Winters Back!!!

A picture of Bob Winters' back!

A cold clear start to the day with a moderate South Westerly and bright blue skies that brought out a number of folks. John & Sue were still here after the weekend festivities and Bob Winters was back to get current again after a couple of months off. 
Bob and I did a few circuits and a PLF to knock off the rust, then he took up DVX for a solo. Also out was visiting pilot and recently qualified BI from Thame, Peter Bryant. Peter plans to do some mid-week flying with us and we hope to see him doing some A/X instructing with us next summer. Eric was also out helping and later he flew the hangar flight, plus John L-C flying his DG. Gordon B also popped in from Long Marsden in his Rotax Falke. Others around included Lee, Christine, Phil M, Phil Z and Scott.

Early Birds...

Paul Noonan ran the day, and lots of folks turned out to make an early start and reap their rewards before the weather turned, which indeed it did as the forecast front came in. Meanwhile, the Leamington Volunteers were out selling vouchers at the Yuletide Fair.

The Legend of the Christmas Feast.

The sky was blue and cold, and much flying was enjoyed. Then retirement to the bar for the start of Christmas cheer, afore the famous feast began upon the seventh bell.
This was a Festive Day and we call'd it  the Christmas Feast of Shenington.
    All that joined this day, and comes safe home,
    Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
    And rouse him at the name of Shenington.
    He that shall live this day, and see old age,
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
    Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
    But he'll remember, with advantages,
    What feast he did that day. Then shall our names,
    Familiar in his mouth as household words -
    Meagher, Furesdon and Gould,
    Milligan, Le Maistre, and Wootton  - and many others too 
    Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
    This story shall the good man teach his son;
    And a Christmas Feast of Shenington shall ne'er go by,
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be remembered -
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    For he to-day that drank this toast with me
    Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
    This day shall gentle his condition;
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
    Shall think themselves accurs'd they could not join,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
    That dined with us upon that Festive Day.

Bath O/R

Heroic effort by Graham Paul and Al Cook who took a winch launch in their Duo Turbo and flew down the Cotswold Edge to Bath and back, though they did admit to using the 'iron thermal' a couple of times, so no points on the ladder. Still, excellent use of the weather to perform a rare winter cross-country flight from Shenington.

Well done guys.

Cold - But Still Fun!

Tim stealing the K6e!

A frosty start! Jane J was out early, as was Dave L-M, and were preping the kit when I arrived. 'Duty Student' Martin J was back for the second day on the trot for, as was Tim D. Dave G provided an aero-tow for Jane and I to go spinning for her annual BI Checks, after which we did some winch launches. Dave L-M experimented on the ridge scratching out a short soaring flight from frankly quite difficult soaring conditions with the wind weaker than yesterday, as did Eric in his K6e, before offering Tim a flight in his pride and joy, only to discover that Tim liked it so much it was difficult to get it back! Rain stopped play at 3pm, but I think we got what we wanted out of the day.

On The Ridge Again...

Derick ran the day with Tim assisting. Special Thanks to Dave L-M who started the winch driving and Keith taking over later. The wind was on the hill again and a number of folks were out taking advantage of the soaring to top-up their airtime before Christmas. DVX was out with for instructionand solo flying. Mike C was ridge-running in his Duo, John L-C flew his DG-800 and Phil B & I were operating XXI so I could fly with a couple of prospective course instructors for next year and show them our 'spectacular' ridge. A nother good winter soaring day at Shenington!

Challenges & Opportunities!



Dave Price starts work on his Bronze with Bruno.



Bruno was DI, Dave Price was LPC and Paul M drove the winch. Graham P helped Mike C rig the Duo for a trip to explore the Cotswold Edge, meanwhile Dave P started work on his Bronze with Bruno. It may be winter, but there's always opportunities to progress and challenges to meet. Tomorrow looks like another ridge day...see you at the launch-point!

