Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 23rd August 2015

What’s your definition of ‘isolated’? A remote hut on the Alaskan tundra? An electrical supply that has been disconnected, taped off and labelled? Because today we were told to expect ‘isolated’ showers which, in the event, appeared to mean that as soon as one shower stops, another begins..! So no prizes for guessing that the total number of launches today came nowhere near threatening the record (which is an interesting question in itself, given that the club regularly used to exceed 60 launches per day – back in the day…).

Paula Howarth presents Martin Cropper and Don Puttock with
a (delicious!) cake in appreciation for their assistance in her training to solo.

 But before the flying mention must be made of an achievement off the airfield, namely Paula Howarth’s first solo, which took place last week during a course she and instructor Dad Peter undertook with our CFI Don Puttock at Aston Down. A feat which she repeated at Brentor today, and which was duly celebrated by all those present with a piece of her delicious, home-baked, chocolate cake!

Paula Howarth having just completed her first solo flight at Brentor.

Outside of the ‘isolated’ showers the flying was good. Low cloudbase and poor vis hampered the start proceedings, but RASP showed an improvement towards midday so by 1030 we set about changing ends, an evolution made much easier by the pre-positioning of the winches at each extremity of the airfield.

Mmmm! Sometimes those ‘isolated’ showers can be very tasty!

 With the first K-8 launch Roger Appleboom seemed to have gone equipped with Velcro, for the glider appeared to stick to the grey cumulus with apparently little effort before being returned it to the ravenous hordes of solo pilots below.

Chris Owen in the K-8 launching into an interesting looking sky.

The gentle south-westerly breeze was just right for Pete Harvey to convert to the Zugvögel, whilst Chris Owen, Jeff Cragg and Richard Roberts plied the skies in the K-8. Peter Howarth took over the back seat of the K-13 to host our visitors, David and Martin Phelps, although the third member of the Phelps trio was unable to fly, due to one of those ‘isolated’ showers. He promised to be back, however, so as Pete Howarth said (and Meatloaf sang), “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”.

Visitor David Phelps flew with Peter Howarth.

Visitor Martin Phelps with Peter Howarth.

On one of her dual flights with Don, Paula took the photo here of an unusually low lying rainbow, a phenomenon which can be explained by the ‘raindrops being so far apart’, or so Leith Whittington reckoned! As the day drew on the conditions continued to improve, as evidence by some quite long flights before we shut up shop at 6pm, and by the accompanying photo of cumulus over Brentor viewed from 6 miles to the south.

Paula Howarth’s unique viewpoint of a rainbow as the ‘isolated’ showers cleared the airfield

Was it still working? I think it was! Brentor from the south at 7:30pm.

Thanks go to Leith Whittington who drove retrieve all day (medically hors de combat) and to Don whose busy schedule at Cotswold GC allowed him enough time to be with us today. He will also be down this coming Saturday so get your log books out if you need any of his treasured signatures (you know the currency and price..!)

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 22nd August 2015

This morning saw the airfield shrouded in low cloud and drizzle. The forecast listed an 80% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms. This in turn lead to the cancellation of our visitor flying for the day. This decision has to be made early enough to prevent visitors from setting out as some come from many miles away.

However, by 11am, as the cloudbase was rising dramatically, it was out with a K13 to do a little flying before the weather breaks down. The forecast was wrong for Brentor today. The weather improved and then improved some more allowing soaring flights up to about half an hour or so. These conditions lasted all day. The weather did eventually break down with torrential rain at about 6:45 as we left the airfield

K13 G-CHXP soaring in the unexpected sunshine

A training flight on final approach

 The day was not wasted though with Ged conducting training flights with Simon Collier, Mike Bennett and Dave Downton. Rick Wiles did have a couple of visitors to fly, Amanda Blaxley  and Andy Hunston.

Visitor Amanda Blaxley

Visitor Andy Hunston

We also conducted some winch training. Fred Marks was signed off as a winch driver and Mike Bennett began his winch training.

Mike training in the winch with Rick

An unexpectedly nice day.

