Play it like it is? Or go with the forecast? With the windsock indicating a
gentle SE’ly we left the launchpoint set up at the west end and, for the first
pair of cables, all went well. Then, almost exactly as predicted, the wind began
to swing, through south to SW. If there was a bugle we could have used it to
call: “Change Ends!” Always an interesting manoeuvre, in this case (and in the
interests of the Treasurer’s coffers) we elected to fly the gliders down to land
at the winch end, which was followed by the tractor towing the winch to the
west, returning in stately progress with the launchpoint. All this takes time,
of course, but proved highly entertaining for our visitors Joy Aird and her
husband (who has flown with us before) who arrived in the middle of the
‘action’.
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| Arian Irwin launches over the Dart 17R as we change ends. |
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| The cavalry arrives: the launchpoint appears over the hill. |
Once the wind had settled in the west, we made up for lost time with some
serious flying (7 launches per hour) in an initially pleasant sky that caused
the occasional cumulus to bubble up, enabling Adrian Irwin to remain aloft for
over 20 minutes. By mid-afternoon the sky had darkened, however, and cloud-base
reduced (enough for another West Country club to scrub for the day) but we
soldiered on, and eventually blue sky and sunshine returned. Which was greatly
appreciated by the latter stages of the training crew (Dave Downton, Dave
Westcott, Dave Parker, Chris Owen, Tony Dean (check flights), Ed Borlase and
Phillip Selwood) who understandably don’t like flying without a horizon. In the
single seats, Adrian was joined by soloists Phil Hardwick (11 mins) and Leith
Whittington (7 mins – careful, that’s almost soaring…)
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| Joy Aird about to proceed aloft with IFP Roger Appleboom. |
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| Visitor Dominic March. |
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| Roger Appleboom chatting with visitor Ben Phillips. |
Our visitors (Joy Aird, Dominic March and that rare bird, the Walkin, Ben
Phillips) enjoyed the flying skills of Roger Appleboom, whilst down at the winch
Phil, Dave and Adrian delivered an impeccable service, cheerfully putting up
with numerous simulated launch failures (ho, ho). So as the last launch of the
day inevitably encountered a ‘cable break’, and concluded with that long
satisfying approach down the length of the airfield for a hangar landing, what
was the final score? 41 launches. Not bad for a day with an hour taken out. Of
course, we would have achieved more, had we been blessed with a Duty Instructor
who can get the field set up the right way round at the start of the day…
Martin Cropper
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