Ridge, Wave and Aerobatics

Graham P was Duty Instructor with Tez & Mary sharing LPC duties and Charles S winch driving. The wind was on the hill and  a superb soaring day with ridge and wave. John D was out flying the K21 with Lucy and Paul M wave soaring at 4000ft+ and teaching aerobatics. 20 flights were flown with an average duration of 27 mins totalling just under 9 hours - not bad for December! Other out enjoying the soaring included Derrick, Paul F, Alistair F, Christian, Gavin, Robin, Tim, John R, Tess, Dave L-M, Terry T, John L, and Eric flying his K6e and gaining the longest flight of the day at 2:11.

Bob Goes Solo!

Bruno congratulates Bob after his first solo in HVQ

Bruno ran the day flying with Charlie M and Bob K. The weather was great for the start of December and Bob flew his first solo before lunch. Also out were Robin flying the Falke. I flew with Gail to complete her annual BI Checks and AFR, and Mark H who then flew solo after a 6 month break.

Wonderful Wednesday

November is often a woefull month for gliding weather in the UK, but this year we've had some really good days, including last Sunday's classic ridge day. Today was another good club day with Derrick instructing and a number of keen club members out to make the best of what was on offer, including young Christian who, deprived of a school day due to strike action, took the opportunity to cycle to the club and further his flying education!

A Good Training Day

Another productive day. I covered the instructing, with Richard A flying a good check flight after a few weeks off and then flying solo. Martin J also had a number of productive training flights. Also out were John M flying his RF4, and Tim & Derrick flying their G109. Special thanks to Lee for driving the winch, and Scott & Phil Z who helped out at the launch point this afternoon to enable us to get the most out of the day.

Ridge & Thermal

Whilst Jan, Clive and Gillian selflessly manned the SGC stall at the Banbury Christmas Market we were all enjoying soaring the ridge.  Lee and Gavin ran the day with Robin starting off the winch launching, with Jon C taking over later on once he had flown. The ridge was booming and there was super soaring available from dawn 'til dusk. Trish and Alan L had their DG300 out and both enjoyed soaring flights with even some ridge enhance thermals popping off! Others out enjoying the soaring included Kris from Oxford GC who flew a K21 for the first time, Nigel C, Christian, Suzie, Gail and myself.  It was one of the best ridge days in ages - if you weren't there, you should have been!

Friday Fun



Bruno launches Charlie on another solo flight.

Another good training day with Bruno course instructing again and authorising the airfield. jane came out to keep current on aero-tow with Dave G flew the tug. Others out flying included Robin and Gail flying the Falke, Phil H in his Bolkow and course members, Bob K and Charlie, who concentrated on winch launching and getting up to 1700ft thanks to the stiff westerly wind and Kath's expert winching. Shame you couldn't make it!

Phil H lines up his Bolkow BO-207 for take-off.

Brunoexplains wave formations to Charlie whilst Bob gets ready to fly.



Nice for November

After several days of murk the high pressure gloom had shifted this morning and Derrick S was Duty Instructor and keen to make the best of the day along with with several other club members out to keep current and work on their AFRs. Dave Gould provided the Aero-tows for Keith M, Eric L, John L-C, with Brian H and the others also doing some winch launches and, most importantly, all enjoying themselves.

Report from Keith Marchant.

More blue skies

Bruno and Clive prepare to launch

Off into the wild blue yonder



Paul takes control

 Other out flying included Dave L-M, Derrick S, John R, with Lee and Scott in the Falke.

Winter Achievements!

Blue Skies

 

Clive takes the back seat

It was fantastic weather for November with the early morning mist clearing before 9am. When I arrived at 08:55 only our duty BI Jane Jervis was up and busy, already preping the launch point bus and putting out the winch. New junior member, 14 year old Christian (who signed up yesterday) soon turned up having rode in on his bicycle from Shutford. Robin and Clive also appeared and helped to set up the airfield. Robin preped the Falke and offered the spare seat to our new recruit, which Christian eagerly accepted.

How do I see the tug round those ears?