Steve

A Week At Aston Down with Peter and Paula Howarth

Monday 17th August 2015

Peter – An early start with a briefing at 08:15 for airfield operations including weather and Notams. All looked well for a good days flying. My first flight was a site familiarisation flight in the PW6 with Don. It was my first flight in fibreglass since returning to gliding, so just wanted a gentle flight around to see the site from the air and familiarise myself with a new glider that I have never flown. All started well with a good launch to 1400’. Then came the cry “I have control”. I was soon looking at the ground spinning in front of me followed by “you have control”… Thanks Don! A couple of stalls later and into circuit then back of the ground. After a second flight a solo flight in the PW6 where I did get to look at the local area at leisure. Later I re-familiarised myself with the K23 which included a flight of just over an hour and a climb to cloud base at 5300’.

Paula – I started the days flying with a gentle flight from Don Puttock in the K13 to familiarise myself with Aston Down, followed by two more flights flown by me so that Don could see how I had progressed since our last flights together at Brentor back in October 2014. After watching my fellow course participants, mother and son duo Caroline and Remy (see picture below) who returned after spending a week with Don last month, complete some of their flights, it was soon my turn again. This time to start cable break practices and launch failures.

Course participants – Peter, Paula, Remy, Caroline and instructor Don.

A beautiful evening sky at Aston Down

Tuesday 18th

Peter – After briefing at 08:15 we got the airfield set up and the first flight at 09:40 was Paula for more launch failure practices. I was up next with Don in the PW6 flying from the back seat and working on some instructor patter teaching primary effects of controls. When we had landed Don said I could go and fly the K23 again, but he said I might want to hang on until later. What was he up to? Went through my mind. Back into the K13 was Paula and Don. Following a successful flight the straps were done up in the back seat and after a briefing from Don, Paula was off on her first solo.

Paula getting herself ready to solo

Some anxious pacing by me like an expectant father, watching every turn followed by a slightly nervous early final turn and a good landing down the field it was all over. Off I went in the buggy to get her to be met by the biggest smile I have seen on her face ever.
What a great birthday present for me. I hadn’t told anybody it was my birthday before this happened. All that was left for the day was a few quick circuits in the K23 which included a flight to land at the other end of the field when we changed ends. Paula had some flights with Don to familiarise herself with flying from the other end of the field.

Paula – picking up from where we left off yesterday, Don and I continued our launch failure practices, landing ahead on the Tarmac runway which made quite a racket as the skid of the K13 touched down… I'll stick to grass I think! Later on, Don and I went up again, successfully completing a few turns and a circuit to land. This was the quietest I had ever heard Don as he was silent the whole flight! I found out why as we landed as he said ‘great, now do you want to do that on your own?’ It's hard to even put into words the feeling I felt at that very moment. Excited, scared, nervous, heart pounding! We lined up the K13, Don did the backseat straps up and left me to sort myself out. Taking in some much needed deep breaths, I went through my CB SIFT CBE and asked for the cable. This was it. A quick glance to Dad on the wing who mouthed a very reassuring ‘you're ok’ and I was off! Into the climb where I reached the top of the launch at 1,200’, trimmed and let out a scream of relief of ‘I'm really flying!’ It wasn't a long flight. A few turns and then into my circuit. Yes I was a bit close to the airfield on the downwind leg and yes I turned in early, but I think it was that I wanted to make sure I was definitely landing back at Aston Down! And I did, all safe and bursting with relief, happiness, excitement and proud to give my Dad a very memorable birthday present. It was all a bit emotional as Dad came over in the buggy as I gave him a great big hug. A day neither of us will forget.

Touchdown – Happy Birthday Dad!

Wednesday 19th

Peter - An even earlier start today with briefing at 07:15 so the course could get some flying in before club members arrived for club flying. So what would today bring after yesterday’s excitement. After a few more flights for me with Don in the PW6 doing some more patter exercises to teach Don how to do turns and Paula again flying with Don to tidy up her circuit planning, unfortunately shortly after some lunch we had to stop flying due to rain. Ever optimistic we kept the toys out and Don went into briefing mode to occupy the time waiting for the weather to clear. The weather never cleared and we eventually gave up, put the kit away and retired ready to go out for the course meal at the Weighbridge Inn. Hopefully Thursday will be better.

