Sunday 20 December 2015

Sunday 17th December



Sunday commenced in glorious sunshine but with only a few members arriving to fly, Tom had decided that if insufficient members wanted to fly by 10:00hrs the day would be scrubbed, four of us had turned up before 10:00hrs so flying was on!
Looking at the launch point after the rain
Unfortunately the vehicles and winch hadn’t run for a couple of weeks, the tractor turned out to be the only bit of kit with a charged battery so it was used to start the rest of the equipment. CCC was dragged out plus Trish and Alan rigged their DG for an airing, by 11:30hrs 13 members and guests were at the launch-point. A heavy rain shower spoiled play at around 13:00hrs, CCC was temporarily put back in it’s hangar and we took lunch in the Club House, Mary’s soup and cakes all vanished in approximately 20 minutes!

lunchtime soup....
 The sun reappeared at 14:00hrs and flying resumed until 16:00hrs, by which time we had 13 launches, great fun! 


Lech

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Saturday 5th Dec

No flying sadly, as the weather was all a bit rowdy ('Storm Desmond' apparently - what's with the naming of storms these days? We're going to be out of letters very quickly....) and the wind was far too strong to get gliders out. Instead, people drifted in late afternoon and helpers decorated the clubhouse and restaurant while Liz prepared turkey and veg plus traditional puddings for a Christmas Meal. Mid evening about 30 of us sat down with a few drinks to enjoy a festive dinner followed by Christmas pud and brandy sauce. We then retired to the bar for a few drinks and lots of chat.

A big thanks to Liz and helpers for a lovely evening.

Don't forget to sign up for the Annual Dinner in February 20th 2016.

Friday 4th December



An intrepid band of club members, brought together via the "winterflying" email group assembled at the airfield all desperate to take to the air after so many miserable non-flying days.  At the start of the day Christine and Phil appeared, to ferry the supermunk to Hus Bos for its service. Then everyone mucked in and, despite the lack of any rostered crew, the flying ran remarkably smoothly.  The weather was dry and sometimes even sunny, but with a cool and brisk wind and VERY gusty.  Just the sort of conditions to blow off the cobwebs and test old skills!  K13 CCC was put through its paces by a number of club members (including Robin, Gail, Gavin, Eric, Bob K, mick F, Paul B and myself), meanwhile Alan and Trish flew their DG 300 and George brought out his newly acquired PIK20 to try it out.  To add to the activity, Mick continued work extending the heating system to the restaurant/briefing room building and Liz was hard at work preparing for tomorrow's Christmas meal.  I mustn't forget to mention Kath and Jane, as always hard at it keeping the club clean and provided with supplies.

Jon Carlton

Sunday 15 November 2015

Saturday 14th Nov

Hello all! Nothing to report on the flying front as rain and wind stopped play, though Russell was here & ready just in case. We had a very jolly meeting of the Shenington Regionals Committee in the evening, as part of the planning for next  years' regionals competition (which is already full up). Mary has lots of ideas re entertainments, and we hope many of you will get involved.

In the meantime here are some photos of BeTH to cheer you up, taken a couple of weeks ago just before she was derigged for her ARC. Photos courtesy of Danny Chapman, one of our most recent solo pilots.


 


 



Monday 2 November 2015

Sunday 1st Nov

Saturday was sunny and calm, a perfect day for lots of T21 flights before the derig for ARC work.

Sunday was equally lovely once the canopies had cleared and the fog had lifted. Gavin was on duty, with Dave G in the tug, and Russell assisting with some trial lessons. 

Gavin had fun giving recent solos Alex & Danny C cable breaks. Not the easiest day for it was very calm, though the views from aloft were beautiful. Robb flew the K13 and then helped out with the winching. Leslie & Danny both converted to the K8, which is back online after its annual and Terry T, Steve T and I also managed a launch, though I didn't get to the top of mine! Lucy popped in to say hello & to have soup, but ended up taking a launch and helping out for the rest of the afternoon. She is enjoying Loughborough, and has also joined the University gliding club there (flies at Saltby). I forgot my camera but Clive & Leslie have posted some nice photos on facebook....

Gavin had planned a late aerobatic flight in the K21 but had to call time as the canopies were misting quite badly. Having said that, a good day all round with 29 flights and lots of keen early solo pilots!

Sunday 1 November 2015

Friday 30th October

Onglide opened tonight for people to sign up for Shenington Regionals 2016. The entry list (held to 33 pilot due to space/infrastructure limitations on the airfield) was full in less than an hour, and then we started on the waiting list. 
We're all just a little bit shocked.......

