Today was Grand Old Duke of York Day: No sooner had we got all the gliders up
to the launchpoint (in anticipation of a south-easterly with the possibility of
wave) than we had to take them all down again as spit spots of rain began to
bounce off the wings. Once back in the hangar we gave them a good wiping down
and watched as the drops gradually filled in the dry areas to return the
airfield to the state of saturation it had emerged from last week. But
before retiring to the clubhouse we had to admire the exemplary state of the
hangar apron which, thanks to the efforts of Heather Horsewill, had been swept
of the considerable amount of stones, rubble and gravel that had been deposited
by last week's downpour. Thank you, Heather.
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| It’s 9:30 am and the gliders are being returned to the hangar. |
Back in the clubhouse the scene was one of great activity, with Roger
Appleboom leading preparations for our expedition to the Long Mynd, Colin Boyd
and Mike Gadd making ready for John Halford's return to inspect the K-8 repairs,
GRP paperwork and pick up the Pirat, and new instructor Gordon Dennis giving a
presentation on Threat and Error Management to the assembled throng.
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New instructor Gordon Dennis delivers a Threat and Error Management presentation
to a packed clubhouse – can you spot the path through the Swiss cheese? |
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If you hang on any longer you’ll go out through the roof!”
Barry Green appears to be telling Colin Boyd
as he tests out the new anti-gravity paint on the K-8’s tailplane. |
Meanwhile, the rain continued and lunchtime loomed. After lunch, with newly
returned Antipodean visitor Adrian Irwin's rain radar showing yet more rain
inbound from the Brest peninsula, Weather Pro giving a slight clearance at
around 4pm, but many members having a drive of 1-2 hours to get home, and the
likelihood of getting through the Flying List looking increasingly remote, there
was a general movement towards the clubhouse door. Spirits were not dampened,
however, for we all felt we'd spent a worthwhile time refreshing our procedures,
the reasons for them and the risks of taking short cuts in Gordon's
presentation, the closing message of which was the need for currency and
lookout. Let's hope we can do lots of that next week...
Much later in the day, as the rain began to clear from the south, there was
clear evidence of wave to the east of Dartmoor, with a line in the cloud running
north-south for some 2-3 miles near Tavistock (see photo).
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Later in the day, evidence of wave could clearly be seen
looking north-south near Tavistock. |
Martin Cropper
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