Thursday 20th

Peter – Briefing at 08:15, can the well oiled team get flying quicker. Oh yes, first flight at 08:59. So Paula had a quick flight with Don followed by two solo flights, one of which was the equal longest flight of the day. As for me, more flying with Don in the PW6. What about the other course members you might ask. Caroline had some launch failures with Don and was sent solo. Unfortunately for her the distant rain moved in a lot quicker than we expected and her solo flight was mostly in rain. But she coped fantastically well and had a successful solo flight. After a quick break for the rain to pass it was it was time for me and Don to check the cloud base. Oops only 500’ converted into launch failure practice. So another break I guessed only to be told to get back into the glider by Don. The briefing was to go right into cloud, release under tension when told, open full airbrakes, take hands and feet off and wait. So at 1000’ in cloud we released, opened the airbrakes and waited. We came out of cloud just over the end of the runway and closed the airbrakes and turned ready to do a modified circuit and landed down the field. Don then subjected Remy to launch failure practice whilst the cloud stayed low to make the most of the time. When the cloud base eventually went up I took Paula up in the PW6 for her first experience of a glass fibre glider. This was followed by Paula getting in another three solo flights back in the K13. Back to Remy a couple of check flights and then sent solo at 15 with a very nervous mother watching over.

Paula – after a quick flight with Don, it was time to go solo again, and what a flight it was. Probably my most memorable from the week (apart from the first solo of course!), launching to 1,600’, high enough to be above some low wispy clouds but below main cloud base in the morning sun. What a sight it was and what a contented feeling it gave me. I wish I could have taken a photo, but of course, being a good glider pilot I didn't have any loose articles in the cockpit. In the afternoon I had my first experience of fibreglass in the PW6 with my Dad. It was definitely different but for now I'll stick to my trusty wooden gliders!

First time in a fibreglass glider. Dad and I in the PW6

Friday 21st

Peter – Bags packed into the car before briefing as we had to vacate the rooms ready for the next customers, briefing over we got the kit out ready to fly. At the launch point bets were taken on the cloud base. Estimates from 300’ up to an optimistic 1200’ were put forward. So who to find out the answer to the question. You’ve guessed it. It was me and Don. Off we went, and the answer was 500’. Two further flights went to 600’ and 700’ respectively. After this was some more check flights for Remy and Paula. Three solo flights for Remy and one for Paula followed. I then had three more flights with Don to get him to turn onto headings and teach some early circuit planning. I later had a solo flight in the K13 to demonstrate an ‘energy dump’ approach to the course. 750’ over the end of the approach, nose down 80 knots and full airbrake finally stopping behind the line of the bus. After an early finish to put things away and fill in any outstanding paperwork it was time to say our goodbyes and head home. An enjoyable and rewarding week was over.

Paula – what a difference in the weather compared to when I first soloed. After 3 flights with Don to test the trickier conditions, I went for a solo flight. It wasn't my best and it did shake me up a little as it just proved how much the wind can affect things. After some reassuring words and flights from Don, I ended the day positively. It was also a great opportunity for me to see tug planes in action, arriving ready for the Junior Championships next week. A fantastic week, learning and achieving so much in such as short space of time. Very memorable for both Dad and I.

Two of the tugs ready for the Junior Championships 

Peter and Paula Howarth

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 19th August 2015

As a glider pilot, how often have I heard the phrase “You should have been here yesterday”? Today was like that for most of us but for two pilots I suspect they wished they weren’t here yesterday; but more of that later.

Tuesday’s weather would have been a dream, lots of sunshine, obvious cumulus inserted into the otherwise blue sky by thermals; lots of them. The day would have lasted for many hours. Ideal cross country conditions. But we were not flying on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s weather was blighted by a passing warm front, the torrential rain continued from first light to mid afternoon when the rain was replaced by fog so dense that you could not see one end of the trailer park to the other. So no flying for us.

Chris Burkett and Pete Wells putting a brave face on the weather delays

And what about the two pilots rueing Tuesday weather? Well these were Pete Wells and Chris Burkett, the pilots of the Twister pair of aerobatic aircraft, who landed on Tuesday night for an overnight stay after performing for the crowds at the Plymouth firework display. They had planned to depart early on Wednesday to perform at more airshows  but the weather had other ideas and they ended up spending Wednesday night at the airfield as well.

