Flying being restricted to licensed pilots only, today saw a disappointingly low turnout of members, although two Astirs and the ASW20F took to the air, and enthusiastic and hard-working temporary members Simon Collier and Mike Bennett enjoyed being chauffeured around in K13 G-CHXP by Mike Jardine.
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| The Bonanza on approach |
The main event, however, was a flying visit by Gordon MacDonald, Chief Technical Officer of the British Gliding Association, in order to progress Colin Boyd through the final stages of becoming an Official Inspector. Gordon, along with another former instructing colleague of mine from Lasham, Hugh Browning, arrived in some style in a pristine early 60s vintage Beechcraft Bonanza, which Gordon had rebuilt, and which he intends flying across the Atlantic to the Oshkosh event in the USA with his wife (also a commercial pilot).
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| The beautifully restored Beechcraft Bonanza |
Having spent the morning dealing with a technical matter at North Hill, the Bonanza joined our circuit shortly after noon and following an impressively short landing, Gordon spent the next five hours or so putting Colin though his paces, with Steve Lewis handling the increasingly complex paperwork issues concerning the maintenance and repair of gliders - ancient and modern. Although most of our Brentor-based gliders are of traditional construction, the focus later moved to fibreglass gliders and - guided by Gordon - Colin was able to identify a couple of issues requiring attention among our private fleet.
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| Gordon and Hugh |
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| Inspecting one of the Astirs |
Hugh Browning has been acclaimed widely for leading the BGA's successful 'Safe Winch Launching Initiative'. This targets the high numbers of accidents resulting from stalling and spinning on the wire or in the immediate aftermath of a launch failure – which represent around 80% of fatal or serious glider accidents. Hugh declared himself to be 'off duty' and spent much of his time supposedly basking in the launch hut 'reading a good book'. But he chatted with individual members and his head always seemed to pop up above the parapet whenever a glider movement took place. Not surprisingly, he showed an active interest in our launching operations at both ends of the field, and one early instance of a glider transitioning rather too quickly into the full climb elicited a discrete comment. Well done to all for ensuring that this was not repeated during an afternoon of fun (and safe) flying - and let's keep it that way!.
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| The early spreadout |
Flying wise, the day was a bit of strip-tease. We started with a blanket of spread-out cumulus, then the sun started to break through giving us expanding blue areas and spawning patches of more productive cloud, tantalisingly out of reach of the field. Finally, pilots who had opted to let their fellow members and syndicate partners fly - and fall to earth - first, were rewarded with an hour or so of booming soaring conditions. Rick Wiles, accompanied by Dave Bourchier, achieved just under an hour in the two-seater - at one stage showing me (in the ASW20F) a clean pair of heels in a thermal when I arrived back low, having found nothing further afield. As conditions continued to improve, I was boosted to cloudbase at 3,700 feet, at one stage with a steady 5.4 knots on the averager, facilitating an hour long flight encompassing Meldon Reservoir, Roadford Lake and Lifton, as well as various diversions in between to sample the generous thermals on offer.
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| Rick's view of the runway from the easy end |
I then opened the air brakes and returned home in time to join the Boyd/Lewis Supporters' Club in bidding farewell to our visitors. I selflessly presented Gordon with a bag of Brentor mushrooms, which I had earmarked for my Sunday morning breakfast.
All in all a most enjoyable day - although probably more challenging than enjoyable for Colin and Steve as technical matters and paperwork were put under the microscope. Finally, a big thank you to Rick and Phil Hardwick for driving the winch, and welcome back to Alan Holland whose fractured hip seems to have healed to the point where he is able to indulge in light cable retrieve duties.
Bob Pirie
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