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Sat 6th December
It was a beautiful winters day to go gliding, the morning's hard frost clearing to give blue skies and a gentle wind on the surface increased with height to give good high Shalbourne launches. So much so that the inevitable discussion about who had the longest flight broke out although there wasnt any lift around.
The frosty start also provided spirited launch point chatter, as I understand it this was the scene at Paul P's house
and Chris K's drive the the airfield was somewhat like this...
It was pretty nippy.
Lastly a big thanks for your understanding of my late arrival and early departure due to nursing duties.
Wednesday 3rd December
What a delightful day. Sun was out, wind blowing from the north. Launches of up to 2,200' were available (in the K8 and 2,100' in the K13). Not quite enogh wind to get the ridge working reliaby but it did improve as the day progressed. Rod H just pipped Bill O for longest flight honours with his 26 minutes. Unlike Sunday when no one made double digit flight times there were 10 today (of the 26 launches).
This is what midweek flying is about - enjoyable flying, good company and donuts :)
The Skybrid winch was in use thanks to Peter E (plus helpers) - radiator leak on Saturday then removed, repaired, refitted and back online on Wednesday - pretty impressive.
This is what midweek flying is about - enjoyable flying, good company and donuts :)
The Skybrid winch was in use thanks to Peter E (plus helpers) - radiator leak on Saturday then removed, repaired, refitted and back online on Wednesday - pretty impressive.
Saturday 29th
The sun made a welcome appearance and tempted a lot of folks out for the day, including visits from a couple of former members. John T brought his nephew along for a birthday treat. Another chap (sorry, didn't get his name) who was a member 16years ago turned up in a Morgan.
With no head wind (and not much in any direction) launch heights were modest and no thermals so flight times limited. Nobody managed to better (or even match) Rob J's 9 minutes in the K8. Canopy misting delayed the start of flying and eventually put an end to the day. We still managed to clock up 30 launches. Rowland P converted to the K8. As the afternoon progressed and the sun got lower we were treated to impressive shadows of the glider when coming into land. The low sun and the murk, however, meant left hand circuits became necessary as visibility westwards was rather limited.
While most of us were enjoying the sun and a chance to get bums off the ground Colin B and Steve B were busy at the other end of the airfield "breathing life into the Pajero".
With no head wind (and not much in any direction) launch heights were modest and no thermals so flight times limited. Nobody managed to better (or even match) Rob J's 9 minutes in the K8. Canopy misting delayed the start of flying and eventually put an end to the day. We still managed to clock up 30 launches. Rowland P converted to the K8. As the afternoon progressed and the sun got lower we were treated to impressive shadows of the glider when coming into land. The low sun and the murk, however, meant left hand circuits became necessary as visibility westwards was rather limited.
While most of us were enjoying the sun and a chance to get bums off the ground Colin B and Steve B were busy at the other end of the airfield "breathing life into the Pajero".
Saturday 15th Nov
..will be known for all time as the mid-November day when it was too hot to have a jumper on...
The early morning fog and cloud lifted/dispersed - or at least split so there was some space between... The sun shone through the broken strata of cloud and with virtually no wind - lightest of southeasterlies - it was warm and pleasant. And SOOOOO pretty - although you had to be careful as, in defiance of all logic, a bank of cloud built up on the approach which meant circuits could be interesting - or indeed impossible. Even Steve Barber was flummoxed as to how a lee ridge appeared to be throwing up ororgraphic, but those who flew can attest that it did it all day. At heights between 200' and 700'. If you have a suggestion as to what it was about, do share it. I don't know about anyone else, but I had a great time!
Re: Remembrance Sunday (9th)
Pete's image has a particular poignance for me. I flew my Silver Distance from Shalbourne to Tarrant Rushton in 1974. At that time nearing the end of its life as an active airfield. Now all that is left are the traces of runways on the ploughed fields.
Pete's picture shows Horsa and Hamilcar gliders about to be towed by Halifax bombers, six of the former being dispatched to the legendary operation at Pegasus Bridge.
Saturday 1st November.....soaring season over?.........Nah!
Someone forgot to tell the weather that it was November and therefore there shouldn't be any thermals around apart from the warm clothing type!
Needless to say the Janus was duly rigged and launched into a sort of promising sky. Cloudbase was 1700ft and there were patches of broken lift which kept us aloft for around 20 minutes before a prolonged area of sink brought us back down again.
A while later the air mass had changed for the better and after releasing at 1600ft we sped to a likely looking cloud street over Fosbury and was rewarded with good lift which took us to cloudbase at around 3200ft. By running up and down the street we stayed airborne for around 1hr 20 mins during which time we encountered areas of good lift and strong sink (-8 knots in places!).