The pair of Twisters as they arrived on Tuesday evening

Waiting for the weather to clear on Wednesday

 Better luck next time guys.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 16th August 2015

"So how many flights do you do a day?" asked One Day Course Student Carter Davies as I struggled to keep us within a half-knotter that might just turn into something interesting. "Oh, anywhere between 30 and 40 launches" I breezily replied as, recognising we were losing more than we gained, I converted the turn into a downwind leg for home.

One Day Course student Carter Davies, from Lydford. 

Back on the ground, however, all eyes were pointed skyward for there, plastered to a steel grey sky as if by anti-gravity paint, were the K-8 (Chris Owen), the Zugvogel (Adrian Irwin) and one of the K-6s (Richard Roberts), all somewhere between 2,000-3,500ft agl. "Well, that's done for the launch rate", thought I, "If that lot keep soaring we'll be lucky to make 20 launches, let alone 30..."

Chris Owen ready for his first flight in the Zugvogel

Now you could be forgiven for thinking that the event described above took place around mid-afternoon, because in Britain in summer the best time to fly is definitely 3pm: "any fule kno that" (Adrian Molesworth, "Wizz for Atoms" c.1957) however the event described above did in fact take place at 1pm, otherwise known as lunchtime (for some) for by 2:30pm it had all gone as flat as a fluke - just as RASP predicted.  That's not to say that we didn't gain any benefit from the afternoon. For instance, Chris Owen took advantage of the benign conditions to convert onto the Zugvogel (well done, Chris), cramming in as many landings as he possibly could from 2 launches; 'early shift' winchman Barry Green managed 24 mins in the K-8, and new member Ed Borlase, who is part of the management team at the Theatre Royal (cue joke) made rapid progress 'in the wings' (ho, ho).

One Day Course student Mark Tothill, from Cockwood, on the Exe estuary.

Our One Day Course Students were the aforementioned Carter Davies, from Lifton, and Mark Tothill, from Cockwood, near Starcross, who was joined by his parents (who had bought him a voucher for his 50th birthday) and children to witness his 6th (all three controls together) flight. We also gave an Introductory Flight to  Jason Baxter, who had driven up from Newquay with his family, and Dave Downton completed the club trainee list.Regrettably it was not possible to fit in one of our younger trainees today, but he still has to be congratulated for mastering the gear change from 1st to 2nd gear on the quad bike - well done, Elliot!

Today’s Introductory Flight Visitor was Jason Baxter, who had travelled from Newquay with his family.

So, with high pressure centred just over the coast, and the wind veering slightly from its southerly aspect, a strange thing happened... No, we didn't pack up!  Returning from his hip operation and, having asked for a check flight, Allan Holland noticed a slightly darker cloud in the sky.  Swinging south from our launch he announced: "It's most probably wave - set off by Kit Hill..." And as we climbed in a pool of half-up to 1,500ft it was clearly evident that the cloud was directly downwind of and parallel in direction to Kit Hill - well, you never stop learning: thanks, Allan. And if you don't believe me ask Barry Green, who also spent an effortless 26 mins aloft between 6:30-7pm.

So as we slid the gliders back into the safekeeping of the hangar what was the final count? Well, only 32 launches, regrettably (longest flight of the day 1hr 21mins by Adrian 'I only landed to relieve Barry on the winch' Irwin); it would have been more, were it not for those selfish solo pilots who chose to go soaring between 11:30am and 2pm!

Thanks go, in particular, to Heather Horsewill for driving the retrieve almost all day, and to others who made our visitors welcome and yet didn't fly (you know who you are...)

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 15th August 2015

Flying being restricted to licensed pilots only, today saw a disappointingly low turnout of members, although two Astirs and the ASW20F took to the air, and enthusiastic and hard-working temporary members Simon Collier and Mike Bennett enjoyed being chauffeured around in K13 G-CHXP by Mike Jardine.

The Bonanza on approach

The main event, however, was a flying visit by Gordon MacDonald, Chief Technical Officer of the British Gliding Association, in order to progress Colin Boyd through the final stages of becoming an Official Inspector. Gordon, along with another former instructing colleague of mine from Lasham,  Hugh Browning, arrived in some style in a pristine early 60s vintage Beechcraft Bonanza, which Gordon had rebuilt, and which he intends flying across the Atlantic to the Oshkosh event in the USA with his wife (also a commercial pilot).

