Careful examination of the forecast and the airfield conditions revealed a possible flying window early on Saturday. The airfield was very wet after weeks of rain but today it was so cold that the ground was frozen and therefore usable, at least, until it defrosts. There is an occluded front forecast to arrive early afternoon. So an early start was required and members responded to the call and had the aircraft out and the winch set up by 9:30am. Excellent. After a short delay to get on top of canopy misting it was game on.
 |
| The frozen airfield looking towards the winch |
 |
| The K13's basking in the sun waiting for canopies to clear |
Today's wind was very light from the north and about 10 to 12 knots at flying heights. The flying conditions were extremely smooth making for some very pleasant flying around the circuit. Unsurprisingly the were no thermals or ridge lift.
 |
| Andy Davey preparing in the K8 |
 |
| David Archer ready for a training flight with Rick Wiles |
The solo pilots flew the K8 and the 2 K13's shared the load with training flights for our pre-solo pilots and rear seat practice for our potential IFP's. Instruction was shared between Mike Jardine and Rick Wiles.
 |
| The view was breathtaking - This photo taken by me |
 |
| Steve Fletcher enjoyed the same by the same view |
All too soon it started to cloud over. we were able to carry on flying until the front arrived overhead at about 12.45pm when the gliders were rushed back to the hangar, washed and put away just before it started to rain, sleet and snow in equal measures
 |
| The front closes in |
 |
| Washing the K8 |
 |
| Many hands make light work |
A nice early start to 2021.
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment