Wednesday 25th May 2011

Having to endure ‘war stories’ by veterans of last week’s Talgarth expedition was a small price to pay for the enthusiasm they displayed in helping to get - and keep - the club flying today.

Yet again we had to cope with a brisk crosswind, and the competence and staying power which DGS solo pilots and trainees are demonstrating week in and week out in tackling and coping with such conditions is pretty impressive. A light breeze, straight down the runway, will come as a bit of a shock to us all, if and when that ever happens again!

With such weather, the day turned out to be one big confidence building and learning experience, with not much in the way of soaring. However, a couple of trial lessons were achieved, bringing the club much-needed income and potential new members.

The stub runway was put to good use, with some quite novel approaches. Apart from sharpening our skills, this enabled us to encounter some rare orchids, explained by our resident naturalist, Bob Jones. (If you’re driving or walking on that part of the field, please try to avoid harming these little light blue flowers, which are clearly visible.)

The day ended with a small group of us having a constructive informal discussion in the clubhouse about various options for the short-term development of our fleet, to enable us to maintain that delicate balance of pre-solo, post-solo and trial lesson requirements - as well as fun and good humour - which are all so vital for the on going success of any gliding club.

Bob Pirie

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