Tuesday 31 January 2017

Saturday 28th Jan

A good number of members looked at the improving weather forecast and came out to play, Eric and Lech went off to fetch the Daihatsu from having a new clutch and brakes overhauled in Winderton, the rest of the kit started! – first time for weeks, thanks must go to Connor for his continuing persistence in sorting out the vehicles .


Although the morning started dull and overcast, the cloud base lifted and eventually broke up as the day progressed, resulting in sunny afternoon and even warm (for January), little bits of lift were evident so pilots had something to play with.











After 19 launches we put the kit away and opened the bar – super!

Lech Z

Sunday 22 January 2017

Saturday 21st January

Another great forecast with an alternative reality! A large cast of club members waited for the fog to clear and started flying mid afternoon. Time was not wasted - Clive & the band put the thermal cladding into the bar roof and Connor & Matthew tinkered with our various clapped out vehicles to try and get them working again. Rowan got C2 ready for her trip to Poland this week for regel.
We were most surprised when the first glider launch got 1200ft, but the sun gradually showed it's face and we had a most pleasant afternoon in spite of the very low temperatures. Andrew F got cleared as a winch driver, and everyone that wanted to fly did so. 

 

 



The visibility was surprisingly poor horizontally so probably just as well that it wasn't soarable, but we had a lovely sunset.



Thanks to everyone that helped out during the say, especially those working outdoors on the kit.

Tess

PS I meant it about my subaru!

Monday 16 January 2017

Saturday 14th January

Forecast looked great and lots of people turned up so it was not a surprise that as soon as we got the gliders out, the weather retaliated by chucking it down!! Luckily this gave Connor the chance to fix the tractor which had broken down while towing out the winch to its spot for the day....

The Langlands were fettling the DG1000, the Donovans were working on the motorglider, and a team took CCC apart so that Phil M and Rowan could do some maintenance. Eventually the rest of us got flying and though the day promised very little initially - the fantastic launches of 1400 to 1700 feet being interleaved with low cloud - we eventually saw some small changes that meant we had some flights extended by the ridge effect. 
George launching Lech
Paul Fletcher had the longest flight of the day at 34 minutes with plenty others having long flights for the time of year. A number of us like myself and Paul M were just happy to get current again, with the rest making sure that they stayed current. A large number of people flew (must have had most of the instructors present too!) though we never got the tug into the air. An enjoyable day in the end, and the gliders were all put away clean and shining, courtesy of the washing down by the showers at the start of the day.  
Weak link lottery!
Photo to the left gives a better idea of the cloud which kept filling in during the earlier parts of the day. The later flights were the best as regards height and lift.


Graham models his patent jeans knee protection device!! Perhaps not the best day for wearing white trainers.
More scudding cloud in the air, but signs of promise with some blue patches showing through. We never saw any sunshine (well, except during hangar packing when we had a pink sunset) but it wasn't a bad day for January.

A big thank you to Connor, Phil & Lech for sorting out the winch & vehicles so that we could keep flying, and to Eric & Lech for winching all day. Photos from Rob F, Mick F and Rowan.

Tess

PS Rumours that my Subaru is the newest retrieve vehicle have been greatly exaggerated!!