First glider flight of the day was an A/T with Clive in the back seat of DVX with me in the front making a start on his BI training and completeing his AFR and Pax Carrying Endorsement. John D flew the tug. Brilliant blue skies and by 11:30am lots more folks were appearing, and lots of flying was crammed in to the next 5 hours, and we could have done more if we'd been able to start sooner! I flew with Geoff P and Mike C to complete thier Year 3 Instructor Checks and AFRs. Tim D, Gail, Alison, Lucy, Charles, Jon C Tez and Paul N (aerobating the K21 as usual) were amongst the others out enjoying the sunshine. Star of the day, however, was Nigel Clarke, who completed his NST and Field Landing Checks with Lee to finish off his Bronze Badge and XC Endorsement.

9 Days A Week!!!

Whilst most of our neighbouring clubs have 'moth-balled' their midweek operations for the winter, we've been out flying on every occasion the weather allows. Indeed, we have enjoyed some useful flying on all of the last nine days, proving that at Shenington 'Winter Mode' does NOT mean hiberanation.

Fri - It was a day for the Falke, and Robin was out flying in the clear spells between the showers.

 

The Bonfire

Sat - Paul Noonan ran the day which started rather dull, but picked up during the afternoon enough for some flying followed by our Bonfire and Fireworks, and John D's "JAR Party" with the barrel of Hook he'd provided. A good night was had by all.



Wonderful Autumnal Colours

  

Sun - Super sunny made it a fantastic autumnal day for flying and taking in the spectacular autumnal colours. Bruno and team ran the day with Dave P as LPC and Roddy in the Tug. I flew with Paul N to complete his AFR and start work on his Full Cat work-up, and Derrick S to combine his AFR and currency checks now he's back from Spain and available as a mid-week instructor to encourage mid-week club flying.



 

The Castel Inn at Edgehill in the autumn sunshine



First solo for Charlie

Our first week of mid-week winter ops continued to go from strength to strength with Dave Perkins providing club instruction with Suzie S-W and Eric on Wednesday. Thursday saw an intensive day with Bruno flying Bob K and Charlie M. Charlie had a particularly memorable day and flew his first solo this afternoon in HVQ - Well done Charlie!

Bruno congratulates Charlie on his first solo

Now to concentrate on Bob...

HVQ ready for action again!

Back to GMT

The weather is still providing some decent opportunities for productive flying.

Saturday saw Geoff P and team getting in some strong wind practice for number of folks and making the most of the daylight before the clocks changed back to GMT. 

Martin enjoys the outstanding view with visability to beyond Didcot!



Sunday started poor but Lee and team hung on for the late clearance and squeezed in a couple of hours before sunset stopped play.

Monday and Tuesday;  I was off work and was club instructor.  Martin J made the most of the opportunity and is now romping through the syllabus with practice launch failures on Mon and some stalling and spinning on Tue. Lee drove the buggy and the tug - not simultaneously! Terry T also took a quick winch launch. The Falke is now back on line and after being test flown by Tim D, Robin and I took it to Enstone for fuel. Sven then also got a short trip. Meanwhile Tim D hitched a ride down to Wing Farm in the Chippie with Dave G to retrieve G-WAVY. Thanks for help on the field to to Lee and Sven, and particularly Robin for acting as duty winch driver for the last 2 days, allowing the club to operate.

Professional Results...

It was the last day of our Summer Schedule and it was another super autumn day with blue skies and unseasonally mild temperatures. Bruno ran the day with Kath on the winch for the last time in our "Summer Ops" for 2011. Quite a few folks came out to play and make the most of the conditions, including Suzie S-W, Robin, Sven, Tony T, Bob, Steve W, Charlie M, etc. Even Phil Z was out and flew his Astir! It was a real bonus for those who turned out and between them they ran it like an well-oiled machine and clocked up an awsesome 62. YES, SIXTY-TWO launches!!!

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Well the the challenge is set and the weather looks good for the weekend with 16C predicted tomorrow! So come on guys and gals.There's still one day left before the clocks go back - time to get out there and get cracking before the winter sets in!

