Technically spring isn't for a couple of weeks but anyone who turned out to fly on Sunday was rewarded with another lovely day, warm sunshine and light north westerly winds.
The Skylard, ops sorry Alan, Skylark was stooging about making the most of the weak thermals as was Messrs Keating and Jarvis in the Cirrus, along with the Duo flown by Bill.
Earlier the forecast looked as though we would be getting a potential cross country day but in the end it was only really good enough for some nice extended flights and that good ol' practise scraping in a weak and broken thermal.
We saw Paragliders by the score who mostly stayed towards the Gibbet, although I was unfortunate enough to have three or four join me on the ridge in front of the club.
sharing a thermal with Chris K and the Puchacz was nice, relaxing and it meant we all stayed airborne a little longer through shared sampling of the air.
A few trial lessons added to the enjoyment as did the cars parked around the field spectating. Hopefully one or two of these will have a go at some time.
Showing posts with label Gliding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gliding. Show all posts
Flying Open Day 4th June
Fancy a day going up on the downs? Gliding Open Day Saturday 4th June.
Looking for a family day out full of adventure in an area of outstanding natural beauty? Then walk, cycle or drive to Shalbourne Gliding Club’s airfield near Hungerford. You can join in the excitement and adventure of gliding over the beautiful downland countryside, or just watch the fun while you enjoy a family picnic with your tea, cake and biscuits. There will be discounts on trial lessons if you want to try the gliding experience. All visitors will be welcome to join in the fun, or maybe just watch and chat and find out what gliding is all about.
- Discounted Trial Lesson: £30 for a single launch and up to 15 minutes (duration of the flight is dependent upon weather conditions and may be shorter)
- Trial Lesson Vouchers purchased on the day as a gift will receive a free launch voucher worth £8:00
(for use in the month following the use of the voucher) - All trial lessons include one month of membership. If you subsequently join your trial lesson will be charged at member's rates, e.g. A 15 minute flight would cost £12.20
North Hill update
As Chris said it was a difficult day on Saturday, in fact my launch was immediately after Chris' first and because I was towed behind the Pawnee and he was towed behind the Rotax Falke I actually came off tow about 20 seconds after him, he turned downwind to where it looked 'better' and I headed into wind to where it looked like something might eventually happen. Neither option proved fruitful, however, being upwind I had the ridge to fall back to and that kept me airborne long enough to wait for a thermal whereas Chris had little option but to take a relight. This just demonstrated something about the conditions - one wrong decision and you were on the ground.
Having scraped away from 800 feet before the start I set off on task (NHL-STU-FRO-NHL - 181km) fully expecting a landout. Heading downwind conditions slowly improved and after a couple of low scrapes I picked up a cracking climb at STU and for the first time was able to even contemplate the idea of finishing. The optimism didn't last long though and after a reasonable run to The Park things got worse again and after rounding FRO I had my second real scrape away from 1000 feet before heading in the general direction of NHL and towards an obvious line of spreadout and showers. A couple of reasonable climbs on the way and I was into the rain and for the second time on the task looking at Merryfield as the likely end of the flight, with wet wings and water streaming up the canopy I couldn't turn at much under 60kt so thermalling had to wait until I was through and had blow-dried the glider! Through the rain and into a sea-breeze front with good lift and once at cloudbase sticking my port wing into the cloud and careful flying got me to 700 feet above cloudbase with clear downward, forward and starboard visibility. Off the end of the front there was a decent climb to final glide.
Of the field of 15 only 3 (all pundits) got back (plus one who motored home) and the provisional results for Shalbourne pilots were:
Novice - Steve came 2nd
Intermediate - Chris came 1st (despite penalties at turning points due to NAV settings)
Pundit - I finished 3rd
Shalbourne has, therefore, relinquished its place at the bottom of the league!
Having scraped away from 800 feet before the start I set off on task (NHL-STU-FRO-NHL - 181km) fully expecting a landout. Heading downwind conditions slowly improved and after a couple of low scrapes I picked up a cracking climb at STU and for the first time was able to even contemplate the idea of finishing. The optimism didn't last long though and after a reasonable run to The Park things got worse again and after rounding FRO I had my second real scrape away from 1000 feet before heading in the general direction of NHL and towards an obvious line of spreadout and showers. A couple of reasonable climbs on the way and I was into the rain and for the second time on the task looking at Merryfield as the likely end of the flight, with wet wings and water streaming up the canopy I couldn't turn at much under 60kt so thermalling had to wait until I was through and had blow-dried the glider! Through the rain and into a sea-breeze front with good lift and once at cloudbase sticking my port wing into the cloud and careful flying got me to 700 feet above cloudbase with clear downward, forward and starboard visibility. Off the end of the front there was a decent climb to final glide.
Of the field of 15 only 3 (all pundits) got back (plus one who motored home) and the provisional results for Shalbourne pilots were:
Novice - Steve came 2nd
Intermediate - Chris came 1st (despite penalties at turning points due to NAV settings)
Pundit - I finished 3rd
Shalbourne has, therefore, relinquished its place at the bottom of the league!
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