Monday 24 March 2014

Some more pics from Saturday 15th March...

Continuing on from Tess' post, here are a few photographs I took. Most of them were taken while flying along the ridge with John W, watching the sunset.


Panoramic View






Saturday 15th March


On Saturday 15th March, Clive managed to get into the wave near Shenington. Here is the commentary from his flight!

Sunday 23 March 2014

Saturday 22nd March

TIm & Christine with G-BCSA
Saturday was a special date for Shenington Gliding Club - the first time in our 24 year history that we have owned our own tug! Our new Supermunk G-BCSA did its first aerotow for us this Saturday with Paul Noonan (duty instructor) and Lech on board the K21 behind. The tug has been polished to within an inch of its life by Tim (the tuggie) and looks extremely shiny and smart. We owe Christine and Tim a big thanks for finding us this brilliant edition to the fleet.

We were operating off the short hard runway due to a strong South Easterly, but some soaring was had in spite of the gusty conditions.



A trial lesson visitor Carol who brought with her various friends including Ollie Howe, former tug pilot (and Pitts Special owner) at Shenington, and Brian Thompson who used to fly a standard cirrus at the club in the 1990s.  Carol thoroughly enjoyed her winch flights in spite of the strong wind, and it was good to catch up with Ollie & Brian. Keith Marchant also popped in with his daughter Emily whom many of us remember as a teenager. Emily now has two small children of her own!

Carol had a wide grin after her flights



Paul Noonan with Ollie (l) and Brian
Christine & Paul went for another aerotow while some of us had lunch, then the day was scrubbed as the weather was taking a turn for the worse. The photos show this quite well!




Safely to bed....our own  tug in the hangar
People drifted in during the late afternoon in preparation for the AGM at 6:30pm. This was quite a swift meeting. Once votes had been cast for the new Committee, and there had been a chat about revised tug charges, we all repaired to the new kitchen for a meal prepared by Jane. Another very pleasant evening....

Thanks to all who helped out (in whatever capacity) on the day. 

Friday 21 March 2014

Many hands...

make light work....

While some folks fly, others are busy fixing things around the airfield.




Above, Gavin and new member Nicholas Wood.

Mick repairing the clubhouse roof, Dave & Phil filling holes......

Monday 17 March 2014

Spring is here! Saturday 15th March

The midweekers are back in operation and keeping busy, so it was good to have such nice weather at the weekend too! In spite of predicted North westerlies there weren't many private gliders out, but those that turned up found it well worth their while....

First flight up was Clive in 373, who disappeared for almost 2 hours, finding both ridge lift and then thermals and wave. Clive was quite thrilled to find a good spot of wave and videoed the control panel and horizon as he climbed up past 2500ft in smooth lift. Next up were Graham P (duty instructor) and John Whiting in DVX - they also contacted wave and thermals and were gone for an hour. This was the pattern of the day - the K8 and K13s stayed up well, and most people had soaring flights of 15-45 minutes, apart from those undergoing the completion course.

Dave takes a winch launch ahead of the AT queue
At one point we ran out of gliders (and people) altogether....all that was missing was the tumbleweed.....

Paul Armstrong & Ian Willows were visiting from Hus Bos to do some Instructor completion flights with Malcolm (from Bidford) and Derrick S so they kept us busy most of the day with aerotows and winch launch failures. The K8 also managed to break two blue weak links, though Paul F. made it to the ridge from his break and soared away for nearly an hour !! Paul Noonan went ridge flying in his DG and Dave Smith, having spent the morning mowing the clubhouse field, went off in the Duo to the Cotswolds edge. 
Can't remember what we were all watching but it must have been interesting!

It was a busy day elsewhere on the airfield: Mary fed us soup, CFI Phil filled holes in the carpark and flew the motorglider, Mick worked on the bar roof, a gang of people moved the T21 in the top hanger so that the Skylark could be weighed. Thanks to everyone that helped out with driving the winch, retrieving, logging, instructing, tugging, hangar packing and generally getting things done. A very enjoyable day all round...

At times the sky was gorgeous, and as sunset approached the ridge worked well again and the horizon lit up. John W and Lucy took the last flight of the day onto the ridge and enjoyed the sunset from aloft.

The moon over the K8.....sunset behind the K21 as we put the kit away.