Wednesday 10th November 2010

With a clear blue sky, little wind and everything ready to go early, it looked like a really enjoyable and productive day was in prospect. And it was, too, in many ways which I’ll come to later. But in the afternoon we were dogged by cable breaks (always good practise, though!), and multiple incursions of cows onto the field. Oh, and the soft surface made retrieving and ground handling a bit difficult.

Two one-day course students Colin and Stephen Davies joined us and flew with Ged. We’ll be welcoming them back shortly to complete their course

Club aircraft were put to good use, with advanced pre-solo pilot Chris Fagg finding the first thermal of the day, then John Bolt in the K8 achieving 17 minutes. In fact, at one stage there were three gliders in the air, which is quite an achievement on a barely-soarable day at this time of year. Meanwhile Phil and Andrew continued to get acquainted with their recently acquired Astir.

Following a briefing from Dave Jesty, Dave Rippon, our Field Treasurer, proved that his abilities extend beyond the K8/6 (and cash box!) by progressing to his first flight in the Zugvogel. This means he can now fly every glider in the club fleet.

Field treasurer David Rippon flies the Sheibe Zugvogel 3A

However, I’ve left the best news until last. The highlight of the day was when Mike Keller completed his first solo glider flight in K13 G-CDMX. Mike, who hung up his wings (rotor blades?) as a Royal Marines helicopter pilot 35 years ago, has been training with us throughout the summer and his flight was a text book example of how it should be done. Congratulations, Mike!

Mike Keller being congratulated by instructor Bob Pirie

Under Don's leadership as CFI, Dartmoor Gliding Society has had a healthy 'run' of first solo flights this year, but as those pilots progress through their post-solo training, that leaves plenty of room for new trainees. So to anyone whose been thinking of trying gliding - but never got round to it - we invite you to wrap up warm and come on down any Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday  
 
Bob Pirie