Flying week

We were open for flying all week. Overall we had a good time (bar Friday) local soaring despite it not looking so good, though we were rather fewer than expected. Several flights over an hour and 5000ft on Monday and almost as good for a while on Thursday. Thursday's entertainment was enhanced by Ken's little trip to Milton Lilburn by air, return by road. That's what the sky looked like, for those not there to enjoy it themselves.

Saturday 23rd July

The day started looking good - too good, too early. Sure enough, by the time we were ready to launch it was filling in and signs of top cover approaching. First few flights were were around 20 minutes then all that was on offer were extended circuits. Early afternoon the sky started to open up a bit and Richard D disappeared with the Vega on a test flight for over half an hour (claimed the vario needed extensive testing). After that a mix of circuits and longer flights with it getting better as the afternoon progressed. The morning TL appeared in convoy - lots of family wanting to see the birthday boy flying on his 90th birthday.
All 5 club gliders out and only one syndicate one out to play. 32 launches; highest reported climb Ken H to 4,700'; longest flight Steve B 1:17.

1000km night 23-24 July?

I don't know if anyone tried it, but Saturday finished with it still being soarable when the pub beckoned, then when we came back on Sunday the thermals were still going well, so presumably it was a cracking good night. Unfortunately on Saturday there had been overcast at high level, which made the daytime soaring almost impossible. On Sunday it evidently wasn't so bad, because Phil and Chris amongst others set off on 300km flights. It seems the going got difficult though, and all gave up part way round and came home. Rumour has it Phil was looking up at the walkers on the Malverns before he got the saving thermal. (Did you get a photo Phil, or were you a tad too busy?)

Any other tales of derring do?

1st Wash Common Scout Group

1st Wash Common Scout Group posing after a great trial evening session.
See Website for more details on booking a session.

July 14th

Just goes to show that it happens to the best of us.

Spending too much time looking at his map to make sure we had turned Winslow made Carol feel a little airsick so after scrubbing off the 2500 ft we had below us we diverted over to Bicester for a short rest.

And no before you ask this is not a picture of Carol cleaning up the cockpit :-)

After a quick (in more ways than one!) aerotow we were soon on our way back to Rivar.

What is it about the 14th?

What is it about the 14th? May 14th was good, though most of us failed to see it coming. June was brilliant, see a previous blog item. July 14th was brilliant too. EVERY launch led to a soaring flight (OK apart from the check flights). Richard Barber got his 5hrs, Steve Barber (no relation) went round the Salisbury Plain danger areas and had time and inclination to top it up to 225km by also visiting Lasham and Didcot. Chris went up country but was snookered by the cloud spilling over from the Low in the North Sea, so came home again, and the Janus made a pitstop at Bicester. We also had an unscheduled pitstop by a Dunstable visitor whose turbo wouldn't start - he got it fixed and took a relight to motor back home. Other folks enjoyed local(ish) soaring, for several hours in several cases. Total time 44hrs off 26 launches, average flight 1hr 45min (excluding the short check flights)

Carnival time

We took the Puchacz to Newbury Carnival to tell the folks of Newbury what we do and and where we are. they certainly kept us busy. Surely some will come and give gliding a go for themselves.

We lost the end of the rope!!! 3rd July 2011

Today followed the recent theme, blue skies at breakfast, lovely fluffy clouds at elevenses and 8/8 overcast at lunch. Whilst we had our elevenses the thermals were good and strong, but by lunchtime we were all descending back to earth. The billion trillion zillions of flies that committed suicide on my leading edge surely didn't help!

Oh and the rope - well following a cable break the end of the cable managed to hide itself within the cable on the drum, all you could see was good cable but no end! A dozen minutes of searching seamed to be of no avail but finally Ken Reid uplooped enough wire to find the pesky little end,

Cycling again, Saturday 2nd July

We were still in the same air as Wednesday, and so we got the same sort of conditions. (Although we weren't flying Thursday and Friday, they seemed to be a repeat of Wednesday too). Of course, it wasn't exactly the same; today we had a good flight to start the day, then dead for a few hours, but this time the early afternoon flights were reporting good soaring under the spreadout, before it died again. We thought we'd finished at about 5pm, but then a visitor asked for an extra flight, and Jim decided to use the left-over cable rather than just wind it in. Just then a bit of blue sky obligingly let the sun shine on the airfield and they got away for a half-hour, until guilt at keeping the ground-crew waiting made them land.

Cycling Wed 29th June

The day started really well, with cumulus popping up from about 9.00. Trouble was, that was a bit too early, so by the time we were ready they were already overdeveloped. Bill got away in the K8 for an hour, but the clouds spread out and killed off the low-level thermals. After a couple of hours the spreadout dissolved a bit and let the sun through for long enough for Peter and Keith to get an hour apiece, but others weren't quick enough and the new clouds filled in again. Finally, at about three o'clock the sky opened up again, the cycle re-started and there was tremendous lift to 5500ft and people disappeared off for a couple of hours - south to Andover, west to Swindon, and north beyond the M4.

