Whilst the eloquence of my 'Welcome to Dartmoor Gliding' presentation to One Day Course students Billy and Cameron Thomson was being drowned out by the rain beating down on the clubhouse canopy, our collective thoughts were that there would be no flying today.
So having been re-booked by new Enquiries Coordinator Paula Howarth, and having spent some time on the simulator, we bade farewell to the Thomsons for their return journey to Falmouth and, being Sunday Soarers, occupied our time constructively (well Rich Roberts did lay a new floor in the club caravan) composing a more Mary Berry oriented version of the mnemonic CB SIFT CBE viz: Cake, Bake, Sugar, Icing, Flour, Taste, Chocolate, Brownies and Eating..!
The arrival of the updated Met Office forecast at shortly after 1030 local gave an indication that, despite the possibility of isolated showers, the trough line which had caused the early morning rain might be shifting a little quicker than we first thought and so the silent majority made a democratic movement to the airfield. Where we found that, despite a wind gusting to 19 knots from the south west, the lift was strong and smooth under the clouds (see photo of Kit Smith at 1500ft).
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| Kit Smith soaring at 1,500ft: sun to the left, rain to the right. |
At exactly 1430 (as predicted by RASP) there was a sudden downpour that forced us to retreat to the launch point but after its passage (see photo), the wind veered and reduced leaving a very pleasant afternoon for club members trainees Kit Smith and Paula Howarth, and 'mature' members Rich Roberts, Mike Jardine, Adrian Irwin (last flying before a two week cycling holiday) and Pete Howarth to enjoy. Longest flight of the day (once again) went to Pete Howarth, who managed to sneak in a 40 minute hangar flight in the K-13 (see photo), whilst max height gain went to Rich Roberts who reached (near) cloudbase at just over 3,000ft (at an average of 4m/s up!)
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| Dramatic sky as the 1430 isolated shower departs on its way to Exeter... |
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Pete Howarth looks pleased with his hangar landing after his
'Flight of the Day' winning excursion beneath the clouds as shown. |
Thanks go to all for their patience to wait for the weather, and for their willingness in taking the hurdle fence down and putting it back up (on conclusion of our 1500ft launches...); and it was good to see that everyone flew, thus maintaining progress and currency where many other clubs might well have put their kit back in the hangar.
Martin Cropper
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