Oh, the ups and downs of our sport!
Last week’s ‘up’ was arriving to find Don completing the Zugvogel’s new cockpit canopy, while today’s was getting acquainted with the club’s newly-acquired Pirat single seater.
And the downs? Well, it was pretty sad to find the Zug in the demeaning position of having been de-rigged and with its fuselage inverted while the minor damage to the skid and surrounding area is being repaired. Thank goodness for the skill and patience of members like John Bolt, Martin Smith , Chris Kaminski and Alan Carter
With a strong and gusty wind and the threat of showers, only a few enthusiasts arrived to indulge in some lively two-seater action with Dave Jesty and myself apart, that is, from Phil and Andrew, who handled the tricky conditions well in their Astir. They took several launches each and in so doing, made a significant contribution to the club’s coffers.
Keith Wearn, one of our fixed-price to solo members, returned after an absence of several months and started to get his money’s worth with seven flights with Dave. Meanwhile three of our more experienced solo pilots, Bob Sansom, John Howe and Robin Wilson flew with me - handling the difficult conditions competently. Robin is now itching to have his first flight in the beautiful K6cr which he and Colin Boyd have acquired.
Enabled firstly by Phil, and then by John Howe, we enjoyed some excellent launches to as high as 1,600 feet.
With superb timing, I managed to arrange things so that the Pirat - with me in it - was hooked on and ready to go just as cloud streets started to form after a period of showers and over-development. Following a couple of non-thermic launches, I was then able to put the glider though its paces for more than an hour, including a couple of straight line climbs under cloud streets of several miles’ duration. She looks splendid, flies well, climbs like an angel and, yes, she spins. All in all a fantastic acquisition - and if we take good care of her, she’ll provide us with years of fun.
Bob Pirie
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