Sunday 25 October 2015

Friday 16th October

Bruno has had a busy week with both course and club members. A big congratulations to Danny Chapman, David Hounslow and Rob Felton for going solo.

Saturday 10th October

Great news - Phil Marks sent Alex Phillips solo today. Congratulations Alex!


Wednesday 7th Oct

I took Q5 down to Talgarth last weekend and joined Alan (Chubb) together with a few members of the Oxford Gliding Club. Although the weather was not particularly kind to us we had a superb day midweek with a 23kn north-westerly making the northern half of the mountains wonderfully soarable, Alan and I few Q5 until nearly sunset. Unfortunately the next few day’s forecast was for very low wind conditions so we returned Q5 back home to Shenington on Thursday (8th Oct.).     

Wonderful fun!

Lech


 



 

Monday 5 October 2015

Sunday 4th October

Another chilly clear night with a sunny start to the day. Conditions in the air were not as great as we'd have hoped due to the high pressure and it was a bit of a pea souper. It was noticeable that most of those who flew elected not to fly again due to the very poor visibility. At the worst time of the day, Trish in the DG said that she chose to stop climbing at 1600ft due to the vis, and that not only could you not see Banbury, you couldn't see Tysoe!
Waiting for the gliders
Gail & Rowan flew with Trial lessons, and Alistair, Leslie, Dave P and Tess flew in CCC. John R flew EPU, and Phil took JYR for an aerotow, neither choosing to stay airborne very long. Later in the day, Alan L had the longest flight of about an hour in HMB, later in the day when the vis began to improve. From the ground we saw the last flight of the Vulcan in the distance, as it transited over Gaydon - Clive got some decent photos which he's posted on Facebook.

Saturday 3rd October


After full size flying had finished, the Shenington Gliding Club Model Flying Group had a session in the clubhouse field. Clive with his Messerschmitt ME262 twin ducted fan, Dave with his mini electric flyer and me with my quadcopter and ‘Apprentice’ electric trainer.
 
Gary
 
 

Tuesday 29 September 2015

Sunday 27th September

Another good day following a cold clear night. John W & Rowan stepped in to cover the afternoon instructing as we were short of a DI team. Alex flew with Rowan, and recent solo pilots Leslie & Patrick both had flights with John practicing thermalling. Leslie was very pleased to follow up with her first solo soaring flight! After spending much of yesterday driving the winch, I'm glad to report that both Eric & Paul M finally got into the air in their gliders. Our visitors enjoyed their flights and we flew till early evening.
 
Forecast looks good for the rest of the week so don't hesitate - get some soaring done while you still can! Winter is coming.......

Monday 28 September 2015

Saturday 26th September

A real bonus of a day for September! The day dawned sunny, bright and cold which promised good thermals. As we expected plenty of visitors for trial lessons and a day course, we took DVX & CCC up to the top hangar field to get started together with the tug. Paul N and John W were on duty, with Eric, Andy, John R on the winch in turn, once Eric & Alistair had installed the new roller on the right hand drum! Clouds started popping late morning, and the private gliders came out to fly.


Alistair took HJD off soaring, John R got the day record of 4 hours in EPU, Gary and Graeme Hudson (stop press - Graeme is hoping to get back into gliding and is looking for a glider) went off on aerotow in KHC, while Robin and then Gail flew G2. John Le Coyte went off in the DG800, whilst Gaynor was running a very successful 'Macmillan Coffee Morning' down at the clubhouse. Various members sloped off for cake, and then Christine brought more cakes & coffee up to the launch point for the helpers - definitely an improvement on our normal bus catering! 
Where did all the gliders go??
All of our visitors managed a soaring flight - the day course couple both had a long flight, and showed lots of enthusiasm! During a break I took CCC for a long flight - conditions were great, up to 3,600 (cloud base at the time) in less than 10 mins off the winch. It went bluish locally for a short while but even then the wisps worked well. Paul Mucha turned up mid afternoon and very helpfully relieved Eric from the winch, finishing the day's session. Patrick turned up in the afternoon and had a late long soaring flight with John W. My hangar flight of DVX with Rowan turned into 40 mins of local soaring watching the shadows lengthening over the ridge & furrow. It was a gorgeous evening, in tune with a very enjoyable day.
 
....and there was still cake down at the clubhouse!

After flying a gang of us went for a curry to celebrate Gary's birthday.