The day started early to get to Culdrose on time so Don wouldn't hurt us. Chris was the earliest to arrive as, when we pulled up, he was lying down in his 'RV' (which was actually his little blue van.) Ever seen a 6 ft. 3 grown man laying in a little blue van? Believe me, it's funny!!
Then came the security clearances and we all got pretty little badges with our nice little photos on. Sure to say most were taken off when we were out of sight of the security.
We were given a briefing of where we can land as we had to contend with hidden lights, search and rescue helicopters and air traffic controllers watching us. It was nice to know that if we did have a launch failure there were 101 places we could land, even though the runway was so long we would have been able to land ahead anyway!
As Culdrose is a Navy airfield flying was delayed until about 11 due to 2 helicopters taking off, showing off a bit before flying out to show us glider pilots how to really do cross country! We were then transported out to the runway we were using (they have an option of 3) by a double decker bus - now that's what I call style.
Don was quickly cleared to instruct and all of us who came got 2 very successful launches on the auto tow. It was a very different experience from the winch launch as it was a lot slower to 'get going.' The hardest thing to get hold of was the transition to the main climb. We all launched in the Puchacz, a polish dual seater glider which is very nice! This was because the DG505 was too heavy to launch on the wire. By the end we all agreed that DGS should replace the K7m with a Puchacz, Do you think the committee will agree? Hmm..
We were so close to the sea and the wind was just right to set up a sea breeze convergence the whole day only reachable by aerotow. Chris Kaminski decided to take the challenge by flying the DG505 over to it on aerotow. After 52 minutes he was called back by radio. After his landing he was happy to tell us all of his expedition all the way up to Falmouth and nearly down to Lands end before being called back. Then all he could moan about was that his big feet didn't fit in the rudder position so they were uncomfortable!! Was he moaning just to show the rest of us what we were missing? The rest of us kept up the DGS tradition of getting 5 minute circuits.
All in all it was a great day. We really enjoyed ourselves and I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say a big thank you to Don for setting this expedition up and members of the Seahawk gliding club for making it so enjoyable. Seahawk is a very friendly club and if you have a chance, head up there and give it a go! Make sure you call first though otherwise the navy people get very angry.
Matt
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