the best part of an hour.

Cloudbase was never a problem and there were thermals to be had. To start with they were quite weak but they did improve as time went by. Pete M. had a good flight of 15min. while others came and went leaving him up there.

After a late lunch the sun came out and it was a very pleasant afternoon. Allan and I found a really good thermal after doing a couple of spins, we had a gain of height of around 800′ to nearly 2000′ which enabled us to do a lot more exercises. Everyone flew with a couple of members getting their “buy 3 get one free deal” .

Congrats to George S. for doing his first spins and spiral dives and then he did a very good hangar landing, ok George you can relax now.

It was a really good day and well worth the effort, it was a shame a few more did not come along but 10 of us had a great day.

Total Launches…………..20.

Longest Flight…………….15mins, Well done Pete.

Total flight time……………2hr-20mins.

Average Flight time………6min. But this did include several flights doing height loss exercises.

We finished flying at 17:01 precisely.

See you soon, Steve.

Wednesday 3rd April 2013

Posted on by

Today turned out to be a brilliant day. We were lucky that the wind did not reach the high speeds that were forecast by some of the media. However it did increase somewhat from 1pm until we finished flying at 16-30.

We had really good strong but broken thermals to a height of around 4000′. Most people managed to get away and have good flights. As we only had 2 instructors on for the morning and we were only flying 2 up we only took 2 x K13’s to the far end and because of that we set a flight time of 30mins so that everybody had a chance of a good flight. Everyone managed to stick to that except for one pair who stayed up for nearly an hour. Afraid no mention for them in the roll of honour.

We had a brilliant day and the field was in really good condition, we left no ruts, did no damage and did a 2 cable tow out all day. There are still a few puddles and soft spots but they were easy to see and avoid.

Doughnuts and Hot Cross Buns all went early on so everyone was prepared for the day ahead. Many thanks to Allan for letting us fly in interesting conditions, I have no doubt we all learned something as well as having a great day.

Thanks also to Geoff G. who spent all morning on the winch and gave us some excellent launches to 2000′ and then to John H. who did the same all afternoon.

Details are below,

Total Launches……………..14

Average Flight time…………19min.

Total Time Flown……………4hr.- 34min.

Longest Flight……..No need to put this because everyone could have stayed up longer but those who stuck to the 30min. time were Geoff C. John H. Nick J. Martin C. John Ha.

We were missing a few regulars which was a shame, mainly the K6 syndicate who were having their baby weighed at H.B. and a few others who may have been put off by the forecast.

All in all well worth the effort, we all had a good day. Even those who launched at just the wrong time enjoyed it.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 19th March 2013

Posted on by

We tried really hard yesterday to make the best of difficult conditions. We found a good dry place to launch from at the far end but the landing area was more difficult. Although there were some firm places it was impossible to stay on them when landing. We took 2 x K13s to the launch point but after 4 launches we could see landing and retrieving the gliders would continue to be a problem so we called it a day.

It was a shame as the cloud base was rising with the promise of sunshine later on. Fingers crossed for Thursday. We can only hope the field will have dried out sufficiently for us to operate. At least we have missed most of the rain and snow showers that were forecast. Many thanks to everyone who helped set up. It was worth giving it a go, just a shame about the field.

Apart from the field it should be flyable on tomorrow with a brisk East or S.E. wind with some sunshine. The wind will increase during the day so if the field is useable we really could do with making an early start.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 12th March 2013

Posted on by

We finally got exactly what it said on the tin today. It was a slow start as a couple of members phoned in to ask if it was worth coming over and as we were at the far end it was probably near to 11am for the first flight. The wind was blowing a steady 18 – 20 kts with higher gusts so we only flew 2 up in two K13’s.

Eleven members were on the flying list and everyone flew at least once. It was thermic and for the lucky (skillful) ones 2 to 4kt climbs were to be had. The strong N.E. wind stopped the climbs as we were careful not to get too far downwind. We stopped for lunch and soon after we restarted we had the only snow shower of the day. It only lasted for 10mins or so, it was not a problem.

As predicted the wind started to die away during the afternoon and what wind there was backed to the North which reduced our launch height by around 300′. It was cold in the morning but was quite pleasant as the wind decreased. The flying was much better in the stronger wind of the morning. We finally put the toys away at 4pm.

Total Launches…………….14.

Longest Flight………………20mins, Very well done to Tony M. it could easily have been much longer but he elected to put the airbrakes out at 2000′ and come down to give the others a go.

Second Longest…………..12mins, A really good effort by John H. Second flight of the day, very turbulent but he managed to get away and climb 500′ to 1800′. The climb was cut short because of drifting off downwind

Total flying Time…………….1hr. 40min.

