April 29th

Blast from the past??

John Rogers sent these photos from midweek. Some of you may remember when this was the first task of the day before flying!

I sometimes miss the cows but I don't miss the cowpats!

Monday 14th April

The sky went good at around 10am on Monday.  Gavin had Clive Sutton as a 4 day course man, and their first flight was 49 mins!  Graham then left in the Nimbus and returned with a long face 647k later!

Graham's flight was Edgehill, Lavenham, Sheffield West (!), Depden Water Tower then back to Edgehill for a declared 707km. The detail is as follows : (see BGA ladder for the trace - it's very long!)

"Had hoped the 400km aligned with the wind would be under streeting, but no such luck, streeting started on the way home when I was flying west. Still some great climbs but the thermals were very small and broken by the wind, which was a 20kt headwind going up to Sheffield and a 9 kt tailwind when I turned to come back. Signs of sea air with low base clouds and a lack of cumulus as I reached Cambridge convinced me to give up on the last turnpoint. Probably would have made it as run back very easy."  

Meanwhile back in Oxfordshire, John R flew for 3.5 hrs, Eric checked out his loggers with a 1.75 hr flight in Cosy and AND  Lech flew in Q5 for  12m and then for 5 h 40 mins! 

Many congratulations on the silver duration Lech.

Apparently this is a rare shot of members working!

Eric (ntd)

Sunday 13th April

Eric (ntd) reports that the weather was not as good on Sunday as had been anticipated. However  BETH came our of her winter nest and flew with Russell, Harry, Clive & Eric. Looks like a few other people were flying too, and judging from the shadows on the photos below, the sun did make a welcome appearance!

Brian getting ready to fly

Little Miss Muffett and Friend

Terry with no sign of fear!

Saturday 12th April

Saturday started off with a disappointingly grey sky and a cool wind. Being small in numbers, we just got out the Skylark 4 and a token K13 and set up in the 8 acre field. Robin went off to do the first stint on the winch, and Phil Hebdon took first slot in the Skylark, but we weren't terribly hopeful about the conditions. DI Graham P was adamant that it was going to get better!

Sam Tomline and Zander, another friend of Phil & Sam, turned up to fly so Graham had something to do, and the rest of us took turns with the Skylark. It all worked out quite well because fairly soon Sam was sent off solo again (after an 8 year break), and we kept the gliders busy all day. 

Solo Sam!

 Initially the flights were better than circuits but not terribly long, then just as it was looking very frontal, Paul Fletcher got away in wave in BNP. As we watched he disappeared up underneath the dull grey top cover, way above the lower ragged cloud, until he was at over 5000'. Best flight of the day, with an hour off the winch, and once again he kindly brought it back for the rest of us. Paul reported that some of the ragged clouds below him appeared to be lined up but that there was otherwise no clue as to the source of the lift.

Whilst Paul was up high, Harry turned up and launched in the K13 - he also contacted wavelike of some sort.....we watched him going up in a straight line away under a grey but cloudless patch of sky. Later, when the front had gone through, we got blue skies and thankfully it warmed up. After that there was more traditional soaring to be had, and Terry M, Phil H and Rowan had decent flights in BNP. 

This is more like it!

 

Thanks to a small but helpful team we had an enjoyable day. Thanks especially to Robin, Paul F and Michael Bell for doing all the winching. 

Saturday the 29th of March dawned with great expectations from members.Tim and others were working to get the Skylark 4 ready for its first flight at Shenington. 

Thanks to Phil (CFI) Tim Donovan and several others who worked over the winter to get it airworthy again and thanks to a member for donating it to the club.

Weighing had to be completed and the control deflections checked, not forgetting the paperwork  before its first flight

Meanwhile club flying went ahead with a number of training flights and a welcome to a trial lesson candidate  who said he had thoroughly enjoyed his flights and was going to sign up for a day or a weeks course.

The rest of the members enjoyed an active day with the big wings with engines off flying and the new tug proving it's worth.

Towards the end of the day, with the Skylark  duly certified it was readied for an aero-tow taken by Tim Donovan as a well earned opportunity to take a first flight on type.

Lifting off very quickly in a relatively light breeze he was soon at 2000 ft and enjoying himself.

This flight was followed by Alan (Chairman) and myself.

All reported that the glider would be welcomed by the club members, providing a real experience to fly a annex 2 glider and one of the last all wooden "high performance " ships.

It was time to close the hanger doors with a really enjoyable spring day.

The photograph is just one of many which will be added as they become available

Sunday was a similar day and several other members were able to try out this new acquisition from both aero-tow and winch launching.

All reporting what a delightful glider to fly.

It will be kept in the top hanger so despite a wing span 18 mtrs it will be easy to get onto the airfield. 

Derrick

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!

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. 

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......

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.