Next week sees the start of the SGC Winter Schedule, but remember we are open for 7 day ops all year - it just takes some volunteers to fill in the gaps and we can make the most of our fantastic club facilities every day. Mon, Tue and Wed next week are all planned to be flying days. Keep look out for my Monthly CFI Report which has some news of some exciting development for the winter season and keep in touch with the weather page http://weatherton.blogspot.com/ so you don't miss a good day and come and join in.

Infectious Enthusiasm!

Another wonderful day, with some great flying for late October - I  think the photos speak for themselves!




Terry ready to go!




Robin in the K21





John briefs Sven on Aeros in the new launch point Bus




Trish and Alan





Jane and Terry clean Q5



Fun and enthusiasm

Yet another good flying day full of fun and enthusiasm! Those out included Bruno, Jane (BI), Robin, Eric, Suzie S-W, Tony T and Sven, who converted to the Astir. there was also a family of AX visitors who all had a great time.

Showers broke up the flow a little during the afternoon, but we managed some aerotowing in between. I was pleased to fly G-OFER again and do some tows after a few solo circuits to get in the swing. Colin and Dave G continued to work on the Falke, whilst Lee, Scott, Jan, Gillian, etc ploughed through some other club tasks.

More of that breeze, please!

Another breezy day meant more high launches. Bruno instructed with Kath on the winch. New member Tim L, Martin J, Alex G, Lucy, Gail, and John L-C were just some of those out  for instruction today, with some flying solo including Lucy and Sven - well done! Several other members were also at the club working on a variety of projects...a brilliant turn out for a Monday in late October with 38 launches flown!

Caught in action: John L-C doing some work

Blustery But Fun!

John D was Duty Instructor, and helping hin run the show were Jane as BI, Roddy as Tuggy and Glen as LPC. The new launch point bus was out again and working well thanks to the efforts of Lee and Scott who have put in so much work over the past few weeks to complete the conversion for airfield ops!

Paul D was out to fly with me for his annual CFI BI Cx, starting with a tow to 3000ft for some stall/spin revision followed by some winching. Later I also flew with Tony T and had some more cracking winch launches. However, John D did most of the instructing including a number of flights with Sven (over again from Germany for a few days) amongst others. It was a moderate Southerly and we were achieving high winch launches, with John D securing the day record at 1700ft flying solo in the K13. John and Tess W were also out and John W took Lucy for flight and managed to 'ride some energy' to extend the flight a little.

Gavin turned up later, he and Paul F having successfully completed their Ass Cat Completion Courses this weekend at Dunstable with RE Andy Roch. To finish the day Gav and I took a winch launch to around 1500ft and managed to 'hover' into wind at min sink with the wind slowly blowing us backwards over the ground until we were able to 'energy dump' into the top field to complete a circuit without turning! We then ended up buying a round for a "Shenington First"!!!

Breezy - But Busy!

Another busy autumn day at the airfield - 53 flights and some pilots still finding lift at 5 pm.  

Ray and Lee flew with club members while Phil and Paul worked their charm on a succession of Air Exs. Fliers included former club member Mike Nelson, who has had a few flights since re-appearing at the club's 21st birthday in June, new member Zoe, plus some of this year's regulars - David, Alistair, Lucy, Nigel at el.

James Sigley flew as P2 in an unidentified source of zero sink just east of the airfield while his father, Brent, worked the same area in a K8, one hundred feet higher.  It's a family affair.  

Thanks, as ever, to the LPCs and winch drivers who kept launching us until dusk.

Report By Paul Duffy

Boomin'...Yum! Yum!

Eric gets ready to launch!

Super soaring with the ridge booming...Bruno led the way in DVX, soaring off the wire with Suzie S-W and Niel A - who both had a wonderful time. Eric has just bust a thousand hours on gliders, but there's no stopping him as he was also out flying his K6e. A shorter soaring flight in the morning was followed by an hour and a half  this afternoon in one of the most fun non-XC flights he's ever had from his very best winch launch at Shenington, which saw him make 1800ft thanks to Kaths expert winch skills.
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Tomorrows forecast looks even better with the wind bang on the ridge and thermals to 3000ft+, so don't miss your chance to get that 5 hours! 