Another cracking day at Shalbourne but looking at the forecast for the rest of the week the weather has finally caught on to the fact that it is November after all :-)
Phil
Needless to say the Janus was duly rigged and launched into a sort of promising sky. Cloudbase was 1700ft and there were patches of broken lift which kept us aloft for around 20 minutes before a prolonged area of sink brought us back down again.
A while later the air mass had changed for the better and after releasing at 1600ft we sped to a likely looking cloud street over Fosbury and was rewarded with good lift which took us to cloudbase at around 3200ft. By running up and down the street we stayed airborne for around 1hr 20 mins during which time we encountered areas of good lift and strong sink (-8 knots in places!).
Another cracking day at Shalbourne but looking at the forecast for the rest of the week the weather has finally caught on to the fact that it is November after all :-)
Phil
Tailend of October
Decided lack of blog entries so I'll just do a brief summary of the days remaining in October.
Wednesday 22nd
Not a very promising looking day but second launch had Ken H with a double digit flight time (just). It was Bill O who set the time to beat with 29 minutes in the Puchacz and no one got near that. Mind, out of the 28 launches there were 7 of them in the 10 to 20 minute band.
Saturday 25th
Duty instructor Bob B was kept busy in the back seat of 10 of the 28 launches of the day. Rob J claiming "soaring god for a day" award with 15 minutes. Always good to welcome a pilot from another club - this time it was a visitor from Booker.
Sunday 26th
Looking at the log it appears to have been the day for annual checks. All, bar 2, of the 23 flights had Phil M or Carol P in the back seat. The 2 solo flights were both flown by Nigel B and were the only ones to get into double digits (15 and 16 minutes).
Wednesday 29th
Low cloud so no flying. After eating donuts (one of the benefits of Wednesday flying) boredom resulted in Peter M deciding to demonstrate the self-parking gizmo on his car. A sheet of ply was propped up against the barbeque to simulate one car and Bill C (rather bravely the rest of us thought) offered his car to act as the second car. A few loops around occurred before Peter's car could be persuaded to have a go but we finally got to see the car parallel parking while Peter waved hi hands in the air.
Wednesday 22nd
Not a very promising looking day but second launch had Ken H with a double digit flight time (just). It was Bill O who set the time to beat with 29 minutes in the Puchacz and no one got near that. Mind, out of the 28 launches there were 7 of them in the 10 to 20 minute band.
Saturday 25th
Duty instructor Bob B was kept busy in the back seat of 10 of the 28 launches of the day. Rob J claiming "soaring god for a day" award with 15 minutes. Always good to welcome a pilot from another club - this time it was a visitor from Booker.
Sunday 26th
Looking at the log it appears to have been the day for annual checks. All, bar 2, of the 23 flights had Phil M or Carol P in the back seat. The 2 solo flights were both flown by Nigel B and were the only ones to get into double digits (15 and 16 minutes).
Wednesday 29th
Low cloud so no flying. After eating donuts (one of the benefits of Wednesday flying) boredom resulted in Peter M deciding to demonstrate the self-parking gizmo on his car. A sheet of ply was propped up against the barbeque to simulate one car and Bill C (rather bravely the rest of us thought) offered his car to act as the second car. A few loops around occurred before Peter's car could be persuaded to have a go but we finally got to see the car parallel parking while Peter waved hi hands in the air.
Sunday 19th Oct - The Winchdrivers are revolting...
Well! The day started - as forecast by the Met Office - with a howling crosswind. It was - as forecast by me - also thermic with great-looking streets showing evidence of wave influence. First launch with John proved it nicely soarable and indeed other soaring flights followed. However - also as forecast - the wind picked up and got gustier during the day, and in spite of our best efforts laying off as well as swapping the 'flying' cable chutes for the small ones, we were unable to keep the falling cables reliably clear of the electric fence. After the hard-working winch crew had retrieved one not terribly well laid-off cable from the trees and kit in Dingley Dell, and at who knows what personal cost had retied the sheep fence a few times (being unable to find the power source and turn it off!), they staged a revolt - a deputation came up to the control van and said it couldn't continue. So, for the first time I've known it in a westerly, crosswind limits made us scrub the day. Mike - who was sat in the glider ready for his first flight when we scrubbed - and Tony are at the top of the list for next time!
Saturday 11th October
Cloudbase on Saturday was initially a bit low and with the forecast of rain by mid afternoon many thought we were a bit daft to rig the Janus.
