A combination of wet and windy weather and a swamp-like airfield seem to have become the norm for recent Wednesdays, and despite a brief 'false dawn', today was no exception.
But thanks to a warm clubhouse, a fully-functioning and realistic simulator and the presence of a bunch of solo pilots eager to hone their skills in advance of the soaring season, we had a productive morning.
We started the day by exploring the potential of a 19km triangular flight, the turning points being Mary Tavy bus garage, Lamerton crossroads (with the main Launceston-Tavistock road) and the T-junction outside the pub at Chillaton. With each 'leg' do-able on a good day without getting out of gliding range of Brentor, this may seem a bit tame to the pundits. But go round it three times, and hopefully you'll have proved to yourself that 50 km is a less daunting task than you perhaps thought - and maybe the experience will give pilots greater confidence to go for the real thing (subject, of course, to the required rating, authorisation and briefing).
During our local solo flying, we all tend to lapse into enjoyable but purpose-less bumbling from thermal to thermal, and hopefully the triangle will provide a fun way of improving our selectivity as far as thermals are concerned, our speeds, and our confidence.
Next on the agenda was some quite intensive action involving the simulator; the topic for the day being aero towing, in preparation for expeditions to other gliding sites (e.g. Talgarth) in the coming months. Inevitably there were some rope breaks and crunching noises initially, but soon everyone was following the tug aircraft reasonably competently right up to release height. I am sure what's been learnt and practised on the simulator will help to facilitate a smooth and faster-than-average transition to the real thing.
Bob Pirie
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