Wednesday 9th March 2011

A 'small but perfectly formed' group of enthusiasts concluded that the metman had undersold the weather prospects, and were rewarded with a splendid day's gliding enhanced by a brisk westerly wind straight down the runway, a mud-free airfield, launches approaching 1,500 feet, and cloud streets booming with thermals.

We were thinner on the ground than usual which was a shame, given the super conditions and the fact that we had three instructors raring to go (Ged Nevisky, Dave Jesty and myself).

...part of the 'small but perfectly formed' group, at the end of a super soaring day. (Alan Holland and Dave Jesty were elsewhere on-site whern the photo was taken, and our Chairman, Steve Lewis, was manning the camera.)

Thanks to a new fuel filter, which Ged collected from the supplier during the morning and then fitted, the ML winch was back 'on song', with the Guslaunch providing backup while the ML was being attended to. A splendid winching service was provided by Dave Rippon and Alan Holland.

We were also grateful to our glider technical guru, John Bolt, for ensuring that we had two serviceable training gliders on-line (after a small problem with the K7/13's tailplane last weekend).

Training-wise, the day provided a great opportunity for one of our most advanced ab-initio students, Chris Fagg, to hone his soaring, navigational and spin recovery skills during a flight of more than an hour. Meanwhile his son Ian, a professional yacht skipper, tried his hand at the helm of a K13 - not just once, but three times. Another new temporary member who, with Ian, chipped in and helped with various airfield chores, was Lucas Terry, from Torpoint, who last glided as a lad when his father was serving at RAF Bruggen, in Germany. Thanks, guys!

Andrew Beaumont and Phil Hardwick made a significant contribution to club funds by performing umpteen launches in their Astir. Then, while they paused to get their breath back (...or ran out of steam? ...or cash?), I absented myself from the back seat of a K13 and took the opportunity to have a little solo fun in this very pleasant fibreglass single-seater. It was interesting to compare it with another Astir variant which I flew at Lasham last weekend.

Bob Pirie