With a cold front waving down the SW peninsula and with RASP predicting a
rapidly rising cloud-base with good soaring conditions by 1230, it was with the
glider pilots’ traditional optimism that we changed ends from yesterday’s strong
easterly to be ready for the light SW’ly expected today. Perhaps the discovery
that the tow-out trailer had a flat tyre, caused by a hole you could put your
fist through, should have been a portent of things to come.
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| The K-13 flightline. |
Our One Day Course visitors were two brothers, Henry and Ben Cornford, from
Ugborough, escorted by their parents, one of whom (Mum) had recently suffered a
fall and hence the observed proceedings throughout the day from their Range
Rover by the launchpoint. The first two launches were (almost) the most
interesting of the day for, on releasing just below 8/8ths cloud-base, both
gliders found pools of gently rising air that enabled them to maintain
1,000-1,200ft agl for over ten minutes apiece. As Roger Green put it: “If the
K-13 has a descent rate of 150ft/min and you meet air that is rising at 150
ft/min, you’re not going to go up, but you’re not going to come down either..!”
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| Visitor Ben Cornford flew with Roger Green. |
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| Visitor Henry Cornford flew with Martin Cropper. |
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Henry and Ben Cornford being presented with their One Day Course Certificates
by Martin Cropper and Roger Green. |
As lunch hove into view, and the overcast began to abate, it was time for the
single seaters to check the promised improvement in conditions. Which didn’t.
Really. Happen. Roger Appleboom struggled to achieve 13 mins in the K-8 and at
the end of the day Peter Howarth managed to reach 25 mins but no-one saw
anything like the +3.5 star soaring that RASP had led us to expect.
In addition to the One Day Courses, Colin Boyd brought his friend Charlie
Rachshaw on site in thanks for all the welding Charlie has been doing for the
club. He had a soaring flight of 14 mins with Peter Howarth and departed very
pleased with the experience. Dave Downton also continued his journey to
re-soloing and Dave Westcott maintained currency in the K-8.
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| Visitor Charlie Rachshaw flew with Peter Howarth. |
We also put the new vehicles, a Nissan pick-up and Jeep people carrier,
through their paces: a quantum leap forward from the Range Rover Discovery’s –
we now have windows which work..!
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| Our new Nissan pick-up. |
At the end of the day, despite our high expectations not being met, we each
achieved what we had set out to achieve, and so shouldn’t complain. Better than
being sat on the ground…
Martin Cropper
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