Sunday 19th

Long(ish) pause was not just down to the weather as we did get one noteworthy day on the 19th. All up and down until Carol and Phil flew the Janus to set "the bar" at 20 minutes. An hour later Pete and Rob notched "the bar" up another 4 minutes. Back to circuits until I took the Vega (can't bear to see a glider on the ground and a cable and nobody using it) and went away for over an hour (only brought it back as I was getting twinges from my wallet). It was difficult to make any headway into wind. The Janus launched shortley after me and seemed to using me as a thermal spotter until it broke free and pushed further into wind than me. They made a bid to get to Lynham but the clouds ran out so returned after an hur and a half. Towards the end of the day Keith collared me to take the back seat as he thought he might get a longer flight that way (there had only been one other soaring flight after the Janus had launched and quite a few circuits). Turns out he was right and we had a soaring flight as did Trevor in the Vega. Drove home along the A4 looking at a sky better than anything we'd seen all day.

A long(ish) pause?

Hmm, the last post was over ten days ago. Has nothing happened? Well, no actually, not here anyway. We've had a run of windy and wet days, hardly flyable let alone soarable. The only days with a glimmer of hope were on days we weren't open for flying. C'est la vie. Perhaps Pete can tell us how he got on at Gransden Lodge, where he was able to use a couple of days we weren't flying.

It hasn't been a lot better in Sweden, where Liz and Ayala have been competing in the women's World Championships, along with three other British lasses. They only had five contest days out of a possible ten, due to the weather - it seems all our bad weather finished up there. And of those five days, only one was a half-decent racing day. So congratulations to them - in the Club Class, Ayala finished second, only just behind the winner, and Liz was fifth in a field of 18. But Liz was well and truly robbed on the last day - she completed 123k of a 137k task, but no one else reached 100k (though several made 99k), so it was a no-contest day. Big swizz.

Splendid soaring Tue 14th

With the forecast for Wednesday being distinctly poor, and Tuesday excellent, we changed our midweek flying day accordingly. I'm writing this on Wednesday, looking at the low cloud and drizzle, so I can say with certainty it was a good call. Everyone soared for at least a half hour, although a couple launched into sink and had to try again - one was Richard, but he enjoyed 3hrs in his new Vega after a relight A couple of new members had a good taste of what soaring is about.. The Janus got to Radstock and back. All-in-all, a great day.

Saturday 11th June

Classic looking day but not many members around to start the day. Pete Smith took the first launch setting off on a mission to take advantage of the liberated Lyneham airspace, returning 4 hours later mission accomplished. Meanwhile back at the ranch (er, airfield) mixed fortunes with modest launches in the cross wind meant some got away whilst others returned. Some terrific climbs (10 up reported, 6 on the averager was the best I saw) and some height eating sink. Nigel and I took JMX to 5,400'.
Few more members appeared in the afternoon - in time to watch the rain approaching, narrowly missed us but killing the lift.

Wednesday 1st June

The reasonably promising sky filled in once the toys were out and we were ready to play.While the rest of us were pounding short circuits Bob B soared away for an hour. He returned to the airfield with the words of advice taken from a 60's pop song - "hang on to what you've got". The rest of us failed to find anything to hang on to. Mid-afternoon I decided to take a launch (in the LS3) in order to get to the other end of the field where my trailer was. It took over 2 hours to reach the other end. Lots of scratching for the first hour then things started to get easier. Trevor to longest flight honours with 2:36 in his Jantar with climbs up to 3,500'.

Open Day Photos

A few pictures from our great Open Day June 4th 2011





Launch Point Getting Busy

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee................






One up and another one down

Here we come .....

Everyone being kept on their toes

The cable drogue gets wound in one last time after a hard day out launching.

Open day

Missed Open day? - don't worry, click here and book a trial lesson.

OPEN DAY A GREAT SUCCESS

Open Day was a great success. The weather was great - dry, mostly sunny, and warm despite a keen northeasterly wind - actually, the wind was ideal, giving us great launches. People wanting to find out more about gliding and experience it for themselves arrived steadily all day, never allowing us time to twiddle our thumbs yet never having to form a long queue. We hope to see them again soon.

Thanks to all the club members who played their various parts - instructors, winch drivers, retrieve drivers who are always needed, and those helping with people with parachutes and seat harnesses, and those who put out the posters and leaflets. A special mention for Claire who kept track of who was next to fly and making sure they did; also of course Stephen and Catriona who organised the whole event and advertising.

Flying Open Day 4th June

Fancy a day going up on the downs? Gliding Open Day Saturday 4^th 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
  

A blustery sort of day (28May)

Some early fettling whilst the weather improved and then some good training flights in the morning. In the afternoon 23 Girl Guides appeared over the hill on a hike and we flew a few before the rain, then it cleared and we started on flying the rest, however the wind was strengthening and gusting more and more and we decided to call it a day before the gliders took off sans pilote...

They then set about a BBQ in the shelter of the clubhouse.

Wednesday 25th May

The day started with a stronger wind than expected so we pulled out a couple of 2-seaters but with nobody rushing to launch. James H was the first to give in and when he carried on vertically after coming off the wire there was a flurry of activity in the rigging area. His flight of just over an hour turned out to be the longest of the day but there were plenty of other soaring flights.
We discovered that the trailer Rod has been touring the around the country actually contains a glider which came out to play. It was good to see the Swales flying - and even better to fly it (thanks Rod, a new type for my log book).
JMX reappeared and the test flight proved it launches well (to 2,100'), climbs well, spins nicely and the controls oh so crisp.

Saturday 21 May

A cracking day but a number of those who headed off XC reported how difficult it was to make progress up-wind. A busy day with visitors from Wyvern (with 3 gliders) escaping from their closed airfield. Some good lift but big pockets of heavy sink to ensure some folks only getting short flights. 30 launches, 22 hours flown and 21 people flying. Highest reported climb was to 3,300 and Martin Hoskins managed a 2,000' launch in a K13

15th May

Today I rigged...

managed 2 hours, some good climbs (3-4kt ave) to 3700ft QFE but everytime I pointed away from the airfield the next cloud was raining...

