Unfortunately there was no-one with a camera to capture evidence of the only day without rain for weeks.
A dull start saw the usual diehards getting the kit out ready for the arrival at 1000 of Scouts from Denbury for a taster day. The widely reported rash of cable breaks with the ML winch continued until Scratch and Steve Raine cut in a significant length of new cable – which stemmed rapidly rising impatience and enabled over 40 launches to be achieved over the day.
The Scouts (6 male, 2 female) didn’t seem perturbed, however, and by lunchtime the day was looking pretty promising. Indeed appropriately for the middle of July it made like the Tour de France and … cycled (ho, ho). So for some it was smooth climbs to 3,500ft, with 4 to 6 registering on the variometer giving views to Torbay and beyond, whilst for others it was the equivalent down for 4 minutes under 8/8 all the way round a brief circuit.
As the Scouts departed with ‘ear to ear’ grins, solo pilots Alan Carter, Sandra, Martin Broadway, Jeff Cragg, Shrek, Alan Holland and Scratch were able to get in some much needed solo time and Roger Applebloom converted onto the Zugvogel before, as encroaching cirrus marked the advance of the next (inevitable) warm front, it was time to reflect on a day which, once upon a time, would have been normal for an English summer.
Still, with the opening of the Olympics the weather’s all about to change for the better, isn’t it? Special thanks go to Scratch and Alan Carter for their grit, determination and patience to deliver a launch service in spite of the ‘bag o’ nails’ they were passed. Do not adjust your sets – the situation is confidently predicted to improve.
Martin Cropper
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