Saturday 27th - kick yourself if you missed it!

With the promise of a northerly wind and a the end to overcast sky Saturday offered the prospect of some ridge flying. With three club gliders at the launch point by 10 and with 5 private gliders either ready to launch or rigging Chris set off to investigate, only to have the weak link fail on him. Bob had better luck and proved it was indeed soarable. It took a couple more flights before it became clear just how good it was.

On my second flight in the Ka13 I found us climbing back up from 900ft to 1400ft on the ridge where there were others above us including the duo that had managed a 2200ft launch. The best bit was to the east along to Coombe Gibbet though  some ventured further. In my book this was the best ridge flying I've seen at Shalbourne but there was more to come my next flight was in the Puchacz which Jon launched to 1850ft after which we found ridge lift at 1500ft. Later, and back in the Ka13, I was treated to a launch to 2400ft (where did that come from) and there was lift even higher.

Almost every flight got some soaring, few were shorter than 20 mins and a number were longer than 2 hours. 37 flights in total and a rough totting up of flight time indicates we we collectively did more than 24 hours in the air. Not bad for the end of October!

Why was it so good you might ask. Good question. There was certainly some thermal activity which helped though you couldn't turn it it for long without disapearing down wind. Wave was mooted but there was no clear evidence of it and it would be very unusual for wave influence to stay in the same place all day in our part of the country. Most likely it is something to do with wind speed and direction from ground to operating heights. It will be interesting to see what the Met men have to say.

Many big grins seen today, it really want something special. Many thanks to those who made it happen.

Saturday 20th - E Team

Ah yes, E team day; and the weather didn't quite do as promised but it wasn't far off. I drove up to the field through dense fog all the way eventually popping out at the top of the hill driving up the field. It was a fairly slow start as we waited for the fog to clear enough for safety but when I did brave a launch it looked like this. This is the view to the south - you can see Conholt Hill then nothing... Splendid. We didn't manage to beat the Oct launch record - only managed 39 after the slow start and with another pause when the fog finally got organised and lifted and we had to wait while it got high enough to fly a circuit beneath! We also didn't manage any soaring as such although Bob and Chris both reported an area of 0 sink for a couple of minutes on one flight. The rest of the day the air was as silky smooth as you could want and there was not a breath of wind on the ground, whilst the sun made sundogs and had a pronounced halo most of the day and Bob also managed to spot a circumzenithal arc or whatever it's called when you get an arc the other way round above the sun. And it was warm enough not to need a jacket all day. Perfect!!!

Sunday 14th - "If this is winter flying, bring it on"

"If this is winter flying, bring it on" summed up the flying for the fortunate few who turned up.  Someone else said "return of the summer" and was promptly corrected to remove the word "return".  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a picture of the launch point.

First launch of the day was 50% longer than the previous days longest flight and the second one was 8 times longer.  Half a dozen flights of around and hour and more.  Early launches (around midday) had to work hard to use the weak broken lift to get to cloudbase at just over 2,000' but within a couple of hours pilots were getting climbs of 4+ knots up to 3,700. 
Duty ab-initio Selvam M kept duty instructor Tim R busy and the 2 TLs and one returning TL were looked after by Peter E and Richard D.  Despite Tim's onset of vertigo (what else would account for Selam's failure to get to the top of some launches) we clocked up 10:41 flying time off 20 launches.

Saturday 6th

Hive of activity in the morning with club gliders being dragged to the far end of the field and 4 private glider being rigged.  Clear blue sky but the possibility of thermal activity at some point, northerly straight down the strip offering high launches but not enough of it to bring the ridge to life.  Visibility was exceptional.
K8 back on-line so I test flew it with a 2,000' launch and put Andrew B's repair to the tailplane through its paces.  At midday, just as the first hints of thermal activity appeared, the Janus had made it's way to the front of the grid (yes, we had a queue for launches) and a black car appears.  Out steps the CFI, already wearing his parachute, steps into the caravan to sign himself off on the flying list, then straight into the Janus and does the first soaring flight of the day - 21 minutes.  Chris, contain yourself as Carol insists the flight was 22:15 because that's what the LNAV said.  I was even dragged over to verify this.  Your choice whether to go with the log or the LNAV.  Doesn't really matter as later Carol and Phil did a 1:40 flight and at 16:30 (after a mass landing and it looked as if the thermic part of the day was at an end) they did a 23 minute "circuit". Not the longest flights of the day though.  Trevor G topped this with a 1:53 flight but the soaring god of the day was Colin B with 2:07.
Jon G converted to the Vega which he then soared off a launch at 17:00.  I was kept busy with annual checks (yup, that time has come back round) but indulged myself by ending the day taking the 52nd launch. Few feet short of the 2,000 this time and a gentle 15 minute drift to earth with the lengthening shadows.

Over17 hours flown off 52 launches.  21 members flew using 8 gliders over 7 hours. A remarkable day for this time of year.  The last time we flew over 50 launches was in June 2011 and the previous highest launch count in October was in 2007 when we did 43

Wednesday 3rd

First flying day of the club's new year.  We weren't able to match the eternity that is 22 minutes but 7 (of the 21 flights) did make it to double digits.  Mainly westerly but the wind did shift a little more southerly and launches of just over 2,000' (in the K13's, K8 was the hangar queen) were on offer.  Rob J set the target to beat of 14 minutes which Peter M matched a couple of launches later.  Paul Mc did a great job keeping the Puchacz launching as everyone else wanted the higher launches provided by the K13's.  We were pleased to welcome Charles Mc as our newest member.

1st is best. Look what I found.

I was vainly looking to see if I had a IGC ranking this year. (Of course I don't). But came across this:

http://igcrankings.fai.org/index_womens.php?rowstodisplay=20

Rather good and many congratulations!
Very well deserved.

I can personally vouch for  Liz's abilitiy to fly a glider as I recently had the misfortune to fly with Liz and she made a horrible day seem like a pleasant nightmare rather than the end of the world. A real masterclass on how not to hit the ground on a day that was almost impossible (the bit we went anyway).
Well done Liz!!!

My perspective on Sunday.

Just to add to Phil's observation's;

I pulled off in cloud, just able to see the ground at 1650 feet, put the nose forward to clear the cloud, did a couple of turns then spent a few seconds thinking, "hang on, I still at 1650 feet!" I tapped the panel next to the altimeter, sure enough it didn't move, thought 'OOO goodie' and kept in the same area of lift. It wasn't thermal, definitely weak wave then after some considerable time fumbled for my phone. There was Phil's number but unfortunately I didn't have a signal. 'drat and double drat'. Phone away and I thought, 'They sure are going to be pleased with me for flying such a long time!'
Eventually the wave either moved a little or I did and after quite a long time, how long was it Phil? I turned the flight into a circuit, came in to the north end of the field and landed.

At least I now know I can fly a glider while grinning like an idiot. I laughed all the way down.
Also I was right, the people on the ground were SOOO pleased for me!