14th May

Should have rigged...

Eden Week Photos

Just a few photos taken at Eden recently.

Paul shared the living room with his pet sheep...........he said he especially liked its blue eyes.......didn't want to ask!

Weekend 7th/8th May

The overnight/morning downpour appeared to have dampend folks interest in flying on Saturday and only the fettlers appear at the airfield.

The duty team plus a few hardy types appeared on Sunday. With the rather lively southerly we only flew 2-seaters (2 up). Launches were high (up to 2,000') and landings short (demanding full concentration with the significant wind gradient and turblence over the trees). The bit inbetween presented mainly broken thermals but with the occassional one that presented the opportunity to climb (and drift). Best climb achieved was 1,200 to 2,500 and Chris Keating took the longest flight honours (39 minutes).

Eden week

Well we are all back from our Eden expedition and I can honestly say a great time was had by all.

Only 4 days of flying but Chris got to 11,000 ft in the IS28 and Colin to 7,000ft in the LS3 both in Helm wave. The rest of us enjoyed many XC flights over and around Penrith, Ullswater, Haweswater Reservoir and Warcop Range.

Unfortunately we did not have any westerly winds otherwise we would have experienced ridge flying as well! That said when we did run the ridge after gaining height in the valley we found that the into wind gullies were kicking off some stonking thermals which enabled us to get some good climbs.

With good thermals in blue conditions regularly taking us to over 5,000ft we all had a great time and add to that good local pubs and accomodation can't wait to return next year.

If you want to see some of our traces drop me an email and I will send them to you.



Phil

Eden saturday

Saturday was the first day of flying as Friday was too blustery. Too windy to fly until 4.30 when we rigged Pete Whiteheads IS 28b and launched Pete and Chris B into the wave bar over the field. 3 hrs later we decided to leave them to it and went off to the pub for our meal when a phone call from Chris came through saying they had landed out and needed a retrieve! Seems after getting to 11,000 ft they found the rotor over the airfield and decided to land about 3 miles away, luckily they were only 1/2 mile from our pub so all was good. Glider was left in field overnight for retrieve this morning.
At least Chris is maintaining his 100% land out record!,

Easterly Saturday

Not much of a day today. The duty crew plus a couple of others were there - everyone else gone to Eden or Haddenham, or got more sense than to attempt the rough east wind. Still, we had a few flights to improve the skill with turbulence and crosswinds, and towards the end of the day Martin (after a lay-off of several years) showed Richard he cousl still soar despite the challenging conditions, and got to 2800ft.

Royal Wedding Friday

Not sure why but every village we passed through on the way to the seemed to be having a big wedding - at least most had closed off the roads and were having a party...

As we weren't flying a few of us were up to fettle equipment and work on private toys and some to collect their toys for trips away. Happy flying to those at Eden and Haddenham.

Easter Sunday

The conditions today were nothing like yesterday's but we still managed to fit in quite a few flights albeit short ones. Ken Reid manged the longest flight of the day with 29 minutes and Steve Gaze with me in the Janus squeezed in 21 minutes.

Richard Barber flew his recently acquired Sport Vega, which he had delivered from Aboyne during the week, and seemed to enjoy his new toy. Hopefully he will get many hours and xc flights in it over the following months.

Jeff Lynes, after some encouragement, converted to the club's Sport Vega and enjoyed the experience. Lastly, but not least, Rod Harris completed his annual checks and we also fitted in some welcome trial lessons.

All in all a good day's flying was had by all.

Phil

Easter Pt 1. 7072ft & 304km

As has been the way recently Good Friday and Saturday were late to get going but when they did there was lovely fluffy cumulus over Shalbourne. Friday was forecast as marginal but turned out much better than that. I went up to Bicester via North Swindon for just shy of 200km and 185 and R3 visiting from Keevil did West-East tasks of about the same.

Saturday was forecast as a much better day and indeed it was. I had tasked a double out and return to the Northampton area but a blue sky beyond Bicester got my blueophobia going and I turned to follow the clouds down to Aston Down back to Islely and the extending past Rivar to Keevil and back for 305km. Passing Great Bedwyn to Keevil I took a climb to 7072ft above see level, which is about as high as I've climbed in thermal. (and yes the spelling is deliberate as around Keevil into sun the visibility was appalling.) Colin in EEF and Carol'n'Phil in the Janus also went for some cross-country, see the ladder for their adventures.

Tuesday 12th April

With the forecast for a wet Wednesday and a cracking Tuesday, Wednesday was moved forward a day. Bit of a slow start with a modest turnout but more people appeared as the day progressed (15 folks flew a some point during the day - including a vsitor from Parham who dropped in). The wind sock said NW but the wind felt N (i.e. blooming cold). Only one private glider rigged (the LS3) which Colin flew for 1:40. On his return I just had an hour before I needed to be back. So, found my first thermal and took it to cloud base (5,400) then followed the cloud street which took me almost to Swindon. Ran back along it to Andover then back to Great Bedwyn all without stoping to thermal after that first climb. Our new FLARM/logger was put to good use (logger side at least) with 3 silver heights achieved. Highest average flight time in 2011 was achieved

Saturday 16th April

Definately a day for flying flying early. We were greated with no wind and far more blue sky than forecast so I opted for the launch point at the top end to make it easier to get more gliders out if needed. The first 3 gliders to launch found the lift and clocked up two hours flying between them. Then the gaps in the cloud filled in and all teh thermals stopped. After four more launches we'd halved the average flight time to 20 mins. It would have been a great training day but there were no takers. Hopefully the next open day will bring some new members but as always the club is happy to see potential new members at any time. Congratulations to the three who flew Silver Height on Tuesday. Pete has checked the loggers in the Flarms and has confirmed all three claims are good.