Average Flight Time………..7min.

A really good day and well worth the effort. We took a bit of a chance with the weather but our luck was in. Lets hope Thursday is as good. It is looking good at the moment with some good thermals until the afternoon when the warm front will start to make it’s presence felt. It should stay dry all day and the wind should be back in the West. Lets make the best of Thursday because Saturday is looking very iffy.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 19th February 2013

Posted on by

What a wonderful day it turned out to be today. Much better than we expected with wall to wall sunshine from dawn till dusk. The flying conditions were not ideal but it was just so nice to get out in the warm sunshine all day. We even managed to operate from outside the clubhouse.

We had a really good turn out with over 20 members on the flying list. All the Doughnuts went very early on !

We still had to operate with a single cable which did slow down the launch rate a little but by the end of the day everyone had flown who wanted to and we all had a good day.

Vital statistics…………….

Total Launches……………39

Time flown…………………..4hr. 41min.

Longest Flight………………10min. Well done to Tony M. and Dave J. (Very closely followed by Humph with 9min.)

Average Flight Time………..7min.

All in all a really good day which was enjoyed by everyone and so nice to actually feel the warm sun again.

See you soon, Steve P.

Monday 4th February 2013

Posted on by

It was very short notice for today so it was not surprising that we only had 10 members on the flying list. We nearly cancelled it at 6-45am this morning when it was blowing 34kts at Wellesbourne but it seemed to settle down soon after that to a more manageable 22 – 25kts.

We all flew and had a really good morning with plenty of sunshine and a stiff 25kt westerly. No problems and everyone managed really well. We all had excellent launches as expected to 1950 – 2000′. Many thanks to Humph and Geoff, they did a brilliant job in difficult conditions.

Allan worked hard as always and we kept him well fed with Doughnuts (I x Jam 1 x Custard 1 x Chocolate) purely to keep his energy levels up.

We even managed to coax Phil out of the workshop for a flight. He may not have been current but he has not lost the touch. (he is current now !)

The wind seemed to increase a little at 1pm so we stopped for lunch when it was gusting to 35kts. so a mutual decision was made to put the toys away. Of course as soon as we had finished that the wind dropped back to 20 – 25kts. But we had all flown and had a very interesting morning. Really good fun and I think we all learned something.

Details are………………

Total launches………………9

Longest Flights…………….20min. well done to John H. and Allan…… not so closely followed by Phil Pa. and me and Humph and Pete.

Average flight time………..9min.

Total Flight Time……………1hr. – 33min.

Average approach speed…..68kts.

Fingers crossed for Thursday, looking good but maybe a bit colder.

See you soon, Steve.

Saturday 2nd February 2013

Posted on by

The field was still rather marsh-like today and the only viable option due to the (strong) North-Westerly wind was to takeoff from the SE hard runway edge and land along ’34 hard’ in the wheeled aircraft and within a few feet of it on the grass in aircraft with skids.

Still, plenty of eager pilots turned out. A full contingent from University of Warwick Gliding Club attended. We had some trouble with ground vehicles but nothing that couldn’t be cured with a large blunt instrument or tow-starting.

It looked initially like training would be the order of the day but in the early afternoon some cumulus began to form in cloud-streets running on a roughly NNW line. The three K13s which we had out began to soar for increasingly long durations.

Ultimately there were two flights over an hour in duration and while no serious cross-country flying was attempted, one aircraft climbed to just a sniff over 4,000ft and perhaps a couple of hundred feet short of cloud base.

In total 35 launches were flown and every who wanted or needed to fly did so. What a lovely day for February!

Tuesday 13th November 2012

Posted on by

Today went very well after we had worked out how to get the cable back without doing damage to the field. We were also very careful in marking out a good solid part of the field to land on. It all went well and was a good exercise for people to land accurately from the slightly unusual approach on 24.

All 30 Doughnuts went by lunch time and we were lucky it stayed dry all day. It really was quite warm and we had our fair share of sun. It was good to see our new K6 on line and it was very well used all day. It is proving to be very popular.

Doughnut Details are….

  • Total Launches……………27
  • Longest Flight…………….13mins by Geof G, also worth a mention was 12mins by David S and 12mins by Bob Horsnell and Harry in a K13..
  • Total Flight Time………….3hr..35min.
  • Average Flight Time…….7min.

Backup Winch Doris worked well all day and gave us consistently good launches, at least one to over 1900′. The wind did increase during the morning but did not get as strong as forecast, probably no more than 18kts. max. By the time we finished it had dropped to almost nothing. A good day all round.

Steve P.