The beautifully restored Beechcraft Bonanza

Having spent the morning dealing with a technical matter at North Hill, the Bonanza joined our circuit shortly after noon and following an impressively short landing, Gordon spent the next five hours or so putting Colin though his paces, with Steve Lewis handling the increasingly complex paperwork issues concerning the maintenance and repair of  gliders - ancient and modern. Although most of our Brentor-based gliders are of traditional construction, the focus later moved to fibreglass gliders and - guided by Gordon - Colin was able to identify a couple of issues requiring attention among our private fleet.

Gordon and Hugh

Inspecting one of the Astirs

 Hugh Browning has been acclaimed widely for leading the BGA's successful 'Safe Winch Launching Initiative'. This targets the high numbers of accidents resulting from stalling and spinning on the wire or in the immediate aftermath of a launch failure – which represent around 80% of fatal or serious glider accidents. Hugh declared himself to be 'off duty' and spent much of his time supposedly basking in the launch hut 'reading a good book'. But he chatted with individual members and his head always seemed to pop up above the parapet whenever a glider movement took place. Not surprisingly, he showed an active interest in our launching operations at both ends of the field, and one early instance of a glider transitioning rather too quickly into the full climb elicited a discrete comment. Well done to all for ensuring that this was not repeated during an afternoon of fun (and safe) flying - and let's keep it that way!.

The early spreadout

Flying wise, the day was a bit of strip-tease. We started with a blanket of spread-out cumulus, then the sun started to break through giving us expanding blue areas and spawning patches of more productive cloud, tantalisingly out of reach of the field. Finally, pilots who had opted to let their fellow members and syndicate partners fly - and fall to earth - first, were rewarded with an hour or so of booming soaring conditions. Rick Wiles, accompanied by Dave Bourchier, achieved just under an hour in the two-seater - at one stage showing me (in the ASW20F) a clean pair of heels in a thermal when I arrived back low, having found nothing further afield. As conditions continued to improve, I was boosted to cloudbase at 3,700 feet, at one stage with a steady 5.4 knots on the averager, facilitating an hour long flight encompassing Meldon Reservoir, Roadford Lake and Lifton, as well as various diversions in between to sample the generous thermals on offer.

Rick's view of the runway from the easy end

I then opened the air brakes and returned home in time to join the Boyd/Lewis Supporters' Club in bidding farewell to our visitors. I selflessly presented Gordon with a bag of Brentor mushrooms, which I had earmarked for my Sunday morning breakfast.

All in all a most enjoyable day - although probably more challenging than enjoyable for Colin and Steve as technical matters and paperwork were put under the microscope. Finally, a big thank you to Rick and Phil Hardwick for driving the winch, and welcome back to Alan Holland whose fractured hip seems to have healed to the point where he is able to indulge in light cable retrieve duties.

Bob Pirie

Dartmoor Gliding News-Wednesday 12th August 2015

Todays forecast was enough to wet the taste buds of any glider pilot. There was 9 knots of easterly wind. Will there be wave? Several members of the club must have thought so. The early club was a mad whirl of setting up the airfield, unpacking the hangar and rigging private gliders.

Pete Harvey caught this photo of Colin Boyd turning his K6
Looks a little friendly to me. 

From the launchpoint the windsock was almost hanging straight down, sometimes showing a little NE, but this was misleading. At launch heights the wind was strong easterly and the wave ( and it’s associated rotors )  were obvious. There were lots of soaring flights the best of which went to about 4000 feet in smooth wave lift. The strongest climbs enabled climbs up the face of the building wave clouds of around 6 knots. Marvellous.

There were  lots of  soaring flights, many over an hour the best of which was Bob Pirie in the ASW20 who returned after 1 hour 36 minutes to let his syndicate partner fly. One notable flight was Chris Owen in the K8 who managed 47 minutes flying in the broken rotor lift to the north of the club. Low hours pilot Chris was trying for a 1 hour flight but didn’t quite make it this time.
Better luck next time Chris and perhaps push to the east where the main wave is.

I didn't think that gliding was a spectator sport.
If I gave them score cards they could mark each landing- as the US Navy does

We welcome several visitors today. Joshua Broughton was with us for a One Day Course, and Alan Ranson, and ex pilots Nick Bilton and Stephen Fletcher. All left with smiles on their faces.