They said Tuesday would be good....

... and it was. Colin changed this week's midweek day to Tuesday (12th April), which was a good call or we'd have all missed out. At first, every launch soared away, but then it got harder low down and some flights were only quick circuits - commiserations to those who didn't connect, including our visitor from Parham who desperately wanted to fly back home. But if you got that first thermal, it was a fast climb to 5000ft+, even just short of 6500ft by 5pm. Subject to ratification, congratulations to the three pilots who got their silver height climbs, two in consecutive flights in the K8.

We had our first BBQ on friday night...

...and that tended to be how the expert gliding forecasters predicted the weekend's weather and how it turned out. I was duty on Saturday (9th April) which proved to be the more soarable of the two days with a couple of pilots getting over two hours but not being able to get any where. The high ground around the ridge line produced those cumulus clouds that tempt you over but you know they will disappear by the time you get there. An Easterly wind meant landing was "fun" and provided other operational challenges - watch those low wings.

Sunday (10th April) was (now let me get the grammar correct) the most poorerest of the two days probably because the 737 roster had a "P for Peter" written on it. For some reason at about 12.30 all the private owners pulled on line, I guess to test the still air characteristics of their steeds for it wasn't thermic... Sometime later I took a launch and climbed in nothing for 93 minutes in a glider that doesn't turn and thermals that even the birds rejected, but the lessons of learning at a sea breeze site kicked in - if its not going down, stay in it - an adage that's very rarely true in gliding. All that said I stood outside the hangar at 6pm looking up at DHA, EGF & HCF stacked in a thermal. All in all it wasn't a classic gliding weekend by any stretch, but is there a better way to spend a weekend in that weather?

Saturday 2nd

Good news! I'm pleased to report that Steve Gaze passed his Bronze paper on Saturday and has now completed his Bronze Badge. Well done Steve, now go over to see Uncle Roy at Upavon and get your Cross Country Endorsement done so you can go off XC! Phil

Sat 2nd, Sun 3rd

Saturday was a blustery one, sadly with the wind 180deg opposed to the ridge direction... Ken P provided instruction and a few extended flights. Much more work was done in the hangar, new launch point caravan and assorted mottled trailers. JPC is now fitted with FLARM - please can all pilots (including P2s, excluding TLs) sign the brief briefing sheet in the log before flying.

Sunday was soarable. It wasn't epic and it seems from the ladder no-one went cross country west of the Greenwich meridian but it was soarable, this with a reasonable blow meant high winch launches and with 2 rated instructors excellent training opportunities - make sure to use them next time.

Sunday 27th march

After a misty start we managed to get flying around noon and clocked up over 20 flights today. We even had a visitor on the field in the shape of Martin Hoskins who turned up to inspect his Cirrus. Martin explained that he was now missing the flying and was looking at transitioning the Cirrus in the near future. After very little persuasion he took a couple of flights with me in JPC and showed that he has not forgotten how to fly a K13. He then was cleared to drive the winch and spent most of the remaining time lobbing gliders skywards!

Sat 26 March

A small turnout, but then it wasn't much of a day for soaring. Training flying went on well until early afternoon, when the forecast of possible isolated sharp showers proved correct. Guess where Shalbourne is! And with so little wind, that one little (but very heavy) shower lasted an hour.

Wednesday 23rd March

Another blue day but for those lucky enough to find that first thermal, and skillfull enough to work it, there were good flights to be had. 10 of the 27 launches had ove 30 minutes with Bill C exercising his K6 for over 2 hours. Thermals came to an abrupt halt at 3,000' coming up to the inversion but couple of folks headed for the haze caps to the south of the field to get up to 4,000'

Sat 19 March

What? No blog entry yet? It was the first proper soaring day of the year. There were private gliders rigged, and went soaring. Not every flight connected, but there was over 16hrs soaring by those who did, and a total of 44 launches and a visitor landing. We even had a cross-country - er, well, if you count 8km. Why has no-one has taken the P155 yet, not even for coming back to the airfield without the glider? Anyone get any photos?

W/E 12th & 13th March

Saturday: Hazy sun but those that turned out enjoyed extended flights, with dutyman Tim and John Turk claiming the longest at 22mins.

Sunday: As I left Basingstoke it was darker than black, the rain slowed M3 traffic to 50mph and it was quite simply bleak. But with a forecast clearance arriving from the west by the time we got to the airfield it had upgraded to the uninspiring category.

We set up, lined the toys up and Claire and I launched into 1100ft cloud, flew a circuit and landed. After that Claire quite spectacularly failed to get the top on the next three attempts, for some reason either i pulled the bung or the winch driver decided to cut the power. A few others flew some circuits but then the sky broke apart and fluffy cumulus appeared. With no-one on the 2 seat list I took the Vega but it was too soon, on my second go it stuck in rather pleasant medium thermals to 2500' above airfield height. Chris in bi and the K8 joined me, as did the pooch and soon the airfield was empty. Later on Chris lent me the LS7 and I joined the K8 in a thermal to get some FLARM fixes to test the unit newly installed in the K8.

