The call had gone out that the forecast was good, and an early start might be wise, so I got to the airfield just after 0830, only to find Mike Keller was even keener than me! With a strong East wind blowing, and barely a cloud over the airfield, we set about getting things together so that we could start getting aircraft in the air. By 1000 there were well over a dozen people, a good mix of Ab Initio students, solo pilots and instructors, and the launch point was well on it's way to getting the first aircraft up.
Bob Pirie took Mike Keller up in the K13, launching at 1025, both to explore the extent of the wave to the east of the airfield, and also to show Mike the likely lumps and bumps he would encounter on the approach if he decided to take his own aircraft up. Maybe the fact that Mike decided to do some winch training, under the expert eye of Steve Raine, should have given the rest of us a clue about the conditions!?!
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| Flying the K13 |
I was next to fly with Bob in the K13, and having got a good launch we too headed into the wave. This was my first time in wave, and it turned out to be a great experience. We stayed between 1,200 and 1,500ft for the entire 30 minutes we were up, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being in the air for so long, without having to constantly maintain a turn, though sharing the wave with other aircraft meant keeping a sharp lookout. I was also the next to experience the rotor on the approach to the airfield, and what a ride that was! I was certainly very grateful to have Bob's expert instruction to guide me to a safe landing.
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| Michael Nuttal-Worsley with Steve in K7M G-DCLT |
Steve Lewis took the first trail lesson of the day, with Michael Nuttal-Worsley enjoying two trips into the glorious blue skies and wave. Shortly after this, Martin Broadway took to the skies, scoring the best flight of the day at 2hrs 16mins, and achieving an altitude of 3,300ft. Whilst Martin was in the air, Bob Sansom pulled off the landing of the day; from the minute he turned in on finals, to the second his undercarriage touched the deck, I don't think I took a single breath. His K8 is as light as a kite, and the rotor winds over the approach threw him around like a cork in a washing machine!
It was very shortly after this that Steve Lewis made the call to cancel all further trial lessons, as the idea is to encourage people to come back, not put them off for life! However, the solo and Ab Initio stalwarts continued to head skyward, and we wound up launching Astirs, the ASW20, a Jantar, the K7, a K8 and the K13. Further indication of the difficult landing conditions, if any were needed, was the sight of Allan Holland spending the afternoon picking blackberries, but in the end everyone who flew enjoyed some great, if challenging flying.
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| Wave enhanced cloud street |
Today our special thanks are owed to John, Ged and David assisted throughout the day by several other club members for their work on the K8 ARC renewal and complteting several other jobs on the Pirat. Thanks everyone
Chris Jones
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