First days of autumn...

Summer may have gone, but the start to autumn is still providing some pleasant flying days with soaring opportunities. There have been several NW'ly days with the ridge working and even some thermal soaring opportunities. See Graham P's trip down the Cotswold Edge on the 6th Oct. http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=34603

Lucy and Dave P after a soaring Cx flight

Bob P preps the Capstan

Dave P ran Sat with the aid of Paul F. DVX came back on line and was test flown by Paul F, before being released to service much to Martin J's delight. The winch was busy all day (thanks to Phil, Eric and Clive), and the blue skies provided excellent opportunities for high tows for stall/spin training flights (thanks to Phil M for manning the tug). There were several local soaring flights in the blue conditions which kept the temperatures up enough for shirt-sleeve order. Eric and Clive flew their Ka6, John R his DG and we had the Ka8 busy with both K13s, the K21 and I got out HVQ out to mop up some instructor Cx/training including Phil B's Annual BI Checks - Happy birthday mate!

Last days of summer...?

It was the first day of October and the whiff of suntan lotion was in the air. The weather this week has produced a genuine Indian Summer and, for us office and classroom-bound members it was even more of a bonus that it lasted until the weekend. 

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Saturday saw DDB and HVQ working their little dope-and-fabric socks off as club members and Air Exs turned up for flights.  Despite the lack of any real soaring opportunities - the longest flight was 30 minutes by Eric in Cosy Pyjamas - there were close to 50 launches.  Achievements of the day included Alistair adding to his log of early solos and Lucy re-soloing.  The final flight - Mary Meagher and Tim Donovan - landed after sunset. 

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Thanks to the team of winch drivers, LPCs and instructors - no individual mentions in case a name is inadvertently missed out - we had an well run, thoroughly enjoyable day.  Nothing noteworthy in the way of distance and duration, just one of those very good, easy-going club days.

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Report by Paul Duffy.

Indian Summer

Following Dick's departure (thanks for another productive season - take the rest of the year off!)  it was Bruno's turn to run the week, and he brought the summer back with him. The high pressure settled in and allowed lots of productive flying. I spent 2 days at Bicester being put through my paces for my BGA 5-Year Instructor Refresher training, but despite my flailing attempts I scraped through, so you still have a CFI...doh! Back at Shenington Tim D helped with some mid-week instructing, and Alistair Frier was sent solo by Bruno - well done!

The good weather looks set to stay for a few more days, so come and have fun while the sun shines and enjoy the autumnal colours whilst you can.

That was the Bank Holiday Weekend, that was...!

Saturday saw the TA back with us for their weekend camp and more A/X flying. Derrick ran the day aided by Phil B and Lee. Lots of flying with some local soaring available made for a very successful day. 

Sunday was run by Paul N (subbing for John D) with the aid of Phil M and Dave P - again a busy day with lots of folks out flying.

Bank Holiday Monday saw the start of Bruno's '2-weeks on'. Despite grey skies and cool NW'ly winds there was again lots of local thermal and ridge soaring. Several AX flights were flown by me and Mick F whilst Bruno ran the show and took care of Michael on the first day of his weeks course plus club check rides, etc. The K6e syndicate was out to play, as was President Phil in his Skylark 4. A good days soaring was had by all.

President Phil and Course Instructor Bruno in club power struggle!!!

That was the week, that was...

Don Puttock ran the week, and there was lots of flying and plenty of soaring opportunities available, especially on Monday which saw us with a very light NE'ly and  good soaring conditions allowing me to fly my furthest distance this year of over 400km in around 6hours. Details at: http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=34011

Newmarket

Evesham

Meanwhile Bruno Brown, Bob Playle, etc. were having a great time at the National Two Seater Comp. http://2sc.os-bo.co.uk/

And Graham Paul was competing in the Dunstable Regionals.

http://dregionals.onglide.com/current-day.xml

Interclub Results...