Saturday 6th March

Despite a promising forecast Saturday dawned drab and overcast. But thanks to Chris and others setting up early we were ready to launch as soon as cloud base started to rise by mid morning with some good launches and weak winter thermals to be had.

A good day for training with Steve B getting his annual checks out of the way and new member Jim M making the most of the quiet day to get in 5 training flights with rapid progress.

Essential maintenance was also completed on the skybrid winch at the end of the day and an expedition to recover some rare spares for a vintage Oly restoration project was seen to return all smiles. So despite the slow start a very successful day all round.

Wednesday 2nd March

Northerly wind with just a hint of east and lots of it promised a classic ridge day. However, try as we might (27 attempts) we weren't able to find it and instead we seemed to find sink everywhere. It's an indication of how "good" the day was when there was excitiment over the first (and only) flight that achieved double digits - Peter Mason with all of 11 minutes. Highest launch I heard about was 2,000'. The ridge refusing to co-operate was disappointing but the banter was good and the donuts welcomed. Oh, and JPC was back on-line in its multi coloured finery.

Sunday 27th Feb

Just a few of us there to see what flying we could get in before (and around) the promised showers. Started flying at 10:00 and retired to the launch point caravan shortley after 11:30. During that time we discovered that Liz had developed an aversion to height and/or turning as Graham T was subjected to several bung pulls. Also discovered it doesn't take many to make the caravan feel crowed. When the first "shower" abated (after more tha an hour and a half) we decided to lob gliders back to the hangar with the 2 cables to hand. Only managed to lob one back (just) as the next "shower" appeared this time bearing hail. Toys were tucked away and we retired to the club house to dry off and listen to an excellent presentation by Liz on getting more out of cross-county flying. Lessons were drawn from analysis of Nigel's Silver distance to Parham and a task from a Worlds comp Liz took part in (by coincidence a day that she won).

Saturday 26th Feb

An interesting day with varying degrees of lift.

The wind started off as a moderate WNW which meant that only flights of about 8-10 mins were achievable as any lift was broken. Steve Gaze and myself took advantage of this to practise field landings as part of his bronze flight tests. Landing up hill into the freshly muck spread field to the east of the south end of the airfield was an experience!

For the last few flights of the day the wind went round more to the north and the ridge started to work, Paul P and Carol squeezed a respectful 17mins out of the K13 but then Chris B, flying the Vega, managed to get a whopping 41 minutes!

The evening was finished off with a presentation from Colin and myself about the pros and cons of GPS navigation and the use of XCSoar in navigating. During which one nameless person (Ok it was Chris!) fell asleep :-)


Phil

Photo Comp

Need a summer banner picture: so please email in your best offering to me Pete. Needs to be wide and short like the one above.

Prize is that it will be used as the banner photo unitl i get bored or fancy a change. I am judge, jury and executioner. No cash alternative will be offered.

Sunday 20th Feb

A hardy few turned out today and had an enjoyable few hours in the great outdoors. Just an up-and-down kind of a day. Only a few flights managed to break, just, into double digits flying time. We are not quite sure how Chris B managed to get 15 minutes - must have been his new toy trying to avoid the the muddy field.

Wednesday 16th Feb

Clear blue shy and sun when I left Newbury - complete cloud cover by the time I got to Rivar. Could base started to lift and occasional glimses of that yellow ball in the sky. Paul Prentice set the standard with 8 minutes which nobody managed to match until I took JMX just to keep the place tidy. I stumbled into the day's thermal (well, a more of a mini street) and was rewarded with 29 minutes. Colin was doing his best to keep the average flight time low (the lure of the yellow knob). With just 8 of us flying today no shortage on the donut front (thanks Peter M).

Sat 12th Feb

After a lot of hard work over the last few years the Pirat was finally launched skywards and as James had flown it before had the honour of taking the first launch.

Everything went well and it now awaits conditions to improve so that it can spend as much time as possible flying.

Having had a go in it myself yesterday i'm sure they will have a lot of fun over the coming years.

Sat 12th Feb

After a late start caused by low cloud that steadfastly refused to clear we made up for it with a busy afternoon.

The major event of which was the Pirat taking to the air for the first time (well its so long since it flew it felt like the first time.) James H must have feared an issue with the airbrakes as he stayed aloft for half an hour before eventually returning and allaying his fear. Nigel and Paul followed converting to it without drama and with cheshire cat smiles. (pictures to follow)

Carol and Phil soared the Janus for an hour as did Bob in the Vega and other soaring flights decluttered the airfield for a while.

Thanks to Steve O and Colin for helping with the 2 seat list.

Much swearing was heard from the hangar as weighings of puchacz EUF was attempted and JPC completed. JPC now needs a few loose ends tidying and putting on insurance and it will then be all ready to go.

In the evening we had light hearted but very enlightening talk from Phil who repackes our parachutes. There can't be many devices that are used in emergencies for live saving by one group and used for enjoyment by another. His main message whatever their use - look after them!

Sunday 30th Jan

Another good January day with in excess of 35 flights. Some thermal activity ensured that a few had extended soaring flights of around 16 minutes or so. The ridge was not working but did help to pop off the occasional thermal.

After a final check ride Richard Barber converted to the Vega and seemed to enjoy himeslf!

Nigel gained his P1 mutual rating and we even managed to fly a trial lesson. All in all a very enjoyable day's flying. Good conditions for this time of year.