We took our first launch just as what appeared to be an very low but active street was passing diagonally over the winch and released along the downwind edge of it at around 1400ft. With one wing tip in the side of the cloud we cruised up and down the street in zero until eventually we hit sink and had to land but not until we had clocked up around 13 minutes.
Our second flight was a lot shorter as we had to abort the launch due to low cloud.
But our Third flight was a bit different...............
Cloudbase was starting to rise and soon after release we contacted a thermal which after some serious scratching took us to cloudbase at around 1500ft.
During the flight Cloudbase rose significantly and the lift became more predictable meaning we could take in Andover and Newbury even reaching the dizzy heights of 3,000ft! During the flight we noticed a cloud street has set up over the hill to the south of the airfield and by flying along underneath it climbed without turning with 4.8kts showing on the averager travelling a distance of some 5k towards Thruxton.
It just goes to show that even in October conditions can be far better than forecasted and both of us were quite pleased with our 2hrs 20mins :-)
Phil
We took our first launch just as what appeared to be an very low but active street was passing diagonally over the winch and released along the downwind edge of it at around 1400ft. With one wing tip in the side of the cloud we cruised up and down the street in zero until eventually we hit sink and had to land but not until we had clocked up around 13 minutes.
Our second flight was a lot shorter as we had to abort the launch due to low cloud.
But our Third flight was a bit different...............
Cloudbase was starting to rise and soon after release we contacted a thermal which after some serious scratching took us to cloudbase at around 1500ft.
During the flight Cloudbase rose significantly and the lift became more predictable meaning we could take in Andover and Newbury even reaching the dizzy heights of 3,000ft! During the flight we noticed a cloud street has set up over the hill to the south of the airfield and by flying along underneath it climbed without turning with 4.8kts showing on the averager travelling a distance of some 5k towards Thruxton.
It just goes to show that even in October conditions can be far better than forecasted and both of us were quite pleased with our 2hrs 20mins :-)
Phil
Wednesday 15th
The low cloud failed to lift before the rain arrived - at 14:00 exactly on the time forecast. The few of us there helped Colin get the reserve winch back online and both winches under the shelter. This involved returning the old hoist to Dingly Dell (apparently from where we originally acquired it). This involved towing it with ballast over the rear wheels to reduce the chances of it tipping over.
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| Multi-tasking: driving and posing |
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| More Multi-tasking: Driving and taking a picture |
Sunday Extra
Here's the evidence of being above the cloud and the fog in the distance.
There was a lot of circuit bashing with no one breaking into double digit flying time until launch 25 (4 hours after the first launch) when Selvam clocked up 13 minutes. Couple of launches later Rod matched it and a couple of launches after that Trevor squeezed an additional 2 minutes from somewhere.
There was a lot of circuit bashing with no one breaking into double digit flying time until launch 25 (4 hours after the first launch) when Selvam clocked up 13 minutes. Couple of launches later Rod matched it and a couple of launches after that Trevor squeezed an additional 2 minutes from somewhere.
Sunday 12th October
As often happens when fog fills the
valleys, Rivar Hill kept its head above the clouds. The sun never quite broke through but visibility was 'CAVOK' with inbound Heathrow
traffic in clear view below featureless top cover. Despite early canopy
misting and Alan P's best efforts to obscure the entire airfield with
bonfire smog, flying commenced in the late a.m.
The airfield had been well attended
from an early hour, but the absence of a duty team presented Richard D
with the unenviable challenge of running it with little
experienced backup. So, resourceful as ever, RD sends an SOS to
Stephen O who then conjures up the requisite crew in short order. And
so it came to pass that electronic jungle drums brought forth a
surfeit of helpers, with four instructors ensuring that everyone
who needed back seat assistance got it with a minimum of delay. Even
so, steady demand kept three two-seaters busy until late afternoon.
It started to rain as the hangar curtains were drawn. Thanks to everyone who answered the call.
Sunday 28th in Norfolk
Holiday time and an opportunity to slope off and visit the local gliding club. This time it was the Norfolk GC at the massive WW2 airfield at Tibbenham. What luxury, the classic A set of hard core runways, several hangars and a substantial club house complete with mains supplies, briefing room, bar and bacon butties (other refreshments were available).
The practice is not to use the cross runway (the horizontal line of the A) because its condition is not too great (looked fine to the casual observer). This meant we had a 90 degree cross wind and with the launch point at the runway intersection, the result was launches of only around 1,000. Lots of runway behind the launch point meant it was very easy to land behind the launch point (in fact effort had to be made to get back to the launch point). Launching was from the grass alongside the runway and landing on the hard runway. Some folks landed into wind on the grass alongside the cross runway. Interestingly (to me at least) only radio was used for launching. The launch point vehicle had lights but apparently rarely used.
