It was a steely, grey day for steely, grey aviators. If the actual wind met its forecast strength of 35 kts we would not have been flying. The windsock, however, showed it to be about 50% of that strength, once again proving the adage: never cancel a day’s flying on the basis of the forecast. However the forecast did give cause for vigilance, which is never a bad thing.
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A steely, grey day. Roger Appleboom tows out the cables
– before deserting to the warmth of the clubhouse! |
But flying was not the only activity taking place today, as evidenced by Roger Appleboom who, having assisted with changing ends and getting the cables pulled out, promptly left me at the winch for the delight of Introductory Flight Pilot training with Don i.e.. swapping the steely grey airfield for the warm cosy clubhouse where the woodburner was approaching meltdown and the coffee in permanent, lava like flow. But to single out Roger is a little unfair, for he was joined by a great many others who shunned the steely outdoors for the balmy esoterics of Don’s training programme. No names, no pack drill, but these were highly suspected to include (in alphabetical order) Tony Dene, Roger Green, Peter Howarth and Fred May.
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| The River Tamar, and cloud to the south. |
Meanwhile, on the currency markets, solo pilots Chris Jones, Adrian Irwin, Allan Holland and Fred May were attempting to exchange the greatest potential (height) achieved in the K-8 for the maximum kinetic (time) in their bids for longest flight of the day, the prize eventually going to Adrian Irwin with a time of 10 minutes. Also remaining current was Chris Owen, who managed 3 launches to 1,300 ft plus in the K-13, followed by increasingly assured and well flown circuits as the wind gradually backed in increased in speed. By 1545 it had to be conceded that the windsock was showing 20kts from the south-west, gusting to 25 - no place for the K-8 and hence time to take our precious toys back to the safety of the hangar and join the academics in the clubhouse.
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| The River Tamar, clouds and showers to the west. |
In a perverse kind of way it’s a matter of taste: would you rather be staying current by flying on a cold, steely grey day with absolutely no prospect of soaring, or attend ground school in the clubhouse that will enable you to take the next step in your gliding career? In fact, both are necessary - nay vital - activities, it just depends how masochistic you are!
Martin Cropper
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