Saturday 29th

A day for brass monkeys to stay indoors but our members are more hardy (especially those snugly wrapped up in their Ozee suits). Disappointingly the bitter NE wind did not deliver any lift on the ridge but something was stiring. James Hunneman managed to delay the effects of gravity playing around behind the ridge. Launch heights were limited by cloud base - well not so much a "base" more a layer of increasing murkyness. We did get one blue hole which Steve Barber managed to take advantage of and somehow managed to stay aloft for 16 minutes.

Sunday 23rd Ridge day!

Well what can I say? For me there has only been a handful of occasions over the years that our ridge has worked so consistantly so low down :-)

The problem we had was that cloudbase was gradually getting lower as the day went by. Initially launches to 1000ft were achieveable (wow!) but as the day passed by this gradually reduced until on the last flight, with Nigel and I in the Janus, we had to give up and turn back because cloudbase was getting just a bit too low!

After releasing at 800 ft half way up the airfield (just at the base of cloud) we pushed straight ahead reaching the ridge at 700ft and found that just as on the previous flights the ridge was still giving a steady 2-4 knots of lift. Working along towards the Gibbet it was clear that the lift was constant but we were also aware of the fact that the cloudbase was becoming lower. As we reached the Gibbet cloudbase had reduced to 700ft so we increased our speed to 80kts and reduced our height to 600ft to keep out of the gloom and raced back following the contours of the ridge, the vario still showing zero. Arriving back at the winch we still had plenty of height to fly a normal circuit and landing.

The K13, lacking the penetration and glide angle of the Janus, just could not get to the lift before having to turn back. If cloudbase had been a few hundred feet more then maybe it too would have been enjoying the conditions as well.

Must admit it is good to get back in the Janus after its little visit to Southern Sailplanes ;-)



Phil

Wednesday 19th January

At last a flyable Wednesday and the sunny day ensured a good turnout. Getting started proved a bit of a trial with the launch lights difficult for the winch driver to see but we finally got going launching into a northerly - however, not enough of a northerly to get the ridge working. The 4 club gliders out clocked up 26 launches with Paul Prentice taking longest flight honours with an impressive (for the day!) 17 minutes. Half a dozen other flights manged more than 10 minutes.

Sunday 9th January

After a non-flying Saturday we were able to play. An up and down day with only one flight over 10 minutes. That was a massive (?) 12 minutes flown by the duty instructor (Ken Porter) and Graham Tanner. With 27 launches a pretty good performance for a January day.

Sunday 3rd January

Dodging the snow showers we managed to get some decent flying in today.

Ok the flight times were not as impressive as yesterday but all those present certainly enjoyed the flights they had.

Jim was suffering in the cold so thought Carol would not notice if he joined him and Paul P as P3 in JMX but eagle eyed Carol soon rumbled his little plan and oiked him out before take off!

And Rod was so pleased with the new oven gloves he was given for christmas that he just had to bring them to the club to show them off to the rest of us............should have known better :-)

I've said it before...

..and those who know me will know that I will say it again...

...you should have been there.

I wasn't clever enough to take pictures, but if I had they'd have been of blue skies and an empty airfield - but this time because all the serviceable gliders were in the air soaring. Flights of the best part of an hour were the highlights of the middle of the day, and we were all fairly sure that Rod was off cross-country at one point!

We also had a visitor from another club to check out on the winch, I refused to fly with him but then he is my husband and many of you know what happens when we fly together... He, like me, thinks the Vega is very nice (as D Piggott would say).

And, for the instructors among you, not one but TWO ab-initios were there for us to hone our teaching/bastardry skills (delete where applicable) upon. And Andrew is in a wheelchair (No - he was before arriving!) so we have another member to take advantage of the hand rudder, although he's obviously got longer legs than Derek so we will need to devise some foot restraints for safe flight.

Enough - after a hard day's flying I've got a hard evening's prep for the Worlds - Ayala is on her way over for dinner. See you all next time, meanwhile happy New Year and I wish you all lots of safe fun soaring in 2011

Liz

Thursday 23rd December

Not wishing to waste a good ridge day, the four of us present set up the airfield and towed JMX and EGF down to the launch point. After being idle for a couple of weeks in sub-zero temperatures all equipment obligingly roared into life on cue. Launches to 2000 ft revealed a top wind in excess of 25 kt, so getting to the ridge from half way along the airfield required some patience. This was amply rewarded by good ridge lift to 1 200 ft along to and beyond Combe Gibbet. Being decent types (and to avoid frostbite) we limited our flights to around 30 minutes. By midday we numbered an even half dozen, which kept operations going nicely until mid afternoon.

Some may say we're crazy , but it certainly beats sleeping on the floor at Terminal Three

Saturday 18th Time to dream of a white Christmas

Just in case anyone hasn't guessed we won't be flying today.

All reports indicate falling snow across the area with low cloud. Our weatherman reports he is snowed in and expects similar conditions. Reports of accidents on nearby main roads indicate it is not safe to attempt travel to the club.

Time to wrap up the XMAS presents (at least those not stuck min the post) and murder an old song.

Sunday 12th Earliest sunset

Well from now on sunset starts getting later, even though dawn doesn't start getting earlier until the new year.

The day started with the Ka13 launching to 2300ft. Something between the club and Great Bedwyn was causing reduced sink and occasionally the vario would creep into the positive half. Tom and Bob shared the honours for the longest flight, beating me my two minutes.

Sunday 5th December

Surprisingly after all the adverse weather we have had over the last few days it was a good day for flying. All in all we managed to get in 3 hrs and 21 launches of flying with Rod Harris claiming the longest flight of the day with 19 minutes in the K8, a full 5 minutes longer than everyone else!


