Tag Archives: soaring

Tuesday 30th April 2013

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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

Wednesday 3rd April 2013

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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.

Thursday 21st February 2013

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What do you get with a brisk Easterly wind and a bitterly cold day? What you get is some brilliant flying weather!

It was a very slow start with only 6 members on site by 10am and very little enthusiasm to fly. But the field had dried out really well and we could even do a 2 cable full out and so with a little persuasion (ok a lot) we finally got the toys out on the understanding we would finish at lunch time. We only took one 13 to the far end which was the correct decision at the time with the numbers on site but a decision we were to regret later.

The first flight was as expected until the downwind leg when we flew through some good lift. The second flight was much better gaining some 400′ and lasting 15mins. From then on for the lucky ones it just got better with Humph and Pete getting to 2300′ with a 28min flight before lunch. We decided to stop for a warm up in the clubhouse and after lunch Phil Pa. and lucky me as ballast managed 32min and 2700′ (Sorry Humph).

We really could have done with another K13 as 4 more members had turned up but by the time we landed nearly all the lift had gone. Not a lot of launches but we had a great day with some very unexpected flying, Well worth the effort and I think we all learned a lesson, if it looks flyable give it a go cos you never know.

And finally many thanks to Phil P who stood in at the very last minute as duty instructor.

See you soon, Steve.

Saturday 2nd February 2013

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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 15th January 2013

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A brilliant day today for several reasons. First off it’s congratulations to Allan on another year under his belt; it’s his Birthday today – must make a note in my diary so we can get him a cake next year. The cake will not be a problem but not sure if we can afford the candles.

We all had a good day with wall to wall sunshine and the wind stayed west of north all morning giving us some good launches to about 1400`. We stopped for lunch at 1315 and when we got going again a line of large dark clouds drifted in from the N.E. There was lift underneath them with Geoff G. and Neil the first to find it. There was a rush to get the other two gliders in the air, first to go was Paul R. in the K6 closely followed by Harry and Allan in K-13 HSM

They all got away and had 3 really good flights, by the time they all landed the sun was going down so we had one more short flight and put the toys to bed at about 1545.

So the details are……………….

Total Launches………….23.

Longest Flight…………..37min. well done to Geoff G. and Neil. They also got from launch height (1200′) to cloudbase at 2000′.

Second Longest Flights……23min. Well done to Paul and Harry and Allan, they only managed to get to 1800′

Total Time Flown…………….3hr. 25min.

Average flight time…………..8min.

A great day, especially as Thursday is looking doubtful. Many thanks to those who turned up early to help set up.

See you soon, Steve P.

Monday 19th March 2012 – Glorious Monday

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What a change from last week and even yesterday today was. We got exactly what it said on the tin. A good westerly breeze from early on that got a little stronger as the day went on. It was thermic from 10-30am and by 12-30 several people were having flights to well over 4000′. It was a shame that it was such short notice as several regular members were absent so we did not have a large turnout however most of those who did turn up had a brilliant day with some memorable flights, there were about 15 members on the flying list and 6 of those flew their own ships.

Details as follows:

24 launches
Best flight was 3hrs. 9min by Phil Pickett in his beautiful ASW24.
Average flight time, sorry forgot to look but it would have been good.
Lots of long flights , Nick J. 1hr. 55min in the Dart (eat yer heart out Bob), Phil Pain 1hr 31min in the Vega, Humphrey 1hr. 19min and Pete Merrit 1hr. 05min in their K6, and last but not least Jonty with an hour in the K18. Lots of other members had good flights with Allan to heights they had probably not been to before.

See you soon, Steve P.

Tuesday 6th March 2012

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Yesterday certainly was “Super Tuesday” and nothing to do with the American Elections.  We got exactly what it said on the tin, brilliant day with good thermals from about 11-30 until 3pm. A gentle wind from the N.W. gave us reasonable launches to around 1400′.   It did back to the S.W. later as predicted but stayed around 5-8kts.

Lots of private gliders out, most for the first time this year. It was nice to see gaggles of 3 or 4 gliders at a time sharing the same lift. We had a really good turn out with well over 20 members on the flying list. We even had a trial lesson in the afternoon. Every club glider flew (except the K21 which is still off-line). It was a really busy day and I think Allan will need a couple of days R and R. to be ready for next Tuesday.  Many thanks to Allan, Nick and Mark who finally managed to get everyone flown.

The Skylark was also out for the first time this year, so it was good to see that Vic still has lots of friends.

O.K. now to the “Brilliant” details,

50 Launches.
Best flight, Phil Pickett in his 24. with a time of 2hrs. 1min.
Best Runners up were Pete Merritt in his loverly K6 with 1hr. 38min.  Jonty with 1hr. 17min in the K8.  Nick J. in the Dart 1hr. 16min and finally Bob H. also in the Dart, 1hr. 04min.
There were plenty of other long flights but those were the ones of over an hour.
Average flight time was over 20mins.

See you soon,  Steve P.

Rain and Rainbows Jan 12th 2012

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Penny B writes:

We started the  day with great enthusiasm –  some of us admiring the huge rainbow – ahm that means……….rain!     Fortunately not a very heavy shower as a cold front went through.   After an hour or so we ventured out again and its turned into a lively, cool, sunny afternoon  (NWly 20 kts and gusty at times).  The wind dropped away towards the end of the day………. and then suddenly there was a little lift around.  Well done to Vic, 18 mins in the K18.  Is this the longest flight of the year??  36 launches.   Stunning sunset.

Penny also sent some pictures which made a great panorama shot.

 

Penny also included a photograph of the sunset.

Busy Tuesday 10th Jan

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We were very lucky with the weather today, it was much better than we expected with sunshine for most of the day. The cloud base stayed around 17 – 1800′ but with plenty of gaps it was never a problem for very long. We had a brilliant day with most of the Gliders being used non-stop. The launches were very good as predicted with cloud base easily attainable.

Total Launches  45
Longest Flight    14mins. by David (nice to see you back) Clark.
Total Flight time 5hr. 26mins.
Average Flight Time  8mins.

Many thanks to Alan who we “Hot Berthed” for most of the day and to Nick J. for flying all the members that Alan could not, it meant several members were able to take advantage of the “Buy 3 get 1 free” winter offer. Good for them and good for the club. Without both of their hard work it would not have been possible.