Sunday 21st
I wasnt around, but it looked like a good day, congrats to new full member Sven in completing his Bronze GFT and Bronze exam.
The interclub at Hinton seemed successful even though everyone landed out.  Below is from Gavin;

Hi All,
[here] are the results from the Hinton Interclub Rerun

Class	Club	Pilot's Name	Glider Type	Glider Ident	BGA Points
Pundit	Banbury	Andy Preston	Discus	W4	494
	Bicester	Ian Smith	Nimbus 2,b,c	W20	1000
	Shenington	Rowan Griffin	Std. Cirrus	C2	778
Intermediate	Banbury	Carole Shepherd	DG100/101	DG	520
	Bicester	Paula Aitken	LS8 (15m)	D4	477
	Shenington	Alan Langlands	DG300W	HMB	800
Novice	Banbury	Stuart Johnston	LS4	452	406
	Bicester	Jon Verrill	ASW15	846	395
	Shenington	Eric Lown	K-6e	CPJ	101

As you can see it was a three way tie.  I do not have the final scores for the season but as far as I can tell Bicester won the Midlands Interclub league this year and should be competing in the National Interclub Final..

Thank you to everyone who participated this year and also to those who helped to organise our Shenington Interclub weekend. A thank you also to those of you who supported our intrepid fliers in other ways, by dragging them out of far flung fields (sometimes by tourch light) for example.  If there was a prize for the best organised and run Interclub weekend I think we would be hands down winners every year, thanks to Alan Langlands and the team, who bring the same precision and dedication to our humble event as they do to the regionals.

If you did participate and you enjoyed it we would have accomlished our primary objective, which has always been to have fun!

Keep flying away, and keep safe.  Next year ...
Gavin

Friday 19th
A busy day with Dick, Bruno and Dave Perkins, 44 flights with a bit of soaring - and congrats to Eric who did an amazing flight in his K6 to East Anglia, landing at Rattlesden thereby setting the goal post for the Far Point Trophy (furthest landout from site in a glider) see his flight here http://www.bgaladder.co.uk/dscore.asp?FlightID=33949. Meanwhile, Graham flew 311km in his Lak.
Bruno, Chris P and others went to fetch DDB's wing from Bicester and it was rigged and ready by the end of flying.

Saturday 20th
We welcomed the Sporting Bears fund raising group, with 18 flights a big thank you to instructors Dave Perkins, Paul Fletcher, Paul Duffy, and to John Donovan for flying some around in the motorglider.  Nigel Clarke did a stunning job as LPC (anyone who wants to learn this job needs to pitch up on his day and see how its done properly!), and Gordan Clarke helped organising the paperwork and glidex.  Thanks to Rowan for towing and Andy and Bob who drove the winch - the turn around with a seperate tow out driver was superb.  We actually achieved cables arriving with no gliders on the launch queue!  And the new bus was given a run up to ferry people to and from the club house.  As the visitors were all petrol heads, they all thought this was a bonus - I think they were counting the types of vehicle they had been in that day!  All our visitors had a great time and an evening BBQ and we hope to see a few of them come back again.  We raised around  £700 for the club and the fundraisers made around £50 for charity.  Thanks again to all the club members who helped, we couldnt have done it without you.
Pictures to follow...

1500KMs from Shenington!

Inevitably, the first day after the Regionals turned out to be a cracking XC day, with 4 of us clocking up around 1500km between us. Graham squeezed in the first 500k of the year from Shenington in his Lak before the front hit. Al C did 426k, I clocked up 320k and John Rogers (who did the aerotowing this morning and also offered to cross crew for me with Jane - big thanks) sratched away off the wire around 12:00 and still managed to clock up 250km in his DG100. 

Dick ran the day with Eric winching and Jane helping after flying her Discus.

Regionals Week 2011

More photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tupperware_pilot/sets/72157627224616123