And then it was May. Whatever happened to April? Normally the month that kicks off the season, this year it seems to have slipped by before we’ve really woken from our winter slumbers.
Certainly Sunday was the first full flying day for the Sunday Soarers in some time. We managed 26 mis-hapless launches, including 4 trial lessons, 3 check flights, 2 private and one club glider soaring, and the return of (like the Cuckoo) that rare bird, the ‘walk-in’ (i.e.. members of the public thinking – ‘that looks nice – I think I’ll go it a go today’) of whom we had three – two flown and one asked to re-book via Mike.
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| The K13 takes another launch |
So it has to be said that a couple of club members either did not manage to fly, or had less than their proper ration of flying, but that is almost inevitable when the first month of the season disappears without trace! So it was great to see first timers Graham Davey, Donald Roper (Indie car club founder), Philip (Dad) and Tom (son) Wooton, and Adrian Keatley; new club junior members Lucy and Matt Brooks,. Dark horse walk-in was Hugh Turner who, as he stepped into the cockpit, announced that he had 3.5khr flying ASH-25s etc. in New Zealand and promptly took us to 2,500ft (when I thought the thermals stopped at 2,000ft) and gave me a master class in soaring for half an hour – before returning to his summer job looking after the hotel on Burgh Island!
It’s good to see Dave Bourchier has returned as a regular attendee - he was, as I left, in deep discussion with two former members about the ‘old days’ (one of whom was nominated for a Nobel Prize for Peace) and who recalled that one of our brethren was the owner of a butcher’s shop in St Judes – any takers??
Martin Cropper
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