At the end of the day almost all those who had been flying lent a hand to derig the K21 ready to be sent off for its ARC.
Many thanks to the members of Norfolk GC who made me most welcome and offered me the chance to sample the delights of facilities at Tibenham - next time hopefully there will be more in the way of thermal activity. It's not very often one gets the chance to move from a K21 to a T21.
The practice is not to use the cross runway (the horizontal line of the A) because its condition is not too great (looked fine to the casual observer). This meant we had a 90 degree cross wind and with the launch point at the runway intersection, the result was launches of only around 1,000. Lots of runway behind the launch point meant it was very easy to land behind the launch point (in fact effort had to be made to get back to the launch point). Launching was from the grass alongside the runway and landing on the hard runway. Some folks landed into wind on the grass alongside the cross runway. Interestingly (to me at least) only radio was used for launching. The launch point vehicle had lights but apparently rarely used.
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| Launch point |
A fairly quiet day so it wasn't long before I was able to go for a site check with Andy the DI in their K21. Prior to my flight only short circuits were being flown. I found some weak lift and scratched away gaining a whole 50' at one point but only managed 14 minutes. The Vega that took the next launch and joined us and was less wimpy than I was about the drift and took the longest flight of the day (by a very large margin) of just over 1 hour. Slightly higher launch of 1,100' in the club's Astir but only a couple of turns in zero within reach. Then it was time to blag a ride in the privately owned T21.
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| Launch point seen from a T21 - end of the day with 2 gliders being towed to the hangar |
Many thanks to the members of Norfolk GC who made me most welcome and offered me the chance to sample the delights of facilities at Tibenham - next time hopefully there will be more in the way of thermal activity. It's not very often one gets the chance to move from a K21 to a T21.
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| The T21 is called "The Barge" by it's owners so just in case it lands on one of the broads |
Saturday 27th September
A modest turnout but another very enjoyable days flying at Shalbourne, by close of play we had flown a reasonable 31 flights.
It was one of those days were some where treated to extended flights whereas others could only do circuits, all in the timing.
Not that these conditions worried Tim or me as we were having great fun (well I was!) doing his 5 year instructor checks. On one flight we did manage to contact good lift which took us to 3,400ft which enabled us to spin and spiral dive to our hearts content which meant that Tim was duly signed off again.
But we weren't the only ones to stay up, Steve Gaze got top honours with 1:15 in the K8 and despite a valiant effort Paul P managed a creditable 1:09 (also in the K8). Alan P was next with 1:07 flying his Oly.
Charles McCallin took me back up to 3,400ft in JPC and with all that height we got plenty of exercises signed off in his progress card during our 48 mins aloft.
Congratulations go to Graham Tanner for completing his XC endorsement at Bicester recently, he only turned up so that I could sign his forms but he took little persuading in taking a flight in Puchacz!
Thanks to Nigel B for helping with the trial lessons and to Richard D for also lending a hand.
Oh and after its 100 hours check the Puchacz was tested and returned to service after the customary looping and VNE stuff by yours truly.
Phil
It was one of those days were some where treated to extended flights whereas others could only do circuits, all in the timing.
Not that these conditions worried Tim or me as we were having great fun (well I was!) doing his 5 year instructor checks. On one flight we did manage to contact good lift which took us to 3,400ft which enabled us to spin and spiral dive to our hearts content which meant that Tim was duly signed off again.
But we weren't the only ones to stay up, Steve Gaze got top honours with 1:15 in the K8 and despite a valiant effort Paul P managed a creditable 1:09 (also in the K8). Alan P was next with 1:07 flying his Oly.
Charles McCallin took me back up to 3,400ft in JPC and with all that height we got plenty of exercises signed off in his progress card during our 48 mins aloft.
Congratulations go to Graham Tanner for completing his XC endorsement at Bicester recently, he only turned up so that I could sign his forms but he took little persuading in taking a flight in Puchacz!
Thanks to Nigel B for helping with the trial lessons and to Richard D for also lending a hand.
Oh and after its 100 hours check the Puchacz was tested and returned to service after the customary looping and VNE stuff by yours truly.
