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| The conditions at lunch time. Good looking cloud in the distance, nothing close by. |
The forecast was suggesting increasing cloud cover with a chance of showers in the late afternoon. The breeze, which started out as a zephyr from the north, would strengthen and swing a little more westerly. RASP was predicting thermals rapidly increasing in strength after lunch and continuing until late afternoon. So a reasonable day in prospect.
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| Madeleine ready to fly |
We welcomed Madeleine Cook today who attended for a One Day Course. Madeline flew with Rick, who was fulfilling the roll of Instructor 2 while Mike Jardine was today's Instructor 1 releasing me for some much needed solo flying. By the end of the day Madeleine was able to fly the aircraft with some style aided, no doubt, by the air time afforded by a couple of good soaring flights.
Mike Jardine conducted today's club training and was busy throughout the day. His efforts included no fewer than 4 soaring flights, no doubt enjoyed by his various charges.
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| Local soaring was the order of the day. Here soaring above Mary Tavy |
What of the soaring? Did the forecast deliver. Well yes. Phil Hardwick led the charge with a 36 minute flight at mid day in his Astir CS. This prompted me to launch in my Zugvogel 3B. A flight which I eventually terminated after just over 3 hours. ( lunch and a comfort break beckoned ). Initially the flight was difficult with elusive narrow cores terminating at a 1900 feet cloudbase. The sink in between was "character forming" and some care was needed. Miss one thermal and things became exciting. Miss 2 thermals and the runway would be the target. Half an hour later, over the higher tors of Dartmoor the cloudbase had risen to 3000 feet and I was able to maintain 4 knots on the averager. This was better. Time to go somewhere. Venturing north, I encountered lowering cloudbases, 2200 feet at Roadford, and weak thermals. Ahead of this it was obvious that the the sea air was already here from the north coast. So local soaring it was. The best soaring was back over Dartmoor where a convergence was available for quite some time.
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| Strong sink at 1900 feet on the way to the next thermal |
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I often include a "conquering hero" shot for the best flight of the day.
Today you will have to put up with my attempt at a "selfie" |
The solo pilots put up a good show today with Mendips visitor Henry Ford, Scratch and Allan Holland soaring the K8 for 59, 38 and 48 minutes. Other notable flights were 2 hours by Ged and Phil in the Twin Astir, and 55 minutes by Roger Green in the Zugvogel 3B.
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| Soaring with the K8 |
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| Sharing a thermal with the Twin Astir |
So the day delivered in spades. Lots of soaring and smiling faces. And the forecast showers never materialised.
An excellent club day.
Steve
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