The forecast looked really good. Light easterly winds. Little or no cloud cover. The soaring forecast predicted good conditions and the light winds would mean no wave influence. And this is exactly what we got.
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| From very early the day looked promising. And didn't it deliver |
Flying start was a little delayed as everyone seemed to want to rig their own gliders today and this caused a bit of a traffic jam in the rigging area. Apart from the club aircraft we ended up with an ASW20, Jantar 1, 2* K6, K8 and an Astir. I tried to get a photo of the grid but soaring was so good that most aircraft were all on the ground together.
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| Rigging gridlock |
And the flying. Brilliant. We started with strong thermals marked by shallow cumulus clouds with bases at 3500 feet QFE ( height above the airfield ). This gave way to blue conditions which seem to make the thermals even stronger to a little over 4000 feet QFE. I recorded several thermal climbs with average climb rates close to 5 knots ( 500 feet per minute ). There was also a large fire on Dartmoor above the ranges at Willsworthy. Climbing in this was not as exciting as I thought it would be. The lift, although strong was very rough and the smoke make me cough. We live and learn. Later in the day, a Sea Breeze Front moved close to the airfield which provided even more soaring opportunities.
Most pilots had a good day with lots of soaring flights. New member Jerry made good use of Ged’s availability to further his training. Longest flight was Bob in the ASW20 which made a reappearance after a winter in it’s trailer and after scratching away from a very low launch went on to soar for 2 hours 38 minutes
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| Great Buffet |
After flying, the club members assembled in the clubhouse for a very well attended AGM. After a buffet prepared with great style and culinary skill by Club Secretary Sandra. The Committee presented a summary of the year gone, details of current plans and some ideas for the future. Lively discussion was the order of the day. The Committee remained unchanged.
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| Well attended AGM |
A brilliant day.
Steve
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