Today, one of our members joined the elite 1999 Club. Everyone who flew tried, but only one achieved success, and they weren't flying the K-13. Not heard of the 1999 Club? Well read on.
Today was a day when, as Adrian Irwin put it, "The farms and cows got bigger and bigger - very quickly!" And rotated in your field of view as they did so. Why so? Because today we went spinning. With a good breeze almost up and down the runway, and no prospect of soaring, what better to do in the winter than keep current in spinning? Or be introduced to the art?
So we put the winch into the top field, towed out the cables and got Roger Appleboom airborne in the K-8, where he very nearly joined the 1999 Club on the first launch of the day. But then the weather intervened: an 'isolated shower' that robbed us of 90 minutes flying and caused visitor Susan Eveleigh to be delayed from her 1100 booking. But never fear, for we had secret weapon CFI Don Puttock on hand to entertain Susan - oh how the time must have flown by as the rain lashed the windows of the launch hut. Salvation arrived when the sun broke through at about 1230 and Susan, who had travelled from Newton Abbott, was able to take two flights with Mike Jardine (see photo).
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| Susan Eveleigh with Mike in the K13 |
And so, with the K-13 freed up, we were able to press on with our culture of 'spinning'. Adrian Irwin had been getting noticeably 'edgy' about not being able to spin, so he was first up and, 40 years after having first spun in a glider, appeared to positively revel in it! Next came Chris Owen who had never spun: well, if there is such a thing as a 'gentle' spin, that was what he got as a demo, following which he demonstrated his own ability at entry and recovery - and that 500ft can disappear- just like that! Finally, Paula Howarth was given left and right handed introductions, following which it was time for a hangar landing. Her verdict? Well, she would be quite happy to "Not do that again for quite a while!" but there were no ill effects so I think that can be called a success.
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| ll Out! All Out! Father and daughter team Peter and Paula Howarth appear to be aviating together, except Paula's not yet solo and Pete has yet to re-qualify as an Instructor - so it's All Out, the both of you..! |
Between two seater launches we kept the K-8 going, with both Peter Howarth and Mike Jardine applying themselves to joining the 1999 Club. So what is the 1999 Club? Well, as we know all glider pilots are law abiding citizens and, unless the little circle surrounding the 'G' on the aeronautical chart says otherwise, they are not allowed to launch on a cable to more than 2,000ft above the airfield. And that of course means that they have to release at 1999ft above ground level if they wish to stay legal, which is of course what they want to do. So who found themselves in this happy position? Was it long time member Roger Appleboom, who always waits for the back release? Was it even longer time member Mike Jardine, a Northerner who would see 1,999ft as giving away 'change'? Or could it be that newly joined young upstart who keeps on going on about Upavon and has pretensions of re-qualifying as an Instructor Pete Howarth? Have you guessed yet? Yes, it was one of Pete Howarth's launches which took him perilously close to releasing at more than 2,000ft and hence he able to claim membership of the illustrious '1999 Club'. That's not to say that others didn't come close; Roger Appleboom's first launch in the K-8 took him to 1,800ft, following which he complained to the winch driver for cutting him off early!
Thanks go to the aforementioned Mike Jardine for flying our visitor, to Peter and Roger for their winching, and to CFI Don for providing a hot tea service to the launch point - you know you've arrived as a CFI when all you have to do is provide 'builder's tea' to the launch point.
So who's going to be next to join Pete Howarth in The 1999 Club? And who's going to stay current in spinning? Could it be you?
Martin Cropper
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