Weekend 23-24th Nov

We flew about 16 launches on Saturday. The cloud was higher than it looked, though it was rather chilly! Indoors (and slightly warmer!) Phil Marks and Paul Armstrong were running an Instructors Ground School refresher course with lapsed Bidford and Shenington instructors. Mary provided soup and cake for the members, and Michael Bell did soup and baguettes for the course members so we all had an excellent lunch.

Tess

Nicola, the daughter of Nick Saul, the owner of The Roebuck at Drayton invited Club members to her 21st at the pub on Saturday night, and a gang of us went. We believe 270 friends and family were invited and the building is not large and so we were very snug. The pork roast was ready by 8.20 pm and was awesomely delicioso. Friends of the Roebuck may be interested to learn that Nikki is leaving Dad on Thursday to go off and take up a job as a ski chalet maid.

 

On Sunday, we were discombobulated by the wind.  Andy and I took the first launch of the day in CC and then went off for a 10:30am breakfast in Kineton.  When we got back there was a struggle with launching and after having to recover a chute from the N crop field [which fell comfortably short of the Kart track itself], we decamped to the short hard and it was all downhill until canopy misting stopped play

Eric (ntd)

 

Saturday 16th November

Having missed a lovely day the previous Sunday, I arrived at lunchtime on Saturday to find a grey sky and lowish cloud on the field. The team had been flying anyway, and after a break for lunch we made our way back to the launch point to have another go. It was chiller than expected given the light winds, but we took it in turns to fly CCC around the circuit and stay current. Alistair Frier went off in the Falke to complete his field landing checks with Ian Atherton, and is pleased to report that he has now been finished his Cross Country Endorsement.

 

Our visitor David came all the way from Kent to have a trial lesson, stopping only at Didcot to pick up his son and family. We were all very impressed by his enthusiasm, and he had a  number of winch launches with Russell instead of the planned aerotow, due to the low cloud base. Grandchild Ellie (almost four!) took a great liking to the buggy and went to assist on the glider retrieves - maybe a future glider pilot there. We packed up as dusk fell, then went off to a preliminary meeting in the clubhouse about the new EASA piloting rules. Many thanks to CFI Phil and Christine for trying to guide us through the labyrinth process - there was a certain amount of brain fade by the time we had reviewed the forms. Thankfully Michael Bell & helper cooked dinner (sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice with apple crumble to follow) which cheered us all up! 

Saturday 19th October

Saturday 19th October saw both the K21 and T21 out for an airing (the two 21s causing a headache for the winch driver!!!) Mary took the opportunity to go for a flight with Eric in the T21 before some very heavy showers late afternoon that meant many of us got completely drenched while putting the kit away!

'All set.'

October

ANOTHER SOLO!

Phil Hebdon, who has been around Shenington for many years now finally decided to do it without the motor and went solo in early October.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Colin and Christine West have recently come gliding at Shenington.  They took some wonderful photographs which you can find on Colin's website here: http://www.colin-west.com/index.php/Gliding-at-Shenington

Indian Summer - Sunday 7th Oct

A misty start to the day, no training bookings and only one air ex flight booked in the diary – no indication of how busy a day it was going to be.

As the day warmed up to an unseasonal 17 Celsius, so did the activity level.  We started with just CCC and the super-smart Sports England K8 out, but these were joined by the K21, Beth and a couple of private gliders as the sun brought more visitors and members. 

We achieved 45 launches, including air experience flights for 8 visitors and a couple of “friends and family” flights. Longest flight of the day was by Tim Treadaway, with 41 minutes. Mark Hampson, currently recovering from a hip replacement, came to visit. Mark is not allowed to fly yet, but he succeeded in persuading his wife Judy to take a flight, after 23 years as a “gliding widow”.  Judy enjoyed a 30 minute flight with Gail in CCC.

The highlight of my day was joining Russell as P2 in the T21 for an aero-tow launch. Tim in the tug did a great job at keeping the speed down, but Russell said it was literally a white-knuckle ride as he fought to keep in position. I had the easier job of admiring the view, the air being crystal clear to the horizon by mid-afternoon. 

A nice day by any standards, but a great day for October!

Dave Price

Saturday 5th Oct

Jon and Robin, to spread awareness of the club around the locality, took ASW15 "G2" to the Saturdads session at Bloxham Childrens' Centre. The Dads, Centre staff and the children were all intrigued by the glider and many of them tried it for size. Although no air-ex vouchers were sold on the day, I'm confident that the outing will lead to a number of trial lesson bookings in the near future.  

Jon C

The Sport England K8 flies!

Sorry for being so late in posting these photos. The first week at uni has been rather hectic and now is the first chance I have had to sit down!

Our fully-refurbished Sport England K8 came out of the workshop after months of work and flew for the first time on Friday 20th September. Here are a few photos from that long-awaited day.

Waiting at the launch point.

About to take my first launch in HLH.

Looking down on the airfield.

Late afternoon sunshine.

Gail preparing to fly.

Brian doing the last of his pre-flight checks.

The end of a successful day's flying.

Sunday 22nd Sept

This weekend saw the blue K8 (HMH?) enter service - she looked shiny and brand new at the launch point. Everyone who flew her looked after her as if she were precious - and she stayed up on a whisper of a thermal. The sight of the Club's two K8s in the air together was rather special and the debate on which flies better has already begun!! Our visitors Jon, Freda & David were cleared to fly the K8's and were very impressed - the extension of the fleet to include two such 'friendly' aircraft, which are a natural step from the K13s, was a source of a lot of fun (smiles of delight on every launch & landing). We had a good club day on Sunday with 40+ launches.

Russell Dyer

Saturday's flying

Another busy day with Dave Perkins & Don Puttock in charge. The weather was dull to start off with, so it was a late start to the day, but improved quite quickly in the late morning.

Alex & Gus, who had done some course flying midweek in summer, were booked in for some more dual tuition, together with some trial lesson visitors. There was also some instructor validation happening, with Paul Armstrong on site to help Phil M so the two seaters were kept in continuous use.

It was good to see Andy Moore again - after a break from gliding (and Shenington) Andy resoloed again last week and is now getting current again of every combination of winch, aerotow, etc that he can before applying for his EASA license.




 We had a break for a little cow herding mid afternoon, as the young bulls once more made a bid for freedom near the winch! The life of an instructor is never dull....


Eventually the sun broke through. Not for long, but it did allow Tim T to get the only soaring flight of the day in his Kestrel 17. Lucy also flew her K6 DNW - perhaps for the last time before she heads off to Uni next Saturday - and Andy M flew the Astir.

 

There were a great many practice launch failures and not just from the instructors, so perhaps it shouldn't have been a great surprise that towards the end of the day, Alex went solo.

Thanks to Nigel C, Gordon C, Clive and Brian L-W for manning the bus and winch all day, and to everyone else who helped out. Thanks also to Liz for cooking an evening meal for everyone.