Steve Gaze and James Walters got their annual checks out of the way and Chris Bessent took a flight in his LS7 and after a bit of arm twisting let me have a go as well.

Must admit the LS7 is a very nice glider to fly and another one for the list........thanks Chris :-)


Phil

Sunday 28th November

Decidedly nippy but none of the snow covering other parts of the UK. A few "I flew the Helm" woolly hats on show and Rod H reported a spotting a brass monkey in search of a welder. Not enough wind to bring the ridge to life but folks were squeezing 10 or 11 minutes out of the K8 with Chris K taking the days honours with 13 minutes. Highest reported launch was 2,000'. First launch to last landing was 3:21 and in that time we clocked up 3:17 flying off 22 launches (only 2 gliders in use).

Sat 20th November

Fog clearing to low rain and drizzle = scrub!

Saturday 13th November

The appearance of DI Tim R wearing a jacket confirmed that Winter has definitely arrived. Mind it wasn't fastened and he was just wearing a tee shirt underneath it. Some us were donning our Ozee's. Another up and down day but Tim was kept busy in the backseat. I threw down the gauntlet for the longest flight with 8 minutes in the K8 (up till then all flights were 5 minutes). That was comprehensively beaten by both Rob J and Richard D clocking up 12 minutes each.
Cloud of white smoke from the winch end of the airfield hinted that something was not quite right. The broken fan belt was replaced by Ken H, Rob J and Steve B but the attempt to launch following that was abandoned due to misting.
Just 12 launches (1:23 flying time)

Saturday 6th November

After the initial rain cleared we took adavantage of the dryer conditions to get some flying in. Ok so it wasn't great soaring weather but that did not stop us managing to get in 2hrs 49 mins of flying from 28 launches, 4 of which tied with 8 mins each !

Colin got his 3 year instructor checks done and Nigel his annuals so at least they went home happy :-)

And finally many thanks to Steve Ottner for helping out with the trial lessons.


Phil

Saturday 30th October

Clear skies, a good turnout - the day looked set to be a good one. Then the pre-halloween spell kicked in. Pajero had to be helped out of the container with a push and then a tow start. The prime mover engine on the bus winch refused to start - left for a quiet 10 minutes it then co-operated. When removing the filler hose from the gas tank clouds of LPG erupted and there was nothing we could do until the tank emptied itself and froze everything nearby (including Chris K's thumb). Over tea and bacon butties the theory was formulated that a ladybird had got lodged in the valve preventing it from shutting and tha pumping some gas in should clear it (there was a reason for suspecting a ladybird!). The theory proved to be sound (the blockage was cleared (but unproven if the culprit was a ladybird). Naturally, the bus engine refused to start (this time there was access to hook on jumper leads). Winch put in position, glider and caravan in position - we were raring to go. Towing out the cable, just short of the launch point, loud ping as the weak link broke on one cable - yup, drum overrun and a snarl-up.
So, we finally got to fly and Steve B flew the K8 to set the standard with a 15 minute flight and Peter E and myself were kept busy flying our keen new members. Just over an hour later Graham T showed me his soaring skills in a 38 minute flight along the sunny side of a cloud street. I sat in the back seat and enjoyed the autumn colours and the view of the showers to the south and east of us. To confirm we had broken the spell we also picked up a new member - Andrew Farrow had a trial lesson at the begining of the month and came back to sample some more and decided to join us.
Thanks to the C team, especially Chris K who fixed each problem encountered and then drove the winch for 20 of the 22 launches.

Halloween - Sunday 31 Oct...spooky...

...in spite of the hour change, it still wasn't fully light.....the field was so quiet it was spooky...but wait... what are those shadowy figures I see waiting at at the gate as I arrive?





Are they the ghosts of trial lessons past?

The undead (now then, now then!) waiting tirelessly for soarable weather?

Zombie ab initios marching inexorably towards the duty instructor baying for blood?

Souls of long departed glider pilots who roam the world restlessly howling for the days before the malign god EASA ruled the skies, sucking the heart out of our thermals?









Or have the committee just let the grass get a little too long?





Thanks to Chris for making me laugh out loud when I arrived in the gloom of this morning to see the lights flickering in their eyes.

Soaring Sunday 24th October - in thermal!

Again a lovely autumn weekend day with thermals and a light northerly wind. A quiet start suggested sunday lie-ins but the launch point got progressively busier. 185 was the only private glider to rig but the club gliders were kept busy with soaring, annual checks and beginner lessons. Colin repaired the "new" Pajero so we are back to a full compliment of vehicles.

Wed 20 Oct

Another splendid day for October. No private owners rigged, but the four club aircraft were kept busy, amassing over 11hrs between them off their 24 launches, reaching over 4000ft again.

Sunday 17th - cold at 4000'

It was great to find two new members at the launch point as we walked the gliders down. We'd thought that we'd only need one two-seater but that soon changed with Peter Elison easily distracted from removing sheep 'residue' from the private Puchacz to fly one of the new members and a couple of trial lessons.

Rob Jarvis and Chris Keating had decided it would be a Ka8 day and Rob duely proved it with the longest flight of the day with an hour and seven minutes. Meanwhile Graham Tanner took me to cloudbase at 4000' above ground where it was distinctly chilly. Well it is October.

I could have done without encountering the wing of the Puchacz on my way out of the hanger at the end of the day. Many thanks to those who patched me up. You'll be pleased to hear the wing was completely unharmed.