One Day Course Candidate ready for another flight with me in K13 G-CHXP

Visitor Alan Ranson flew with Fred Marks

Happy to be flying again - Nick Bilton

Stephen Fletcher and I share a joke before flying

The wave did not last all day, around 2pm something changed and the low level wave became very weak. It was still possible to sustain flight times a little in the K13 but it was not strong enough to soar. I think a glider with a really low sink rate would have been required to make it work. Can I have my Jantar 1 back soon please.

The excitement amongst the members remained all day. Even the clubhouse was buzzing at the end of the day.

Steve

Dartmoor Gliding News-Sunday 9th August 2015

Was it 'Just an Illusion', as "Imagination" would have us believe, or 'Just an Occlusion' as the Met Office was telling us would be topping the weather charts?

Well, the occlusions were the winners today, with 3 visible on the UK synoptic chart and a returning warm front expected to affect the SW peninsula in the afternoon.  So after yesterday's gin clear 2hr plus soaring day was today to be a scrub? Not a bit of it!

One Day Course student Ben May travelled from Par in Cornwall to fly with us.

One Day Course student Lucas Paulou looks ready for aviating adventure with Pete Howarth.

Fortunately, and despite the moisture laden atmosphere, there were steps in the cloudbase that enabled us to fly our two One Day Course students, Lucas Paulou (from Callington) and Ben May (from Par) and a host of visitors, most of whom are pictured here. OK so some flights may have been short, but where this was the case Introductory Flight Pilots Pete Howarth and Roger Appleboom were more than happy to give their charges a second bite of the winch.  In total, we flew 5 visitors which, with club trainees Paula Howarth and Dave Downton (and our usual glideaholic solo suspects) enabled us to achieve 32 launches overall - not bad considering we had to take an East Devon style 50 minute lunch break when low cloud actually precipitated water onto the wings.

Visitor Andrew March flew with Pete Howarth.

Lorraine Harwood (pictured) and Sarah Banbury visited to celebrate Lorraine’s birthday next week.

As a worker in ‘oil and gas’, visitor Laurance Walburg has spent many hours in airliners, but received his first real air experience today at Brentor.

Visitor Kevin Unsworth flew with Roger Appleboom.

Meanwhile, down at the clubhouse Dave Bourchier was making like an alchemist sorting scrap ready to be transformed into cash next week - thanks, Dave!  And thanks also to whoever swept out the hangar - it really makes a difference to putting the gliders away smoothly at the end of a long day. 

And “Set”: Adrian Irwin and Paula Howarth are ready for the ‘off’
- back to the clubhouse as low cloud stops play.

And so while Flight of the Day was once again won by newly qualified winch driver Adrian Irwin, mention must also be made of IFPs Roger Appleboom and Pete Howarth, who kept our visitors entertained and safe in the air in challenging conditions. 

Always prepared to innovate,
a club member ‘discovers’ a new use for the Land Rover Discovery during a break in flying.

And so, by about 5:15pm it wasn't just an illusion, it was definitely those multiple occlusions that had brought the cloudbase back down below the level of the church, and it was time to put the gliders safely away for another day.

Martin Cropper

Dartmoor Gliding News-Saturday 8th August 2015

The forecast for today looked interesting. RASP was predicting a good day. Winds would be light and westerly. Checking out the atmospheric soundings the day would be blue until mid to late afternoon when thermals would then be marked by some cloud. The potential cloudbase could be quite high.

The vivid blue sky looks calm but was full of thermal activity

The first flight was around midday into a strikingly vivid, blue sky and it was immediately apparent that there were thermals to be played with. Low down the thermals were like individual bubbles and required some concentration to initiate the climb but by the time 1500 feet was reached the thermals were much more organised and giving good climb rates. Great fun.

Looking south down the Tamar Valley

Gunnislake nestling into the countryside.

The afternoon was filled with pilots soaring. The longest flights were Mike Gadd Open Cirrus - 2 hours 19minutes, Phil Hardwick  Twin Astir - 2 hours 10 minutes and Roger Green
ASW20 -1 hour 34 minutes.

Kit Hill

We were short on numbers today but everyone had a soaring flight. We only completed 11 flights but the total flight time was 9 hours giving a 50 minute average flight time.

So for all those club members who stayed away, where were you? You missed a great day.

Steve