“Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the cumulus grow; their thermals weak, their cores in the blue, And they went to the sky in a sieve (err, sailplane)” Or so Edward Lear might have put it had his acute bronchitis allowed him (and his “Jumblies”) to visit Brentor today. As the background to the photos here show, there were cumulus, indeed in the morning it looked as if it might over develop, as numerous N-S lines of energy appeared, but by mid-afternoon the cu had become very “far and few”, and it was best to treat the day as blue.
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| The dew glistens on the runway at first tow out as early cu pop off over the moor |
The day started like many (used to) in gliding clubs, with Richard Roberts re-discovering the truism that tractors, however ancient, usually start well but only go as far as the diesel in them allows..! Suitably replenished, we got the winch up to the far top left corner of the field to at least give our soloists a decent leg-up (to 1,500ft) in their hunt for thermals.
There was a strong team of visitors today, all of whom received excellent value for money from Introductory Flight Pilot Peter Howarth, with an average flight time in excess of 11 minutes . Our first visitors’ photo shows Steve Ellis (left) and Robert Puddicombe; they were followed by partners Ryan Hodge and Lucy Kemp (see second photo), and finally Adam Braim. We were also visited by Rebecca, a Basic Instructor from Cambridge GC. Trainees were also thick (on the ground), including Paula Howarth adding to her P1 launches in the K-13, returning solo pilot Karl Andrews, who eked out 24 minis in the K-13, David Downton and 15 year old new member Amelia Johnson, who ‘commuted’ from Torquay to the club by means of her Dad’s Suzuki V-Strom Adventure bike!
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| Introductory Flight Pilot Peter Howarth flew with Steve Ellis (left) and Roger Puddicombe. |
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| Visiting couple Ryan Hodge and Lucy Kemp. |
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| Pete’s final visitor of the day was Adam Braim. |
But the ‘Battle of the Bands’ was surely between the solo pilots for flight of the day. In bronze position (but not where his legs are concerned) was Roger Appleboom who, at 36 mins, was just ‘test flying’ his K-5 following some maintenance. In second place came Allan Holland (1hr 4 mins) who, flying the K-8, concluded that the thermals were difficult to work with very tight cores. Taking the winner’s laurels then, and deservedly so, was Richard Roberts (K-6) who, launching at a little before 1300, managed to remain aloft for 2hrs 5 mins, during which he obtained a maximum height agl of 2,700ft (cloudbase). He declared the day to be ‘very hard work’ below 1,500ft where, with ½ knot on the vario ‘you just had to sit and wait’ and that 3kts was his best climb. So for these punters it was a day of education and stamina rather than entertainment, with a well earned rest on return to terra firma.
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| Returning solo pilot Karl Andrews at 1,500ft – by the afternoon there weren’t many clouds to choose between..! |
Thanks go to Heather Horsewill for retrieving the cables all day, to Barry Green for shouldering the majority of the winching, to those who ferried hordes of visitors and their families to and fro, and to Chris Owen and Dave Downton for managing the comms and log. But proudest person on the field? Who should that be? Step forward none other than Leith Whittington who, not content with just flying his pristine Slingsby Dart 17R, also became entitled to the initials ‘WD’ after his name, having been signed off as the club’s newest Winch Driver – well done, Leith!
Let’s hope the cu aren’t so ‘far and few’ next week...(it’ll probably rain)!
Martin Cropper
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