Phil
Wednesday 24th
Colin B had sent out an email telling folks not to be put off by the rain in the morning as soaring would follow - and soaring there was (well, unless you were the HAX boys taking a K13 for a series of circuits). Paul B set the days time to beat on the 4th launch of the day with 1:08 in the K8. That was topped by Jonty H with 1:10 (again in the K8). Jonty was looking to get the spot landing entry on his post solo card signed off by landing in line with the launch point. The assembled gentlemen enjoying the sunshine in the lee of the caravan debated as to whether his landing back at the empty launch point qualified as a spot landing as he must have been all of half a meter short - these boys can be hard to impress.
Bill C took the honours for longest flight in the Vega with 54 minutes. Longest K13 flight was Rowland with 44 minutes, gaining a bronze leg on his 5th (or there abouts) solo flight. King of the castle was claimed by Paul Mc who topped out at 3,400' in the Vega.
Footnote: I suppose it's not really fair to pick out the HAX boys as you had to be a bit lucky with the timing of your launch. Only 8 of the 23 launches managed more than 20 minutes. I also have to appologise to Jonty H as I stripped him of his longest flight honours. I only took the K8 as it seemed rude to leave it sitting when there was spare cable sitting next to it. Mind, it took 900' of the 2,000' launch to find my first (weak) climb.
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| Looking for gliders at an empty launch point |
Footnote: I suppose it's not really fair to pick out the HAX boys as you had to be a bit lucky with the timing of your launch. Only 8 of the 23 launches managed more than 20 minutes. I also have to appologise to Jonty H as I stripped him of his longest flight honours. I only took the K8 as it seemed rude to leave it sitting when there was spare cable sitting next to it. Mind, it took 900' of the 2,000' launch to find my first (weak) climb.
Sunday 21st
What a difference a change of air overnight makes. Saturday those who turned played the "is that a pylon I can see" game through the murk. Sunday, great vis and decent wind from the north with just a touch of east boding well for the ridge. Unfortunately (?) the ridge lift got mucked up by the thermals. Lots of members appeared needing the attention of an instructor - without Richard D's help I would never have got through the list. Lots of trial lessons too, which kept Peter E busy. The entire club fleet had a good airing.
Stewart R from The Park turned up with his Ventus being drawn by the favourable forecast. After 3 hours he returned with tales of a couple of low scrapes on his way back from Oxford. Phil M and Carol P disappeared in their Janus for a couple of hours but I didn't hear where they got to. Bill C had a decent flight in his K6 but the private Puchacz seemed to have the knack of launching into the sink between the thermals.
Almost 19 hours flown off 45 launches and 29 people flew. A busy and excellent day. Thanks to all who helped out (special thanks to Chris K who did most of the winching despite felling ropey and did training of new winch drivers).
Stewart R from The Park turned up with his Ventus being drawn by the favourable forecast. After 3 hours he returned with tales of a couple of low scrapes on his way back from Oxford. Phil M and Carol P disappeared in their Janus for a couple of hours but I didn't hear where they got to. Bill C had a decent flight in his K6 but the private Puchacz seemed to have the knack of launching into the sink between the thermals.
Almost 19 hours flown off 45 launches and 29 people flew. A busy and excellent day. Thanks to all who helped out (special thanks to Chris K who did most of the winching despite felling ropey and did training of new winch drivers).
Radio Telephony Course
Just in case the Blog gets to places that Yahoo Groups does not reach. The first session of the FRTO Licence course starts on Wednesday at 18:30 in the club house.
All for only a fiver (to cover costs - any surplus to club funds). Don't worry if you can't make the start time, just turn up asap.
Whether wanting to qualify as a certified radio operator,
qualified but need a refresher,
or just interested in how to use the field radio correctly,
this course is for you!
All for only a fiver (to cover costs - any surplus to club funds). Don't worry if you can't make the start time, just turn up asap.
Wednesday 17th
Third Wednesday in a row where we've been "blessed" with an easterly crosswind. Only difference this time was the touch of northerly and a lot more of it. The challenge of the day (other than dealing with a lively cross wind) was to get into a double digit flight time. Sitting in the back seat with Jonty H flying, he declared he would do a gentle turn onto his high key. The vario chirped and Jonty got stuck in. Wrestling broken lift and drift he eventually got to 1,200' at which point the "hot spot" we kept returning to went cold (a chilly 4 down). I did comment that if that was a "gentle" turn I would appreciate plenty of warning for a steep turn. Nobody else came close to Jonty's 23 minutes but there were another 5 (of the 26) that achieved double digits.
Interestingly (?) we did one more launch and 2 more minutes than Sunday and 15 people flew on both days.
Interestingly (?) we did one more launch and 2 more minutes than Sunday and 15 people flew on both days.
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