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.
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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.
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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.
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| One Day Course Candidate ready for another flight with me in K13 G-CHXP |
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| Visitor Alan Ranson flew with Fred Marks |
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| Happy to be flying again - Nick Bilton |
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| 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
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