Visit to Parham Saturday 16th

After our little trip to Eden didn't quite go to plan we thought we would finish the week off with a day trip to Parham.




A 1000ft aerotow was all that was needed to get us onto the ridge which was working quite well, and so we set off to see how far we could go.








Rod flew his Swales for a couple of hours of so but seemed to prefer to stay low to scare the rabbits (just like at Eden last year!)






All in all not a bad day, great fun on the ridge and i'm still current on aerotow!

Maybe we should organise a return trip with a club two seater?

Sunday 17th October

A very pleasant day with little cumulus around and thermals to cloudbase at 4000ft. Not bad for an autumn day.

Saturday 16th October

After the early morning low cloud cleared we were hopeful for some ridge action, alas the ridge was too westerly and too slight for the NNE 12kt wind, but good launches allowed training progress and annual check opportunities. Welcome to the 2 new members who signed up today.

Thanks to some hard work, the guys refurbishing the other K13 (JPC) have made significant progress and the argument over the final colour will soon be due.

Wednessday 13 October

Slow start with no one desperate to get launched. Steve Barber did the decent thing and offered to take the first launch and we held a sweepstake on what height he would meet the cloudbase. We were pleasantly surprised to see that he got almost to the top of the launch and then started soaring, achieving 17 minutes. A few flights later Rob Jarvis moved the bar up to 30 minutes. After several more folks just doing circuits Paul Prentice went along with Rob in the K13 to observe the master of soaring. Not much chance to observe soaring technique in a 6 minute flight. So then Rob went to with Paul (this time in the Puchacz) to see how he faired. 48 minutes later (longest flight of the day) a triumphant Paul returned. Highest launch of the day was 2,100' in the K8.
In total 24 launches of which a quarter were 30 minutes or more. A much better day than any of us had expected (plus the usual Wednesday donuts that Peter Mason feeds us).

Saturday 1st October

With Saturday being a reasonable day sandwiched between very wet days (and the weekend being declared a 1 day weekend) we'd expected a good turnout. We did have a strong turnout of TL's but a modest one of club members. Low cloudbase limited flight times with Paul Prentice taking the honours of longest and second longest flights (10 and 11 minutes). A record held until after 15:00 when Steve Barber jumped in the K8 after his marathon session on the winch and he soared away for a whole 17 minutes. No one else was able to crack the 10 minute barrier. 30 launches in total with TL's accounting for a dozen of those and annual checks for another 7.

Thursday 30th - 100 year old birthday boy takes to the skies!

Wednesday slipped a day this week because of the somewhat wet real Wednesday. I was able to take my neighbour for a Trial Lesson for his birthday - his 100th birthday! Not only his first flight in a glider but his first in any sort of small aircraft (30 seater being the smallest aircraft flown in previously). Many thanks to Rob, Paul, Peter, Alan B and Chris K for turning out to make the day possible (with Colin and James in reserve but working on things to keep us flying).
After our visitor (and his family, friends and photogaphers from the Newbury Weekly News) departed there was a hottly contested "keepie-up" challenge. With not much more than a 1,000 cloud base (occasional gaps to sneak through) the benchmark was set at a whole 8 minutes. This stepped up in 2 minute increments, topping out at 18 minutes

Sunday 26th - Ridge day!

The few that turned up enjoyed playing on the ridge trying to distinguish between ridge and thermal lift. It was good to welcome a former member who was getting to grips with winch launching. Between the few of us and a couple of TL's we manged to get 16 launches out of the day.

Sat 25th September

Well its Autumn. But that ment we all enjoyed the Autumn thermals. The northly wind teased on the ridge but it was the thermals that kept most aloft with flights of 20mins to 3hours.

Sat 18 Sep - a good day! (Well, brilliant actually)

The forecast was for good soaring conditions even by summer standards, and here we are well into September. What's more, it delivered pretty much as promised, even on Liz's day (it must have missed her swap with Tim). Here's what Liz said:
----------------------------------------------------
As forecast, conditions were good; I saw climbs up to 6kt sustained average (thanks Chris for lending me B1 to find them in towards the end of the day!). Best weather was to the SE although Phil and Chris aiming at a 300k Shepton Mallet / Parham got stuck with a blue hole between Salisbury and Southampton which caused them to have to abort the task and head for home. Had they got across it, reports were of excellent conditions to the east as well. To the north however as forecast it wasn't so good - various people tried to go that way and all gave up around Newbury-ish. Around 3pm the nice streets that had been set up all day seemed to dissipate which seemed as if it might be the end of the day, but in fact it continued to work in the blue, and then some splendid streets set up that were still working at 5 when the top cover finally damped it all down.

I finally got to fly the Vega at the end of the day and confirm that it scratches very nicely in the last broken thermal of the day, averaging around 0.2kt from 850' to just over 1000' before I decided it was time to go and try those comforting airbrakes. No need to overshoot anything there, is there!

A great time was had I think by all - including Stephen's 1-day course whose grin was probably a thermal source in itself. I hope we'll see him again.
----------------------------------------------------
Stephen's stats analysis tells us that we did more hours today than any day in the preceding 3 years. We also had several hundred km XC (mainly Chris and Phil's, but also a couple of quick 60k out-and-returns in flights of just an hour or less, and Trevor took the Skylark a-wandering. Well done to all.

No doubt Pete would have added to them in 737, but he was otherwise occupied - completing his Full Category Instructor's qualification, congratulations.

Steve