Some readers may be pleased to discover that today was not another wave day..! With the wind is west of north the airfield is no longer in the lee of Dartmoor and hence wave does not develop overhead. That did not deter a small band of instructors/licenced pilots from gathering, however, to maintain currency – indeed the RASP forecast showed promise.
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| A view of the hangar, clubhouse and MT building/workshops from 800ft |
Agreeing to take two cables apiece, Gavin Short got the show on the road with a couple of short flights ( pun intended?). Then Peter Howarth, fresh from the winch and with his eye ‘in’, took the K-8 to the north-west where he was rewarded by a thermal taking him to 1,600ft, at which point he was met by a strong inversion which firmly prevented him from getting any higher (this was confirmed by a pronounced haze line to the north).
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| Martin Cropper brings club K-8B GDK into land in benign conditions. |
Having been shown the way, Martin Cropper then attempted to emulate Peter by using the same geographic spot, but without much success, regaining launch height only once in a scrappy contest that severely increased the wear in the glider’s control linkages..! Maybe RASP wasn’t so good after all.
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| Church of St Michael de Rupe (note haze line on the horizon). |
Returning the K-8 to rest in the hangar, we reflected that, despite there being no wave (harumph!), at least we had been able to keep ourselves current, in preparation for the return to dual flying in a week or so’s time. Special thanks go to trainee Ray Boundy who, in making the final member of our gang of four, made it possible for us to fly today.
Martin Cropper
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