Friday 28 October 2011

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!!!
..
..
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.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

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


Tuesday 25 October 2011

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.

Monday 24 October 2011

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

Sunday 23 October 2011

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"!!!

Saturday 22 October 2011

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

Tuesday 18 October 2011

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.
,,
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! 

Saturday 15 October 2011

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!

Saturday 1 October 2011

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. 
.
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. 
.
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.
.
Report by Paul Duffy.